#la belle dame sans merci working on her also

[granny-weatherwax]

Lucy Carlyle might be in love with Lockwood but she's still bisexual.

[literally-just-there]

Hi Gate! ♡ I have. A question. What's Seeker and your f/os' favorite classic paintings? Or statues etc! 👀🎨🖼

OOOOOHOOHOHOHO KUROH YOU ASKED FOR THIS *cracks knuckles*

(Putting this under a cut... Not doing just classic... No I did not do every f/o or I would still be here in a week. I just did paintings because that's what I'm more knowledgeable about)

🖌 • For Seeker :

She looks a lot at the eyes and facial expressions, and loves a good romantic scene like the pre-raphaelites do. We got "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by Frank Dicksee, and "The Shadow" by Edmund Blair Leighton for example.

Strangely enough, she is also captivated by paintings that can be considered haunting, I'm thinking of John Martin's works that depict biblical, historical and other legendary apocalypses. She does not enjoy them per say, but she is captivated, especially since she is not religious but is herself a legendary being. I'm thinking of "The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah" and the triptych of "The Last Judgement".

She also likes "Christ in the House of His Parents" by Millais because it humanizes what is usually seen as only divine and otherworldly, and she relates to this paradox of being some kind of human god (I suggest reading the critics on the painting at the time).

🖌 • For the Informant :

Keywords are emotion and interactions. He loves when the painting displays interactions and especially love, whatever the kind. I have quite miscellaneous painting ideas for him ;

Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne", Karl Gussow's "Old Man's Treasure", but also the more tragic "Tristan and Isolde" paintings by Rogelio de Egusquiza, "Romeo and Juliet" by Millais, or "The Meeting on the Turret Stairs" by Frederic William Burton.

🖌 • For Helen :

She loves paintings with soft vibes and that depict nature. I'm thinking of Rosa Bonheur as I type this. I love the cows she paints. Also pretty paintings like those of Sophie Gengembre Anderson, "The Turtle Dove", "It's Touch and Go to Laugh or No", "Little Helper", "Her Favourite Pets" or "A Fairy Is Made Of Most Beautiful Things" which is one of my favourites too.

🖌 • For Smallcat :

He does look like someone who would like grandiose official portraits. However he is more of a landscape type of guy. He paints some himself actually !! For me Monet is the absolute best, I'm of course thinking about his Nymphéas. And Pissarro !! Pissarro's landscapes !! Can we talk about "Le Grand noyer dans le pré, Éragny" ??!! Pretty !?!?!

🖌 • For Delacroix :

That arse head on the other hand LOVES a good lavish official portrait. It does make sense because he is a noble but also : the more gold, more jewels, more expensive fabric, more symbols of power displayed, the more he is eating this up like his eye dinner. I am thinking of Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud or Napoléon Ist by François Gérard, the good old coronation portraits.

🖌 • For Anna :

Most of all she wants to have something to say about the art piece. It has to make her THINK. So she prefers paintings that have intense facial expressions, and / or that tell a story that makes you THINK. I'm thinking of paintings about societal struggles, like "Burning the Brushwood" by Eero Järnefelt, or paintings that are sticking their chin at institutions, like Frank Cadogan Cowper's "Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI" including more tragic ones like "The Martyr of Solway" by Millais.

But she is also a romantic at heart and appreciates paintings that display romantic interactions. There are the ones I mentioned for Seeker but I would add "God Speed" by Edmund Blair Leighton.

🖌 • For Wei :

MARINES. Anything that has to do with the sea. One name, Monet, again, yes, BUT !! The paintings he did when he was in Belle-Ile-en-mer !! The Port Coton ones !! He did so many !! And Turner !! Depicting the immensity of the sea !!

He would also love Chinese paintings, since this is what he grew up with. I am sadly not knowledgeable about this yet so I can't really go into details.

🖌 • For Hoggarth :

History is the key word, he prefers paintings that interpret historical events, that imagine the people's emotions at the time, especially when it is grave events. I'm thinking of "The Last Day of Pompeii" by Karl Bryullov or "Faithful Unto Death" by Edward John Poynter. Also "The Execution of Lady Jane Grey" by Paul Delaroche or "A Huguenot" by Millais.

Also, paintings that represent people feeling small before the higher powers they believe in, like "The Two Crowns" by Dicksee, or being powerless before them, like "The Ballad of Lenore" by Horace Vernet.

[dhr-ao3]

La Belle Dame sans Merci

La Belle Dame sans Merci https://ift.tt/x6bRPas by Fleurizel None of it would have happened if that oaf Krum had managed to crack open even one compendium of the magical fauna of the Highland lochs. If he had, things might have turned out differently. If he had, then Draco wouldn’t be here, shivering in a thin towel on the shore of the Black Lake getting an earful from Blaise about how stupid he’d been to think they’d actually let the hostages die, while he waited to be scored on how well he’d avoided death this time and carefully kept his eyes from straying to a very angry, very wet witch with lakeweed and a water beetle in her hair and the sausagelike fingers of an international quidditch star on her face.   In which Draco is Hogwarts’ champion, Krum gets waylaid in the second task, and choices must be made. Words: 6183, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Theodore Nott, Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: Each-Uisge | Kelpies (Scotland Folk Tale), Triwizard Tournament (Harry Potter), Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament (Harry Potter), Hogwarts Triwizard Champion Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Angst and Humor, POV Draco Malfoy, (mostly), but also an intrusive narrator who likes to demand that we pity the teens, Hermione sticks her oar in too, Draco Malfoy: champion of school unity and possessor of outstanding moral fiber, Draco Malfoy is a Brat, and a dramatic sod, but he's kinda sorta trying, Theo Nott reads muggle poetry, the backs of Hermione Granger’s sodding knees, the horror of the self, my apologies to John Keats, Peeves is underutilized as a cockblock, somebody give Draco a copy of East of Eden and a warm blanket via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/NhGKxAY March 12, 2024 at 11:47PM

[hsslilly-blog]

okay im here w my list :)

celebrity skin (but purely for the sound. like do you think it represents her aside from the lyrics?)

just your general thoughts/interpretation on shes a carnival in relation to claire. same as drive my car and fascination

lastly this masquerade. how does it relate to claire? like what specifically makes it define her character and what does it define?

hii!!! okay you asked me about two songs i was dying to talk about (fascination and this masquerade). sorry for taking some time to reply, i wanted to dedicate myself to this lol. for almost all of these i'll have to talk about other songs as well because of the way i structured the playlist following a character arc of sorts. it's long!!!

(playlist here)

celebrity skin: yeah!! the lyrics are pretty straightforward, but i placed it in a spot so the grunge-y guitar riffs would come out as jarring (right after an abba song and with no comparable examples up to that point in the playlist). claire not only grew up in the 90s, but her high school friend group was comprised of two melancholic goth kids and a self important wannabe filmmaker (and goth-adjacent). she was the preppy token friend, visually. in reality her interests aligned a lot with theirs. i think her interests section on her myspace page show this a little. horror, gothic literature, goth culture and 90s/early 00s alt scene really influenced her since she was surrounded by it almost all the time. also seen throughout her film career. back to the placing on the playlist, it works as a divide after many up-beat, positive (?) songs. most of the songs prior to ir characterise claire, her wants and her way of interacting with people. and then there's a jaded, grunge/alt rock song about being a star in hollywood. since the playlist follows a narrative, i think this would fit right around the time she's almost expelled from hollywood u because of backstabbing, petty tatics and because the industry favours some over others. she knew this, of course, but going through it it's different.

she's a carnival: one of my favourite songs from siouxsie lol. i think it serves to further characterise her/people's perception of her. she's fun. she's an amusement show. a fête.

is she a person, though? does she exist only to fulfill your fantasies? it is true that she revels on public attention, but what does this attention transforms her into? it comes right after bubblegum bitch as well, which is also a song i interpret being about others' perception of her.

this is especially in regards to men, i think. claire is a serial dater (for a pletora of reasons) and i don't think she feels like men see her. florence's dream girl evil would fit here nicely too. men fantasise her, then see her as evil once this fantasy is broken (queentex, latex; madonna/whore)(a portrait of a poison)(you like me better in your head)(je suis la belle dame sans merci!).

and not so subtle, but venice carnivals are famous for their masks. theatre is symbolised by masks. these three talk about archetypes: film archetype, psych archetype, etc. she says she doesn't care. is it true?

drive my car: also forms a trio along with material girl and money, money, money. claire likes money lol and she likes scamming men. <- not outright scamming them, but if they're going to use her she might as well get something out of them. the opening is great. "asked a girl what she wanted to be // she said, baby can't you see // i wanna be famous, a star of the screen // but you can do something in between". she states her goal and men are not the first thing on her mind. they're simply a distraction.

fascination: i've loved the beaches since 2017 this is not important to the ask but damn i love them so much. anyway. this is from side b, after her moment of reflection in what is it about men (last song from side a). in that song, claire consciously acknowledges her behavioural patterns/fears/thoughts about relationships/herself. the next song is national anthem. she wants to be someone's national anthem. and later on you have fascination. this last bit of the playlist is about her relationship with hunt.

this is a song about her approaching this relationship (it's not a relationship yet) in the same way she has always done: lightheartedly and without much thought put into it. it's not serious. why would she be into her professor? lol. it's just a crush, don't be stupid. right after fascination comes stupid cupid. it's the first song in the playlist where she approaches romance in a non-cynical way and it's very silly and it was done on purpose. she feels silly and she's acting in a way she doesn't usually do. she doesn't run after men, this is stupid. and then the next songs approach the subject much more directly and without putting on a front.

also this comes straight out of a scene in red carpet diaries. i've waited years to post this screenshot.

this masquerade: this one works as a reference to hollywood u: the first time hunt and claire have a moment together is in a masquerade ball and they're both wearing masks. literally, figuratively, everything in between.

(i made my friend transcribe this to me so she'd read hollywood u lol). his line about her "seducing" him also call back to femme fatale/bubblegum bitch/she's a carnival. and what is he talking about? do you want her to believe he did not recognise her because of a mask? have you seen claire??!! lol. lmao even. loser. i like her lines about him knowing it was her subconsciously and nothing clouding his feelings and i think it fits here. yeah he wanted it to be her. also psych major moment but you must've noticed there's a theme going through all of these songs.

it's also just representative of their relationship up to the point they actually get together. they're both playing a game they're bound to lose in the end, especially if it's not addressed.

i think that's it. sorry for the lenght + any spelling mistakes, i wrote all of this in one sitting.

[itsangelicasworld]

🥂, 👠, 🍒, &🪞

AHHHHH TYSM FOR THE ASK!!🤭🫶 I'll be answering these DR S/O ask game questions with my Minecraft Diaries S/O, Garroth (aka my whole life). Long post with a LOT of yapping ahead!

🥂 — how did you two meet and how did your relationship progress?

We officially met when I visited Phoenix Drop! Garroth, working as head guard there, investigated me when I entered. He was lowkey suspicious of me at first, but I won him over with my bubbly nature and natural charm (as I do with everyone💪😌). Initially, it was a pretty platonic relationship with some light flirting. There's always been a level of mutual attraction, but we never fully acted upon it. Guard and Lord relationships have never worked out historically in this reality, anyway. But then he caught feelings (naturally). It's a good few years before he even thinks about confessing, let alone actually doing it, so there's a lot of pining and secrets and ALL THAT JAZZ

🪞 — what are some photos that depict your relationship with your s/o?

AAGGHHH LITERALLY LOVE THIS QUESTION SO MUCH!! I have a lot more than these 3 but I feel like they encompass our relationship dynamic well🤭. In the first image, I love how the woman's hand looks against the metal of his armor. It's a stark contrast. This gentle, soft touch on a harsh, cold surface. It just feels like us. Garroth has spent nearly all of his life hiding, metaphorically and physically. And then here I am, this wonderfully open and unabashedly expressive woman, giving him the space he needs to be authentic to who he is. That picture just gives me that feeling. The painting is JUST SO US RFTGHUHYTFFT. It's an artwork by Frank Bernard Dicksee titled "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" based on the poem of the same name. Everything about this painting is just SOOOO me and Garroth. The idyllic nature scene which surrounds them, the way he looks enchanted with her and the way she looks lovingly at him, and the overall romantic aesthetic of it. It's warm, soft, and even enchanting. And also, going back to the poem, you can't read this line and tell me this ISN'T US:

"I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful – a faery’s child, Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild."

LIKE???? BROO??? HE'S DESCRIBING ME???? My guy is so down bad I love him🛐.

👠 — what is your ideal date night with your s/o?

OOOOO this one is a lot of fun!! It requires a bit of explaining though. So in Phoenix Drop there's a dock right? I really love to hang out there because it's just such a special place. We held our first village wedding there, we've had so many formative moments in general there, and it's got this absolutely perfect view of the moon at night. So both me and Garroth (typically separate but sometimes together) will go there to think, talk, and reflect on everything that's happened. It's like our spot. Thus, my ideal date night would be at that dock!! Maybe get a little picnic with candlelight under the moon going. And I scripted that fireflies are super common at night, so IMAGINE US ON THE SAND WITH FIREFLIES ALL AROUND US RTGHHGTFRRFTG😭🙏. But honestly, any time I spend with him is an ideal date!!

🍒 — do you have any inside jokes with your s/o or funny scenarios?

I haven't scripted any scenarios in particular (mainly because I'm devoid of inspiration💀🤚), but I joke around a lot in this DR. Making him laugh is one of my specialties. It's literally the BEEESSTTT feeling in the world because he doesn't laugh that often, SO WHEN HE DOES??

Dividers by @/vibeswithrenai

[hurricane-heatt]

Hi hi hope ur doing well :) I just read Affinity (it's fucking amazing you have no idea how obsessed I am !!) and although I love f/f martian I can never see female Mark in my head :/. Any suggestions ? P.S Can't wait for chapter 2 xx

hi anon!!! when i tell u this ask cheered me right up like thank u so much, i’m so so glad you’ve enjoyed the first chapter!!!! it means a lot to me because she’s become my passion project at the moment. i promise chapter two soon!!!!!

all ramblings below the cut as usual:)

now this is difficult for me also because i’ve entirely based my f!mark off of vibes and art. this piece by donato giancola is the ultimate image in this sebmark universe. look at them. ur telling me that’s not them.

ladyepi in this beautiful photo also is very mark. i’m going to just link it because it’s real people and idk if they want themselves on my blog but it’s a gorgeous shoot and again. huge sebmark vibes from this photo.

now this isn’t mark centric but this lovely work by eleanor fortescue-brickdale called the secret is very her. the tuft of hair from where she hides. that’s her. also the title of the artwork oooohooooo… hehehehee

another piece of art! la belle dame sans merci by john william waterhouse, i think the knights nose in this is veryyy mark. again i know not explicitly female but let a girl (gn) dream

okay and randomly katniss everdeen in mockingjay part two, mainly for the braid? and her eyes? sorry this is an entire mashup of people and ideas and vibes but that’s unfortunately how my silly brain works.

i hope this was a little helpful anon!!!! if it’s any consolation in future chapters we get a lot more mark description. thank u very much again for sending this ask!!! it was a lot of fun to put together :)

[js589]

So, I know that this is probably not the best timing with the announcement today, so first off, and I cannot stress this enough: fuck Netflix and the incompetents who came down with this decision.

That said, I believe in fanworks as an important part of keeping a piece of media alive, no matter the cause for its discontinuation. And I also believe very strongly in fluff, so that's what you're getting from me.

SUMMARY:

"There is something bothering me. About La Belle Dame." Lucy took a deep breath. "Holly said… when she ran into me, she thought you'd been following me, even though I couldn't have been there. You told me it didn't matter what you'd seen, but that thing used me to get to you." Lucy took a breath. "And that must mean—"

"It doesn't have to mean anything," Lockwood cut in. "Ghosts try all sorts of tricks, Luce; you know that. She was powerful—she could've done a million things that all would've worked. You can't feel responsible."

"But I do!" Lucy protested. "She could've imitated anyone, but she chose me. For a reason. Maybe it's just because I was there, but… Lockwood, I need to know: Was it… Do you…"

-----------------

Lucy lets the revelation hit her after the La Belle Dame Sans Merci case and decides to take a chance.

[kittttycakes]

Grace’s work sounds super interesting, and I wonder if Lucienne or Morpheus have sneaked a look at a copy of her yet to be written book in the library of the Dreaming.

Is monster theory connected to posthumanism? It’s not one of the ‘posts’ that I’ve worked with, but a friend of mine is a posthumanist academic and completed her PHD on the origins of supernatural entities. It was super interesting and I can only imagine how different pursuing that interest might be for Grace now…

On a side note, I love pre-Raphaelite art and was looking at some paintings and there are so many that make me think of Grace. La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Lamia and the Soldier by John W Waterhouse have me picturing Hob in some armour and Grace in a flowing medieval dress and Morpheus just loving every minute of it all.

Yeah, the conundrum of whether or not to tell her Mum is a big one. I can’t imagine it’s easy for Grace not having anyone to share with or confide in other than Hob and Morpheus? I feel like she needs a female friend who she can be completely honest with about everything that’s happened and is happening in her life.

I know you’ve said she gets along with Lucienne, but I feel like there’d be limits to any girl talk they might have, given that one of Grace’s partners is Lucienne’s boss. Do you think she’ll have some friends in the future she can be open about her situation with? I am super keen for her and Hob to meet Death and Delerium. I can’t imagine how isolating it must have been for Hob all those years not having any fellow immortals to talk to.

Also, are Hob and Grace likely to meet Constantine? I would be very keen to see Constantine’s reaction to finding out that Morpheus is in a relationship with not one, but two humans.

If you like Labyrinth and Phantom, then GND will be right up your alley. It is so good. Witty, feminist, fourth wall breaking, fanservicey goodness.

And yes, that was me with the ask about the titles. I am super keen for it, thank you!

Ooh, that is an excellent question! I think Lucienne has probably at least looked at it, once she has time, if only to check in on it from time to time to see how it changes. The one downside to having access to the largest and most complete library in the universe is that Grace can’t use half the sources she finds there! Morpheus, though…I think he waits. He wants the first time he sees it to be when Grace shows it to him herself.

Cut because I am consistently wordy:

It is connected to posthumanism!! There’s a ton of other influences and connections and I’ve mainly worked with it in its connection to queer theory (and barely scratched the surface of it at that), but I think monster theory as a whole is absolutely fascinating, and Grace coming in to contact with what could be considered actual, literal monsters in the form of nightmares definitely makes theory work feel a bit different! Your friend’s PhD sounds so interesting, I do sometimes wish I’d gone a different direction with my master’s thesis and monster theory is absolutely what I would have done in a very different world.

I love Waterhouse’s work so much and I have actually specifically looked at his La Belle Dame Sans Merci more times than I can count for Hob/Grace inspiration. I just love the way they look at each other in Lamia and the Solider as well, it feels like such an intimate connection in that moment. Morpheus would absolutely be so down for a Waterhouse moment in the Dreaming. Any excuse to get Hob in armor is a good one, and Grace, in a beautiful dress? He needs no more convincing.

It’s harder on Grace than she realizes it is, I think. The only two people she can be entirely honest with about her relationship are the other two people in the relationship, and she doesn’t want to create any “us against him” dynamic with either Hob or Morpheus, so in reality, she has no one she can be fully honest with. She also doesn’t have anyone that she’s disclosed the actual status of her relationship to; none of her friends, for example, know that she has more than one partner. She definitely needs someone, and I’m still trying to work out who I think that could or would be in-universe!

I think you’re absolutely right about Lucienne. She’s close to Morpheus as well, has the most power in the Dreaming besides him, but the hierarchy of that relationship does definitely limit what Grace would feel comfortable sharing with her, mainly because she doesn’t want to put Lucienne in a weird or awkward or uncomfortable position.

She needs another immortal friend who gets it and who would be open to the concept of her relationship! Maybe someday she’ll get to have that, she really does need it…

I’m so excited for her and Hob to meet the family, but especially Death and Delirium! Hob has probably run into other immortals, whether he knew it or not, but by necessity, I don’t think other immortals stick together too much. It’s too hard to know who to trust with that secret and it’s much more conspicuous when more than one person just…isn’t aging and can’t die, so for Hob, meeting other immortals, even if they aren’t human, is such an exciting thing, every time. I think both Death and Delirium will get on with both of them very well, and it’s always good to have allies in that family!

I would love so much for them to run into Constantine in person. She would be shocked, frankly, that Morpheus has not one but two people who went in for tall, dark, and broody long term. I’ll figure out how to make that one happen someday, I think it would be a lot of fun.

I’ve started reading GND and god, it’s so nostalgic, such classic fandom feelings and I’m loving absolutely every minute of it, it’s so much fun!

Oh good!! I just love names so much, and the intimacy of them. You can do so much with the power dynamics of titles and I love that you can have Grace sitting here, pulling out a “my lord” to drive Hob wild, and in that exchange, she’s holding all of the cards, she’s fully in charge, even if Hob might appear to be from the outside. Hob is also not so secretly into the idea of her being the one with the title instead…

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Screaming Mimi

A few years back, I did a conference paper on gender issues in films dealing with burlesque. I had planned to make my focus three films that were more burlesque-adjacent but had interesting plot similarities. In each, a beautiful woman works for a lesbian and has to deal with being stalked. I call it “The Stalking Trilogy.” I had to cut one, however, because on reexamination I realized the leading lady wasn’t really a performer (somehow my memory had added a scene of her doing an exotic dance). Anyway, a young friend and I have been taking turns introducing each other to movies, and I decided it was time to share “The Stalker Trilogy” with him in the order in which I covered the first two and would have covered the third.

Despite terrific black and white cinematography by Burnett Guffey and the always welcome presence of Gypsy Rose Lee, Gerd Oswald’s SCREAMING MIMI (1958, YouTube) isn’t what anybody would consider a good movie, but its treatment of gender is fascinating. It really could be called “Watching Anita Ekberg.” She enters coming out of the surf in a black swimsuit. While she showers, she’s attacked by an escaped lunatic whom her coded-gay half-brother shoots. The trauma puts her in an asylum, where, after watching her through a peephole, her psychiatrist (Harry Townes) falls in love with her. He signs her release papers and takes her to the big city, where she gets a job doing a slave dance (more watching) at Gypsy’s club, El Madhouse. Meanwhile, her half-brother has made a small sculpture to commemorate her attack (as one does). When it turns up in her town, the first woman to buy it ends up dead, and Ekberg is attacked after receiving one of her own. All of this attracts the attention of reporter Phil Carey, so he falls in love with Ekberg and sets out to find the killer. By the time he does, it’s rather hard to care.

Ekberg made the film at a time when she was more famous for being sexy and famous than for anything resembling acting. She’s watched ceaselessly throughout the film and frequently photographed in poses that show off her legs and bosoms (she plays the last half in a flimsy black lace outfit I referred to has her “Sunday go to meeting dress”).

She also has acquired a large dog named Devil, which often makes her the image of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” a folk representation of the monstrous feminine often depicted as controlling some deadly beast. She exists to exhibit herself and to take orders from the two men in her life, her lover/psychiatrist and the reporter, her lover/inquisitor, though Devil often displays aggressive behavior when they get too pushy. Gypsy is coded as a lesbian; she has private sessions teaching the club’s cigarette girl how to strip. Since she’s at the service of the patriarchy — her job is holding women up to the male gaze — she and her girlfriend survive and stay together. She’s also one of the most interesting characters in the film because by this point in time, the ecdysiast was a reliable character actress.

Ekberg wasn’t. You can’t tell when she’s in full possession of her mental faculties or when she’s retreated into a fugue state. At one point, my friend asked, “Is she supposed to be catatonic now? I can’t tell.” This was Oswald’s third attempt to turn her into a movie star — after VALERIE (1957) and PARIS HOLIDAY (1958) — and his third failure in that regard. It would take Federico Fellini’s spoofing her sexpot image for her to make any real on-screen impact. Meanwhile, a much better young actress, Jeanne Cooper, was relegated to posing for mug shots of the killer’s first victim. The plot, from a novel that also inspired Dario Argento’s THE BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970), is so nonsensical it was hard to read my paper (remember that) through the laughter at each absurd turn. I finally had to interject with, “I’m not making this up, you know.” That proves that you can always rely on Anna Russell, if not Anita Ekberg.

[goforth-ladymidnight]

Secret Santa here! I'm most likely going to draw brilin as opposed of writing it, if that's ok with you. If it is, i was wondering if there is anything specific you would like to be included in the drawing? Your answers has given me a couple of ideas but also how do you imagine them visually? (individually and together). Like, clothes they'd wear (cuts/color palettes), visuals (for example how Tamlin is associated with roses) or even fancasts for them? Also do you prefer something canon-compliant or AU? I'm also ok with drawing either SFW or NSFW, depending on what you would prefer 🥰

A drawing! Ooh! 😍 Of course that's OK with me!

I don't have a fancast in mind for Briar. (Ever since I saw this version by @vivictory-draws I've been spoiled to imagine her that way, flowered bodice and all.) Mostly I just picture her with long, straight black hair, brown eyes, etc. I don't picture Tamlin as any particular actor either, except I did imagine similarities between him and early 90s Brad Pitt in his "Interview with the Vampire" and "Legends of the Fall" era. His hair was GLORIOUS. Also, the animated version of Alucard from Netflix’s Castlevania gave me major Tamlin vibes the first time I saw him. I don’t know what your style is, so I’m just throwing things out there.

I love Tamlin in green (it goes with his eyes), and I imagine Briar would choose red or a rosy pink for herself. I don’t know enough about clothes to suggest any particular style or cut. Medieval-ish??? Tunics are mentioned in canon, as well as “gowns”, but when it comes to specific eras I am a bit lost. Feel free to follow up with another ask if you want me to weigh in on specifics.

In terms of setting, I prefer the fairy tale nature of Prythian to something modern, myself. But I wouldn't say no to a holiday theme! Like kissing under the mistletoe, sitting on “Santa’s” lap, etc. There's very little I would say no to, especially since this is a gift. ❤️ 

I would say keep it to SFW for now, but since I don’t know your style, I don't want to impede on your creativity. I am more comfortable with SFW for a holiday gift, but I look forward to seeing your catalog of work once this event is over! 😊

When it comes to poses, I'll let you choose. If it gives you ideas, though, I've seen some ACOTAR fanart lately that uses famous paintings as poses: Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”, Frank Dicksee’s “Romeo and Juliet”, his version of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”, anything by Alphonse Mucha, etc. I also like near kisses and quiet, intimate moments, but again, I’m not picky.

Thanks! I look forward to hearing more about your project! 😘

[rayshippouuchiha]

More KHR recs

Ao3

The Decimo's Husband by The GreatTribbleEmpire

Desperate to not become 10th, Tsuna offers to abdicate to Xanxus. When that won't work, Tsuna doubles down and proposes marriage. Xanxus accepts.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story by Little_Lady_Otaku

When Xanxus is defeated by Nono after the coup attempt, his Flames are sealed and is shipped off to Japan. How can the girl next door help him? Ghosts Whisperer!Tsuna. The scenes with the ghosts are great, especially when they haunt the Varia.

Light Up the Sky by Millarca

Naruto. Naruto is reborn as Tsuna. At least the freeloader in his gut is along for the ride. Tsuna gets into the Mafia early, makes some genin teams, founds Konoha, and fucks with everyone's minds. Also, Kurama is utterly delighted by all his grandkids.

In Which Only Tsuna Is Surprised by OnceInABlueMoon

In which everyone except Tsuna knew about Tsuna and Enma's marriage.

Accidentally Courting Your Assassin by LadyHallen

HP. Fem!HP/Reborn. When trying to get in contact with the Vongola, Harriet mistakes who is the boss and how to contact them. This leads to series of escalating attempts to better court the other.

Mission Failed by IWP_chan

The Shimon Family had a Plan. At least until the target decided he had something better to do: Enma. Tsuna/Enma

Ruminant by AlunaGray

Naruto. Hibari Kyoya is reborn as Nara Shikamaru's older sister. The Nara Clan blames Shikaku for this.

A Collector's Guide to Caring For Your Pets by Ourliazo

7 yr old Kyoya enjoys making herbivores spontaneously combust. Also Known As: Kyoya collects all the Flame Active kids in Namimori because they have pretty colors.

La belle dame sans merci by Dissenter

Kyoko has a smile full of knives and Tsuna loves her for it desperately. Takes inspiration from the War Sky/Home Sky trope. Kyoko the War Sky and Tsuna the Home Sky.

When the Nightingale Sings by Sanjuno

Those with access to the Flames of Dying Will all have a bit of Other in their ancestry. Something that is both more and less than Human, and Skies are the least Human of all the Flame Types. Putting a Sky under a Seal puts their Flames under pressure. Like the Nightingale in a cage who refuses to sing, a Sky under a Seal suffers in silence... ... until that seal breaks, and the Sky roars to cast the heavens down.

Renew by readerdreamer5625

BNHA. Izuku just got diagnosed Quirkless and his life is rapidly degrading. Then he meets a man in a fedora in his dreams and his life changes once more. Izu taught by Reborn. Sun User Izuku.

Crossover Fixits to Make Westeros Less Miserably Doomed by Sanjuno

Series where other characters are reborn into Westeros and how they improve it. Natuto, Star Wars, FFXV & VII, Code Geass, Avengers, KHR and Transformers

Karma and the Repercussions Thereof by Sanjuno

Series of Naruto characters being reborn into KHRverse. Main story about KakaObi and sidestories have MadaTobi and Mada's brothers as Hibaris, along with a funny little AU about MadaTobi accidentally being sent back to Warring Clan Era during a battle. The KakaObi story is beautiful. Kakashi torments Obito so wonderfully. Kakashi's new Aunt is a Queen and I love her.

Made of...by Seito

Made Of... is a universe where (usually) these things happen: 1) Canon Guardians are not Guardians 2) Most likely a crossover 3) Reborn never wins 4) Vongola can go die on a hill. Xover with many fandoms. OP, Avengers, Kaito Kid, Persona 5, and more.

Alaudidae by AmbroiseFrambroise

BNHA. Kyoya has been reborn in a world of Quirks. Thank God he's quirkless. In this world, Inko marries a different Hisashi. No Izuku.

The War of the Heavens by Dissenter

War Sky Tsuna and Home Sky Kyoya declare War on the Vongola.

Now in the Errant Sun by Dissenter

Reborn come to make Tsuna into a Mafia Boss. No one told him he was going to have to wrangle a bunch of student hippie activists.

Kuwabara is Tired of this Crap by Snowywinter1

YYH. Kuwabara is Skull. The aftermath of the Arcobalenco Curse. Be afraid, Luce.

Revisionist History, the Vongola Way by Dissenter

Time travel fix it series. Kyoya (complete fic) declares a new world order and all shall fall before him. Gokudera (wip) is determined to find his Sky once more. Wacky road trip feat. Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa, Spanner and Dino.

Don't Hold Your Breath (we're going to live) by SilverRoseAri

Zombie Apocolypse. Bamf!Tsuna Even with the end of the world, Tsuna still gathers his Gaurdians.

Cat's Paws by Sanjuno

Drabble series. When the 10th Gen die, the Box Animals decide that this is Unacceptable. So they turn back time and leaves the world a little... different. Youkaiesque world. Flame users have a more animalistic traits. In Tsuna's snippet, he completely transforms. Even Nana can't just accept this without a few questions.

You Can't Take the Sky From Me by Lilymoncat

HP. Oleander Evans, also known as Skull de Mort, had no idea that visiting his sister Petunia was going to fuck up his life.

The first time as tragedy, the second time as farce by Dissenter

Naruto. The 10th Gen and the girls are reborn into Naruto a year younger. Mukuro fucks with Danzo as a ROOT member, Chrome's an Uchiha, Gokudera's a Nara (his Clan hates his dad so much for his whoops baby), Lambo's a sickly (thin) Akamichi, Kyoya is related to Lee, Ryohei and Kyoko are Harunos, Haru's a Aburame. It's just so good. Great meta. Has women being awesome.

Snow Leopard, Not Lion by RinRin

Naruto. Tobirama is reborn as Tsuna. As are a number of Naruto characters. Madara as Kyoya.

Say Boys, Don't You See Them Bones by Adel Mortescryche(Mortescryche)

Crack treated seriously. Tsuna's a Corpse Whisperer. Everywhere he goes in the Varia Mansion, he finds bodies.

dead anime moms by exocara

Tsuna's mom wears her hair in a side pony tail. He knows what that means and he's not having it.

All According to Script by PurpleButtons0203

Tsuna is raised knowing he's a main character. Nana teaches her son to be genre savvy. Cracky.

Grapes of Wrath by WOFWalker

After Xanxus is frozen, his spirit begins haunting the Vongola lines. Tsuna is the first to see him. Xanxus decides that Tsuna should be Varia Quality, to the boy's despair.

Ok, that's officially all of my best bookmarked fics.

I hope you all love them!

You feed me so so well, darling

[luthienne]

oh! can i ask for a compilation of poetry about the faerie?

— J.R.R. Tolkien, from his essay, On Fairy-Stories

❀ a faerie compilation ❀

“The same [voice] that oft-times hath Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faëry lands forlorn.”

— John Keats, from “Ode To A Nightingale”

“In the fairy stories, naming is knowledge. When I know your name, I can call your name, and when I call your name, you’ll come to me.”

— Jeanette Winterson, from Lighthousekeeping

— W.B. Yeats, from “The Stolen Child”

“We find it difficult to conceive of evil and beauty together. The fear of the beautiful fay that ran through the elder ages almost eludes our grasp.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, from his essay, On Fairy-Stories

“Not every girl survives the forest. / Sometimes she becomes it.”

— Catherine Garbinsky, “The Princess & the Thorns”

— H.D., from “Holy Satyr”

“The elvish folk were passing bowls from hands to hand and across the fires, and some were harping and many were singing. Their gleaming hair was twined with flowers;”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Hobbit

— John Keats, from La Belle Dame sans Merci

“She was light on her feet as a revenant. You would have thought she never bent a stem of grass as she passed across their little garden. When she spoke, when she sang, how sweet her voice was;”

— Angela Carter, from Burning Your Boats

— Edwin Markham, from “A Lyric of the Dawn”

— Willa Cather, from “Eurydice”

“Many places have a ‘forest that shouldn’t be entered.’ Even people who are used to working in the mountains feel there is something there. They are suddenly overcome with fear and it becomes the custom to avoid certain places. These places exist. I don’t know what is there, but I think they are real. I’m not a believer in the occult, but the world is more than we can fathom with our five senses. This world doesn’t exist just for humans. So I think it’s all right to have such things. This is why I think it’s a mistake to think about nature from the idea of efficiency, that forests should be preserved because they are essential for human beings … “I am concerned, because for me the deep forest is connected in some way to the darkness deep in my heart. I feel that if it is erased, then the darkness inside my heart would also disappear, and my existence would grow shallow.”

— Hayao Miyazaki, from “Totoro Was Not Made as a Nostalgia Piece”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, from his essay, On Fairy-Stories

— Winifred M. Letts, from “Loss”

“...and it’s dark, so very dark, and we wander, and know not where, and cannot get out of the forest…”

— Emily Dickinson, in a letter to Abiah Root

“The nights were the worst. It then became pitch-dark—not what you call pitch-dark, but really pitch: so black that you really could see nothing... Well, perhaps it is not true to say that they could see nothing: they could see eyes.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Hobbit

— Angela Carter, from “The Erl-king”

— Edgar Allen Poe, from “Fairy-Land”

— Edwin Markham, from “A Lyric of the Dawn”

— John Keats, from “Ode to a Nightingale”

“‘Why ever did I wake up!’ he cried. ‘I was having such beautiful dreams. I dreamed I was walking in a forest rather like this one, only lit with torches on the trees and lamps swinging from the branches and fires burning on the ground; and there was a great feast going on, going on for ever. A woodland king was there with a crown of leaves,’”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Hobbit

— Angela Carter, from “Penetrating to the Heart of the Forest”

[caught-in-the-filter]

The Belle Dame Emma

— a CS AU by @snowbellewells for @cssns 2021

Summary: Legend has it that the fae woman in the meadow will ensnare any who dare enter her domain, but the knight who chances a meeting can tell there is more to the story than superstition and gossip has allowed. The path to the truth and redemption may be fraught with dangers - to the both of them - but is it not the sworn duty of a true knight to help any who may be in need?

Rated: T Read Part One on tumblr. or AO3

——

This fic is AMAZING so far and I can’t wait to see where it goes! It’s inspired by the poem “La Belle Dame sans Merci” by John Keats mixed with a bit of Dark Swan, and I did look at a few of the classic paintings the poem had also inspired before making this cover art, but ultimately I worked solely from Marta’s beautiful imagery and emotion to create it. I’m so glad we got to work together, and I’m super excited to read what happens next!

——

Tag list  ❤️:

@anothersworld @donteattheappleshook @elizabeethan @hollyethecurious @ilovemesomekillianjones @itsfabianadocarmo @jonesfandomfanatic @jrob64 @justanother-unluckysoul @karlyfr13s @klynn-stormz @kmomof4  @laschatzi @qualitycoffeethings @resident-of-storybrooke @stahlop @teamhook @the-darkdragonfly @thejollyroger-writer @tiganasummertree @xsajx @wefoundloveunderthelight @zaharadessert

I’m using the same tag list I have for fics, but if you don’t want to be tagged on art, just let me know (though there is a fic linked to this one and you should totally go read it imo)

[imaginariumpod]

Bright Star : The visualisation of tenderness

This movie is one that I constantly revisit, the beauty and softness of it is something I want to carry with me. The soft colors, the delicateness of the moments that we see, and yet a story that moves hearts. This is the sort of stories I want to be able to tell and this is why I really wanted to write about this film.

I am just going to preface this article by saying that BRIGHT STAR (2009) directed by Jane Campion is one of my all time favorite movies and that I am going to be extremely biased in this article. Now, that this is out of the way, let’s move on to the article. Bright Star is a movie about the love story between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. But ultimately, it is a story about yearning, poetry and loss, at its core, it’s a story about love. Every shot of this movie encapsulates the tenderness and kindness which drives the story and Jane Campion’s directing. This movie is a highly romanticized version of John Keats’ life that centers Fanny and John’s romantic relationship and not necessarily on Keats’ career as a future legendary poet. The angle she chose to tell this story is a very soft and kind one, that is very empathetic toward both its main characters.

I’m going to start by placing the movie in its cultural context as well as in the cinematic industry that was prevailing in 2009 and still is today. Jane Campion is one of my favorite female directors and one I would qualify as an Auteur. Unfortunately, the cinema industry being as it is, I feel like so few women have the standing in the industry as artists that a lot of men have. Not to turn this into an interlude on the inherent inequality of the cinema world at large, but it’s easy to think of male directors that have a certain aesthetic and a recognizable way of making their movies. I’m thinking of Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo Del Toro etc etc. For better or for worse, those cineasts are known for a certain style of works that is attributed to them . Female cineasts who get to be artists for more mainstream are very few in between, Jane Campion is one of them, but I could also name Anna Biller, Agnès Varda and Greta Gerwig. Women work at all scales of the industry and yet it feels their work is not valued enough for varied reasons. The industry doesn’t want to take A Risk (™) on a  female cineast the way they do with male movie makers. The industry still has so much progress to do when it comes to centering stories made by people that aren’t straight cis white men, the films being produced for a mainstream audience are still majorly directed, produced and written by white men. You only have to see the recent award shows where the best directors nominees were all white men, despite women and people of color  presenting amazing work constantly. Representation is important in what you see in the movies, non-white actors and stories featuring marginalized people, but what is also truly important as well, and I feel isn’t talked as much in the broader discourse about this subject, is how it’s important to have diversity behind the camera as well, whether it’s the director, writer, producer, crew, etc. I think we can safely say that progress was indeed made since 2009, but a female filmmaker being celebrated is still so rare to this day that i feel it’s important to remark on.

Jane Campion was still a celebrated filmmaker, despite having taken a hiatus from the film industry, and Bright Star (2009) did very well. The movie received many awards and nominations in such prestigious institutions such as Cannes or the British Independant Film Awards. Campion describes the film as more intimate than the previous ones she had made  and in this regard, she is right. The way the film is shot and directed brings you closer to the characters and the story. The intimacy and the tenderness is almost overwhelming at times, she uses shots that are both very close and very near to give you a close sense of nearness and intimacy and to convey the emotions the characters are feeling, but also Campion uses a lot of very ethereal and shot. Hands brushing, butterflies flying around while one is lying on the grass,  make  this movie a literal visualization of soft romantic yearning.  

One of the most important things to me in this movie,  is how kind the narrative is toward Fanny Brawne. History hasn’t been kind to her, especially when we know that historians in general (ad im talking precisely white male cis straight historians who have been the ones to mainly write our History) have created the narrative that she was a despicable person, that she was a frivolous woman who didn't deserve to be in the vicinity of their favorite poet, simply on account of her being a woman who was more interested in clothes than rhymes and verses. and maybe she was, but on all accounts, John Keats was terribly in love with her, and she was equally in love with him. I  just want to preface this by saying I would die for keats, I adoooore his poems and his writing and I have his complete works on my bedside table at this very moment.. I feel like its a very special kind of misogyny (or a very mundane one, now that I think about it) where the simple feminine presence of Fanny brawne near John Keats somehow tarnished him. The fact that she loved feminine things was a flaw that she needed to overcome for most male historians, they thought her futile and shallow, simply for the fact that she was a woman who was interested in clothes and delicate pretty things.

But more than that, she was also a skilled seamstress, she made her own clothing and was delightfully creative and hardworking, and the way Campion frames the craft of Fanny in the movie shows how valuable she thinks this skill is. Garment making is a really complex craft that requires skill and time and hardwork and to this day still isn’t valued the way it should be. So it should be no surprise that history, mostly written by male white cis historians, remembers Fanny Brawne as a vapid shallow woman who only cares about clothes. We can see that the character of Charles Brown, who will later be introduced as one close friend of Keats, is a bit of a placeholder for this sort of perspective. He constantly tries to thwart Keats and Brawne’s budding romantic relationship because he doesn’t think Keats should bother with such frivolous affairs. The movie is incredibly kind and tender in the way it showcases how craft, any craft, whether it be sewing or writing poetry, is work and a labour of love, and does not diminish the value of either to the advantage of the other.

John Keats is ofc a central part of this story. Ben Whishaw succeeds perfectly in bringing the tragic poet to life. Whishaw is perfect to play a poet who is about to die of consumption, he’s just very tragic that way. His delivery is perfect and he is the perfect casting for John Keats. (If you have the time, this reading of La belle dame sans mercI by Ben Whishaw is so delicate, beautiful and legit brings tears to my eyes )  I’m sure most of you know the story of Keats, but it’s still very tragic to think about : a  poor and unsuccessful poet who died incredibly young and who never got to truly see how impactful his art would be in the future.  Keats is still remembered today, but he never got the chance to enjoy the success his poetry had, years after his death. He never got to marry the woman he wanted to marry because he didn’t have the means to do it. He created beauty from his words and then died alone in Italy at just 25 years old. It never truly hit me before this year, when I did my annual rewatch of the movie, how young Keats truly was, being now 24 years old at the time of writing this article, it truly was a life that has been cut too short.

The directing of Jane Campion is very deliberate, and i think there’s a vision to this movie that is incredibly powerful and obvious. The movie’s pace is very slow, but I think sometimes we need media that just takes the time to slow down and to just enjoy the scene enfolding in front of us. I’m thinking about some scenes where you can only see Keats sitting on a chair outside. He is writing. The wind is moving through the leaves, the birds are singing in the distance, and Keats is writing. A lot of people would say that the scene is useless when it comes to moving the plot forward, and I guess i would agree, strictly speaking, that it doesn’t do much in terms of moving the plot forward, but it does set the atmosphere wonderfully. You can feel the calmness and the ethereal feeling of Keats’ poetry. Campion scatters moments like these throughout the movie, where she takes the time to slow down and get lost in the moment. It’s something that i particularly adore in media, as life constantly feels like it’s getting away from me, it reminds me to slow down and take the time to breathe.

The delicate colors of the cinematography are another aspect that I think really brings such a soft and tender dimension to the movie. The director of photography for this specific movie is Greig Fraser who also did the cinematography for such movies as Rogue One, Vice, as well Batman film starring Robert Pattinson but we aren’t talking about that atm. The colors that have been used throughout the film are very soft and soothing. Soft pinks and soft greens, as well as deep rich hues of blues and browns. There’s a haziness to this movie that very much feels like being thrown into a poem.

This wouldn't be an article written by me if there wasn't any mention of the costume design. The costume design in this movie is being taken care of by Janet Patterson, who had worked previously on other Campion’s movies (Portrait of a Lady, The Piano). The work she does here is marvelous. She manages to create such a beautiful wardrobe for each of the characters. From the colorful dresses of Fanny Brawne to the outfits of the last extra, everything is carefully thought of, and the attention to detail really stands out when you look at the clothing, from the historical research to how well the costumes fit within the realm of the BRIGHT STAR cinematic universe. John Keats’ outfits, in particular, were particularly delightful, he,s always clad in deep blues and clothes that seem worn and comfortable. Something about these darker blues just seem so melancholic compared to the rest of the costumes, especially in contrast with Fanny Brawne’s brighter dresses.

The last thing I will touch upon is the tenderness of the story in itself, despite how sadly it ends. The love story between John Keats and Fanny Brawne unfolds slowly, and then all at once. Despite all of what they go through, the love and the care they give each other is tremendous. And the times they have to be apart, you feel the yearning and longing for the other as if enveloping the scene. Having to wait for another letter, having to acknowledge that they can’t be together is heartbreaking, especially as Keats is desperately trying to do right by Fanny. They want to get married, but Keats is an unsuccessful poet who is in debt, and Fanny is from an upper middle class family and won’t be allowed to marry beneath her rank. I feel like it’s such a mundane story and yet, it feels world shattering to them, especially the last moments they share when Keats becomes ill and he has to leave for Italy to rest and try to get better, but they both know that it’s probably the last time they’ll see each other breaks me. The tenderness in each movement and each conversation they had was tinged by the heavy weight of saying goodbye one last time.

And then. The letter arrives. With the news of Keats’ death. And his fiancée cuts her hair, dons a black dress. And mourns him.

[holdthosebees]

La Belle Dame

Rating: T Pairing: John/Martin, pre-slashish. Background Melanie/Georgie. Summary: No powers, drag queen AU. In which John’s ex-girlfriend drags him to a charity show, and he has an awkward encounter with one of the queens.

A/N: A procrastination oneshot that I wrote while not working on any of my many, many WIPs. Shoutout to @jinxedlucky, who helped me workshop this idea and then told me not to work on it until I finish something else, and who was right. Also--Martin’s drag name, and the title, both come from the Keats poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci. 

The drag queen on stage had glitter in her beard and the most impressive biceps John had ever seen. The red sequins on her skintight dress shimmered as she walked up and down the edge of the crowd, mic cord trailing behind her, as she reached out to regulars, all winks. Georgie tapped John’s shoulder; he had to lean in to hear her, her hair brushing against his ear.

“That’s Sasha’s friend,” she said. “Tim. The one I was telling you about.” 

John nodded. He’d been struggling to keep track of all of people in Georgie’s new social circle, her girlfriend’s friends and their friends who were all supposed to be his friends by some sort of mathematical transference. The drag queen on stage tapped the mic, and grinned. Her lips were very red. 

“Ladies, gentlemen, monsters, everyone else,” she said, pitching her voice low. “Welcome... to Eastbenders!” 

There were a few half-hearted cheers. 

“Oh, come on, you can do better than that. Anyway, for the virgins in the audience, all our queens are local and all our proceeds will go to providing shelter and services to trans youth.” Another pause for cheers, more enthusiastic this time. “If you have any questions, ask comrade Sasha over there in the booth. Wave to the people, Sasha!”

John had met Sasha a few times over drinks. She seemed a very sensible person, unlike Georgie’s new girlfriend Melanie, who hated him on sight. He resolved to go and find her after the event, and maybe donate a bit. That was why he was here, after all; the charity.

“And the rest of you old slags, go say hello anyway. I promise you she’s very friendly.” The queen punctuated her sentence with a slow roll of her hips and a leer. John scowled down at his ginger ale, and ignored Georgie’s knowing look. She wasn’t going to tell him to lighten up, because she knew that he’d just roll his eyes in response, and she didn’t need to, because he knews she was thinking it. 

It was just that this, the lewd jokes for the sake of lewd jokes, the self-conscious decadence, it was very much not John’s scene. He didn’t have anything against it, exactly; he just found it childish, and strange, and there was something profoundly alienating about it besides. If it were up to him he’d be at home, reading, or putting a few more hours in on the project he was supposed to have in by Monday, somehow, although Elias clearly didn’t understand how long database work actually took.

But it was for charity, Georgie had said, and it had been ages since he’d been out and around, and he wasn’t going to meet anyone new if he just sat around moping. To which he had responded that he didn't feel the need to meet anyone new, and she’d looked at him with her eyes so knowingly sad, tinged with an insufferable pity. And so here he was, crammed into an uncomfortable booth in a dim bar, watching a man in a dress with a wig as tall as his head and heels you could punch through metal sheeting with croon into a cheap microphone.

“I am your host for the evening, Kinky Spice--” someone in the back booed. The queen sighed exaggeratedly. “Fine, you caught me. I’m your host, Kim Morningwoodburn--” More booing, and scattered laughter. “Tough crowd! I’ll deal with you later, you naughty audience members you. I am, cross my heart, your host, Diana Explosion, and I’m here to ask you to welcome in our first performer, the bizarre, the incomparable Honey Wilde!” 

The lights dimmed, and turned blue. The crowd applauded as flog began to slip in from the corner of the stage, creeping across the floor. The music started, something slow and electronic. John was intrigued despite himself. 

Honey Wilde slunk slowly out of the shadows. Her shoulders were hunched, and she moved with a slow lurch. Her straight black wig hung in front of her face, like a creature from a Japanese horror movie. The lights flickered out. 

When they turned back on, she was standing at the edge of the stage, arms spread wide. She was tall, even without the heels; with them, she towered. Her hair was back, revealing a beautifully painted face; even John, who didn’t see the point of this sort of thing, had to admire the artistry. She was wearing a black gown of some sort of matte material, and black opera gloves. And on them, marching up her arms and around the curve of her bodice, curled around her throat--spiders. Huge, plastic spiders. And in her right hand, which she stretched out to the audience, slowly walking across her palm--

“Don’t worry,” she said, in a husky stage whisper. She stroked the back of the tarantula with one finger. “She won’t bite. Unless you ask nicely.” She snapped her teeth, and then smiled, looking suddenly self-conscious. Diana Explosion wolf-whistled. John shuddered. He looked around, plotting an escape route. When he looked back at the stage, Honey’s eyes were on him. 

“If one of you could please do me a favor,” she said. “Tell the silver fox in the back row that I bite, too.” 

John’s face burned. Georgie jostled him with her shoulder. 

“He’s twenty-five,” she yelled back. The crowd laughed. Honey Wild ducked her head, and when she looked back, her smile was crooked. 

“I suppose being with you has aged him prematurely, has it?” she said. Georgie laughed. John didn’t. The tarantula walked slowly along Honey Wilde’s palm.

“Only a joke,” she said. “Don’t let it... eat at you.” 

Diana Explosion jeered. Honey shrugged. The gesture was strangely sheepish; it didn’t belong to the person in the gown and the dark red lipstick. Then the music shifted abruptly, pitched eerily up, and the performance began.

It seemed to be some sort of performance art, with slow techno interspersed with half-song stanzas of Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale. What that had to do with spiders, John couldn’t say. He stopped paying attention. As the queen lurched and undulated across the stage, John stared down at his drink and thought angry, vague thoughts about pointless, fatuous entertainment and pretentious artists and men who thought that having a cock counted as a political statement. The next number featured a queen in a ridiculous harlequin costume and some kind of calliope remix, and John ignored Georgie’s worried glances and insistent nudges and pulled out his phone. 

When the break came, he slid past her and went out the side for a cigarette. It was a cool night; he stood with his back to the brick wall and looked up a the sliver of orange-grey sky above the buildings. He breathed in, felt nicotine fill his lungs, allowed himself a moment to relax.

The door swung open. The man who emerged was tall and trying not to be. He had unruly brown hair that seemed pressed down on one side, and was wearing a jumper, ripped shorts, and fishnets. There was a grey smudge of hastily removed eyeliner around his eyes.  “Oh,” he said. “Sorry. Hello. Mind if I share the alley for a bit?”

John shrugged. He offered the man his pack of cigarettes--might as well be polite--but was turned down. 

“It’s just--need to get some air, you know? Decompress. I always get a bit jittery after a number. Can barely hold my hands straight, ha.”

“Hm,” John said. 

“I don’t know how Tim does it. Of course, can’t hurt that he’s just like that all the time, I mean. It’s not really work for him, he just puts on a dress and goes out there, does his thing. Stuff really comes natural to him, you know?” 

“I suppose,” John said. 

“Sorry--you’re probably trying to relax, and here I am, talking your ear off.” The man ran his fingers through his hair, making it even more untidy, and looked down. There was a flush creeping up the side of his neck. “I, um. I’ll be out of your hair in a second, I promise. Just, while I’m here, I wanted to apologize.”

John raised an eyebrow. 

“If I crossed some sort of line,” the man went on, as though that explained something. “I mean, it’s what most people are here for, to be honest, someone to flirt with and be mean to them, but you seemed sort of uncomfortable? So. Sorry about that. It’s just, I don’t really do this that often anymore, I’m only here because Tim made me, and for the charity. So I’m out of practice with the back and forth, is all.” 

John squinted at him. The lighting was different; so was his posture, the shape of his face without makeup. But no, he recognized him now. 

“You’re Honey Wilde,” he said. “The one with the tarantula.” 

“Oh! Yes. Sorry. Not right now, I mean, right now I’m Martin. But yeah, that’s me.” Martin gave an awkward little wave. John took a deep drag on his cigarette and let the smoke out slowly. 

“It’s fine,” he said. “Are you sure? You seem sort of...”

“It’s fine,” John said again, more firmly. Martin’s smile was pained. He had dimples, John noticed; they were slightly asymmetrical, the right one deeper than the left. 

“Well that’s--good. I’m glad.” They stood in awkward silence for a moment. Martin kept looking at John, and then away; after a moment, John realized that he was being checked out.  

He considered this. Martin wasn’t bad looking, as far as John could tell. He seemed nice enough. The apology had seemed genuine. And there was a part of John, a vicious, petty corner of his heart, that enjoyed the thought of leaving Georgie in the bar to go home with a virtual stranger. 

“I’m sorry if it’s a step,” Martin said slowly, “but you don’t really seem to be enjoying yourself? Did your girlfriend drag you along, or something?”

“Ex girlfriend,” John said shortly. Martin’s eyes went wide.

“Oh,” he said. “Oh, I’m--that makes it worse, doesn’t it. I’m sorry.”

Of course, there were the negatives. Sex with someone he knew well was just as likely to be uncomfortable and awkward as it was pleasurable; with a stranger, the risk was doubled. Martin seemed courteous, but he still might take it personally when John asked him not to touch him, or have weird kinks, or just expect John to be more into it than he could possibly be and come to his own conclusions when John inevitably wasn’t. 

John watched Martin run a broad hand through his hair again, and decided that it wasn’t worth it. 

“It’s--it’s fine,” he said, shrugging. “It was a long time ago. She has a girlfriend now, actually, who’s working behind the bar.” 

“That’s--Oh, you mean Melanie? That’s Melanie’s Georgie?” Martin smiled, more genuinely this time. “Melanie won’t shut up about her. They seem sweet.”

“I don’t know if sweet is the word I would use to describe Melanie King,” John said. “But yes. They do seem to suit each other, don’t they.” 

“Yeah.” There was something wistful in the way Martin said it, and a little sad. They looked at each other. John felt an unpleasant roll of anxiety; this was it, this was the moment when Martin would make a move, and John would say no, and they’d both go back inside feeling uncomfortable and awkward. 

But Martin just pushed off from the wall and looked back at the door and said, strangely tentative, “Well, it was good to meet you. I should get back in. I’m not performing any more, thank god, but I don’t want to miss the second act. I’ll, uh, see you around, yeah?” 

John blinked at him. 

“Right,” he said. Martin flashed him a quick smile, and then opened the door. Through it, John could hear Diana Explosion, calling out, “--your seats, my lovely monsters, let’s get this show back on the road.” Then Martin was gone, the door closed behind him, and John was alone.

He took another deep drag on his cigarette. His phone buzzed, a text from Georgie, asking him where he was. He muted his phone and put it back in his pocket. Not yet. Soon, but not yet. 

[coldasz]

French songs

Hey people! So, the other day I was browsing on Tumblr and I stumbled on post of someone asking for French songs to learn French. And since my taste in music were given to me by my parents, I was quite unsatisfied with the answers. So I decided to make my own list of songs that could be great to listen to if you're learning French because they tell us complete stories. I will really detail my personal favourites and then give you a few names that you could look up.

The styles are really different from each other so if you don't like one, just go for the next.

1) Bénabar.

Albums really worth a shot: Reprise des négotiations, Les risques du métier, infréquentable.

He basically started his career when I was born and, since my parents liked him a lot, he’s a big part of my childhood. But I stopped listening at some point because I had heard it too much and it's only when I rediscovered it two years ago that I really realised what a genius he was. The songs from the first album are always talking about things everybody lives but everybody thinks they're the only one living it. It's great for French learners because he's nearly talking sometimes, and the vocabulary is really good (it's normal vocabulary but words you wouldn't find everywhere).

(A few of my) favourite songs: Les Épices du souk du Caire, Quatre murs et un toit, Bruxelles, l'effet papillon, le méchant de James Bond, le dîner, la Berceuse.

2) Camélia Jordana.

Album: Camélia Jordana (there's a whole joke about that title because no one knows if the album is called "Camélia Jordana" or "Éponyme").

This album is really good. Some songs you better not even try because I still don't understand what she's saying. But mainly the lyrics are nice and her voice is great.

Songs (these are the best ones and those that you can understand) : Calamity Jane, Je pars, J'étais une fille, Ou pas, Non non non.

3) Felipecha.

Album: De fil en aiguille.

They only made one album but it was a good album, mainly because they really knew how to make their voices work together. Their lyrics often don't mean anything but they are complete sentences, grammarly correct and the vocabulary is interesting. Just don't expect it to actually make sense.

Songs: De fil en aiguille, Le plancher des cieux, Intra-muros, matin du café, Quelque part, J'aime dormir, Qu'en restera-t-il ?.

4) Hubert Félix Thiéfaine.

Albums: Just go for the best-of aka the concerts albums. I think "40 ans de chansons sur scène" would be a good place to start (that's what I did, expect I actually went to the concert).

HFT isn't young and he grew up in a time when school was really hard and you learnt a lot of things. Plus,I think he was really curious and he read a lot. So he's pretty cultivated and he makes sooo many references that I will never understand! But he uses very beautiful vocabulary (he likes complicated words) and his songs are very graphics. Some are more easy to like than others, so you might want to try more than one.

Personal favourites: La fille du coupleur de joint, Lorelei sebasto cha, les dingues et les paumés, septembre rose, sweet amanite phalloïde queen (they're all in French although there migh be a few English words).

5) Carla Bruni.

Album: Quelqu'un m'a dit.

Carla has not the greatest reputation in France but her first album was quite nice. It's nothing complicated except she sometimes plays in the songs which means that "La dernière minute" just lasts one minute (so she sings a little fast) and in "Raphaël" she plays a lot on words and sounds which may make it harder to understand.

A few favourites: Quelqu'un m'a dit, Raphaël, Chanson triste, le plus beau du quartier, la dernière minute.

6) Joe Dassin.

Albums: Les Champs-Élysées, La fleur au dent, Joe, Joe Dassin, Les deux mondes de Joe Dassin.

If it sounds like old music it's because it is, OK? No need to be judgemental... Joe Dassin is also my childhood so not very objective here, it's Madeleine de Proust everytime I here his songs. But they're understandable and usually funny and/or cute, so why not give it a try?

Favourite songs: Siffler sur la colline, les Champs-Élysées, les petits pains au chocolat, la Fleur au dent, l'Amérique, Les Daltons, Salut les amoureux, et si tu n'existais pas.

7) Daniel Balavoine.

Albums: Un autre monde, Starmania, Le chanteur, Sauver l'amour.

These songs are not recent either but they are a big part of the Variété Française. Everyone in France knows "Mon fils, ma bataille" (at least, anyone I've ever met which doesn't mean much, I guess...).

Favourite songs: Le chanteur, l'Aziza, Tous les cris les SOS, La vie ne m'apprend rien, quand on arrive en ville.

8) Renan Luce.

Albums: Le clan des Miros, Repenti.

Like basically every artist on this list (except HFT for obvious reasons, you'll know if you listen to the lyrics), this is my childhood. A new album was released recently if I'm not mistaken but I haven't listened to it so I can't say anything about it. But it's nice, especially those ⬇️.

Favourite songs: Repenti, la lettre, les voisines, la fille de la bande, on n'est pas à une bêtise près.

9) Francis Cabrel.

These are classics according to me although I’ve had my fair share of him and try to avoid him a little.

Songs: Gare au gorille (Brassens's version is better), petite marie, je l'aime à mourir, la corrida, les murs de poussière, il faudra leur dire, l’encre de tes yeux, encore et encore.

10) Jean-Jacque Goldman.

Goldman is not the best artist but he got a lot of his fanbase thanks to his lyrics, so his songs should teach you a few things.

songs: Pas toi, tournent les violons, comme toi, il changeait la vie, né en 17 à Leidenstadt, je te donne, envole-moi, à nos actes manqués, la vie pas procuration.

Since I have so many people and songs left, I'll shorten each artist to a few songs.

11) Patrick Bruel.

Casser la voix, Alors regarde, je sais bien que j'l’ai trop dit, place des grands hommes, qui a le droit, mon amant de saint-Jean, au café des délices, marre de cette nana-là.

12) Renaud.

BIIIIG WARNING about Renault, he purposely f*cks up the grammar and vocabulary! So, it's a great training if you want to learn to spot mistakes! He also uses quite the amount of Verlan and words that I only know because of his songs.

Songs: en cloque, laisse béton, miss Maggie, dès que le vent soufflera, mistral gagnant, ma gonzesse, marche à l'ombre.

13) The list: here will be songs I didn't want to put the artist of on the post.

Battez-vous (Brigitte)

Africa (Rose Laurens)

Dis-moi (BB Brunes)

L'Aigle noir (Barbara)

L'assasymphonie (Mozart l'opera rock)

Belle (Notre-Dame de Paris)

Ma préférence (Julien Clerc)

Un homme debout (Claudio Capéo)

Merci (Grégoire)

Cœur de loup (Philippe Lafontaine)

Comme un boomerang (Étienne Daho)

Double Je (Christophe Willem)

Beau malheur (Emanuel Moire)

La Bohême (Charles Aznabour)

Il jouait du piano debout (France Gall)

Écris l'histoire (Grégory Lemarchal)

Ton invitation (Louise attaque)

Je suis un homme (Zazie)

La fée (Zaz)

Hanoï (La Grande Sophie)

Roméo kiffe Juliette (Grand Corps Malade)

La liste (Rose)

Mon mec à moi (Patricia Kaas)

Sans contrefaçon (Mylène Farmer)

On va s'aimer (Gilbert Montagné)

Le blues du businessman (Starmania)

Toi et moi (Guillaume Grand)

Demain sera parfait (Jean-Louis Aubert)

Le sud (Nino Ferrer)

La chanson de Prévert (Serge Gainsbourg)

San Francisco (Maxime Leforestier)

L'homme de cromagnon (Les quatre barbus)

Je m'en vais (Vianney)

J'ai demandé à la Lune (Indochine)

New York avec toi (Téléphone)

Est-ce que tu aimes ? (M feat. Arthur H)

I'll stop here because that's already a lot.

I hope it’s going to be useful to some!

Enjoy!