#and Sam and Helen do have a lot of depth

[biggest-bara-tiddies]

Black Doves is unique in that its a spy thriller with christmas-y filler. Like yeah there are is thematic depth in Helen/Daisy's as well as Sam's identity, that being whether or not they are more than their covert, cloak and dagger jobs, and even some commentary about british politics in particular about tory politics, but all of it is so buried under unnecessary flashbacks that tortuously spell out character motivations and the characters needing to acknowledge christmas every few minutes. It felt very much like Netflix was pitched a two hour screenplay that they demanded a rewrite of that prolonged the whole affair to a six part miniseries and that shoved a strange unnecessary epilogue in at the end. I think the show could have had a poignant ending if Helen walked out among the corpses left in the wake of the bizarre conspiracy she just unraveled and was forced to acknowledge that she did it all for a man who approached her with less than purely romantic intentions and that she consigned her closest friend to a life or strife and stress and that she is still trapped in a role that she both loves and hates in equal measure. But instead it ends with her inviting a hitman to her christmas dinner and a surprisingly feel good montage of every one enjoying christmas that feels totally out of step with the dark, bloody ending and the painful absurdity of all of the killing being for a crime boss's embarrassing fuckup of a son

[hermitknut]

Historical Preoccupations

Hi!

So I decided a few years ago that my history + geography knowledge was dreadful and I wanted to work on it, and I've been doing that slowly. But after getting into the Nine Worlds books by Victoria Goddard, I've been reading a lot about the history of the Pacific Islands, Polynesia, and the Pacific Ocean generally, as well as related topics.

I approach everything I read with a certain amount of caution, as I am not a historian (and don't have all the tools to mind to figure out how reliable my sources are, especially as I am in the UK and most of them are not coming from the actual area in question), but it's been an enjoyable ride so far!

I thought I'd throw together a list of all the things I've been reading / have on my to read shelf with some thoughts on them. I can mostly only tell you about how readable/accessible/interesting the text is, so please don't take this as any comment on accuracy/lack of bias.

I'm making a pinned post for my tumblr that will link to this, and I'm going to try and update it as I read things.

Sea People by Christina Thompson

This was the first one I read, and I really enjoyed it! I think there's a bit of a light touch on the impact of colonialism, but her writing style is very easy to read and I found the way she approached the history very helpful. She does start with European contact, but she goes through each point in history and what they thought the history of Polynesia was and why, with what their biases brought to it. Which was fascinating!

Voyagers by Nicholas Thomas

This was a drier read than the Thompson, but it covered roughly the same historical span and helped add a different angle in a few places. The illustrations/photos were very helpful, too, and it's broken up into small enough sections to keep it moving.

Blue Machine by Helen Czerski

A slight step to the left, topic-wise - this is about how the ocean works, how it effects the world, and how people and animals use it. It opens and closes with the author's time sailing near Hawai'i on an outrigger canoe, and while some of the science went over my head, most of it was really interesting and gave me a much more layered picture of what's going on in all that water.

Pacific by Philip J. Hatfield

I've just started this, so I'll add more to this description later; but this is a beautifully illustrated book that is going through the history of the area in small slices. So far it's very readable, and is helping me settle some of the knowledge I've been learning in my mind.

Upcoming reads:

Sailing Alone by Richard J. King

Another slight step to one side, this is a collection of stories of solo-sails seems fascinating - hopefully it's as interesting as it looks!

A Brief History of the Pacific by Jeremy Black

One of several "brief history of [ocean]" books by the same author, seems quite short and will hopefully be a good simple overview before I tackle...

Waves Across the South by Sujit Sivasundaram

I'm somewhat intimidated by this one because it's ~500 pages, but hopefully I can tackle it this year, because it does sound really interesting, and like it's going to go into some greater socio-political depth than my previous reads. Fingers crossed!

Oceania: The Shape of Time by Maia Nuku

The first art book I've ever owned! I think it's going to go into more technical art detail than I'd usually read, but that's probably good for me in the branching-out sense. And it's a beautifully made book, heavy on the photographs and images.

Under consideration:

I'm not letting myself buy any more until I've caught up, but these are some of the other titles I know about (and am eyeing with varying degrees of interest - I definitely want the Low, though I'm currently having trouble sourcing it).

The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux

Hawaiki Rising by Sam Low

Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All by Christina Thompson

Wayfinding by M R O'Connor

Wayfinding by Michael Bond

I'd love to hear any suggestions of titles on the topic, particularly anything from Polynesian authors!

[collarbonekissesandasylumwitches]

hello hi, hope y'all are doing ok :)

this is just my take on this aesthetic, my personal brand if you will, so please don't come at me if it isn't completely accurate

(i do not know where a few quotes are from so if you do, please lemme know so that i can list them)

poetcore // chaotic academia // downtown girl

vibes: grocery stores, existential poetry, psychology/english major, iced caramel lattes, old bookstores, anatomical heart emoji, thunderstorms, wired earphones, art museums, dyed hair and a nose ring, vintage posters stuck on bedroom walls, blue hour, ink stained hands, latin curses, 3 am showers, voice notes, smudged eyeliner, cocoa lotion, choco chip cookies, silver rings that clink against ceramic cups, native language nicknames, annotated books, commentary videos on youtube, forehead kisses, candles, love letters, lullabies, sunlight through curtains, libraries at night, homoeroticism, angry girl music, pressed flowers, coffee cake and coffee eclairs, glitter pens, lipbalm, dog cuddles, super specific playlists, daily outfit pictures

fashion: small shirt big pants black nailpaint mismatched earrings signature perfume hair sticks black turtlenecks cardigans fingerless gloves nose rings high waisted jeans linen shorts lipgloss cotton dresses waist jewelry heart shaped locket moss coloured bralettes bandanas tank tops crystal necklaces white eyeliner oversized earth toned sweaters cargo pants vintage band tshirts charm bracelets and anklets crop tops smudged eyeliner harem pants claw clips fairy earrings tote bags doc martens with everything lots of antique rings

songs:

ribs - lorde

coffee breath - sofia mills

movies - conan gray

how long - hadestown

sunflower - post malone, swae lee

i want you to want me - letters to cleo

bookstore girl - charlie burg

sappho - frankie cosmos

achilles come down - gang of youths

girl from the bookstore - jack jones

poet - bastille

all too well 10 minute version taylor's version - taylor swift

artists: mother mother, bon iver, girl in red, arctic monkeys, daughter, florence + the machine, hozier, the neighborhood, taylor swift [folklore and evermore in particular]

movies: shutter island, dead poets society, lady bird, 10 things i hate about you, five feet apart, potrait of a lady on fire, kill your darlings, fleabag, perks of being a wallflower, all the bright places, loving vincent, call me by your name, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

books:

crush - richard siken

a little life - hanya yanagihara

the song of achilles - madeline miller

ode to aphrodite - sappho

the bell jar - sylvia plath

and then there were none - agatha christie

envelope poems - emily dickinson

the secret history - donna tartt

the picture of dorian gray - oscar wilde

a room of one's own - virginia woolf

the robber wife - margaret atwood

the yellow wallpaper - sam vaseghi gilman

quotes:

what we love, we mention. - Marie-Helene Bertino

you said i killed you. haunt me then. - Emily Bronte

loneliness is still time spent with the world.- Ocean Vuong

let me stay tender hearted, despite despite despite.

that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. - Walt Whitman

i love you. i can't tell you. the sun on your face will do it for me. - tumblr user tturing

i will love you if i never see you again, and i will love you if i see you every tuesday. - Lemony Snicket

someone has to leave first. this is a very old story. there is no other version of this story. - Richard Siken

nothing ends poetically. it ends and we turn it into poetry. all that blood was never once beautiful. it was always just red. - Kait Rokowski

love is real. i saw it once outside my window and it stopped to look at me but kept on walking and i thought it'd come back but in the end maybe it was just passing through.

in ten years' time, i want to live in a house with big windows, i want the house to be large enough to have a kitchen table with four chairs but not too roomy to ever feel the depth of my aloneness. because i'll probably be alone. but i think aloneness won't feel so all-consuming with windows that protect me from the world but still let me watch it. - Maeve Wiley, Sex Education

male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it's all a male fantasy: that you're strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. even pretending you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of vour own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. you are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. you are your own voyeur. - Margaret Atwood

take care, love love >3

[academicgangster]

Apologies for just randomly dropping this into your ask box, but I've puzzled over this through the last 10 rewatches of The Fugitive and was curious about your opinion. When does Sam first start to believe that Richard might be innocent? When Sam meets Sykes for the first time? Not until he researches Devlin McGregor? Or way back when Richard jump off the dam?

Anon, you absolutely do not need to apologize, especially because this is something I have thought about a great deal - and I do in fact already have a favoured answer!

The short answer is: yes, when Richard jumped off the dam. But I have a more in-depth answer for you than that.

The clear canonical estimate is: definitely sometime before his team suspects that's what he believes. When Sam sets out for the Hilton, he's clearly going to save Richard, explicitly intending to stop the cops from getting to him. Sam's 100% on Richard's side by that point. But Cosmo, Sam's absolute right-hand guy, does not know that for certain until Sam tells him "don't shoot."

This points to Sam having drawn his own conclusions before this moment. Of course, there are several important points in canon at which we see Sam starting to suspect Richard's innocence, including but not limited to (working backwards from latest to earliest):

"Cosmo, this guy's dirty." - We see a drastic change in Sam's demeanour when he confronts Sykes - Sam can tell there's something fishy as hell about this guy, and sends Noah to find out everything he can about him. After the phone call, he clearly believes Richard directed him here for a reason, and that therefore Richard is on to something, has discovered something.

"He saved the boy's life." - We see Sam visibly thinking Richard's good samaritan behaviour is not in line with the actions of someone who'd murder his own wife.

Thoughtful Window Montage - we see Sam and his team investigating and Sam, in particular, thinking a lot.

"The fuck u say What do you mean he did it for the money? He's a doctor, he's already rich." - This is the beginning of Sam's investigation, where he talks to the cops in charge of the case and realizes said cops have been fucking it up pretty much from the very start; they don't even have a motive as a basis to say Richard did it.

And of course, "The guy just did a Peter Pan right off of this dam, right here!"

Sam is clearly pretty mindblown here by Richard's act of desperation, and I think it's very reasonable to say this may be where he starts to think Richard might be an innocent man. After all, he insists extremely hard on finding him after that - uncharacteristically even, to the point where Biggs and Cosmo remark that he's "finally flipped his lid" - and investigates with zeal the moment he's back in his office. But there's another moment before that, one that I think is even more telling than Richard's jump, and it is this -

The true answer: just a few moments before that jump, when Richard held a gun on Sam, and could have shot Sam point blank in the head, and instead chose not to hurt him.

I repeat: RICHARD HAD A GUN ON SAM, SAM'S OWN GUN IN FACT, AND DIDN'T SHOOT HIM. Richard didn't take the opportunity to kill him. Sam is an experienced deputy marshal; he knows this is not how that encounter could have gone. In the moment, that is enough for a little speck of doubt. And then Richard jumped off the dam, which is a deeply desperate thing to do, and Sam now has that speck of doubt well on the way to turning into a pearl of doubt, as it were.

That's why Sam had his mind changed so quickly by Richard taking that jump. That's why Sam was so insistent on finding him, so insistent that he must be alive, and so intense about re-investigating this case from the ground up: because before he made that jump, after he made his statement insisting he didn't kill Helen, Richard chose to spare Sam's life.

This is the face of a man who's having a real, deep Reconsideration Of Things. And it's the face of a man who, several days later, will save Richard's life in turn.

[wizardhecker]

ollie’s book rec list

hey y’all i got libby this last year and its expanded my reading a bunch. I talked about what books I liked on twitter earlier but I wanted to move that over here. These books aren’t in order of preference, just when I read them. I’ll probably be updating this list throughout the year as well. 

Stuff I loved:

Gideon the Ninth- Tamsyn Muir: Probably my favorite book from this year, I’m eagerly awaiting for the sequel. WAs everything I wanted in a book, witty and clever. Lesbian necromancer and buff swordgirl end up taking part in a contest that entangles them in murder and mysteries. Its sci-fi but not hard sci-fi and sticks mostly to one planet. I’m witholding judgement on the ending until I read the second book because I have some conflicting feelings about it. Tags: F/F romance, bones, so many bones, Sci-fi, mystery

Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie: Told from the perspective of a ship AI that was once many different ancillaries. The story jumps back and forth between the present where she inhabits one body and the past to how that came to occur. It was super unique and engaging. I’ve seen this on a few lists for LGBT content which maybe there is in later books but that tag comes from the the ship AI being confused by gender since her language just uses “she/her” pronouns for everything. Therefor, yes technically any romances that occur are queer because every single character is referred to via she/her. I love language stuff like that though. Theres so many details that I was deeply fascinated by. Tags: sci fi, space politics, clones, unique perspective. 

The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie: Similar to her other book above, she plays with storytelling and narrator perspective. This is from the perspective a god who is a giant rock and switches between past and present. It was a bit slow at first, as it is a rock telling the story, but its well worth it and the ending was so fulfilling. I REALLY enjoyed the world building, everything felt neatly crafted as piece by piece the machine comes together and turns slowly. The protagonist human is also explicitely trans. Tags: politics, fantasy, god wars, trans protagonist.

Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner: An older book, but focuses around the politics of a city where swordsmen fromt he lower city are hired to fight for the aristocrats in the higher city. Follows the best swordsman and his [insufferable] scholar boyfriend, but switches perspectives a lot. Its fun, I might reread it. Tags: heavy politics, aristocrat bullshit, M/M romance, swordfighting!

Kings of the Wild - Nicholas Eames: This book read Very much like someone’s first classic D&D campaign, for better or for worse. I Loved it because the heart, passion, and sincerety put into it was so palpable and it feels like a campaign where everyone comes in with goofy joke characters and then midway through they get Really into it and suddenly everyone’s crying because that joke backstory they made has implications. Its about a bunch of retired legendary old men adventurers who get called back for one more job - to rescue the leader’s daughter. Tags: Sad old men, good fathers, fantasy, gay wizard, tabletop inspired.

Bloody Rose - Nicholas Eames: The sequel to the previous book (though it could be read alone). It really goes into more depth and analyzes some of the previous worldbuilding more, pulling apart some of the problems in the world that were swept away previously. I liked it slightly less but its still very good. It follows a bard joining up with an adventuring band to fight a...dragon? Maybe. Tags: F/F romance, are monsters people, necromancy, dragons, fantasy.

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker: A newly made golem woman and a Djinn who was trapped for thousands of years both in up in New York City in 1900, and their paths eventually intertwine. Really amazing perspective of Jewish and Arab immigrant communities and cultures in NYC. Switches point of view through many characters in the communities who come in and out of their lives. Tags: Supernatural beings, urban fantasy, historical.

The Monster of Elendhaven - Jennifer Giesbrecht: Very short book I read in one sitting about terrible evil men doing terrible evil things. One of them is unkillable, the other one is sorcerer and theyre tied together through a dark fate to destroy the world. I was deeply into the mythology and the way everything wove together. You know I’m a sucker for weird god stuff and I was provided for. Uhh trigger warning for a lot of stuff here, graphic violence, sexual assault, etc. Tags: Evil stuff, magic, dark mythology and folklore, capitalism, revenge plots.

The Black God’s Drums - P. Djeli Clark: Another short one read in one sitting, set in an alternate post-civil war setting New Orleans where a girl has a Goddess of storms living inside her. Tags: alternate history, bi protagonist, gods and goddesses. 

The Claidi Journals - Tanith Lee: So this was a reread of a kind of obscure series I read when I was a kid and I immensely enjoyed. Caveat that it is a young-adult series but it was such a fascinating and vibrant blend of fantasy magic and sci-fi, there’s little blend between the magic and technology of the realm. It’s about terrible families doing terrible things and the women who got accidentally caught up in it. It also has one of the most interesting women characters I’ve ever read who doesn’t even appear much in the books but whose legacy impacts every character. Tags: Science fantasy, aristocrat bullshit, bad moms, hetero but chill. 

Mixed Feelings:

Uprooted - Naomi Novik: Reclusive wizard who holds an evil forest at bay takes on an apprentice girl who gets entangled in further politics of the nation. I got Really into the worldbuilding, plot, and writing of this book and it hooked me pulling me along. However I have a major frustration with it that really prevents me from putting it in the “loved” category. If I could edit out about 20 lines I’d have found it perfect. I know other folks who disagree with me though so I’ll still recomend it. Tags: wizards, nature magic, politics, grumpy tower wizard, unfortunately heterosexual.

Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst: Lesbian princesses and arranged marriages uh oh. Ones a ranger jock the others a sorcerer. Its fine and cute, I wasn’t really happy with the antagonist reveal at the end though. Tags: Aristocrat bullshit, politics, F/F romance, arranged marriage angst, forbidden magic.

Wayward Son - Rainbow Rowell: I really enjoyed the first book of this series and found it a delightfully self-indulgent transparent Harry Potter derivation. That sort of falls apart in the second book where having to build off something that worked as a one-off just doesn’t extend to a more filled out story and left me feeling unsatisfied. But, once again, the world building is delightful and I’m charmed by the magic system and a British person’s opinion of America. Tags: M/M romance, magic, America!, roadtrip, vampires

The Last Sun - K.D. Edwards: Modern fantasy tarot inspired world building. The main character is the last remnant of the “Sun” house that was ripped apart in a terrible way. He has PTSD and is hired to find a missing man, along the way uncovering a deeper conspiracy involving his house and past. It was fine, its a good book. I just wasn’t into it that much. Also massive trigger warnings for sexual assault, torture, etc. Tags: M/M romance, mystery, gritty, magic. 

Vicious - V.E. Schwab: I enjoyed it and it was a short quick read, but for some reason I’ve never been able to get into V.E. Schwab much. Not sure why. Man with power over pain is released from prison and seeks vengeance on his former friend who put him there - who is now a superhero, and adopts a young girl necromancer in the process. Tags: villains, everyone is evil, superpowers, modern, necromancy, unwilling father figure

The City Stained Red - Sam Sykes: I really just started skimming while reading this one tbh. Trash man swordfighter and his disfunctional adventuring party trying to collect their payment in a terrible city. It felt like someone’s D&D campaign but in the worst way where everyone is an edgelord dark backstory. I honestly didn’t like a single character. But, that’s fine it just wasn’t for me. I see this get put on lists for having a bi-character. Which I guess technically but I wasn’t a huge fan of how that became relevant. Tags: tabletop inspired but insecure about it, gritty, terrible city, terrible people, bi protagonist

[troiings]

Tagged by @queenology - ty Jean! I hereby tag... uh... anybody who feels like doing this? look, y’all know hw i am w tagging people...

Ao3 name: troiing

Fandoms: i’m currently writing for (Netflix) The Witcher (Tissaia/Yennefer), and perpetually have back-burnered WIPs of The Worst Witch reboot and Sanctuary. Have also written for Holby City (Bernie/Serena), Mass Effect (Shiara), DA:I (f!Inquisitor/Josephine), Stargate SG-1 (mostly Jack/Sam), and if you count fandom fusions i’ve also written for Firefly and V for Vendetta. lots of Potterverse fics as well, but all OCs!

Number of fics: Oh lordy, 51 published on ao3, but countless others buried in the depths of my blog and documents, tbh

Fic I spent the most time on: I’m not really sure? I mean, if you count the WIPs that i still spend a lot of time thinking about but which never saw the light of day, probably the Helen/Charlotte fic taking place right after Comoros that remains Ostensibly Finished But Unworthy in my brain’s categories. Started it in 2015. Edited it last in 2018. Still read it over every 6 months or so xD

Fic I spent the least amount of time on: Any one of my wee askbox-prompt ficlets. I tend to write those directly into a tumblah post to keep myself from working too hard on them, since i typically take those requests for the sake of having something to get the creative juices flowing and actually put words down on the page without editing too much along the way.

Most hits: ‘heard pain tell love, she said ‘where would i be without you?’ - my fibro!Hecate fic set after s2 of TWW2017 reboot. Still my favorite, because it was still an immense labor of love.

Most kudos: Same as above.

Most comment threads: ‘stone in your water’ has almost double the comment threads of ‘heard pain tell love’! This fascinates me because it kinda shows how much more active and interactive the Yennaia fandom is, in comparison, tbh. ‘pain’ has had 2 years to garner additional hits and kudos, although Stone also has two extra chapters

Most bookmarks:  Again, ‘heard pain tell love’

Highest total word count: same again, though with the in-progress chapter Stone surpasses it

Favorite fic I wrote: ‘heard pain tell love’ was again an enormous labor of love and it remains a personal favorite. i’m also a big fan of ‘sky full of stars’

Fic I want to rewrite/expand on: i actually have most of a second chapter and a few other bits and bobs in progress for ‘keep to the stars (the dawn will come)’, my Inquisitor!Hecate fic! and i’ve been working on some follow-up pieces to the post-Coup Yennaia fic, but they’re very much on the back-burner.

Share a bit of a wip or story idea you’re working on: Here’s a wee bit from chapter 8 of ‘stone’!

Tissaia calls upon her Chaos here and there--not actively casting spells, but summoning it, exerting her will upon it. It is not unlike watching a candle flicker on a gusty evening: her flame winks out, or leaps high and ravenously devours the wick.

She does this for herself, of course--testing the limits of her magic against the dimeritium in her blood--but although she does not say as much, it is for Yennefer too. And so, Yennefer is attentive. She knows the feel of Chaos moving, knows the way the air changes when magic is used. What she does not know is the taste, the smell, the feel of magic used by one mage or another.

So she inundates herself in Tissaia’s small uses of magic, from time to time calling upon her own Chaos for comparison. Such practice, however, is largely useless: she is at home in her own body, her own consciousness; her own magic only feels like Chaos in its natural state.

[hyba]

T I P S Y : Connecting Your Emotions to the Story

A lot of us write because we have something to say. The themes that we include in our books are often themes we are interested in, issues that affect us directly in our real lives, and problems that we want to solve. Writing is as much an exercise in self-discovery and finding an answer as it is a creative endeavor. 

Storytelling has been a key method to get people to emotionally connect with a message. Think advertising and marketing - those great campaigns that make you feel something are the ones you probably remember best. And for good reason, too! One of the most effective ways of making your readers feel what you feel is to connect your emotions as a writer writing something you feel strongly about to the story that you are writing. 

How you do you connect your emotions to the story to send a powerful message to your reader?

There are several ways to do this, and whatever options you choose should ideally work together to pull at the reader’s emotions, at their heartstrings, and make them see what you want them to see. At some point (or several points) in your story, the reader should have a strong emotional reaction to something they are reading. In this Tipsy I’m going to focus on just three ways that you can do this:

Use your characters’ stories and arcs.

Write what you have experienced.

Don’t shy away from the truth.

Let’s look at each of these more in-depth.

1. Use your characters’ stories and arcs. Your characters are you biggest sources of emotion in your story. Whether it’s first person narrative or third, you can find ways to get into your character’s head - to get the reader under their skin - and use them as a vehicle for your message. 

A character who overcomes adversity caused by social inequality, for example, will resonate with most readers. It’s not just because most people around the world have endured inequality in some form or another - it’s also because we like to see the smaller person achieve bigger things. We root for the underdog, not the person who has it all. We follow their plight and understand their story and want them to show everyone why they deserve to get what they want in the end. The end doesn’t have to be brought on by big, universal changes, either - change is slow and small victories are not to be overlooked. Think Hidden Figures, Rocky, Remember the Titans, Erin Brockovich, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Blind Side, I Am Sam, Slumdog Millionaire, Gattaca, and hundreds more.

Or maybe you have a character who is, by all means, an antagonistic, unpleasant person - but throughout your story you redeem them, slowly but surely, and give them opportunity to change into a better person than they were at the beginning. Even here, you have to keep in mind that small steps are better than no steps at all - a character doesn’t have to do a complete 180 in order for the reader to understand that they are turning a new leaf and becoming a better person. Something as small as one act to show that their mind is changing should be enough to let the reader know that this person might not be the bad person they started out as, and that maybe that means that we can learn to forgive them, or perhaps even accept them because they have reformed. Popular characters with redemption arcs that come to mind are The Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge. One story that does this is American History X, where the main character is a racist neo-Nazi who later reforms after a series of events make him see his faults. Another example of this is Helen Harris from Bridesmaids, who starts off (through the eyes of the main character, as we see her) as this terrible person who is getting in the way of the MC’s friendship and upstaging her at every turn.

Adversely, you can bring your characters to a bitter end in their stories, presenting the reader with a jarring, grim finality that, while unsatisfying, seeks to uncover the realities of the hardships people around the world have gone through. Some examples here could be To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bluest Eye, and to a certain extent, even The Great Gatsby.

And, finally, even if they are an antagonistic character and are not willing to change their ways, a good rule of thumb is to give them some humanity - some reason for being the completely disagreeable and unpleasant person they are. Here you can take the example of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada  - we’re given peeks into her private life, which helps us understand her character, and she does something nice for the protagonist at the end of the story, but she is still a person who is portrayed as being generally beyond change. One of my all-time favourite books, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, has as its villain a Mrs. Danvers, who continuously sabotages the MC’s desire to be happy with her husband for reasons that shed some light on her character when revealed, though she does not change for the better in the story. She is, in many ways, the quintessential female villain - manipulative and cunning and heartless, or so it would seem. 

In any case, your character should have some kind of arc - and the arc shouldn’t be chosen arbitrarily. What does how your character ends up mean to you? Is it important to you that you show readers the grim reality of the world in which we live, and give your character a “bad” ending? Is it important to you to represent hope with a happy ending, even if it is through small gains? 

2. Write what you have experienced. By now we all know that adage - that you should write what you know - and it can be very, very true. There is a very large rift between experiencing something first-hand and experiencing it second-hand. There is an even greater rift between experiencing something second-hand and not having experienced it at all. 

For example, I can write about the plight of my countrymen throughout history, even if I have not experienced any of the difficulties that they had to go through, mostly because I see the after-effects of those struggles every day (and I experience those after-effects myself). My writing would hold emotion, because I am having an experience, and I am witnessing this - even feeling it to an extent. Still, my writing probably wouldn’t hold the same level of emotion that something written by someone who actually went through it would. Moreover, if someone from the other side of the world were to write about this, not only would they risk losing yet another layer of emotional authenticity, they may also bring to the table a great deal of bias which would take away from their story.

Now, I am not saying that you can’t write about Ancient Egypt if you aren’t Egyptian or an Egyptologist, or that you shouldn’t write about online bullying if you’ve never been bullied online. You can, and if you so desire, then you go right on ahead! What I am saying is that you probably want to make sure that you’ve got the right information - that you’re not making assumptions with the information that you include in your writing - and that you’ve researched your topic deeply.

This is also not to say that your story must be fully dedicated to what you have experienced. Perhaps your experience is transmitted through only part of the story, and the rest of the parts are all topics that you have never experienced yourself. I can write a story about a family of vampires that tries to accustom themselves to the daily life of a normal, quite suburban neighbourhood, and in which the main character is betrayed by a very good friend. Now, the vampire thing and the suburban neighbourhood thing? No personal experience (or, at least, extremely limited experience in one of those). The betrayal? That’s where my experience would come in. So it’s not an all-or-nothing concept! ^^

Some great examples of people writing about what they have experienced can be found throughout the annals of great literature. Leo Tolstoy, who wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina, wrote about the society and issues of the time in the Russian Empire, which he could see and experience first-hand. JD Salinger wrote about what he experienced as a soldier in WWII - and the results of that experience (PTSD, a general loss of innocence, social isolation and exclusion, depression, etc.) - in stories like A Perfect Day for Bananafish and The Catcher in the Rye. 

Nathan Englander does a great job of explaining the entire idea of “Write What You Know” as an emotional endeavour in this article. Also in that article, check out Ursula K. Le Guin’s advice, because it’s awesome for fantasy and fiction writers! The very essence of fiction, in the end, is that it’s not real, and it doesn’t all have to be some literary masterpiece criticizing some aspect of the world we live in. Sometimes you just want to write something light, and that’s to be encouraged too! 

3. Don’t shy away from the truth. When I was writing my thesis paper for my Bachelor’s, I used a lot of statements that didn’t make my supervisor very happy. Things like “I believe that” or “It may be that” or “I think that” and other such shaky phrases. It wasn’t until he told me to stop waffling about and just state things outright that I started being more assertive with my writing. I didn’t just “believe” that something meant something - it did. You have to be the same with your writing.

There are certain experiences that aren’t very easy to describe. Take your pick of any one of probably thousands of historical examples, and you’ll know what I mean. Genocides, racism, ethnocentrism, colonialism, imperialism, sexism - the truth is, for humans, we’ve been doing extremely inhuman things for a long time. If you’re writing about something like that, you can’t shy away from the truth. You want the reader to understand - to truly understand - what your characters have gone through, and what their descendants are going through, and how that is affecting life today. You want them to not only understand but feel, as much as you can convey, the extremely powerful emotions that are linked to such topics. 

For example, in The Pirates of Sissa, the main conflict is a violent intra-state conflict in which has been raging for decades, mainly fueled by racism and ethnocentrism and discrimination on both sides. There are some extremely disturbing topics broached within this novel, and not a single one of them is something that I’ve made up. These are all things that humans have done to other humans. 

When you force someone to look - to truly see - they cannot turn away from that emotion. Don’t forego the nitty-gritty details just because you’re worried you might make readers uncomfortable. They deserve to know the truth. Hopefully, they’ll see it for what it is and understand the message behind your writing. Of course, that being said, please do keep the age of your intended audience in mind. You don’t want to depict graphic violence if your story is meant for elementary school kids - and perhaps not even for middle school children, either.

Now, this one doesn’t apply to all stories. It’s true that some writing will not be about topics quite as horrifying or difficult to read about as what I’ve mentioned above. There are plenty of stories that really pull at your emotions without having to force you to look at extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant things. Examples include The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Alright, I’m going to stop here! This Tipsy has stepped over to the Dark Long Side, so this is where I’ll break. ^^ If you have any Qs or comments, please do let me know! I love talking about writing, so don’t feel shy!

Note: The advice in my Tipsy segments is only meant to guide you - none of these are hard and fast rules - and hopefully through your own experimentation and the feedback you obtain from others, you’ll be able to see which emotions were really conveyed in your story and which were not quite as potent as you would have wanted them to be. 

[imsfire2]

Marvel asks: All of them! Sorry, can't choose! ^^'

AAAAARRRGGHHHH!!!  Well that’ll larn me!

Marvel asks

Tony Stark: favorite movie? 

Close call; I’m very fond of “Avengers Assemble”, “Thor” and “CA:TWS”, but the one that has wowed me the most of all was “Black Panther”, which took everything to a new level of brilliance.

Drax: what character would you wanna be friends with?

I’m going to make this “characterS” and say Jane Foster, Aunt May, and General Okoye.  A lot of my other faves probably wouldn’t be so easy to be friends with (too prickly, messed-up, hyper-focussed, downright dangerous, etc) but I would love to be mates with these three!

Valkyrie: favorite director? 

Ryan Coogler, no question!

Pepper Potts: top 3 fave characters

Ugh, very hard to choose!  Most of our protagonists are pretty cool, in their different ways.  Let’s pick three of the women; Okoye, Gamora, Natasha.  But I could just as easily have said Nakia, Hope and Hawkeye.  Or Rocket, Groot and Shuri.  Or...

Yeah, very hard to choose.

Sam Wilson: funniest scene?

Unlike a lot of people I loathed the relentless humour in “Ragnarok”.  So I’m going to say, Sam and Cap’s first meeting in TWS, which is gentle and kind, and character-driven. 

And (although it’s rather sick humour) “He’s adopted” is very funny.

Bucky Barnes: most heartbreaking moment?

The bit in TWS when the pilots try to take off and provide air support and are shot down before they can get to their planes.  Reduces me to tears every time.

Nakia: character you wish had a bigger role?

I want to see more of Shuri!

Rocket Racoon: best nickname?

I don’t think I know the scripts well enough!  “Legolas”, possibly?

Natasha Romanoff: favorite ass kicking scene?

Another one that’s very hard to choose. 

Natasha’s first scene, maybe, when she’s barefoot and unarmed and still beats the shit out of half a dozen brawny guys.  It’s such a great use of an action scene to establish character.  I also love her fight with possessed!Hawkeye. 

But on the other hand, the Dora Milje’s team fighting style is unbelievably awesome...

Ned Leeds: favorite villain?

Killmonger, no contest.  He’s rounded, believable, well-motivated, and even though you know he’s wrong you empathise with him.  Masterclass in how to write a top-notch antagonist.

I also really liked Toomes/Vulture in “Spiderman Homecoming”.  Again, because he had good motivation and was an interesting rounded character, not a cardboard “I wanna rule/destroy the world >snarl snarl

Bruce Banner: guardians or avengers?

For sheer fun, Guardians.  But I’m enjoying seeing them all meet up!

Thor Odinson: most attractive character?

Still Hawkeye.  Give me those Renner arms.

Gamora: favorite pairing?

As in Ship?  T’Challa/Nakia, and Gamora/Peter Q.

As in Best mates?  Rocket & Groot, Peggy & Jarvis, and Peter P & Ned.

Mantis: what do you think will happen in Avengers 4?

I’m with @hanorganaas on this; it’ll have to involve time travel in some form, to bring back at least some of those lost.  Also I have it on good authority from @spectralarchers that Hawkeye will come back as Ronin.  And clearly a certain Carol Danvers is going to be involved.

There’ll be an opening section where the traumatised survivors are trying to regroup in a shattered world.  Somehow or other the script will have to contrive another “lowest ebb” moment even lower than the end of “Infinity War” (& I don’t envy the people tasked with that!) because that’s how script dynamics work.  But ultimately the big purple knob-head will be defeated.

Shuri: most rewatched movie?

Either “Avengers assemble” or “Guardians of the Galaxy”; I haven’t kept count, but they are the ones I go back to for a happy evening slobbed out in front of the telly with a big bag of tortilla chips.

Peter Parker: best outfit/suit?

As a Superhero Suit, I love the Ant-man suit! 

As actual wearable clothes, I’d like to have Gamora’s leathers, especially the red coat; practical and sexy.

Happy Hogan: what ‘superpower’ is the coolest?

Well, I’ve always wanted to be able to fly, so any of the superpowers that give you that would be great! 

I also love the way Mantis’ abilities take something that culturally is just expected of “nice good girls” (being empathetic, reading others emotions and reactions, being able to soothe down even the most aggressive person) and make it a fucking superpower!

Aunt may: most painful death?

After those brave pilots in TWS?  Pietro.  Really didn’t see that one coming.

Pietro Maximoff: Peter Quill or Peter Parker?

Aww, don’t make me chose!  Quill is so cute! 

I was never a Peter Parker fan until Tom Holland but now - ok, Peter Parker.

Heimdall: would you like a Deadpool crossover?

Properly done, then hell yeah!  But it would need a very, very good script to juggle the emotional/tonal switchbacks required.

Steve Rogers: who resembles their role the most?

From what we get to see as fans?  I’d have to go with Chris Evans.

Rhodey: who resembles their role the least?

Karen Gillan certainly doesn’t sound much like Nebula!

T’challa: favorite non-romantic pairing?

I’ve already suggested a couple of Best-mates relationships; so how about some siblings?  Gamora and Nebula; so much tension, so much anger and yet so much torn, blood-soaked loyalty.  It’s just as interesting a dynamic as the one between Thor and Loki, with a lot less screentime than that has had. 

I also liked the sibling loyalty and love between Wanda and Pietro.  Always good to see a happy sibling relationship, when Screenwriting 101 would have it that only sibling rivalry is interesting...

Peter Quill: favorite place in the mcu?

That’s going to be a tie between Know-where, for the visuals, and Wakanda, for - well, everything really.

Loki laufeyson: best line/quote?

Ugh, there have been a lot of great lines.  Right now, I’m going to go with Okoye’s “For Wakanda?  Without question.”  Such a fantastic use of a single line to cement how her character is the embodiment of honour. 

Scott Lang: do you think you’d have died in the snap?

Hmm.  I kind of hope I would, to be honest; life afterwards is going to be spectacularly hellish until they manage to fix it.

Stephen strange: favorite song used?

The opening of “Guardians of the Galaxy”, with Quill slogging through the rain and then putting on “Come and get your love” on his walkman and starting to dance.  Just gorgeous; as a sequence, as framing, as a way of telling us something about him very economically, as a device to show us this is going to be a hell of a fun ride...

Phil Coulson: the moment you fell in love with your favorite character?

Seeing as I find it impossibly difficult to pick a favourite in the first place, this is one I can’t answer! 

Okoye: which movies did you see in cinema?

All of them bar the first two “Iron Man” films.

Maria Hill: favorite special credits?

What, as in “Mr Evans’ marmalade sandwiches made by” kind of thing?  I’m not sure I pay enough attention to the credits to have ever noticed one (I made that one up, needless to say). 

Or are “special credits” like cameos?  A nod to the mourners for Yondu, then.

Erik Killmonger: favorite press moment/interview

Way back during the press tour for “Avengers assemble”; a journalist asked RDJ in-depth questions on Tony’s motivation and development, and then only asked Scarlett Johansson some ridiculous thing about her diet; and instead of answering with a patient smile she called him out on it. 

It was only, what, five years ago, yet it was almost unheard-of then for a female actor to bite back publically like that.  And the good thing is, that already seems pretty extraordinary. 

Wanda Maximoff: favorite relationship of the actors?

I don’t know enough about their relationships to have one, really.

Nebula: favorite minor character?

Luis.  An “ordinary person” character who is highly likeable in his own right and who does the right thing even when he knows it’s bloody dangerous & could get him killed.  For similar reasons I’m also very fond of Cameron Klein and Dr Helen Cho.  

Vision: Steve with or without a beard?

Without, definitely.  Not a great fan of beards to be honest.  There’s the odd face that looks great with one (thinking of a certain Mexican actor and rare fern collector) but mostly they’re just fashionable face-fur. 

Nick Fury: what actor would you like to see join the mcu and for what role?

On one level, I’m content to wait and see what they come up with.  I’m not a comic-reader, so I know almost nothing about any of the characters until they appear in the MCU, which makes dream-casting any of them pretty difficult.

On the other hand, I did read a rumour that John Boyega is in line for a future role; and as I’m a huge fan of his I would love for that to be true!

Hope Van Dyne: expectations for ‘Captain Marvel’?

As a non-comics person, I don’t know anything about the character or her story.  Hopefully we’ll get an interesting, well-rounded female lead with solid motivation and her plot-line isn’t primarily about a) a man or b) not being able to have children.  Or c) her children being dead.

Groot: I am Groot?

We are Groot.

Grandmaster: which characters would you like to see interact more?

Shuri with all the scientists!

Peggy Carter: Hulk or Banner?

Both.  Both is good. 

Luis: favorite Chris?

I’m sure they’re all lovely chaps.

Michelle Jones: would you like a Black Widow movie?

I’d like to see lots of the female characters get stand-alone films.  So, yes please to a “Black Widow” movie, but also, hmm, let’s see; how about a “Shuri and Jane Foster Science the Shit Out Of This Mess” movie?  A “Peggy Carter and the early days of SHIELD” movie?  A “Nakia the Super-spy” movie?

Sif: long hair Thor or short hair Thor?

Long hair.  Markedly more appealing with long hair.

Jane Foster: favorite character development?

I love the way Steve Rogers’ story kind-of goes in cycles of effort and hope and bitter experience, and always comes back round to situations where he affirms who he essentially is.  It’s good to see a non-liner pattern of development like that, which is much closer to how real people deleop and change, instead of the standard narrative “A to B” model like Dr Strange (”was a jerk, learned to do better” - okay, he saves the world, so that’s good; but as for development, pish).

Yondu: favorite after-credit scene?

The Shawarma joint. 

Also Hope seeing the Wasp suit for the first time.

Wong: favorite marvel intro?

Not sure I pay that much attention to the intros, tbh.  I’m just sitting there thinking “Give me the story, folks!”

Thank you for asking! - and thank you, if you’ve had the patience to slog through all this, for reading!

[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

On Your Right - Bucky Barnes x Reader (Part 7)

A/N: HAPPY FRIDAY YA’LL! Have some Bucky fluff to celebrate the weekend. 

Thanks for the continued love, it makes my day every time. :)  Tags are open! 

Summary: Morning after girl’s day. Just some fluff with pretty much the whole team. Read on and enjoy. 

Rating: T for language

Warnings: Tooth rotting fluff. Like 0.5 seconds of angst. 

Pairings/Characters: Bucky x Reader, Everybody! 

Word count: 2000 even 

Masterlist

The next morning you woke up on Natasha’s couch slightly confused until you remembered passing out during A Walk to Remember. Nat was still asleep at the other end of the couch and Wanda was curled up in the arm chair, so you quietly left the room, taking the empty wine glasses with you to the kitchen.

You were rummaging through the fridge when Tony and Bruce entered.

“Good morning, thief,” Tony greeted you.

You would have been worried, but you could hear the amusement in his voice.

“If it’s not labelled it’s fair game, Tony,” you mumbled around a bite of cold pizza.

“I was more concerned about my credit card that got swiped yesterday. Do you know anything about that?” he asked with an expectant look.

“We live in a house of spies. You can’t trust anyone,” you reminded him with a shrug.

“Especially the quiet ones apparently,” he added.

“I never swiped your credit card,” you told him honestly. “All of the machines took the chip.”

“I never should have let you and Romanoff become friends,” he huffed.

“Probably not,” you agreed with a smirk.

Bruce snickered as he grabbed an apple out of the basket on the counter. Before he could retort, Tony’s phone rang and he stepped outside to answer it. You continued to munch of the slice of pizza as you gathered the ingredients for waffles.

“Dr. Banner, did you read Helen Cho’s latest article?” you asked conversationally as you mixed a large bowl of batter.  

“Yes, I did!”

His eyes lit up at the question and you quickly found yourself engaged in an in-depth discussion of the paper. During the course of the conversation you made waffles for yourself, Bruce, Tony, Peter, Nat, and Wanda. For the most part, everyone left the pair of you alone wholly uninterested in the topic.

You two were just starting to debate the pros and cons of semi-synthetic cellular regeneration when Bucky, Steve, Sam, and Pietro came in, arguing. Finding it impossible to continue with all the shouting, you shot Bruce an apologetic smile and started once again pouring the batter into the massive waffle iron Tony had purchased.

“Come by the lab later if you want to finish discussing the paper,” Bruce offered, as he skirted around the four other men.

“I will.”

He waved a hand to acknowledge that he heard you.

“That doesn’t count as you lapping us,” Bucky stated firmly, glaring at Sam.

“Oh yes, it does,” Sam argued back.

“No way,” Steve disagreed, shaking his head. “Pietro lapped us. You were just an over-sized backpack.”

Sam looked at you to back him up.

“Come on, y/n. It counts right?”

You scrunched your nose with a sigh, “Sorry, Sam. I don’t think so.”

“Seriously, y/n? It was your idea.”

Steve and Bucky looked at you in betrayal, and you threw your hands up in defense.

“I said it would be funny for me to get carried by Pietro and lap you guys,” you explained to the super soldiers, before glaring lightly as Sam, “I didn’t say anything about you.”

After a moment Steve and Bucky doubled over laughing.

“Now that would have been funny,” Steve gasped out.

“Really, Rogers?” Sam demanded.

“He’s right, that would have been hilarious,” Bucky agreed.  

“I would have enjoyed that a lot more too. I’m free any time you want a ride, Printessa,” Pietro winked at you.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Here, have a waffle,” you snorted as you shoved the waffle into his mouth to shut him up. You pushed the stack towards the rest of them and jerked your head towards the table, “Now, all of you go eat and quit arguing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Steve quipped with a cheeky grin, grabbing the maple syrup and pecking you on the cheek.

“Thanks for breakfast, doll. It’s delicious,” Bucky complimented you after a harsh swallow. “Are you going to join us?”

“In a minute.”

Pulling sixteen fresh waffles out of the iron, you stacked them on a plate and placed them in the middle of the table, stifling a laugh as the four of them quickly demolished the tower while keeping up a constant stream of teasing. Perched on the stool closest to the breakfast nook, safely away from the chaos, you couldn’t help but smile. You had always wanted a big family and that was exactly what you got when you joined the Avengers.

“Mr. Stark requests all team members’ presence in the penthouse lounge immediately.”

You were already rising from your seats when you spoke up.

“What for, FRIDAY?” you asked, looking quizzically at the others who were equally confused.

“I’m unsure, miss. He just insists that you all join him and Mr. Parker upstairs.”

“Spider baby probably needs his diaper changed,” Sam snickered.

“Be nice,” you admonished, slapping him on the shoulder.

“Nah he probably needs a bottle,” Bucky whispered to Sam and Pietro who burst out laughing.

“I heard that,” you informed him, not bothering to turn around, “You be nice too, Mister.”

“And you accuse me of parenting everyone,” Steve muttered, arching an eyebrow at you.

“Well where do you think I got it from?”

He grinned and tugged your ponytail lightly as you walked through the doors to find the rest of the team waiting for you, looking serious. All of you snapped into mission mode, taking your seats and waiting for Tony to brief you.

“Well, team. There has been a major development in young Peter’s life here, and it seems like an opportunity for a teachable moment.”

You glanced at Peter who was standing next to Tony looking mortified. You just wanted to hug the poor kid.

“Peter has been…” Tony paused as if he couldn’t find the words. “Maybe you should tell them,” he suggested finally, nudging Peter forward.

“I’ve been,” he mumbled the rest of the sentence so none of you could make it out.

You expected him to say he had been exposed which would be devastating. Peter was the last of you to have a secret identity and all of you wanted to keep it that way. He was just a kid after all. You didn’t realize you’d grabbed Bucky’s hand until he squeezed it to calm you down.

“What happened, kid?” Steve asked patiently.

“I got asked to a cotillion,” he finally spit out.

There was a long moment of silence where everyone was relieved that nothing bad had happened. And then all at once, everyone started shouting at Tony for scaring you all.

When the yelling had mostly stopped, Tony was wearing a shit eating grin.

“So, as I said. I felt this was a teachable moment.”

“How so?” Steve asked in a wary tone.

You had your suspicions about what was going through the genius, billionaire, reformed (as he liked to remind you all) playboy, philanthropist’s mind.  He didn’t disappoint.

“Well, cotillion, for those of you who don’t know, is a young woman’s formal introduction into society, and that requires formal dancing. And it got me to thinking, how many of you actually know how to dance? Considering the number of missions that require formal wear and a stellar quickstep we are woefully unprepared. So today, we are going to have our first dance lesson.”

“I already know how to dance,” Sam whined.

“Grinding in a club doesn’t count, Wilson.”

You chuckled at Nat’s comment. While you were annoyed with Tony’s theatrics you were excited to learn.

Tony had brought in two championship dancers as your instructors. For the first hour the guys were sent off to the other side of the room to learn their steps while you and the other ladies remained where you were. Pepper and Maria Hill had joined you for the lesson, mostly for practice or entertainment you guessed given that they clearly knew what they were doing.

Once they had managed to get the right pattern the men were brought back in and asked to take a partner. Vision quickly hurried to Wanda’s side. Tony went with Pepper, Maria with Sam, and Natasha with Bruce. Bucky had just caught your eye when Peter bounced up to you.

“Will you dance with me, y/n?” he asked excitedly.

“Of course, Peter.”

You shot Bucky a silent apology before placing your hand in Peter’s. The two of you spent the next twenty minutes awkwardly fumbling through the steps, often stepping on each other’s toes. You desperately tried to let him lead, but he was so hesitant that it often slowed the dance to a stop. For a long while all that could be heard apart from the soft waltz playing in the background was your and Peter’s apologies.

“Alright, let’s switch partners so the rest of you gentleman can get a chance to practice,” Heather suggested.

“Sorry again, y/n,” Peter mumbled, not meeting your eyes.

“It’s okay, Peter. We’re both learning. Don’t worry we’ll keep practicing and make sure you’re ready for cotillion,” you smiled softly ruffling his hair.

“Thank you.” He hugged you around your waist and you happily hugged him back.

“Mind if I cut in?”  

You looked up to meet Bucky’s soft gaze, clearly finding the show of affection endearing.

“Of course.”

Peter quickly stepped back and Bucky took his place. You glanced down at the running sneakers he was still wearing.

“You probably should have opted for steel-toed boots. I apologize in advance for any bruises.”

He chuckled as his flesh hand settled on your waist, tugging you closer. You placed your left hand on his shoulder and your right hand in his metal one.

“Don’t worry, doll. Dancing is easy if you’ve got the right partner.”

“Remember, eye contact is the second most important thing in dancing,” Manuel instructed.  

Letting go of your hand for a moment, Bucky tilted your chin up so you had to look at him. His grey eyes immediately captivated you.

“Focus on me, doll, not the steps,” he whispered, as his fingers tapped out the count on your waist. On the right beat he started to move.

You weren’t surprised that Bucky was a good dancer. Bucky was good at almost everything. Honestly he could have told you he was going to be an Olympic gymnast and you would have been waiting for him to come home with the gold.

You were however surprised that with him leading, you could actually pass for a good dancer too. Your instructor applauded the two of you, but you were too distracted to hear exactly what she said. Your entire focus was on Bucky while the two of you were dancing. Eyes never leaving his, your body eagerly moved to mirror his motions, keeping you in time. It was suddenly quiet and you felt like you were floating. It wasn’t the music guiding you, only the light pressure from his hand as you moved around the room in whirling patterns.

He must have felt the music coming to a close because your movements slowed and then stopped, and suddenly you could hear again. Your cheeks turned bright red as your brain processed the applause coming from your teammates, but you were still caught in his gaze. His eyes were alight with excitement as he held you close.

A loud whistle caught your attention and you looked over at Sam who was grinning from ear to ear. The connection broken you stepped back from Bucky trying to come back to reality.

“That was excellent,” Heather clapped her hands together, clearly impressed.

“And there you see a perfect demonstration of the number one rule in dancing,” Manuel commented. Everyone turned their attention towards him, waiting for him to elaborate. Smiling at you and Bucky, he answered their question. “You have to trust your partner.”

You glanced at Bucky, a question in your eyes. Squeezing your hand gently he gave you a soft smile.

“Without a doubt,” he murmured so only you could hear.

You couldn’t help your answering smile. Bucky trusted you completely too. 

On Your Right Tag List: @bexboo616, @shitty-imagines-95, @spookyscaryscully, @chamongangae​, @elaacreditava​, @unevenpages​, @spiderrparkerr​

Bucky/Sebastian Stan Tag List: @waywardpumpkin

Permanent Tag List: @iamwarrenspeace

A/N: So there you go, lots of fluff to kick off your weekend. Because Bucky is 100% an amazing dancer and Peter Parker would 100% be a clumsy adorable goof. Hope you enjoyed it! Comments are lovely! <3 

Part 8

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND November 15, 2019 – Ford Vs. Ferrari, Charlie’s Angels, The Good Liar, The Report and More!

Another week where I found myself falling behind on writing just because I have so much else going on. Sorry for the tardiness of this column… again.

In case you hadn’t heard, I’ve returned to my role as house manager at David Kwong’s Off-Broadway show “The Enigmatist” so that’s taking up some of the weekend I use for writing. It’s also awards season, which means I’m being invited to a ton more events that I don’t necessarily want to turn down. Plus there’s a little something called “Disney+” which I haven’t actually had much of a chance to get into.

That be as it may, the last few weekends have been so pitiful at the box office that things can only get better, right?

My favorite movie of the weekend, as well as the year, is James Mangold’s FORD V FERRARI (20thCentury Fox), starring Christian Bale as British racecar driver Ken Miles, who is hired by Matt Damon’s racecar designer Caroll Shelby to help him create a sportscar for the Ford company to race at Le Mans in 1963 with the sole intention of defeating regular winner Ferrari. It’s an amazing film – you can read my review below – which includes a fantastic cast that includes Caitrioni Balfe from Outlander, Noah Jupe (also in Honey Boy, currently in theaters), Jon Bernthal, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas and more. I probably don’t have to say too much more about this because you can read my review below, but since it will be in my Top 5 for the year, it’s highly recommended and a movie that you will not want to miss in theaters.

My Review of Ford v Ferrari

I wish I was as bullish on Elizabeth Banks’ remake of CHARLIE’S ANGELS (Sony), co-starring Kristen Stewart, newcomer Ella Balinska and Naomi Scott from Aladdin, as well as Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, Sam Claflin (staying in asshole mode after co-starring in The Nightingale) and more. It’s a female-friendly version of the action-comedy that McG made in 2000 with a sequel called Charlie’s Angels: Fully Loaded in 2003. The latter is one of my personal guilty pleasures, even though it’s probably not a very good movie. As far as Elizabeth Banks’ movie?

Mini-Review: I really wanted to like this movie, mainly since I’ve been a fan of Elizabeth Banks for so long.  I really want her to shine as a filmmaker, especially in this case where she’s both written and directed this attempt to relaunch the popular ‘70s television show that often focused more on its stars T ‘n’ A than their brains and abiliites.

We meet two of the new Angels, Sabina (Kristen Stewart) and Jane (Ella Balinska), as they’re dealing with a horny millionaire in Brazil, played by Chris Pang from Crazy Rich Asians. Sabina is in the midst of pulling a big-time seduction on the sleezeball before Jane comes in with other ninja women to deal with his bodyguards.  That opening scene gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the movie, but then the needlessly overt and deliberate “girl power” opening credits is a bit worrying of the direction where things might be going.

We then meet Naomi Scott’s Elena Houghlin, a trod-upon programmer at a big corporation getting ready to release an Amazon Echo-like device that can do anything from powering an entire building to being weaponized in dangerous ways. She tries to tell her obnoxious and sexist supervisor, played by Nat Faxon, but he refuses to tell the big boss Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin). Elena turns to the Townsend Agency and its Angels to help her blow the whistle on how dangerous the device can be in the wrong hands, so her, Sabina and Jane proceed to break into the Brock Corporation to steal one of the devices.

That’s the basic and quite derivative premise, and frankly, it’s rarely enough to keep the viewer entertained, especially once you realize that the entire movie is just a means to introduce Naomi Scott’s character as an Angel.  This Townsend Agency isn’t just one small agency with a few women and one Bosley, as it has expanded worldwide with many, many Bosleys, including one retiring one played by Patrick Stewart.  You see, like the Kingsmen, Bosley is just a rank of handler in between “Charlie,” who apparently is a woman, and her Angels. Stewart’s Bosley is being replaced by a former Angel, played by Banks, but first, they go on a mission with another Bosley, played by Djimon Hounsou, whom has a close relationship with Jane. (Don’t get too used to him as he’s barely in the movie.)

There’s a lot to take in as all this information is thrown at you, including a number of homages to earlier Charlie’s Angels incarnations, but the biggest problem with the movie is the fact that Kristen Stewart just doesn’t have a lot of on-screen charm. Watching her spending an entire movie trying to be funny and sexy and failing at both – well, that’s one-third of the movie that just doesn’t work at all. Fortunately, the other actors are generally better. I was really impressed by newcomer Ella Balinska, who handles a lot of the best action scenes, and I also enjoyed seeing Scott playing a character so different from Princess Jasmine in Aladdin. Even so, the attempts at comedy in Charlie’s Angels frequently falls flat, except a few moments later on.

This leaves Banks in a position where she’s forced to lean quite heavily on her soundtrack and locations to keep things interesting. While Bryan Tyler’s soundtrack is pretty good overall, I really had no interest in the pop songs written specifically for the movie.

The overall issue is that Charlie’s Angels just doesn’t offer much beyond the very basics. The fact it essentially uses the same general idea that didn’t work in Men in Black International as its basis just makes the movie derivative of another Sony movie that fell flat.

Sure, mileage is going to vary with those who see Charlie’s Angels based on how much they’ll put up with from the lackluster Stewart as the lead, but this just seemed like an idea that was destined to fail from the beginning, regardless of who was directing it.

Rating: 6/10

Last as far as the wide releases go is THE GOOD LIAR (Warner Bros.), directed by Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast) and starring Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen, a psychological thriller about a man who isn’t what he says he is, who makes the mistake of getting on Helen Mirren’s bad side.

Mini-Review: Sometimes, it’s nice going into a movie thinking you know what to expect and then be continually surprised as it pulls the rug from under you, not once or twice, but many, many times.

At first, Bill Condon’s psychological thriller seems like a nice movie about the relationship between an older couple who meet online – Helen Mirren’s Betty, a kindly widow with an overprotective grandson, who goes on a date with Ian McKellen’s Roy Courtnay, who is a lot more than meets the eye. We quickly learn that Roy is involved in a number of grifts in trying to steal mucho bucks from some very rough Russian sorts, but we also see that Roy can be just as tough and cruel. This is all going on as Betty and Roy are getting closer, her offering Roy a place to stay in the house she shares with her grandson Steve.  We know quite quickly that not everything is what it seems as far as Roy is concerned, but it’s the way we’ll learn the truth behind him and his relationship with Betty that keeps you on the edge while watching The Good Liar.

Obviously, the big draw for Bill Condon’s psychological thriller are his two fantastic actors, and neither of them disappoint, particularly Mirren, who is absolutely on fire with her performance. Since we already know that not everything about Roy is on the level, you would think that you have this film sussed, but that just isn’t the case. Even after a major revelation about Roy’s past, the relationship between him and Betty and her grandson Steven (a decently laid-back performance by Russell Tovey) just gets more interesting.

Unfortunately, I can’t say too much more about the third act where things really turn on their ear, and there’s some extremely disturbing revelations that might make the difference for some between liking or loving the movie. Me, I thought it was quite good, definitely better than similar thrillers like the recent Greta, which starts out with a suitably twisty premise but then fell flat. I was also surprised by how violent and even bloody The Good Liar gets, really earning its R-rating and not from language.  

The Good Liar is a movie full of surprises that, like its characters, is never what it seems. It may not be as good as some of Condon’s influences – Hitchcock the most obvious one – but few will be disappointed by the two hours they spend in the company of Mirren and McKellen.

Rating: 7/10

You can read more about the above movies and how I think they will fare over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

One limited release opening today I highly recommend is Scott Z. Burns’ THE REPORT(Amazon Studios) aka “The Torture Report,” an in-depth political thriller based on Daniel T Jones’ investigations into the CIA’s use of extreme torture to get torture from detainees in the name of national security.  Jones is beautifully played by Adam Driver in another one of his performances that really has made this a great year for the young actor as Jones is assigned by his boss, Senator Diane Feinstein (an equally brilliant performance by Annette Bening) to investigate the CIA’s use of torture techniques to get information from detainees.  This is an intensely brilliant bit of filmmaking from Burns, only directing his second feature after writing some great films for Steven Soderbergh, such as Contagion and Side Effects. (I wasn’t a big a fan of The Informant! Or the recent The Landromat.) But Burns clearly did his research to tell a story that has a lot of talking and exposition but also great filming and editing to keep things moving at a fast pace, which also can be attributed to the dramatic fireworks he gets out of a cast that’s an abundance of riches, including the likes of Moira Tierney, Corey Stoll, Tim Blake Nelson and other wonderful surprises. The Report offers another of the year’s most impressive ensembles, but it’s always kept centered on Driver’s Jones and his long journey to get the report he’s writing out to the public. Burns uses some great techniques to create tension without going overboard on the thriller aspects of this story, but this is a fantastic bit of investigative exposé work for a movie that isn’t a doc. If you miss it in theaters when it’s playing in two weeks, you can catch on Amazon Prime in a couple weeks, but I do recommend giving this a look when it’s in theaters if possible since it does require the type of concentration few have while watching movies at home.

I’ll have an interview with Burns over at Next Best Picture next week.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to catch It Comes at Night director Trey Edward Shults’ WAVES (A24) before opening, but it involves the journey of a suburban African-American family led by a domineering father (Sterling K. Brown) as they “navigate love, forgiveness and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.” (Sorry, that’s the best I can do without having seen the movie.) It stars Kelvin Harrison from Luce, Lucas Hedges, Taylor Russell and more.

I also seemed to have missed Swati Mhise’s THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI (Roadside Attractions) – this is the running theme of this week’s column, by the way – but it looks like a cool biopic about the legendary Rani (or Queen) of Jhansi, a freedom fighter in 19thcentury India, who led her people into battle against the British Empire at the age of 24. It led to the shift of power that took down the notorious British East India Company and Queen Victoria’s reign over India. It’s opening moderately wide this week, possibly in as many as 300 theaters.

I also haven’t seen Mark Landsman’s doc SCANDALOUS (Magnolia), which explores the 60 years of the National Enquirerand it’s salacious and shocking stories.

A couple Netflix movies will get limited releases before their debut on Netflix. Jeremy Clapin’s French animated film I Lost My Body, based on the novel “Happy Hand” by Guillaume Laurant. It follows a hand as it explores the romance between a pizza delivery boy and his lady love, a librarian named Gabrielle. It seems to be opening at the Cinema Village in New York, and I assume somewhere in L.A. as well.

There’s also the French film Atlantics by Mati DIop, which won the Cannes Grand Jury prize, which is quite an achievement. Somehow, I managed to miss this at the New York Film Festival and haven’t had a single chance to see it since. Odd. It’s set in a suburb of Dakar where a 17-year-old girl named Ada is in love with a construction worker named Souleimayne, although she’s been promised to another man in a fixed marriage. After he disappears at sea, Souleimane and other workers return to get revenge on the people building the tower that has cast a shadow on the city. That will open at Film at Lincoln Center

I also didn’t get a chance to see Amp Wong and Ji Zhao’s Chinese animated film White Snake (GKIDS), which will open in L.A. at the Landmark NuartFriday and then in New York City on November 29. It’s a classic fable about a young woman named Blanca who is saved by a snake catcher named Xuan, the two of them going on a journey to discover her true identity, as she’s lost her memory. According to its PR, it offers “a sumptuous tale of trickster demons, deadly mythical beasts, assassins, wuxia action, and the promise of eternal love.” So basically, everything that I look for in a movie and life.

An intriguing doc I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival was Matt Wolff’s Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber), opening at the MetrographFriday with LOTS of QnAs planned. It documents the thirty-year efforts of African-American left wing activist Marion Stokes on recording television 24 hours a day, and that includes almost every channel, becoming one of the most impressive television archivists with over 70,000 VHS tapes at the time of her death. Wolff edits the footage together to tell an amazing story.

Opening Wednesday at Film Forumis Annabelle Atanou’s debut feature MICKEY AND THE BEAR (Utopia), which takes place in the mining community of Anaconda, Montana with newcomer Camila Morrone playing a teenager who must care for her father Hank (played by James Badge Dale), who is afflicted by PTSD from serving in the Iraq war and in grief from the death of his wife.s

BAMhas the exclusive New York run on Brett Story’s documentary The Hottest August, which deals with the future of New York City following Hurricane Sandy and a particularly hot summer in 2017, and how climate change affects the city’s many denizens. It played at this years’s BAMCinemaFest and will include a repertory series called “In This Climate: Brett Story Selects” which unfortunately ends tonight.

A few other movies out this weekend in various combinations of theatrical and On Demand and digital that I just won’t have time to right about:

Feast of the Seven Fishes (Shout! Studios) The Shed (RLJE Films) Bluebird (Cleopatra Entertainment) Line of Duty (Saban Films/Lionsgate) A Reindeer’s Journey (Screen Media) To Kid or Not to Kid  (Helpman Productions)

LOCAL/REGIONL FESTIVALS

Not too many festivals of note, although Doc-NYC ends tomorrow with a few last films. If you’re in Atlanta, you can check out the Buried Alive Film Fest, a straight-up horror film festival that opened last night with the 4thAnnual Sinema Challenge for horror shorts. It will include a wide variety of features and shorts running through the weekend.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Lots of stuff hitting Netflix this week, including the animated Klaus, which had a short theatrical release last week. Also Earthquake Bird, the movie I haven’t seen and missed in the column a couple weeks back hits the streaming service after a short theatrical run. It’s a romantic drama that stars Alicia Vikander and Riley Keough, but that’s pretty much all I know.Another thing that I haven’t watched, and it’s a great shame considering what a bit Peter Morgan stan I am, but The Crown will begin its 3rdseason on Netflix with the wonderful Olivia Colman in the role of Queen Elizabeth, and man, do I need to catch up on this show.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

The Metrograph begins an intriguing new series this weekend called “On the Process,” a collection of docs and narratives about famous painters and their process, including Raul Ruiz’s 2007 film Klimt, Derek Jarman’s 1986 film Caravaggio, and more to come as it runs through November 20. Metrograph is also continuing its “Noah Baumbach in Residence” series with screenings of Baumbach’s 1997 debut Mr. Jealousy on Sunday, followed by a screening of Peter Bogdonavich’s Saint Jack (1979). On Saturday, the Metrograph is also screening The Complete Works of Edward Owens, a collection of the queer Black artist’s short films from 1966 to 1967, and then on Sunday is a 30thanniversary screening of Isaac Julien’s Looking for Langstonwith Julien in person. Welcome To Metrograph: Redux continues this weekend with Peter Cohen’s 1989 doc The Architecture of Doom and Cinda Firestone’s 1974 film Attica. Late Nites at Metrograph  will show Bong Joon-Ho’s The Host (2006) a couple more times and also show Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man (1995), starring Johnny Depp. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinees  is Joe Dante’s Gremlinsfrom 1984. Downtown 81 continues, probably forever?

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Glad to see Tarantino’s rep theater get back on track, and you can catch a double feature of Medium Cool (1969) and The Don is Dead (1973) tonight. Friday’s Cronenberg matinee is Videodrome, a supremely weird movie starring Debbie Harry, while the weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is Jason and the Argonauts (1963), featuring amazing stop motion visual FX from the late Ray Harryhausen. Saturday night’s midnight movie is Kevin Tenney’s 1990 movie Peacemaker, starring the late Robert Forster, with Tenney in person. Monday’s 2pm matinee of David Lynch’s Lost Highway is already sold out. Monday night’s double feature is The Stalking Moon (1968) and 1970’s Pieces of Dreams, both starring Forster.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Thursday will be your last chance to see the new DCP’s of Yasujiro Ozu’sTokyo Story and Toyko Twilight, but that’s mainly because the Film Forum is starting a new series calledThe Romanians: 30 Years of Cinema Revolution, a 12-day series showing some of the best from that country, some which have been seen in the States like Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu from 2005 and Corneliu Porumboiu’s 12:08 East of Bucharest from 2006 and many others that have not. My knowledge of Romanian cinema is not good enough to recommend anything specifically but there should be some good stuff in there. Another series beginning this weekend is a longer-running series called Lee Grant: Actor. Filmmaker. Running through February and this weekend screening Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light and Norman Jewison’s 1967 film In the Heat of the Night. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is George Roy Hill’s 1967 movie Thoroughly Modern Millie starring Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Well, at least the Egyptian finishes its run of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman(not repertory!) to begin a series called “Nitrate Nights 2019,” which as it sounds is about showing rare nitrate 35mm prints of film like Powell and Pressburger’s Disney film Gone to Earth from 1950 on Friday, Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) on Saturday, and then the master’s 1940 film Rebecca with special guests Christopher Nolan and Jared Case of the George Eastman Museum, that provided the print for the series. Otto Preminger’s 1940 film Laura screens Sunday, also with guests, and then Sunday night, Alexander Payne presents Edmund Goulding’s 1948 thriller Nightmare Alley, which Guillermo del Toro is in the process of remaking. Eddie Murphy will be in person at the Aero on Tuesday to show his new movie My Name is Dolemite in a double feature with Frank Oz’s 1999 film Bowfinger, both in 35mm.

AERO  (LA):

Aero is mostly doing awards-campaigning screenings of movies like Her Smell (with Elisabeth Moss in person!) and a FREE 70mm screening of Joker with Todd Phillips, but let’s get to the repertory stuff. At midnight Friday, the AERO will screen the sci-fi “classic” Zardoz (1974) starring Sean Connery. Saturday night is a double feature of David Finch’s Wild at Heart and Blue Velvet as part of “Laura Dern: A Life on Screen” with Dern appearing in person! That series continues Sunday with a double feature of Rambling Rose (1991) and Small Talk (1985), that one with Rambling Rose director Martha Coolidge in person. On Tuesday, there’s a matinee screening of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven as part of “The Hidden Lives of Terrence Malick,” which makes reference to Malick’s upcoming film A Hidden Life.

MOMA  (NYC):

MOMA is beginning its annual “The Contenders” series showing a number of smaller movies you may have missed, as well as continuing Vision Statement: Early Directorial Workswith a number of first films by foreign filmmakers, on Sunday showing Mira Nair’s 1988 film Salaam Bombay! MOMA also has a number of weekly series but since I don’t think this column will be up by Weds next week, we’ll have to explore them later. One cool thing they’re starting is Open Door Fridays, and this week they will be showing the Maysles Brothers’ concert movie classic Gimme Shelter all day long, which is free with a ticket to the museum.

Modern Matinees: Iris Barry’s History of Film also continues with more silent films from the 20s with piano accompaniment every weekday afternoon at 1:30pm.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

FilmLinc’s new series this weekend is Rebel Spirit: The Films of Patricia Mazuy, whose work I’m sadly not familiar with, so you can check out what’s playing here. Next week is the big series that I’ve been waiting for!

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Sadly, the Quad has been slowing down on its series, but this weekend, it will be bringing out a 4k restoration of Buster Keaton’s 1926 film Battling Butler, as well as a 2k restoration of his 1924 film The Navigator. Both films are preceded by shorts.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: May All Your Christmases be Noir shows the late Harold Ramis’ 2005 The Ice Harvest, starring John Cusack ad Billy Bob Thornton, while  Waverly Midnights: Spy Games will screen the original 1962 The Manchurian Candidate, starring Frank Sinatra. Late Night Favorites: Autumn 2019will show Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fictionand Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange this weekend.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

MOMI in Astoria begins a new series called Moments of Grace: The Collected Terrence MalickFriday, which runs through December 8 and is pretty self-explanatory. Friday, it’s showing Badlands (1973), Saturday is Days of Heaven (1978)and Stuart Rosenberg’s 1972 film Pocket Money (written by Malick), plus the first two will be shown on Sunday as well. (If you miss this series or don’t feel like going to Astoria, four of Malick’s first movies will be shown at Metrograph in December.) On Saturday, MOMI is also screening the 2017 animated The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales for its Family Matinee, plus it’s also showing Ildikó Enyedi’s My Twentieth Century (1989) in a new restoration.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Tonight, the Roxy is showing Francis Ford Coppola’s 1986 film Peggy Sue Got Married, starring Nicolas Cage and Cathleen Turner, plus tomorrow, it will show Coppola’s The Cotton Club Encoreone more time.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Next week’s Terror Tuesday is the 1986 film The Wraith while the Weird Wednesday is Ralph Bakshi’s half-animated 1992 film Cool World.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is Akira.

Next week, hopefully I’ll get back on track in terms of timing re: posting this column (fingers crossed!) The big movie is Disney’s Frozen 2, which I won’t have seen.  Great.

[bluesdoodles]

Skegness Solid Live Music More Blues than Rock in 2017

January drawing to a close, Christmas lights a fading memory. Then your calendar clicks around to Butlins, Skegness for the Great British Rock & Blues Festival, the next year of musical journeys begins. This year the emphasis is on Blues, Rock has fallen if not silent but reduced to a whisper this year, upsetting some and definitely changing the balance and feel of the weekend.

The Introducing Stage got the show underway from 4pm Friday until the early hours of Monday morning. The gaps were minimal the music quality, meeting of friends chatting about what stood out and having fun was the order of the day.  The grumble about the lack of rock was justified. The title of the weekend is Rock & Blues so you would expect a balanced mixture. Everyone who knows me knows that I love my Blues of every hue, but I love the energy of Rock, the power of Rock and energy of the stage shows and this year this injection of power was missed. Without the balance of Rock and Blues, we didn’t have the contrast of razor-sharp, sparkling blues guitar and the full-on power chords and stinging licks of granite fueled rock.

Bluesdoodles, Liz Aiken enjoyed the weekend visiting the stages catching acts, missing others. With four stages this was a hectic few days.  Starting off with the highlights across the days on Introducing Stage, run by Steve Stanley, of Solid Entertainments with the help from Paul Stiles and the Blues In Britain Team to hand out the voting disks.  The Skeggie road takes us to Centre Stage – designated as ‘The Rock Stage’ by the Butlins programming team. The journey continues with a visit to Jaks with its late night sessions jams and a distinctive atmosphere, organised by Blues Matters. Finally, our travels and weary feet take us to Reds, 2017 the Blues stage.  The programming was without argument patchy by the Butlins team what was good was very good, interspersed by mediocre and poor. The Road was definitely a Blue cobbled street rather than a rocky trail throughout the 2017 weekend. Let’s hope this is a transition year and next year the balance between Rock and Blues is restored. There are so many young exciting bands on the circuit that would be delighted to entertain the Skeggie crowds.

Now, for the music. GT’s Boos Band got the show under way and they were one of the thirteen excellent bands who delighted the crowded area at the heart of the Skyline Pavilion.  The bands played for the chance of performing on a stage at Butlins 2018, decided by public vote.  The three successful bands this year were Friday Night – Tom Walker Trio, Saturday, Southbound and the final finalist on Sunday was Greg Coulson Band.  The competition was tough every band bought an interpretation of blues and rock that shows the depth of live music in the UK today. Tom Walker Trio, played a set that sparked including originals and an interesting, entertaining interpretation of Joe Bonamassa’s John Henry. Hitting the authentic blues spot Backwater Roll certainly pleased the audience in a packed area. Saturday night showed that this stage is getting more popular every year as the place to find new festival gems that you will want to see live again. Southbound were great on the night with a live performance showcasing the power of the rhythm section as they delivered their distinctive Blues Rock with a bucket of soul sound thrown in for good measure.  Matt Edwards Band with Stuart Dixon on bass impressed as did their 2015 album Four Berry Jam. Matt has a voice that makes you listen and his guitar playing has an infectious tone. Amy Eftekhari’s performance of Somewhere Over The Rainbow got the crowds purring with delight. Then it was Sunday two performances really stood out and on another day Elles Bailey would have won. Her vocals have power and the addition of Nick Garner on harp added another dimension to this class act; for me the winner of Sunday night. But the popular vote went to Greg Coulson, who delivered by surrounding himself with excellent musicians and a confident stage presence on the day. His experience as keyboardist with The Selectors shone through combined with strong numbers from his forthcoming debut album. This was party music that lit up the Introducing Stage.

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Centre Stage is where queues form every night long before the doors open. At least now they are entertained by the adjacent Introducing Stage. This year designated The Rock Stage for the first time had one certainty rock would be hard to find. Friday night opened with one of last year’s winners Sugarman Sam & The Voodoo Men. Wow, the transition to main stage fitted the band perfectly with a strong set. The music was hefty blues-rock, punctuated with authentic blues licks that curled around the rhythm section. Sugarman Sam, is growing as the new number She’s A Woman demonstrated. The following act was Eric Sardinas & Big Motor highly anticipated and deeply disappointing in the delivery.  Yes, a string did break, but why the length of time off stage, as so many said surely someone of this calibre should have a spare guitar tuned for slide, do a different number or have a guitar tech. It was left to the bass player, Paul Loranger who held the fort not once but twice as Sardinas left the stage and flounced off again. What the band played was good but the flow of the set was disjointed and definitely an off night for this colourful performer of Rock-blues.

Saturday with two sessions the afternoon opened by Texas Flood another winner from 2016. What a winning Rock n’ Roll set. Texas Flood definitely washed away any cobwebs with a rip-roaring high octane set that rocked. This is the rock we want to hear at Skeggie, but why the early timing? It was not as if the evening bands were that exciting. The energy was high, the timing sharp they certainly did Wales proud! The interplay between guitar and bass was sharp and entertaining.  Closing the afternoon the Helen Hardy Band entertained. A good R n’ B band the covers we know and flowed through the auditorium as Saturday afternoon drew to a close.  Saturday night. Kenney Jones & The Jones Gang, may not be classic rock but this was a band that delighted the crowds with songs from his vast back catalogue. Kenney Jones, the drummer who was the heart of three of the great bands The Small Faces, Faces and The Who. The crowd sung along with delight to Itchycoo Park and more.  Leafhound, a rock band were well received with Luke Rayner’s guitar sounding superb, the most underrated of the weekend. (Bluesdoodles spent most of the time in Reds and Jaks this just didn’t rock our boots)

Last day of the festival with a feeling of the night after the day before.  The last of 2016 Introducing Stage winners the Rainbreakers started things off. This is a band that never rains on your parade but brings a ray of sunshine Once again proving what a great launch pad the introducing stage is as they also stepped into Centre stage limelight delivering a storming set. The testimony to this was the queue for the merch as people wanted to get their hands on the latest E.P.  Rise Up. This was R n’ B with attitude, full of tasty riffs and delicious licks in the eclectic selection of numbers. A class act with loads of potential to be a name on everyone’s lips. Popa Chubby Band closed out the afternoon with his own brand of Blues and R n’ B with his trademarked lead breaks, held together by a solid rhythm section. The crowd really warmed to him many hearing him for the first time. Definitely class blues BUT definitely not Rock as Poppa described his music as Working Class Blues.  The night was not about rock but there were three acts that delighted the audiences. Kicking off the double celebration of the Rocking Blues was Laurence Jones with his new line-up. He built the energy, excited the packed house, the guitar was sweet. Laurence full of confidence gained from years of touring and playing live across Europe and the UK. The set was one-hundred percent Laurence with ribbons and bells as he showcased his latest album Take Me High. That is definitely what he did he took us high in to a dazzling blue encrusted music with the edge of rock  With Joanne Shaw Taylor up next we were going to be in for a Wild ride. Reflecting her current album, the set was full of deep blues riffs and licks that curled around the audience with a sensuous and stylish flow.  The interaction between Joanne and her bassist Luigi Casanova adds energy a visual focal point. Then she breaks away and soars into her renowned guitar solos that hit the spot where musical memories are made. Tonight, was the best I had heard her vocals the balance was perfect so voice and guitar were in balanced harmony. Closing out the festival on Centre Stage was Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel where many re-lived memories and reminded many of the sound track of their youth.

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The weekend selection at Jaks was vast, full of delights and festival gems plus the fun of Saturday afternoon Jam. Ranging from the gently harmonious blues from Fran McGillivray to the dynamic sounds of blues with a punk attitude and sassy energy from the Husky Tones as this duo caught your attention. With a new album out soon this is a band we will be hearing lots of as they ask  Who Will I Turn To Now? Closing the night as the other stages fell silent we danced into the early hours with The Revolutionaires led by the charismatic and energetic Ed Stephenson.  Saturday afternoon is all about the Jam which two young men, Mikey Maclennan and Steve Liddle ran with style as unfortunately Jam stalwart Gary Boner from Roadhouse was unwell following a recent operation. Everyone wishes Gary a speedy recovery and a hearty welcome back to Skegness 2018. Saturday evening was a night of magic live-music. With two of the acts for many the bands of the weekend. Firstly Catfish who played a blinding set. Deep emotional blues full of verve and style as Matthew Long with his voice and guitar dominated the stage capturing the audience so that no-one was tempted away. Catfish’s rendition of Make It Rain was stunning and the emotions were charged and there were tears of joy as the passions of the audience and the band connected. Their new album, out 28th January, Broken Man will be a hit of 2017 there is definitely nothing broken about this band.  How do you follow that with Dom Pipkin & The Ikos and some New Orleans infused music. Closing the night and welcoming in Sunday were LaVendore Rogue. A band that is like marmite with the supporters outweighing those who cannot connect to their interpretation of the blues. Mixing up the set with old Hokie Joint numbers and tracks from the debut album, Light Up With they definitely shone music into our soul tonight.  Sunday evening, without Roadhouse they pulled a blinder by filling the gap with Ash Wilson. The anticipation was high, many had seen him play dual guitar in the Sean Webster Band. On stage he was joined by Bob Fridzema and Roger Inniss who played on his debut album, Broken Machine. Joining him on drums tonight was Wayne Proctor sitting in for his brother Phil Wilson who was otherwise engaged playing drums with Laurence Jones on Centre Stage. The set was mature, accomplished a quality performance of R n’B from everyone on stage. We heard covers like My Babe done the Ash way.  Ash’s vocals are strong at times sounding like molasses with the bass drum the heartbeat like cotton popping in a sun-drenched field as he  Holding Hands was sung. The Revelator a Jesse Davey number picked up the tempo. There was a pure synergy between these top drawer blues musicians a delight to behold and listen to.   Be delighted to see him on the Blues main stage next year.  Following this Will Johns & Friends, with Mikey Maclennan once again coming to the rescue as stand-in drummer. He met Will and the band a few minutes before stepping on Jaks stage with them to play a festival set. What a brilliant job he did. Very entertaining with witty repartee, brilliant guitar with a fantastic tone. What a high quality set of blues. The festival had one more act as the clocked turned into Monday, Jaks was packed as everyone squeezed a few more musical memories out of The Great Rock & Blues Festival 2017. Kris Barras Band, who delivered blues rock with power and a force to be reckoned with. Another live act that delivers every time building on the studio sound heard in their current album Lucky 13.  Blues Matters once again delivered music that will hold many memories and hats off to the DJ Clive Rawlings who each year acts as the glue that held the sessions together.

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Reds this year was coloured with Blues of every hue and shade.  With Friday and Saturday dedicated to firstly to the harmonica and then to Alligator Records. Opening the festival for Reds was A Harmonica Explosion, a night where this German folk instrument was re-shaped in tone and playing by Southern States Blues musicians to be forever connected. Blues and harmonica are a perfect pairing. Opening the night was Giles Robson Band, a very entertaining set engaging the audience who were delighted to participate when asked. The music was an explosion of blues harp as we stepped on board the steam train and followed Giles on a ride full of tonal twists and turns of the blues-harp. Later on in the evening he was joined by three more renowned harp-players Magic Dick, who for some reason was not on top form, James Harman beset with frustrating technical issues so his harp was silent for far too long and the cream of the night a musician on fire Billy Branch. When they all played together at the end of the evening we were treated to a harp firework display.  The acoustic set from Martin Harley opening on Saturday afternoon was a melodic delight as he explored the tonal ranges of his lap Weissenborn guitar. The covers took us deep into the Delta full of acoustic twists and turns gently kick-starting a harmonious Saturday in Reds turned Blue.  The tempo then changed and Reds was packed as loyal fans of Nine Below Zero were once again caressed by the band that knows how to deliver. The only disappointment was this set was on in the afternoon many felt it suited an evening slot. The music drew you in the blues was delivered and everyone left with a deep sigh of contentment. The evening was a celebration of all things Alligator. With a first for Skeggie a Q&A session with Bruce Iglauer President and founder of Alligator records. Lots of interesting questions and we all gained an insight into how a blues label works. Three blinding sets unfurled showing the diversity of electric blues. Marcia Ball got the Alligator Party rocking turning Reds into a Roadhouse for this Blues Spectacular.  Proper Chicago blues played by a wonderful group of musicians who with a smile opened up the joy of the blues and entertained. Marcia Ball sung like an angel accompanying herself on the piano with the musicians that pulled together to showcase the sound they just love to share with everyone who listens. Blues is heavenly when played this well. The harmonious and interesting combination of drum shuffles, sax, keys and the power of vocal lyrics was infectious with the guitar pulling the show together. Wow! How do you follow that? Easy when you have the depth of Alligator artists to choose from. Next up blues with a difference a trio, Moreland and Arbuckle. All eyes are focused on Moreland with his cigar box guitar and Arbuckle’s, harp and vocals. A  high octane band playing Roots music that rocks you  to your core. Electrifying raw delta infused music that gets the adrenalin pumping feet tapping and you get a warm feel good glow as the music surges through your veins.  Closing tonight we headed deep into Southside Chicago for authentic urban blues with Toronzo Cannon. Having learnt his craft in the competitive and demanding Windy city club scene it takes a special blues magic to rise above the crowd. Toronzo has that with style and a flourish as he melds smooth vocals and stinging guitar chords. With a mix of his own numbers with strong lyrics and a couple of covers; what a dynamic end to an evening that enveloped you in Chicago Blues and so much more.

Sunday at Reds was a mixed package for me opening with Lil Jimmy Reed featuring Bob Hall on Keys this was the perfect blues smoothie for early Sunday afternoon. Followed by Paul Jones and Dave Kelly as a duet Sunday was a smooth affair. The evening was a mix David Knopfler on acoustic guitar, disappointed, The Blues Band as ever delivers British blues with style and aplomb. Closing the night is Jamie Williams and The Roots Collective; this is blues infused with English Folk and roots music. Closing the festival on Reds they delivered a stylish set that didn’t for me shout out the blues. Not a celebration but a party we all enjoyed.

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There were many highlights of every Blue hue the strongest stages over the whole festival weekend were Jaks and the Introducing Stage. The night celebrating Alligator Records was a combination of brilliant blues drenched music. The three young bands who won The Introducing Stage Sugarman Sam & The Voodoo Men, Texas Flood and The Rainbreakers, all added a shine to the festival.  Memories of 2017 will be many and all tinged in blue rather than rock. The acts that you should run to see again are Catfish, LaVendore Rogue, Ash Wilson, the winners of the Intro Stage and Elles Bailey. Joanne Shaw Taylor in this form is a force to be reckoned with, Marcia Ball , Moreland & Arbuckle, Toronzo Cannon and the harp supremacy that is Giles Robson.

    Skegness Solid Live Music More Blues than Rock in 2017 Skegness Solid Live Music More Blues than Rock in 2017 January drawing to a close, Christmas lights a fading memory.

[rathertoofondofbooks]

This week has been okay. I’ve been unwell for a few days so had to rest up and I got a lot of reading done. I managed to finish a couple of books that I’ve been reading for a little while so that was nice.

Yesterday was really upsetting when I found out that because someone has reported me to Facebook for not using my surname on there. Facebook are holding me to ransom saying that unless I give them two documents with my real name on (which they’d then use on my account) they’ll delete not only my account but also my Facebook page. I have good reason for not using my surname online so refuse to give it to Facebook. This means I’ll no longer be able to have a presence on Facebook unless I can find a way around this. Being housebound social media is really important to me so I’m really sad that someone has caused this to happen to me. My husband is looking into if we can appeal to Facebook but unless I can figure something out then I’ll no longer be on there once they delete my account and page. So if you follow me on there and see my page disappear this is why.

Anyway, on to the books…

  This week I’ve finished reading seven books:

Where Love Begins by Judith Hermann

I have to admit that whilst this is a short novel I did struggle with it a bit. It’s one of those books that I really enjoyed when I was reading it but when I put it down I just wasn’t drawn to pick it back up. Yesterday evening I made the time to just read it through to the end and it was more enjoyable that way but it still left me feeling a bit indifferent to it. The idea for the novel was great so it may just be a case of right book wrong time for me.

Sofa So Good: Me Life Story by Scarlett Moffatt

I was sent a copy of this for review and it was the perfect read for me this week. I read it in one sitting and I enjoyed it so much. I’ll be reviewing this one very soon!

In A Cottage in a Wood by Cass Green

This is a book I got from NetGalley recently so picked it up this week and I devoured it. I was expecting it to be a bit more unnerving than it was but it had me hooked all the way through and it was good escapism.

Trust Me by Zosia Wand

I very much enjoyed this book, it’s another one that I read in one sitting as I just didn’t want to put it down. It made for a late night but it was worth it! I’ve already reviewed this one so you can read more of what I thought here if you’d like to.

All the Wicked Girls by Chris Whitaker

I’m ashamed to say that I was sent a copy of this book for review quite a while ago not but I just haven’t been able to manage holding a physical book over the summer so it’s had to wait. It was worth the wait though because this was such a brilliant read. I’m still trying to get my thoughts together but I will review it soon – in the meantime I definitely recommend it!

Titanic Love Stories by Gill Paul

I’ve had this on my TBR for ages so as I’m trying to mix reading review books with reading books that I’ve owned since before the start of the year I decided to pick this one up. It was an enjoyable and moving read but I just wish it had had a bit more depth. It’s worth picking up if you’re interested in books about the Titanic though.

Anything You Do Say by Gillian McAllister

This book is so good! I love Sliding Doors type books anyway but this one is done so well and I’m still thinking about it now. I hope to get my review written and posted soon but I can say now that I highly recommend this book!

  This week I’ve blogged four times:

Sunday: Life Update and Weekly Wrap-Up

Wednesday: WWW Wednesday post

Thursday: Extract from Bad Sister by Sam Carrington for the blog tour

Friday: Review of Trust Me by Zosia Wand for the blog tour

  This is what I’m currently reading:

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Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came by M.C. Beaton

I haven’t read an Agatha Raisin book for ages but I picked this one off my TBR last night as it seemed it would be perfect escapism when I was feeling so down last night. It was the right choice because I’m loving this book.

All the Good Things by Clare Fisher

I’ve had an ARC of this on my kindle for a few months now so decided it was time to pick it up. I’m really enjoying this – it’s hooked me in very quickly and I’m keen to get back to it to see where this novel is going.

This House of Grief by Helen Garner

I’ve only read a couple more chapters of this since last week as I just wasn’t in the right mood to read it but I do want to get back to it soon.

Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life by David Cavanagh

I’m still dipping in and out of this book and I love it. There are some wonderful stories from John Peel’s radio shows and I feel like I can almost hear his voice as I’m reading.

Aches and Gains: A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain by Paul L. Christo

I’m also still reading this book on and off – it’s not a book I can read straight through as I want to take in what he’s saying. This is a great book for anyone who suffers from chronic pain, or cares for someone who does.

  How has your week been? What have you been reading? Please share in the comments below. If you write a wrap-up on your blog please feel free to share the link. 🙂

Weekly Wrap-Up! (22 Oct) This week has been okay. I've been unwell for a few days so had to rest up and I got a lot of reading done.