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aegor-bamfsteel · 1 year ago

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Hello Bamfsteel. I have been following your blog for over a year now but I realize I haven't commented or reblogged much (I kinda avoid online interaction because I'm terrified of accidentally offending someone). But I cannot express how much I love your blog, and admire you for carrying on despite the hate you get from antis. I was already ambivalent about Daemon, but you got me rooting for him... and for Daena, Rohanne, and Aegor, the last of whom in particular is basically unanimously hated by the fandom (hell, one random tvtropes page even called him worse than Aerys the Mad King)!! So I'm grateful for your blog and hope you keep posting.

Anyway, as a fan of both the Blackfyres and Arthuriana, I'm currently planning to write an Arthurian retelling of Daemon I's life and was wondering about how he chose his sigil/heraldry. Twoiaf says that he simply reversed the Targaryen colors because that's what all bastards do. But I don't know if there are any other examples of this happening in canon.

On the contrary, I recall Jon saying to Arya in AGoT: "Girls get the arms but not the swords. Bastards get the swords but not the arms. I did not make the rules, little sister."

So now I wonder if the 'black dragon on a red field' was actually Daena's personal coat of arms, and Daemon simply chose it after Aegon's acknowledgement as a symbol of defiance and loyalty to his beloved mother. I love the notion that the chivalrous-to-the-last-breath Daemon Blackfyre didn't care all that much for his terrible and blatantly unchivalrous 'father' and instead everything he did, from winning the squires tourney to rebelling against Daeron, was his way of making his mother proud and atoning for all the humiliation she had to suffer due to his birth.

Sorry for the long ask. I am just excited to meet a fellow Blackfyre fan :)

Hello, thesupercat. Thank you for the long ask, and putting up with my slow responses over the past year. I have a little more free time/motivation to write recently, so I’m trying to answer more questions. I’m glad that my posts could bring your fandom experience some happiness. If you ever write the Arthuriana about Daemon I, don’t be afraid to send me a link.

TWOIAF and Dunk actually have different origins of the Black Dragon sigil; Dunk claims “the arms of House Targaryen had borne a three-headed dragon, red on black. Daemon the Pretender had reversed those colors on his own banners, as many bastards did.” (The Sworn Sword) but TWOIAF actually says “Reversing the colors of the traditional Targaryen arms to show a black dragon on a red field, the rebels declared for Princess Daena's bastard son Daemon Blackfyre, First of His Name, proclaiming him the eldest true son of King Aegon IV, and his half brother Darren the bastard.” (TWOIAF Darren II) What a lot of antis miss in their analysis of Daemon and Aegor is conflating their actions with that of what the Reds said their supporters did (if Daemon didn’t create the sigil, it could be evidence that the rebellion wasn’t premeditated, which I believe) I actually had an interesting debate about which version of the origin of the sigil was more logical with someone (I’d taken Dunk’s word to be true), but it’s actually more interesting if the rebels came up with it, because you’re right (no matter what the wiki has to say about it) the reversed sigil color scheme alone doesn’t actually indicate illegitimate origin: it requires that and a diagonal (usually red) slash, called in heraldry a “bend sinister” (which was used in real life illegitimate sigils, like the cadet branches of the House of Bourbon, Conti and Condé). There are multiple examples of illegitimate sons/their descendants using the reversed colors of their father’s house and the bend sinister: Walder Rivers and Walder of Woodmere (a silver castle on a blue field and a red bend sinister, for Frey), and the cadet branch houses Oldflowers (ten white hands on a green field and a red bend sinister, for Gardner), Vikary (quartered with a white lion on red crossed by a gold bend sinister, for Reyne), and Bolling (quartered with a gold stag on a black field and an orange bend sinister, for Durrandon). The other illegitimate children whose sigils are described are variations on a family sigil without the inverse colors (Aegor Rivers, Brynden Rivers) or something completely different (Benedict Justman, Blackshield). Far from being a simple sigil that marks being illegitimate Targaryen, the black-dragon-on-red-field is a symbol of anti-Targaryen defiance that rejects the “bend sinister” marker for a different lineage of dragon (a cat of a different coat, I guess), which makes a lot of sense if you consider the war was due to disgust at the current Targ regime. Daemon technically had the right to use the Targaryen sigil proper since he was legitimized (look at the Velaryon boys), but I’m certain Da3ron would’ve forbid him because that would be “putting him on princely level” never mind that he is a prince as Daena’s son and Yandel knows this; he might’ve actually used a different style of arms before the First Blackfyre that we don’t know of (same with Aegor, who got the black wings on his Pegasus sigil due to House Blackfyre; I headcanon him using a plain blue field during his youth, for the Riverlands), or even the sigil we know of with the bend sinister (which the rebels removed acclaiming Daemon their legitimate king waging war against an illegitimate usurper; also as a Targaryen bastard, Da3ron could’ve had the same sigil as Daemon which the rebels wouldn’t have wanted). But, you seem to be correct that whoever created the sigil put more thought into it than “reversed color scheme is what all illegitimate children do”.

There are two women described as having personal arms: Rhaenyra Targaryen and Barbrey Dustin, ruling ladies with important family connections. The Targaryen sigil is also often personalized to distinguish between brothers and cousins (Aerion, Prince Daeron, Valarr, Maekar all have variations on dragon position, color, borders, number), though usually not for the king or his heir except in civil war conflicts (both Rhaenyra and her brother Aegon II have variations on the Targaryen sigil. Which I guess makes sense why Daemon’s supporters wanted a separate Blackfyre sigil). Daena was also acclaimed queen by some, and according to a GRRM answer wanted to be queen, so it’s possible she had a variation on the Targaryen sigil as personal arms. It’s interesting that the most popular variation on using house sigils is when the person wants to honor their mother’s family: Harras Harlaw (Serrett peacock), Joffrey/Tommen/Myrcella (Lannister lion, which Jon thinks is overly proud), Cleos Frey (Lannister lion), Benfrey Frey (Rosby chevronnels), both Big and Little Walder (who quarter the Frey castles with sigils of their mother’s and grandmother’s families), and Harry Hardyng (quartering the diamonds of Hardyng with 2 Falcons for his Arryn grandmother and 1 broken wheel for his Waynwood mother) all incorporate their mother’s/grandmother’s family sigils to show their high lineage. Even Rhaenyra Targaryen quartered her two red dragons with the Arryn falcon for her mother and the silver seahorse for her first husband. It’s entirely possible Daena, famous for wearing black during her youth and twice uncrowned, incorporated a black dragon into her personal arms (though I like to think she also incorporated the Velaryon seahorse for her mother’s family, to better differentiate herself from the “usurper branch” of Viserys II), and Daemon accepted the nickname “the Black Dragon” partly to honor her (the connection between them wearing black was one of my earliest hc posts). That Daemon’s descent from Daena is emphasized in the same sentence as his supporters creating the black-dragon-on-red-field banner could be seen as connecting the reversal of “traditional Targ arms” to her, as being “Targaryen on both sides” was used at least in Rhaenyra’s case as a mark of better legitimacy. Tl;dr if you want to say that Daemon’s battle sigil is a black dragon to honor Daena, there’s enough symbolic connections considering other examples of personal/illegitimate arms to make that argument, especially for a fanfic.

I hope you have a good rest of your day. My askbox is always open if you have more questions, though response time may be slow.

#ask #asoiaf #house blackfyre #daemon blackfyre #daena targaryen #sigils #asoiaf headcanon #long post

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wallbeatjournal · 9 months ago

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if you had to base a new riverdale season off three movies, which would you choose and why? they could be tonal choices or you can pluck entire elements of the movies and work them in.

ok i broke the rules bc i didn't stick to movies, i went novels and pop culture with it too. and i also kind of embroidered a few references together around each main riff in a way that i think COULD be riverdalian, but these are my 3 selections:

jt leroy (2018). trashy iffy-hot-take kristen stewart/laura dern movie about a very 2000s literary scandal/internet drama run Too Far into irl drama that i think riverdale would know better what to do with. two ideas (this is a jughead plot btw):

put jughead in the dissociated trauma-projecting controlling persona-having laura albert/jt leroy role and rope veronica and reggie and their monetary-business motivations into the scam angle. monica posh savannah knoop stuff and rattling veronica and jughead around in a jar together intensely in a campy way

or step lightly outside the bounds of this script into the real livejournal and myspace based drama of it all and jughead's sometimes-characterization as a guy who needs help unpacking metaphor even though he's swimming in it. make him into one of the many emo band boys (ryan ross?? ryan ross????) who related so so so so sosososo much to the writing of jeremiah terminator and then had a whole crisis when j.t. was unmasked as a middle-aged woman with a metaphorical literary persona.

permissible bonus web-weaves: james frey a million little pieces and oprah, augusten burroughs and running with scissors. we're doing the 2000s obsession with author authenticity is-this-really-autobiographical-if-it's-not-literally-true-or-are-you-shaming-your-family-for-NOTHING questions and scandals. but we're especially doing the emo community freaking the fuck out about blorbo from their novels doing a catfish online to extend the persona just that much further.

the avril lavigne replacement conspiracy theory (linking the wiki even though what i'm REALLY thinking of here is this moving pandemic essay alexander chee my beloved posted that i can't locate now, riffing on themes of feeling like a ghost inhabiting your own life after a major trauma). they can work in some other famous body double / replacement and assassination conspiracies (paul is dead, jfk) too but avril is the main reference and this is a betty plot.

pull in some actual alexander chee images and motifs too maybe, his novels about csa grooming trauma and having complicated feelings about your intimate abusers via like grandiose opera/paris siege metaphors (the queen of the night) and fox demons (edinburgh) betty would eat, i fear, even if they're a step off her normal serial killer media mix. dark betty has the range <3

stephen king's the long walk / suzanne collins' the hunger games / battle royale / state-sponsored brutal murderous game show authority abuse dystopia media homage in general!! especially when it's homoerotic and full of ptsd and institutional abuse, because clearly this is a plot primarily for archie and the lads. imo the long walk ("how bad do you have to hate yourself to join the military" but it's game show horror) and the hunger games ("child stardom is traumatic institutional abuse especially in the era of social media and society simply pretends not to see it" but make it a ya game show adventure) should be the main references, but we could work the academic/art-competition angle of battle royale for kevin. as a treat. ok yeah and maybe work in that arnold schwarzenneger movie the running man too while we're here picking up interwoven motifs at the store. why not!

#riverdale #jughead jones #betty cooper #veronica lodge #archie andrews #jt leroy #laura albert #alexander chee #stephen king #suzanne collins #the thing about riverdale is that all of its best references are a few layers deep. that's the magic #i actually only just remembered that the sprouse twins were in that movie adaptation of the heart is deceitful above all things #that makes the jt leroy riff even more camp. damn. i wish riverdale...damn. damn!!#anyway betty maliciously gaslit into believing she's been replaced with a double. betty suspecting on her own. lili reinhart in a necktie!#stephen king military enlistment game show metaphor archie and the boys being homoerotic. hiram as president snow. idk i'm riffing here #also nobody asked but if i could pick any riverdale musical cover song i would pick harry nillsen's everybody's talkin from midnight cowboy #kevin could eat. veronica could eat. JOSIE WOULD EAT. and the thematically related scenes they could web weave...like. ahhhh #i guess midnight cowboy is my secret 4th movie riff desire. i feel like spiritually rvd was already there and it's jarchie btw

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zorlok-if · 3 years ago

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I got an ask recently inquiring about any suggestions I have on learning to write/improving your writing. Since then I've been trying to come up with a helpful, coherent, and relatively concise answer, but that's taking a long time.

So, for now I'd say my biggest piece of advice is the cliché: if you want to become a better writer, read (or watch/listen to/etc.) everything you can. Everything. Engage with media from as many different creators as possible and from as many different backgrounds/experiences/cultures as possible. Seek out things you don't know a lot about. Venture into new territory and always try to expand your horizons. This includes engaging with media you would never drift towards naturally, even towards things you don't expect to enjoy (which isn't to say read things that will disturb you or be dangerous for your mental health, more that you should try reading things you know you won't love or that fall way outside your genre comfort zone). You can learn a lot about writing from things you don't like or aren't blown away by. I imagine it like XP farming in a video game. Even if some of what you're doing/reading isn't particularly exciting or interesting, it'll level up your writing skill all the same. You may come away with a better understanding of what you don't like and don't want to do. You may come away with some new idea you wouldn't have thought to include in your normal body of work. You may discover a love for something you never expected. Who knows?

This advice applies to more than books—watch shows or movies, play games, listen to podcasts or free YouTube lectures/video essays, whatever you want. Just try to reflect critically on what you encounter (for example, "how can I incorporate (or avoid) ___ in my own writing?").

If you want any recommendations, I'm more than happy to give some. If you want me to clarify any of these points, just let me know. And since it may interest someone/provide a point of reference as to what stuff I'm reading, here's an incomplete, visual (and hopefully somewhat helpful or interesting) snapshot into some of the media I'm engaged with. I present to you...

All the Items I Currently Have Checked Out from the Library:

(A Cautionary Tale)

Currently Reading:

Hainish Novels & Stories, Volume One by Ursula K. Le Guin, Frank Herbert's Dune the Graphic Novel, Book One by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (illustrated by Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín), Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, American Gods (graphic novel) by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton, The October Country by Ray Bradbury, The Books of Earthsea, The Complete Illustrated Edition by Ursula K. Le Guin (illustrated by Charles Vess)

Just Read In or Found Through My Current Courses:

Nat Turner (graphic novel) by Kyle Baker, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn (play adaptation of the novel), Bad Indians by Deborah A. Miranda

Fun Stuff/Miscellaneous:

How to Slay a Dragon by Cait Stevenson, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019), Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker, Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, PhD, 100 Prompts for Science Fiction Writers by Leslie and Jarod Anderson

Writing Books:

How to Write a Mystery edited by Lee Child with Laurie R. King, On Writing Romance by Leigh Michaels, How to Write a Damn Good Thriller by James N. Frey, Writing Fantasy & Science-Fiction by Orson Scott Card, Phillip Athans, and Jay Lake, The Art of Time in Fiction by Joan Silber, Writing Without Rules by Jeff Somers, Fabulous Monsters by Alberto Manguel, The Art of Description in Fiction by Mark Doty, The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing by Zachary Petit, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Nancy Kress, Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot by Jane K. Cleland, 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt

Cooking/Food Books:

Pure Vegan by Joseph Schuldiner, The Soup Book (new edition), Neuroenology by Gordon M. Shepherd, The Italian Vegetable Cookbook by Michele Scicolone, Wine Simple by Aldo Sohm with Christine Muhlke, Cook Korean! by Robin Ha (graphic novel)

Coding Books:

Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 24 Hours (7th Edition) by Phil Ballard, CSS: The Definitive Guide (4th Edition) by Eric A. Meyer & Estelle Weyl, CSS: The Missing Manual (4th Edition) by David Sawyer McFarland, Learning JavaScript (3rd Edition) by Ethan Brown

#36 books and 1 video game #(this is what working at a library does to you I guess)#on writing #resources #recs #queued #albie's corner

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buffyversefanfiction · 4 years ago

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Slayer of Slayers

Warnings:I do not own, nor do I claim to own any of the copyright or characters within the Buffyverse which includes but not limited to the television shows Buffy and Angel, as well as the Darkhorse comics series’ continuation.

15+ Strong to moderate violence, Graphic to mild descriptions of gore, and torture, sexually charged scenes, sexual innuendos, mild to strong language, and practices of witchcraft.

M/M, F/F, M/F, GEN, OTHER +

PART SIX LINK HERE

Part Seven - Rogues

1928

Spike found himself running through woods in the middle of the night in search of his beloved Drusilla only to find his sire dancing on a field, which had been scorched by fire, as the raven-haired vampire continued swaying from side to side, laughing away at herself in the process making Spike curious to what she was up to now. “Dru, what are you doing out here?” Spike asked the woman he loved as he walked towards her, pulled her body into his arms, and began dancing with Drusilla. “Here on these very grounds lies a future of torment, torture, and agonizing pain…it’s so delicious it makes me giddy!” Drusilla replied as she continued to slow dance with her immortal lover. “One day I’m going to raise a family right here, and will almost be worth all that I’ll have to lose before then…” “I was worried you got yourself killed babe; you know you’re not at your full strength,” Spike confessed admitting his fears for her. “Oh, my dear William, I will be the only one who will not die, not once, even at times when I’m so lonely I wish I would die…” Drusilla sighed with a profound sense of sadness, wanting to stay in that moment but knowing the future was coming. “You’ll always have me!” Spike protested, meaning what he said with all his heart but not knowing what the future would hold for him and the woman he loved more than he could ever imagine loving someone…at the time.

1977

Following Angelus leaving her after regaining his soul and Darla returning to The Master, Drusilla knew her time with Spike was nearing an end, that the quest for her to become strong again would be the beginning of the end for them both and despite how much sadness the thought of losing her beloved Spike one day, she knew her and Spike’s trip to New York would bring some happiness to them both as Spike set out to kill his second vampire slayer, Nikki Wood, while Drusilla set her sights on siring a new vampire, the first child of her new family. Drusilla had spent most of the night watching Tobias from a distance, she followed him as he walked home from his work at a diner nearby to his rundown studio apartment, watched him as he got strung up on drugs, and noticed that this man was far from the one she had seen in her visions. At first glance, this man was no more than a depressed junkie who without her input would die a nobody within a matter of years, but as she watched him further, she began to see the potential hidden deep within him and decided to make her move. “How sad a life you must live to need to block it out with every toxin available to you.” Drusilla greeted Tobias after he opened his apartment door to her, the vampire waiting in the hallway, ready to claim him as her own. “I can feel your pain as if it was my own and I know you are so lost you think you cannot find a way out of your despair, but mummy can make everything all better.” “Did Mick send you? He always did like his girls crazy as hell, just hand me the drugs already and tell Mick I’ll pay him when I get my wages from the diner.” Tobias replied to her, having no clue who she really was nor what she had planned for him. “I do not know this Mick, but I do know you, Tobias, I know who you are now, but I also know who you can be. I can give you meaning in this world, a purpose, and a love that will consume you…you will never be alone!” Drusilla said in a rather convincing tone, acting if she was the answer to his many troubles. “Whatever you are on lady…I want some.” Tobias responded in a mocking tone, confused by who this woman was and what she wanted from him. “I can you make you stronger than you ever imagined, give to you a family you have always longed for, make you part of something truly incredible and even lead you to the love of your life…once I make you worthy of him of course,” Drusilla promised the young man, knowing this time that her words were somewhat resonating with him, tempting him to give her a chance to prove she was telling him the truth, a chance which she would use to turn him into a vampire-like her…

The 2000s

Drusilla stood in the same field she had once stood in the late 20s, but what was now standing there was the abandoned building of an insane asylum, a building which had been built, used, and abandoned within the years since she had last visited this field. and the vampire could not prepare her eyes, for the place was even more beautiful, to her at least, than she found it in her many visions, and now that she had lost her beloved Spike, she could at least find some salvage in claiming the home she had dreamed off for many decades now. “It’s been a long time my darling boy, mummy would be so mad at you if you were not the only family, I had left…for now,” Drusilla told Tobias as he began walking up towards his sire until he was stood next to her. “I really did love that man just like I loved Angelus and grandmother, but they are all gone now…” “I still do not understand why you wasted so much time on that peroxide prick but then I’ve never been in love, if it were not for you, I’d have found it impossible for any vampire,” Tobias replied to the vampire who had created him. “You’ve certainly had your fair share of conquests though; you’ve been a very naughty boy but the time for you to settle down with your forever love is coming soon and mummy could not be more excited,” Drusilla revealed to him, knowing she was going closer to forming a new family, one she believed would be even better than the ones that came before.

Modern Day…

Buffy and Spike’s on/off relationship had reached its inevitable end almost two years ago, when their last split led to Buffy’s one night stand with Angel resulting in a baby which led to Buffy going M.I.A. after losing that baby, and in her absence, Spike had taken over the duties of protecting the city of San Francisco, a city which included Buffy’s sister Dawn Summers, Dawn’s daughter Joyce Harris, and Spike’s on/off roommate Xander Harris in its population. And it was during his patrolling duties within a local cemetery in the city of San Francisco that he was reunited with an old friend, one who would lead him into joining a mission to kill the first woman he ever loved… “Sneaking up on a vampire is a rather foolish move considering the heightened bloody hearing and everything,” Spike shouted into the dark night as he turned around looking for a face to come out of the shadows. “Calm down Spike I was merely trying to surprise an old friend.” Ruby Moon stated as she appeared from out of the shadows. “Someone who I owe my life to and yet have the audacity to ask another favor of.” “Well, if it isn’t the little witch, I helped break free from my ex-Dru’s crazy cult,” Spike said with a smile on his face, happy to see the witch in question. “I heard you were all suburban wife again living the normal life or as close to it as one can get married to one of Riley Finn’s G.I. blows.” “It’s good to see you again too!” Ruby responded with a chuckle as she walked towards the vampire, whom she considered being a good friend, one who she knew she could rely on. “So, go on and tell me what you need saving from this time? Please do not tell me your back being the ex’s magical minion again because you only get one save from that, the second time is on you!” Spike told her with a level of sarcasm, knowing he was about to help her again no matter what situation she had now found herself in. “Remember the friend we left behind? The one crazy enough to consider Drusilla as family. Well, he’s forming a team to kill that ex of yours, and something tells me you will want to be part of that team.” Ruby revealed to the vampire. “I’ve put Dru in my past and if you are smart you would too, let this friend of yours go it alone if he’s so determined serves him right for not getting out when you gave him the option anyway.” Spike rejected her offer, not loving Drusilla anymore but not wanting to be part of her death either. “This friend of mine is Theo Frey, and it just so turns out his mother happens to be your latest ex Buffy Summers’ son, I figured telling you that would help change your mind and everything considering you do not want to be the one telling the slayer that you had a chance to save her son and said no.” Ruby continued with her revelations, shocking Spike by the latest, knowing with certainty he would not reject her offer a second time.

Elsewhere, back in the city of Los Angeles, Theo Frey was once again stood behind his now run-down dive bar, the one he shared with his now-dead again lover Tobias, frozen in thought, with tears in his eyes, as he began to wonder whether Tobias was as guilty as Drusilla for killing his parents, wondering if his entire relationship with Tobias was just a lie and he had been nothing more than a fool to both him and his sire Drusilla. Suddenly, the very place he returned to for comfort, the place he lived with Tobias, and the place they have both called home, had become nothing more than a place of ruins holding memories of a past that the vampire/slayer hybrid could no longer believe to be true after Ruby’s recent revelations. “I did not think I would be seeing you again especially in the place you almost burned to the ground.” Theo declared after drying his eyes, as Faith Lehane, the vampire slayer determined on pestering him forever, walked into what remained of his demonic little dive bar. “Well, it’s not like you can be picky with your customers considering you only have half a bar these days.” Faith joked with the vampire as she walked over to the counter cautiously. “Your little friend Ruby left me this really sketchy video about you and her going to take out Drusilla and now Spike seems to be in on this little mission so I threw my hat in the ring considering you could do with another super strength in the ring, and something tells me you’re not exactly going to be hitting up B or Angel anytime soon…” “Ruby said something of getting some vamp help, but she never said anything about Spike and as for you no thanks, the last time I played with you, you turned my lover into ashes, well your blue-haired pet did anyway.” Theo snapped at the slayer, refusing to team up with her after their complicated history. “I get that you do not trust me, and I do not trust you but here’s the thing Dru’s a big player and she’s made an enemy of everyone not just you so, swallow your pride dude, and take the help I mean it’s better taking too much firepower to the vengeance party than winding up losing her…she’s survived this long for a reason kiddo.” Faith advised the slayer of slayers, trying to convince him to accept her help. “If B hears I’m not going you know she’s going to get herself involved, I mean it was hard enough telling her to sit this one out like it and I will not even get you started on Angel…” “Killing Drusilla…it does not mean I’m suddenly team slayer or anything, it just means, for now, she’s number one on my hitlist…” Theo explained to her. “I will not protect you; I will not save you, and I most certainly will not thank you.” “Well, that sure as hell seems like a yes to me.” Faith smirked, knowing Theo would rather chance to trust her, than giving Drusilla too much of an opportunity to escape his vengeance. Once Theo reluctantly agreed to work alongside Faith, and Ruby returned to Los Angeles with Spike in tow, the team consisting of a vampire slayer turned vampire, a rogue slayer turned good, a vampire with a soul, and a powerful witch began planning to strike Drusilla where she’s least expected to be attacked, at the one place she called home…

Faith, Theo, Ruby, and Spike found themselves deep within the woods, the same woods that Spike had once visited many years ago, and the same woods Theo and Ruby knew all too well thanks to their time with Drusilla, and before long the group of rogues had found themselves standing outside of the abandoned insane asylum, boarded up with planks of wood that themselves had been broken, with smashed windows, and a general sense of abandonment, abandoned in the middle of nowhere, the road to it long gone, hidden in shame of its own secrets A truly horrifying, and haunted place filled with misery from its past, and the perfect home for an insane vampire-like Drusilla. “I get you’re on mission vengeance and everything here Theo but what are the chances you are going to turn us all and lead us into some kind of slaughter?” Faith asked Theo, as the four remained hidden within the trees, beginning to question Theo’s loyalty towards this team of rogues. “The only person I hate more than you and the blue haired bitch is Drusilla so as long as she is alive you are safe but the minute, she’s dead we’re back to being enemies,” Theo answered honestly, making it clear he had no intention of seeking redemption. “He looks like Angel speaks like Angelus and smells like Buffy,” Spike stated, referring to Theo’s similarities with his biological parents. “Got to say it’s as hot as it is annoying!” “Listen up do not let your past get in the way of dusting Drusilla once and for all or else you’ll be joining your ex in the afterlife!” Theo quickly threatened Spike, proving he distrusted them as much as they distrusted him. “You were her minion just days ago I was her equal, if we have to worry about anyone getting second thoughts then it's you, not me!” Spike responded, making it clear he was down to do what needed to be done. “She killed my parents, there’s no going back for me even if it kills me, you better know it's going to kill her too!” Theo declared defiantly as he prepared for the fight of his undead life.

Instead of just charging into the abandoned asylum, Theo decided to get his poker face on, going in first and playing nice with his former mentor Drusilla, as he got a layout of where her minions had placed themselves, knowing the vampire was always ready for an attack, ready to strike before anyone else, as her asylum had become her armed kingdom. Despite the disgust over having to pretend not to entirely loathe the woman that had killed the parents who had raised him since birth, Theo knew it would be worth the cost once he ended the night plunging a wooden stake into Drusilla’s chest if he could convince her that he was still an ally of hers, the problem, of course, being Drusilla was always one step ahead. “My first family was taken by Angelus before he decided to take me too…” Drusilla told Theo as they walked down one of the many hallways found within the abandoned asylum that Drusilla used as her headquarters. “But then I found a new one with him and Darla, then my Spike but your mother took that all from me which is why I found it so fitting that I was the one to take you from her…but you were never really mine were you?” “What are you talking about? I believed your every word, did every demand and loved you like a son, I have been loyal to you since the first time I met you and I continue to be.” Theo argued with her, fearing she already knew of his intentions to kill her. “I took you into my home and loved you like a son, I even loved you when you took Tobias from me because I knew that was the way things had to be but now you’re too far gone for me to save…” Drusilla said with a great sense of sadness as the two stopped walking, and Theo noticed vampires appearing from both ends of the hallway, as he realized she was the one ambushing him. “The only thing I can do for you now is killing you and hope you are reunited with Tobias in whatever hellish dimension you are sent to.” “You really do see everything coming, don’t you?” Theo asked as he pulled out a wooden stake from his jacket pocket. “You killed my parents, pretended to save me, and had me fooled to think you as my savior all this time! I trusted you…I fought for you…I loved you!” “Everything I did I did to make you who you are today, the slayer of slayers, the world’s first self-sired vampire and you repay me with siding with the very same people who abandoned you without a second thought,” Drusilla replied, as she pulled out a wooden stake of her own from out of the side of her dress, as her minions cautiously walked closer to them both, ready to help their master if Theo got the upper hand. “I don’t give a shit about them! I gave a shit about my parents, the ones who raised me, who loved me, and you took them from me!” Theo shouted at her furiously. “My whole life has been one big lie and you’re the one telling the twisted tale.” “I loved you as much as someone like me could ever love anybody…you were more my son than perhaps even Tobias, I had such high hopes for you and now you’re letting something as mortal as dead humans affect your emotions making you dumb, dumb, dumb,” Drusilla responded before going on to reveal. “My vision had two endings you know…one where you were her ending and another where she was yours, I guess we both know now what ending you have chosen.” Suddenly, the two vampires who had once considered themselves to be like mother and son were now ready to fight to the death against each other, both feeling equal as betrayed as the other, Theo having perfectly reasonable reasons to feel betrayed by her, and Drusilla in her mind only having reasons of her own.

Meanwhile, just outside of the abandoned insane asylum, where Drusilla and Theo were beginning to battle each other, Faith, Spike, and Ruby remained to hide behind the same trees where Theo had left the three of them as they awaited a signal from the vampire slayer/vampire hybrid to know when to come into the fight, not realizing that Drusilla already had the upper hand on them all. “I know he’s Buffy’s kid, Angel’s too, but at what point do we just bail on this and let the two vamps fight it out between themselves?” Spike asked the vampire slayer, and witch, who he was stood next to. “I mean this guy is just as evil as everything else we tend to kill so why don’t we leave it to Drusilla to kill him instead of one of us killing the kid?” “I am not going anywhere!” Ruby said defiantly, refusing to give up on her former best friend. “I have known Theo my whole life, you two only know the evil side to him but I’ve seen the best and worst of him and I was there when he lost everything…despite that there’s still good in him.” “Well, I do not bloody see it,” Spike replied to the brown-haired witch. “But I am not leaving you to die out here!” “I saw it…in the way he loved that vamp Toby or whatever, they loved each other as I’ve never seen anyone love each other, except maybe Buffy and Angel.” Faith confessed, once again standing up for the slayer of slayers, feeling now more than ever before that his redemption was drawing nearer. Suddenly, the sound of a window-smashing grabbed their attention, as they turned to see a vampire falling from the top floor window before hitting the ground with force, before getting back onto his feet and running back into the asylum via a side door, and although this was not the signal they agreed on, it was clear to Faith, Spike, and Ruby that Theo was in trouble and now was the time to act.

Theo’s fight against Drusilla was unfair in every way as each time he gained the upper hand against his former undead mentor, her vampire army would attack him, and before long he was down on the floor, bloody, bruised, and beaten, while being pinned down by several vampires as Drusilla stood above him, ready to plunge the wooden stake she held into his chest and end him once and for all. “You have been such a naughty boy Theodore,” Drusilla stated with a look of struggle in her eyes as she kneeled over Theo’s body, clearly finding great difficulty with the fact she was about to kill someone she once loved like a son. “All I ever wanted was to be your mother…but she gets her claws into everyone I love.” “Get it over with already!” Theo shouted at her, ready to admit his defeat, accept his fate, and let his miserable life come to an end. And Drusilla did just what she was told, as tears formed in her eyes, she plunged the stake into Theo’s death while letting out a frantic scream at the same time, before falling backward and beginning to sob manically for a moment, only to be left just as stunned as Theo himself as he did not turn to dust, but instead, pulled the stake out of his chest, and rose back onto his feet. Before Theo or Drusilla could even usher a single word to display their joined shock at the fact that Theo was somehow still alive, the surrounding vampires, very recently loyal to Drusilla, began to kneel for Theo, displaying the change in loyalty, now towards the slayer of slayers, as Drusilla quickly rose to her feet and made her way out of the exit located nearest to her, as a shocked Theo continued to look at the vampires kneeling before him, still in shock, as the stake he was holding, which was just plunged into his chest, fell to the ground. “You are our new master now!” One of the vampires declared as Theo continued to just stand there in shock. “A vampire that cannot die, the true immortal, the true heir to the undead kingdom!” Another declared, followed by cheers from fellow vampires, just as Faith, Spike, and Ruby rushed into the hallway from the exit farthest away from them all, only to stop in their tracks by the shocking sight in front of them. “Theo…” Ruby shouted towards her former friend, having no idea what all this meant, or what would follow, as the slayer of slayers was declared king among the vampires…

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istaricelebelasse · 5 years ago

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Sansa and her storyline, and how it mirrors the storyline of the North

Initially bound to the Iron Throne

This one is quite obvious, at the start Sansa is very happily betrothed to Joffrey, just as the North is quite happily part of the Seven Kingdoms and bound to the Iron Throne.

The North is happy under Robert Baratheon’s rule, just as Sansa is happy in her betrothal, sentiments that change when Ned Stark is arrested.

Sansa starts to really see the cruelty in Joffrey when Ned is arrested, and is unable to convince herself that it isn’t there. At the same time the North heads to war to demand the release of their Lord, and the start of their unhappiness with the Iron Throne begins as well.

This all comes to a head when Ned is executed, Sansa then admits to the hate she feels for Joffrey and reasserts that she is a Stark in her mind, just as the North declares its independence from the Iron Throne and crowns it’s first Stark King in three centuries.

Attacked during the War of the Five Kings

Just as the North is attacked by Ironborn, when it should be defended from harm so Sansa is attacked in the Red Keep, a place where she should be safe and protected by her status as Joffrey’s betrothed.

Both should be defended and safe, Sansa as a hostage of the Lannisters should be kept safe so that she can be used to gain control of the North should Robb fall and to protect the city if the Northern armies surround it; yet she is beaten in the throne room and forgotten in the riots by all but the Hound. Similarly the taking of Theon Greyjoy as a hostage was supposed to defend the North from the Ironborn threat, yet despite his status as a hostage the Ironborn still rearmed and prepared for war, meaning that the North’s attempts to use a hostage had failed.

Has to Hide True Loyalties after Robb’s death

This one is better demonstrated through quotations:

“I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter” - Davos IV, A Dance with Dragons

“The North remembers, Lord Davos. The North remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done.” - Davos IV, A Dance with Dragons

Both are quotations made by Wyman Manderly of White Harbour, the first describing how he eats with the Freys and puts up a front so they do not doubt his loyalty to them, the second his true feelings. He does not wish for the Boltons and Freys to rule in the North, nor do many of the other Northern Lords, they want the return of the Starks just as much as the Starks want to return to Winterfell.

“I am Alayne, Father. Who else would I be?” - Sansa I, A Feast for Crows

“I am not your daughter, she thought. I am Sansa Stark, Lord Eddard’s daughter and Lady Catelyn’s, the blood of Winterfell.” - Sansa I, A Feast for Crows

Sansa has much the same thought process as Wyman, she goes along with Baelish’s plans, agreeing to keep herself safe, but her inner thoughts betray her. She is still Sansa, still a Stark and longing to return home to Winterfell and the North despite the fact that objectively she is safer hiding as a bastard who doesn’t have a warrant out for her arrest (no matter how dubious her safety with Baelish truly is). She is hiding her true loyalties so as to bide her time for when best to reveal them, just as the North is biding their time for when best to remove the Boltons and Freys and avenge the Red Wedding.

Sansa’s whole storyline is mirrored in the events that happen in the North, as she is attacked, so the North is attacked; as she has to hide her true identity so the North has to hide its true loyalties. They are intrinsically linked, with mirroring happening on both sides; and despite the fact that she spends one of the smallest amounts of time of any of the Starks in the North in the books, her storyline is so linked to the North that it would be ridiculous to say her storyline is heading anywhere but back to Winterfell.

After all, as we are repeatedly told by multiple Lannisters, Baelish and even Jon Snow, Sansa is Key to the North and to Winterfell

#Sansa Stark #meta #game of throne meta #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf meta

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augusberkeley · 4 years ago

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disregardcanon · 6 years ago

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A few Pokémon I made up for my Pokémon in Westeros au!

The names are negotiable, tbh. okay so we have

Lycanghost- the ghost wolf Pokemon!

Type: rock and ghost

Westerosi-dex entry- this Pokemon is an alternate evolution of Rockruff which only appears in the Westeros region because Lycanghost is a “place based” evolution of Rockruff. Rockruffs will only evolve into Lycanghosts when leveled up within a mile of the ruined castle of “The Twins”. The scientists in the region posit that there is some sort of difference in the soil in this area that causes the mutation, but historians and keepers of myth posit that this Pokemon only evolves here because the legends surrounding its origin are true.

According to legend, the first Lyncaghost sprung up in the carnage of the Red Wedding after a Frey soldier sewed the head of Robb Stark’s Lycanroc onto his body, which prompted the two to fuse together- creating the first Lycanghost which killed the Frey on the spot and ran into the woods. This is supported by the lack of recorded accounts of the Pokemon prior to the War of Five Kings.

While Lyncanghosts are always born in the Riverlands, they tend to migrate North, with the largest quantities of wild Lyncanghosts congregated around the ruins of Winterfell, which seems to suggest that the legends of its origins are true. If nothing else, this rock-ghost Pokemon presents an interesting mystery for Poke-enthusiasts, a point of study for historians, and a strong contender for competitive battlers.

Milotic Westerosi Form- the motherwaters Pokemon!

Type: water and ghost

Westerosi-dex entry- the Westerosi variant of Milotic is an interesting case among ghost Pokemon. This Pokemon dwells in rivers and pulls those that it believes have harmed the world down to their watery deaths. However, it will protect a smaller, weaker Pokemon, or a beloved trainer with its life.

This Pokemon looks like the skeleton of a Milotic, with bits of skin pulled across parts of the skeleton. It is often considered to be as terrifying and imposing as a standard Milotic is beautiful. It evolves into a Milotic from a skeletal Westerosi Feebas in times of great emotional turmoil. It will often evolve when its trainer is in a life or death situation, or when its trainer has just proved themself worthy of the Milotic’s abiding loyalty.

This is another Pokemon that baffles local scientists. While Westeros is home to many ghost types, they cannot identify the evolutionary reasoning for this divergence. The Westeros region has always had “standard” Milotics, but the Westerosi variant did not appear until the War of Five Kings period. Historians and myth lovers alike claim that the origins of this Pokemon are linked to that of Lycanghost- that the first Westerosi Milotic was the resurrected version of Catelyn Stark’s Milotic. It ravaged the Riverlands, killing thousands of those connected to the families in the Red Wedding.

Some more outlandish myth-lovers even claim that first Westerosi Milotic had the soul of Catelyn Stark herself.

Castarain - the blood Pokemon!

Type: water and ghost

Westerosi-dex entry- this Pokemon emerged in the Westerlands around year 261. It was said to first be found in the ruined castle of Castamere, though it eventually spread through the region and into more Southern reaches of Westeros.

Castarain appears to be made entirely of blood, and to coagulate and move together in a way similar to Grimer or Muk. It can force itself into any shape temporarily, often liking to mimic the appearance of a beloved trainer, mock the appearance of a rival, or simply choose a form that resembles a male Pyroar- the former house Pokemon of the Reynes of Castamere.

It often attacks by forcing itself down a Pokemon (or human’s) throat and drowning it before crawling out of the corpse’s mouth.

Legends say that this Pokemon was formed by the congealed blood of the dead Reynes of Castamere brought back to life after their slaughter. Tywin Lannister certainly perpetuated this idea by keeping a Castarain on hand at all times that was constantly trying to drown him. However, he was able to keep the Pokemon weak enough that it never was able to kill him.

Many modern trainers who feel slighted gravitate towards this Pokemon and its violent origins, but others try to heal the hurt that Castarains seem to be born with. If a trainer truly tries to befriend a Castarain, the Pokemon will never leave the trainer’s side and will often allow its trainer to carry it in a bucket and smile up at them with a little smile that resembles a Ditto’s.

Flayfort- the flayed man Pokemon

type: ghost!

Westerosi-dex entry- this ghost type Pokemon appears to be shreds of human skin wrapped around a single bit of light at the center. It resembles a human form, but only in the way that is a hideous caricature of one. These Pokemon are often deeply feared, but they tend to be kind and docile unless they are threatened. They often lead children lost in the woods back home unharmed.

This Pokemon is native to the Northern reaches of Westeros, but the highest concentration of them is in the twenty miles closest to the ruins of the Dreadfort. The Boltons were historically known for flaying their enemies alive and leaving the skins out as a warning, and most scientists AND historians agree that this must be the origin of Flayfort.

Historically, members of House Bolton sought out this Pokemon to remind the other houses of their bloody history. However, many Boltons were killed in cold blood by Flayforts when their backs were turned, and the wiser members of the house tried to purge the Dreadfort and its surrounding lands of the Pokemon.

Another legend claims that these Pokemon freed many victims of the Boltons’ cruelty and the victims who could not survive the escape became Flayforts as well, giving them a chance to escape from the Bolton’s cruelty and try to prevent it from happening to others in the future.

Dragonbones

type: ghost and dragon!

Westerosi-dex entry: this Pokemon emerged in Westeros soon after the arrival of the Targaryens. At the time of Aegon’s Conquest, Westeros was devoid of the dragon type, but it had an abundance of ghost types. Other Pokemon brought over by the Andals and the Rhynor often developed ghost type variants or evolutions. It did not come as much of a surprise once Aegon the Conqueror’s dead Salamance returned years after its death as a collection of living dragon bones. These bones adhered themselves together and started to float and move in a way that mimicked a living Salamance. However, this Pokemon did not remember any of Salamance’s moves. It was like an entirely new Pokemon.

As more and more dragons died off, new and slightly different variants of Dragonbones appeared across Westeros and started to breed. Over time, they started to act more and more like ghosts and less like dragons. Now, the dragon type is secondary and it can learn far fewer dragon moves than ghost type moves. While these “dragon” Pokemon had the typing, they were no match for Daenerys Targaryen’s REAL dragon type Pokemon when she returned to Westeros to take the region with fire and blood.

Ponyta Westerosi Form- the Kelpie Pokemon

type: water and dark!

Westerosi-dex entry: the Westerosi form of Ponyta is one of the most famous Pokemon peculiar to the Westeros region.This water type Pokemon lives most of its life in the deepest, darkest parts of freshwater. It’s known to drag those foolish enough to stand at the edge of its waters down into the depths and drown them before using its sharp fangs to rip them to pieces and eat them.

Instead of Ponyta’s traditional fiery mane, this mane is made of water. These Pokemon use this constant supply of water as a spout for water based moves such as water gun, water pulse, and hydro pump. It can also spray this water behind it to increase its speed.

Its territory is mainly in rivers and lakes in the Riverlands, though it’s natural territory includes the Vale, North, and Westerlands. These Ponytas have also been spotted in lakes on the Iron Islands, and in recent years, in lakes in Sinnoh, though it’s assumed that all of these were placed there by humans.

These Ponytas are valued far beyond the Westeros region for their beauty and unique typing. Trainers who are able to catch and raise this Pokemon are considered to be some of the best Pokemon trainers around, because even trying to catch a Westerosi Ponyta can be a life-threatening task. These Ponytas only evolve into Rapidash with a high level of affection, and trainers with Westerosi Rapidashes are respected and feared across all regions.

#pokemon in westeros au #the pokemon maester #robb stark #catelyn tully stark #pokemon #asoiaf

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lgbtqiahistoricalromance · 7 years ago

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LGBTQIA Historical Romances with Scholars, Booksellers, Playwrights, Bluestockings, and Journalists - Updated June 19, 2018

The Shakespeare Company by Ted Bacino

- How could Christopher Marlowe, a known spy and England’s foremost playwright, be suspiciously murdered and quickly buried in an unmarked grave just days before he was to be tried for treason? How could William Shakespeare, an unknown actor who “held horses for the gentry while they watched the plays,” become England’s star playwright virtually overnight? As Marlowe and his sponsor/lover, Sir Thomas Walsingham realize that the sentence for heresy is always death by being “drawn and quartered.” So they fake Marlowe’s murder and arrange for an unknown actor to front the new works by Marlowe.

Quickly the crown becomes suspicious of Marlowe’s mysterious murder and the similarities of his works with those of Shakespeare’s. (There are actually more than 100 identical or similar lines in the works of the two authors.) A manhunt begins with Marlowe being chased from city after city in Italy. He flees the Venetian city just as he finishes “The Merchant of Venice” and “Othello.” He runs from Padua as he writes “The Taming of the Shrew” and he must leave Verona after a close call while he tries to finish “Romeo and Juliet” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” The chase continues to Rome and Sicily where Marlowe in finally cornered.

Meanwhile back in London, Shakespeare is trying to hide from the investigations of Constable Maunder and defend his writing of plays he’s never read. And the homoerotic references in the recent works plague Shakespeare with his drinking buddies, his concubines and his wife. The whole chase culminates in a final confrontation of excitement and murder.

All the historical facts presented in the book and play are accurate. Yes, it was made into a play!

Unfit to Print by KJ Charles (July 10, 2018) Review

- When crusading lawyer Vikram Pandey sets out in search of a missing youth, his investigations take him to Holywell Street, London’s most notorious address. He expects to find a disgraceful array of sordid bookshops. He doesn’t expect one of them to be run by the long-lost friend whose disappearance and presumed death he’s been mourning for thirteen years. Gil Lawless became a Holywell Street bookseller for his own reasons, and he’s damned if he’s going to apologise or listen to moralising from anyone. Not even Vikram; not even if the once-beloved boy has grown into a man who makes his mouth water. Now the upright lawyer and the illicit bookseller need to work together to track down the missing youth. And on the way, they may even learn if there’s more than just memory and old affection binding them together…

A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles (Installment 3 of the SoG series) Review (One of my favorite novels in this genre. Dominic is a cinnamon roll, but also quite impressive when it needs to be. Book one actually starts the bookshop content, but this novel contains philosophy on Blake and M. Shelley.)

- Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution … and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life. A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart. (pansexual MC, wonderful D/s dynamic)

An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles (Book 2 of the SotC series) Review (Enemies to lovers to family. Just a fantastic read.)

- In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies. Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn’t expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel—or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years.

Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his s��ances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge. And as their battle of wills and wits heats up, Justin finds he can’t stop thinking about the man who’s determined to ruin him.

But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family’s secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal. As killers, fanatics, and fog close in, Nathaniel is the only man Justin can trust—and, perhaps, the only man he could love.

Wanted, A Gentleman by KJ Charles (Review pending. This one involves a journalist, but there is also a twist.)

- Theodore Swann is a jobbing writer, proprietor of the Matrimonial Advertiser lonely hearts gazette, and all-round weasel. He’s the very last man that Martin St. Vincent would choose to rely on—and the only one who can help. Martin is a wealthy merchant who finds himself obliged to put a stop to a young heiress’s romantic correspondence in the Matrimonial Advertiser. When she and her swain make a dash for Gretna Green, Martin drags Theo on a breakneck chase up the country to catch the runaway lovers before it’s too late. Theo guards his secrets. Martin guards his heart. But as the two of them are thrown irresistibly together, entanglements, deceptions, and revelations come thick and fast…

The Professor’s Assistant by Bren Christopher (Time travel steampunk)

- Lured by rumors of a momentous invention, Agent Julian Blake steps into the New York Gate and emerges outside London. It is the same year, 1885, but an earth parallel to his own. The two timelines are almost identical, but the slight variation is enough to threaten his mission as it includes an attitude toward same-sex attraction that is less than accepting. He never expected that difference to pose a problem. Julian has an important mission to complete–a mission with far-reaching consequences not only across the alternate earths, but into their pasts. For the momentous invention is a working time machine. And the inventor’s assistant is a beautiful, auburn-haired young man named Daniel who causes Julian to disregard the Department rules he has lived by for so long. But there are others interested in the professor’s new invention, and when tragedy strikes, the professor’s lovely assistant might just be the only person left with the knowledge to recreate the device. Now Daniel is a target, and Julian is in a race to protect him and retrieve the knowledge of the time machine from those who would misuse it.

Penn’s Woodland by David Connor (Review pending, but let me just say…strange. Not bad, but strange. Circa 1950′s? Southern US)

- Years ago, Penn’s lover was attacked in the woods, and most think Penn is to blame—including Penn. Ever since, he’s been a prisoner in his home and his mind. When world renowned architect Ewan Parish arrives to construct a secure, enclosed walkway through those woods, Penn is surprised, suspicious, and also fearful. Ewan finds himself intrigued by the mysterious, reclusive Penn, his journals, and the beautiful artwork he’s drawn, which Ewan recreates in the walkway’s iron scrollwork. Determined to free Penn, Ewan sets out to unravel the mystery that has resulted in Penn’s imprisonment by his family and conscience all these years…

Merrick by Claire Cray (Reviewing pending, paranormal, lovely world-building and resumes in second novel)

- New York, 1799: the future looks bright for the charming young book dealer William Lacy, until a raucous night of drinking lands him in shackles. He narrowly avoids the brutal prison system thanks to his mother, who negotiates with the judge to secure him a five year apprenticeship in lieu of a prison sentence. And so William finds himself in a carriage bound for the remote woods upstate, where he’ll spend the next years of his life learning a new trade under some old master. When he first sees Merrick, William thinks he’s been dropped into a medieval horror story. Tall and gruff, dressed in a hooded robe that completely conceals his features, and riding a black mare, Merrick might as well be the Grim Reaper. But appearances are deceiving. A skilled apothecary and healer, Merrick proves to be a generous host and a gentle teacher, and William soon finds himself surprisingly comfortable in his new surroundings. And yet troubling mysteries abound: Why does Merrick never show his face or hands? Why do his movements seem so young and sure beneath his robes? What lies within the cave behind the stone cottage? Something unnatural is afoot. But most alarming by far is William’s own reaction to his new keeper. For Merrick’s strange charms are bewitching enough by day; but by night, in the darkness of the room and the bed they share, William finds himself entirely overwhelmed by desires he never imagined…

A Private Gentleman by Heidi Cullinan Review

- To seal their bond, they must break the ties that bind. Painfully introverted and rendered nearly mute by a heavy stammer, Lord George Albert Westin rarely ventures any farther than the club or his beloved gardens. When he hears rumors of an exotic new orchid sighted at a local hobbyist’s house, though, he girds himself with opiates and determination to attend a house party, hoping to sneak a peek. He finds the orchid, yes…but he finds something else even more rare and exquisite: Michael Vallant. Professional sodomite. Michael climbed out of an adolescent hell as a courtesan’s bastard to become successful and independent-minded, seeing men on his own terms, protected by a powerful friend. He is master of his own world—until Wes. Not only because, for once, the sex is for pleasure and not for profit. They are joined by tendrils of a shameful, unspoken history. The closer his shy, poppy-addicted lover lures him to the light of love, the harder his past works to drag him back into the dark. There’s only one way out of this tangle. Help Wes face the fears that cripple him—right after Michael finds the courage to reveal the devastating truth that binds them.

The Tutor by Bonnie Dee

- Gothic romance with a twist. Elements of The Sound of Music, The Enchanted Garden, Jane Eyre, and “true” ghost hunting shows make this story feel familiar. Gay love makes it unique. Seeing an ad for a position at a Yorkshire estate, typesetter Graham Cowrie decides to make an upward career move by passing himself off as a tutor. How hard can it be to teach a few subjects to a pair of nine-year-old boys? But on his arrival at the ancient house, he finds the staff creepy, the twins odd, and the widowed master temporarily absent. His first meeting with brooding, stern, but oh-so-attractive, Sir Richard doesn’t go well, but with no other prospects vying for the teaching position, Graham manages to keep it. His mission soon becomes clear, break down the walls of reserve both father and sons have erected and attempt to bridge the gap between them. But strange sounds, sights and experiences keep Graham on edge until he finally admits the Hall is haunted by two entities with very different agendas. Graham works to appease one and combat the other while protecting the broken family he’s grown to care for.

Seducing Stephen by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon (Review pending, quite a good rake vs ingenue novel, with the former learning some lessons from the student.)

- Visiting a wealthy friend during university holiday, Stephen wakes to find his bed invaded by a late arriving, drunken houseguest stumbling into the wrong room. From this dubious beginning, a romance slowly develops. At first Lord Peter Northrup is only interested in the young man as a lusty diversion. He tutors him in secret pleasures shared by men like them, intending to keep their special liaison brief, light, and temporary. But after Northrup leaves, he can’t forget the young man who managed to touch his jaded heart. During their time apart, Peter and Stephen change, and when they meet again, their affair flames hotter than ever. Can a peer of the realm and a middle-class young man bearing heavy responsibilities maintain a lasting relationship? Will Peter accept the possibility of true love in his shallow life, and will Stephen risk everything and trust a man who’s already hurt him once?

The Gentleman’s Madness by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

- Two men imprisoned. One in body, the other in mind. Caught in the throes of passion with another man, scholar John Gilliam agrees to asylum treatment for perversion at the request of his worried parents. He intends to fake a cure then return to his normal life, but an attack on his person leads him down a darker path. Transferred to another facility, he is denied any devices by which he might harm himself—even books and writing materials. Half crazed by isolation John finds an unexpected friend in his caretaker, Sam Tully. Tully feels sorry for the patient everyone calls “the professor,” but he must keep his head down and perform his duties. His family relies on his earnings. He refuses to acknowledge the stirring of excitement inside him every time he is in Gilliam’s presence. Thirst for the knowledge the scholar offers wars with the carnal hunger he must deny. In John’s small cell, learning and mental freedom blossom as the two forge a friendship. Forbidden attraction evolves into physical action. But in the asylum there is more than curative treatment taking place. The pair uncover a terrible secret and must fight not only for their freedom but their very lives.

Frost Fair by Erastes

- Gideon Frost is willing to do whatever it takes to earn enough money to save the printing shop that was left to him by his father. But when faced with the prospect of having to engage in acts society deems unnatural and the law declares punishable by death, he realized there are limits as to how far he'll go. Then he meets the privileged and handsome Joshua Redfern, the one man who tempts Gideon to break his own rules. Joshua Redfern has no title or important relations, but his independent fortune allows him a life that is more than comfortable. And more importantly, it enables him to offer assistance to the unfortunate but beautiful Gideon just when the man needs it most. Joshua realizes his interest in Gideon is far more than charitable, but is the man similarly attracted or merely indebted? When the Thames freezes over and London hosts the great Frost Fair of 1814, trouble and necessity bring Gideon and Joshua together. But just as ice is destined to eventually crack, will the circumstances break these two men as they learn that life isn't always fair?

Sweet William by Dianne Hartsock

- William Wilkerson leads the life of the privileged rich. Head of his father’s shipping business, he indulges to his heart’s content in the pleasures of the flesh with Boston’s finest young men. That is, until he reunites with Fredrick: his former tutor and the one man who captured his heart. But William’s father has declared Fredrick off limits. And Fredrick, himself, believes he’s beneath the attention of the Wilkerson heir. After having lost his current pupil to graduation, and with no prospects of a replacement, Frederick is homeless, hungry, and easy pickings for the men on the docks. When Frederick is shanghaied into service on William’s own merchant ship, will William discover his plight in time to rescue him?

Whyborne and Griffin series by Jordan L Hawk (Fave, fave, fave)

- Widdershins: Book One: A reclusive scholar. A private detective. And a book of spells that could destroy the world. When handsome ex-Pinkerton Griffin Flaherty approaches Dr. Percival Endicott Whyborne to translate a mysterious book, Whyborne wants to finish the job and get rid of Griffin as quickly as possible. Instead, he’s drawn into the hunt for a merciless cult bent on resurrecting an evil necromancer from the dead…and finds himself falling in love with the impertinent detective. But will Griffin’s secrets cost Whyborne not only his heart but his life?

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzie Lee (aro/ace female MC)

- A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.

But then a window of opportunity opens—a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid.

In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.

Purgatory & Salvation novels by Jeff Mann (Have not read, but tw: extreme violence)

- During the Civil War, two young soldiers on opposite sides find themselves drawn together. One is a scholarly, war-weary Southerner who has seen too much bloodshed, especially the tortures inflicted upon the enemy by his vicious commanding officer, his uncle. The other is a Herculean Yankee captured by the ragtag Confederate band and forced to become a martyr for all the sins of General Sheridan’s fires. When these two find themselves admiring more than one another’s spirit and demeanor, when passions erupt between captor and captive, will this new romance survive the arduous trek to Purgatory Mountain?

- The American Civil War still threatens to tear the nation in twain. Private Ian Campbell betrayed his company and his duty because he fell in love with a handsome Yankee prisoner-of-war, Drew Conrad. Both men are on the run, desperate to reach Campbell’s family home in West Virginia, which may have escaped the conflict unscathed and may offer them both peace and salvation from the cruelties and hatreds heightened by the war. But the trek is dangerous. Both men are wounded, deserters, and their love for each other is viewed by so many as a crime against nature—hanging for any of these offenses threatens every moment they tarry to rest. They must rely on the kindness of strangers, but every household they enter seeking sanctuary for even a single night on a bed and scant provisions for hungry stomachs might betray them should the truth be discovered. Acclaimed author Jeff Mann’s sequel to his beloved historical novel Purgatory will instill in readers an ardent expectation over Privates Campbell and Conrad’s fate. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance!

Bound to Him and Bound Forever (Books two and three of the Bound series) by Ava March (Review pending, but this series is excellent. It begins with Oliver paying a madame to allow him to take the place of one of her employees, so he can have just one night with the man he loves. Contains BDSM)

- Lord Oliver Marsden’s life is perfect…well, almost perfect. His bookshop is doing well, his bank account isn’t empty, and his nights are filled with a deliciously dominant man…who tends to be a bit too domineering outside of the bedchamber. But Vincent loves him, and that’s all that should matter. Right? And of course Vincent still firmly holds the reins of control. Yet while Oliver feels Vincent is finally ready to give himself fully to him, to make good on the offer Oliver refused a year ago, the looming threat that his lover could someday be forced to marry keeps him from tugging the reins from Vincent’s grasp.

Then Vincent receives a letter that changes everything. Oliver seizes the moment and pushes Vincent toward a night neither of them will ever forget. Yet come dawn, Oliver awakens to an empty bed. Lord Vincent Prescot knows he loves Oliver. The man’s his best friend, and he trusts him. So why does submitting to Oliver leave him so shaken? It doesn’t take him long to find the answer, yet his solution could drive his lover away for good.

The Mistletoe Kiss by Ruby Moone (Review pending, but I loved this book. Most of it actually takes place within the bookshop owned by Fenton, so it’s a nice setting with a family-feeling.)

- By 1816, widowed bookseller Lawrence Fenton has spent a lonely lifetime hiding who he is. He has convinced himself his feelings for his far too young, gorgeous, but troubled assistant Christy Shaw are nothing more than pride in his protégé and concern for his plight. Christy’s life involves walking fine lines: one between his mother and his abusive stepfather, one where he must keep his needs hidden, and hardest of all, one where he must keep his feelings for his serious employer to himself. Lame since birth, Lawrence cannot imagine anyone wanting him, least of all Christy. But when Christy’s life threatens to spiral out of control, Lawrence steps in. Then Christy’s emotions spill over into a kiss under the mistletoe at Christmas. Will Lawrence be able to face the long-buried truth about himself and keep Christy by his side?

The Wrong Kind of Angel by Ruby Moone (Reviewing pending, but I’ve read this novella/prequel six times.)

- A reluctant angel, three not terribly wise men, two gorgeous men on a starlit chase to find a child … It can only be Christmas. It’s Christmas 1817 and Captain Charles Farrington has accepted that he is destined to live alone. That is, until Christmas Eve, when a startlingly handsome man crashes into his home and his life. Harry Valentine is a man on the run. A man with secrets. He hasn’t time to fall for the angel who rescued him and, in any case, he knows that once Charlie realises the truth about him, there will be no future for them. Harry’s warmth makes Charles face up to the demons in his past and shows him that he can have a family. All he has to do is persuade Harry to stay. But Charlie knows that, despite whatever Harry says, he’s the wrong kind of angel for happy endings.

The Master of Seacliff by Max Pierce (Review pending, but I had mixed impressions of this novel.)

- It is 1899, and young Andrew Wyndham has accepted a position tutoring the unruly son of wealthy industrialist Duncan Stewart in the hopes that the work will be brief yet provide an avenue to pay for his passage to France to study art. But Seacliff is a dark mansion enshrouded in near-eternal fog, dark mystery and suspicion—perhaps a reflection of the house’s brooding master. An imposing Blackbeard of a man, Duncan Stewart is both feared and admired by his business associates as well as the people he calls friends, for Stewart may have murdered his own father to gain control of his business. And his home, in which Andrew Wyndham must now reside, holds terrible secrets—secrets that could destroy everyone within its walls. For pure gothic escapism with a decidedly masculine point of view, The Master of Seacliff is an enthralling and satisfying read.

Fagin’s Boy: The Further Particulars of a Parish Boy’s Progress (Oliver & Jack Book 1) by Christina Pilz

- Oliver Twist has one desire: to own a bookshop and live a simple, middle-class life as far as possible from his workhouse-shadowed past. One thing stands in his way: Jack Dawkins–The Artful Dodger–who’s just returned to London and is seeking Fagin’s old gang. Jack’s visits cause Oliver nothing but trouble, but he finds himself drawn, time and again, to their shared past, Jack’s unguarded honesty, and those bright, green eyes. Oliver craves respectability, and doesn’t think he will find it with a forbidden love. Can Jack convince Oliver that having one doesn’t mean losing the other? Fagin’s Boy is the first book in Christina E. Pilz’s Oliver & Jack series, a gay historical romance. If you like Dickensian tragedy, suspense, crime, poverty, and hope, as well as a slow-burn forbidden romance, then you’ll love Fagin’s Boy: The Further Particulars of a Parish Boy’s Progress.

The Blue Ribbon by Katherine Marlowe Review (I will say that most of Marlowe’s novels do not entail much period-typical homophobia, if any at all.)

- Theo Aylmer’s perfectly satisfactory life as a chemistry professor at Cambridge is upended when he receives word of his father’s illness. Forced to return to Cornwall, he is robbed for everything he’s worth by a dashing young highwayman. When he finally reaches his father’s stagecoach inn, he finds it dilapidated and the village around it groaning beneath the thumb of the hateful Earl of Glynn. All Theo wants to do is return to his life and work in Cambridge, but as he tries to recoup the funds necessary to travel, he finds himself plagued by brandy-smugglers and rumours of ghosts. And at the center of all Theo’s problems is a certain handsome highwayman who has charmed his way into Theo’s bed and heart. When the highwayman turns up shot, Theo can’t turn him away, even though doing so risks bringing the wrath of the customs men, the law, and the Earl of Glynn upon them both.

Protection by S.A. Reid

- When Gabriel MacKenna enters Wentworth Prison in 1931, he promises himself two things: never to be buggered and never to turn prison queer. Tough, smart, and ruthless in a fight, he quickly makes a name for himself inside. But Gabriel, saved from the noose by a social crusader, is serving two life sentences. And life is a very long time to endure Wentworth with no comforts but prison food, card games and cigarettes. To survive endless days without the touch of another human being… Five years after Gabriel’s incarceration, Joey Cooper arrives at Wentworth. Every convict claims imprisonment through a miscarriage of justice, but Joey is truly blameless. Trained at Oxford as a physician, the young doctor is innocent of prison culture and too handsome for his own good. Facing eighteen years behind Wentworth’s towering gates, Joey cannot hope to survive without protection. And protection is just what Gabriel MacKenna offers. At a price…

Adrian’s Librarian by Hollis Shiloh

- One night at a masquerade party, rakish Adrian Knowles kisses the wrong man by mistake and meets Oliver Windham. Feisty yet wary and broken, Ollie desperately needs a friend. Almost against his will, Adrian finds himself playing the hero… and falling in love.Adrian hires Ollie to set his library to rights—after having his servants put all the books out of order. He promises himself he’ll treat Ollie only as a friend, but Ollie quickly becomes the only man he wants.

Eden Springs by Ada Maria Soto

- In the boomtown of Eden Springs, someone is spilling the blood of children. Desperate, the sheriff calls in ex-Union scout Aaron Byrne to stop them. For the lawman for hire, it’s just another job-until he meets Jonah Mann, the town’s Oxford-trained astronomer-cum-schoolteacher. Aaron never stays in one place for long, but a few stolen glances from the eccentric professor begin to test his resolve to move along once the job is done. Now a telescope, a whorehouse bathtub, and a cup of Chinese tea could change Aaron’s own stars forever. A Timeless Dreams title: While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma.

A Light Amongst Shadows (Dark is the Night series Book 1) by Kelley York and Rowan Altwood Review

- James Spencer is hardly the typical troubled youth who ends up at Whisperwood School for Boys. Instead of hating the strict schedules and tight oversight by staff, James blossoms, quickly making friends, indulging in his love of writing, and contemplating the merits of sneaking love poems to the elusive and aloof William Esher. The rumours about William’s sexuality and opium reliance are prime gossip material amongst the third years…rumours that only further pique James’ curiosity to uncover what William is really like beneath all that emotional armor. And, when the normally collected William stumbles in one night, shaken and ranting of ghosts, James is the only one who believes him. James himself has heard the nails dragging down his bedroom door and the sobs echoing in the halls at night. He knows others have, too, even if no one will admit it. The staff refuses to entertain such ridiculous tales, and punishment awaits anyone who brings it up. Their fervent denial and the disappearance of students only furthers James’ determination to find out what secrets Whisperwood is hiding…especially if it prevents William and himself from becoming the next victims.

LGBTQIA Historical Romances with Detectives, Inspectors, Agents, and Coppers (including some Holmes) - May 2018 List

@love-in-mind-palace @ghislainem70 @depth-of-loyalty-and-love @artemisastarte @tehanulilac @romancingthebookworm @bakerstreetcrow @lmirandas @the-moon-loves-the-sea

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Minneapolis will pay George Floyd's estate $27 million after city council votes to settle lawsuit with family George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, said that he would return the settlement millions if it meant he could see his brother again. “I thank the state of Minnesota for getting this settlement taken care of,” he said. “But even though my brother is not here, he’s here with me in my heart. Because if I could get him back, I would give all of this back. “I know that he’s with us, and he’s standing up, right now, knowing that we have the opportunity to be able to fund low-income, African American communities.” Floyd took a moment at a news conference where he was joined by family members, his legal team, and Mayor Jacob Frey to thank the protesters who supported the family, especially during the height of the pandemic this past summer. He also called for peace. “So, one thing that the world needs to know. America, we need to heal, this nation needs healing. Our family needs healing,” the emotional Floyd said. George Floyd’s sister Bridgett Floyd said in a statement, “While we will never get our beloved George back, we will continue to work tirelessly to make this world a better, and safer, place for all.” She said the foundation she started in her brother’s name will honor his legacy as a community-minded volunteer. The news comes as jury selection is underway for the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing the 46-year-old Black man in May 2020 by kneeling on his neck for almost eight minutes. Floyd’s final moments, recorded on video, led to widespread protests against police brutality and racism under the banner Black Lives Matter as well as incidents of unrest and looting. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. He has also pleaded not guilty to third-degree murder, which was reinstated in the case on Thursday. In July, Floyd’s family had filed filed the federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the four former officers involved in his death. The lawsuit said the city fostered a culture of excessive force and impunity within the police force and failed to terminate dangerous officers. Frey told reporters the settlement reflects a commitment shared by Floyd’s family toward racial justice and social progress. “We need to be unrelenting,” he said. “We need to be unapologetic in our pursuit of a more equitable local government and more just approach to community, safety, and our city, and we will be.” Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender offered her “deepest condolences” to Floyd’s family, friends, and the community. “No amount of money can ever address the intense pain or trauma caused by this death to George Floyd’s family or to the people of our city,” she said. “Minneapolis has been fundamentally changed by this time of racial reckoning, and this city council is united in working together with our community and the Floyd family to equitably reshape our city of Minneapolis.” Family applauds police reform At the news conference announcing the settlement, Ben Crump, Floyd’s family attorney, lauded the city for changes to the police department. “The settlement is not just historic because of the $27 million paid out but for the impact on social justice policy reforms and police reforms,” he said. “Because the financial compensation most directly impacts George Floyd, and his family, the future of his family. But it is the policy reforms that affect all of us.” Days after Floyd’s death, the Minneapolis City Council voted to ban chokeholds, require officers to report other officers they see using chokeholds, and to intervene in such cases. At the time, the mayor vowed to help change the way the city’s police department operates, saying “now we can finally get this right.” And in July, the mayor and police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced changes to the department’s use of force reporting requirements that place a stronger emphasis on de-escalation. The agency is scheduled to see funding cuts after a December in which the city council voted to redirect $7.77 million from the police budget to other programs, according to a news release. The plan funds mental health programs, directs funding toward “increasing capacity within the Civil Rights Department’s Office of Police Conduct Review to investigate complaints about police officer behavior,” and redirects some nonemergency calls to other departments. Another police shooting resulted in a large settlement In 2019, the city announced a $20 million settlement following the death of Justine Ruszczyk two years earlier. Ruszczyk, 40, had called 911 to report a possible assault in the alley behind her home. She was shot by former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, who was responding to her call with his partner. Ruszczyk’s 2017 death drew widespread attention, in the United States and in her native Australia. She had moved to Minneapolis to be with her fiancé and was killed a month before her wedding. Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter and was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. He is appealing his sentence. CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report. Source link Orbem News #City #Council #Estate #Family #Floyds #George #GeorgeFloydsettlement:MinneapolisCityCouncilagreestopay$27milliontohisestate-CNN #lawsuit #million #Minneapolis #pay #settle #us #Votes

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masha-russia · 8 years ago

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Excuse me but how was Rhaegar an amazing person? He left his wife and kids, annulled a marriage basically leaving rightful heirs nothing and turning them into bastards by law. He further complicated things that led to the Targaryen fall. His actions played a part in the Targaryens almost be coming extinct. Don't sound like a great person but someone who was selfish and naive. I don't get thwe worship he gets. It's undeserved.

Hi,

You are talking about the show, I was talking about the books.

About the show - I am not sure that annulling a marriage turns the children into bastards. I cannot speak for the worlduilding of the show, because it is very inconsistent and lacking of logic, but in the books King Aegon IV Targaryen tried to annul his marriage to his sister-wife Naerys, claiming that their son Daeron was fathered not by him but by their brother Aemon the Dragonknight. Princess Daenerys was already born at that time (Aegon didn’t accuse her of being fathered by Aemon), and it wasn’t mentioned that she might be retrograded to the rank of bastard if the King had his way (at the end Aegon couldn’t annul his marriage because Naerys was defended by Aemon during her trial by combat). And in European history, Eleanor of Aquitaine annulled her marriage to King Louis VII and their daughters remained legitimate (I am not very knowlegeable about history though, this is the only case I know). So it’s very likely that Rhaegar’s children by Elia did remain legitimate. In the books, I very much doubt any annulment will happen because it is a very complicated procedure. It is not possible to simply set aside a royal marriage by asking a septon.

About the books - a lot of things here.

1. You say you don’t get the “worship” Rhaegar gets - you have to take it up with Westerosi though, because they do worship him. Nobody in the novels apart from Robert ever said anything negative about Rhaegar, not even Eddard Stark (to the big dismay of Rhaegar haters lol). He is something like a legendary figure akin to Aemon the Dragonknight (not legendary yet because he died recently, less than 15 years prior to the novels, so many who knew him are still alive, but in a century he’ll join Aemon’s rank, and you can bet songs will be sung about him). Rhaegar’s harp and rubies are well-known in the popular culture of Westeros. Very different characters like Cersei, Jaime, Tywin, Jorah, Maester Aemon, Barristan, Jon Connington, and countless others only have good memories of him. Neither Oberyn Martell and Doran Martell - so Elia’s brothers - ever talked badly of Rhaegar either. One of the Freys is named Rhaegar, and people react to that with derision - how dare a Frey carry Rhaegar’s name:

I had the Freys to supper. One sat just where you’re sitting now. Rhaegar, he named himself. I almost laughed right in his face.

^ This is a quote by a minor Lord on some tiny island in the middle of nowhere, who probably never even met Rhaegar.

[…] his nephew Rhaegar [Frey], that smirking worm who wears a dragon’s name.

And this is a quote by Wyman Manderly, a Northener and an supporter of House Stark, so you’d think he’d have no reason to speak in favor of Rhaegar (with the story of him raping Lyanna being official because of Robert), but that’s how much Rhaegar was beloved. And also, although Robert’s lie about Lyanna being raped is the accepted story, no one talks about it either. As if people have difficulties believing that Rhaegar could do something like that. Barristan thinks that Rhaegar was the best Targaryen he knew beside Daenerys, and he knew quite a lot of them. He knew King Aegon V (Master Aemon’s brother) and his family, and everyone who came after him, yet Rhaegar impressed him most of all. And Rhaegar was best friends with Arthur Dayne! And Arthur Dayne is another legend-to-be.

I think Rhaegar was amazing because everyone except Robert thinks he was amazing. I don’t see why should I dismiss hundreds of positive memories from dozens of very different characters, and believe only one negative report from Robert Baratheon, a man who was not a good person (and we know it’s false, Lyanna fell in love with Rhaegar).

Arthur Dayne! Barristan who loved Rhaegar! Tywin who said Rhaegar would have been an amazing King! Rhaegar’s reputation is unblemished, like a diamond.

2. Rhaegar didn’t “leave” or “abandon” his wife and his children. Firstly, Elia was not someone Rhaegar fell in love with - theirs was an arranged political marriage. (But even if they were in love - and they weren’t - people are allowed to fall out of love I think, no? Rhaegar was not a womanizer, he didn’t frequent brothels, for all we know Elia was his first woman. If he fell in love with Lyanna, he had the right to pursue a relation with her.) Rhaegar was away for a time, and he left Elia and his children in a safe place with all the comfort needed. Please don’t think that the Red Keep was a bad place for them. Aerys was erratic and cruel, that’s true, but he was so with everyone (Rhaegar included), and he was never violent toward Rhaegar’s family - and apart from him all the court was there, Rhaella who was nothing but lovely and Viserys who was a child and four of the Kingsguards, gold cloaks and other guards and Ladies in waiting. King’s Landing was one of the most secure places in the Kingdoms. Rhaegar obviously didn’t leave forever. He would have come back with Lyanna and their child, to raise his three children together, to prepare them for the War for the Dawn.

EDIT: I was made aware that Rhaegar left Elia and their children at Dragonstone, not in the Red Keep

As cold winds hammered the city, King Aerys II turned to his pyromancers, charging them to drive the winter off with their magics. Huge green fires burned along the walls of the Red Keep for a moon's turn. Prince Rhaegar was not in the city to observe them, however. Nor could he be found in Dragonstone with Princess Elia and their young son, Aegon. With the coming of the new year, the crown prince had taken to the road with half a dozen of his closest friends and confidants, on a journey that would ultimately lead him back to the riverlands. Not ten leagues from Harrenhal, Rhaegar fell upon Lyanna Stark of Winterfell.

Elia was in the Red Keep when Rhaegar returned because Aerys must have summoned her.

3. Now, about the Others. There is a very old prophecy, made long ago in Valyria, about the Prince that was Promised, and another prophecy (probably it’s the same prophecy but we don’t know yet) that said the “Doom of Man” will come from Westeros. This is the main reason why Valyrians came to Westeros and why Aegon Targaryen decided to conquer and unite it - he and his sisters wanted to prepare Westeros for this Doom, and their family to fight it. Valyrians were sorcerers and even though much of their magic was lost with time after the Doom of Valyria, Targaryens still carried some magic within them. Several of Targaryens had prophetic dreams (our Daenerys has them too), and I am more than sure Rhaegar had that ability as well (the tales of Dunk and Egg that GRRM was writing around the same time he wrote the first three novels feature two Targaryens with prophetic dreams, and I do not think GRRM included them in the novels randomly. I believe he wanted the readers to link it with Rhaegar).

Since the time Rhaegar was a child, he decided to dedicate his life to the War for the Dawn, and prepare himself to fight the Others. This required an exceptional amount of intelligence and selflessness. He was a child! Not an adult, not a teenager, but a child, and he chose this path in life by himself alone. How many children do you know, who upon learning that monsters or some cataclysmic event will attempt to destroy the world, say “I will face this threat and fight to protect the world”? The maturity and self-sacrifice he showed at such a young age is astounding.

Rhaegar at first believed that his destiny was to fight the Others, and when he found out that the Prince that was Promised should be a warrior, he started to train in arms although it wasn’t somethig he liked.

“As a young boy, the Prince of Dragonstone was bookish to a fault. He was reading so early that men said Queen Rhaella must have swallowed some books and a candle whilst he was in her womb. Rhaegar took no interest in the play of other children. The maesters were awed by his wits, but his father’s knights would jest sourly that Baelor the Blessed had been born again. Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him. No one knows what it might have been, only that the boy suddenly appeared early one morning in the yard as the knights were donning their steel. He walked up to Ser Willem Darry, the master-at-arms, and said, ‘I will require sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.’”

“Prince Rhaegar’s prowess was unquestioned, but he seldom entered the lists. He never loved the song of swords the way that Robert did, or Jaime Lannister. It was something he had to do, a task the world had set him. He did it well, for he did everything well. That was his nature. But he took no joy in it. Men said that he loved his harp much better than his lance.”

Certainly many of his decisions and actions were motivated not only by prophecies and his readings, but by his prophetic dreams as well.

As the time passed however, Rhaegar started to believe that this Prince was his son Aegon instead of him. Maester Aemon recalls that:

“No one ever looked for a girl,” he said. “It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rhaegar, I thought … the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King’s Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet.”

And Rhaegar wanted to have three children, three dragons, to fight in the war:

“He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany’s, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. “There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.”

And Elia couldn’t have another child - it would have killed her. We don’t know yet what made Rhaegar choose Lyanna - he discovered that she was the Knight of the Laughing Tree (that’s how they met), kept her secret, and they communicated for a year after that before eloping together. It may be that he saw that Lyanna was a warrior woman and thought that their child would be a great warrior too. It may be that he saw her in his prophetic dreams. Or it may even be that during their communications he let her know about the War for the Dawn and Lyanna chose willingly to help. We will discover more about their relationship in the next two books - there is much we don’t know still, including the reason for their disappearance.

Whatever the version though, Rhaegar’s actions were absolutely not selfish and naive. All he did, he did it to save the world. It was the right thing to do. He couldn’t possibly know that Robert’s Rebellion would happen, no more than he could know that Tywin would order Gregor Clegane to kill his children by Elia. Rhaegar’s actions resulted in his death and the deaths of his first children, but they also directly resulted in Daenerys and Jon being born, the two main characters who will defeat the Others. Without them, the world would have been lost, so in the end Rhaegar didn’t fight in vain.

Rhaegar was exceedingly intelligent and skilled. He was a great warrior but he never liked violence. He was a talented musician and singer, he wrote and sang and played all his songs, that never failed to make people weep for their sadness and beauty. He was always kind to people, he is beloved and admired by the smallfolk and nobles alike, his memory is held in the highest regard throughout Westeros. He dedicated his life to the War for the Dawn. He had a beautiful melancholic soul. And he was the most gorgeous human on Earth. Rhaegar entirely deserves the worship he gets.

#asoiaf meta #rhaegar targaryen #elia martell #lyanna stark #asoiaf #text post #minemeta #Anonymous #when Daenerys said she wished she knew Rhaegar and Barristan replied he wished Rhaegar knew her my heart melted #I myself wished I knew Rhaegar lol #I would have shipped Rhaegar and Daenerys so much if they were alive and close in age #I want Daenerys to have a vision of him similar to the way Jaime saw Joanna in Feast for Crows

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cinemamablog · 5 years ago

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Make Your Own Film School

I invested in a MasterClass membership this year and was watching some of Spike Lee’s lectures when I realized: if you know how to use your online resources to your advantage, and maintain an inquisitive mindset, actual film school becomes more and more irrelevant. You can save yourself thousands of dollars in film appreciation and history classes by a simple YouTube search and you can learn the basics of a movie set just by reading a $12 book. What a time to be alive!

One of my goals with CineMama is to help readers take full advantage of the resources that make film so accessible in the year 2020. There is no wrong way to watch a movie (except maybe staring at your phone the whole time and not actually watching), but there are always opportunities to enhance your viewing experience and enrich your life through the art of film. I want to share online resources, books, videos, podcasts, and subscriptions that have helped me deepen my own appreciation for movies and better understand the work that goes into creating any movie, let alone a great one.

Read

For perspective on the behind-the-scenes ingredients of filmmaking, read the short and sweet, but beyond informative book, Making Movies by Sidney Lumet. (You might recognize his name from a couple little movies called Network and Dog Day Afternoon.) Though written decades ago, most of the working parts of a film set haven’t changed and the artistic process largely remains the same, so his expertise and insight prove invaluable to any young filmmaker or film devotee.

Anyone who knows me knows that I strongly believe in rewriting the generally accepted film cannon to better spotlight the accomplishments and contributions of women in filmmaking. Backwards and In Heels by Alicia Malone provides a reader-friendly primer to the under-recognized history of women in Hollywood. If you take care to learn the names of D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin, familiarize yourself with the work of Lois Webber and Mary Pickford.

Explore http://davidbordwell.net. Film historian and professor David Bordwell, and his wife and partner Kristin Thompson, write in-depth and transformative analyses of films and film history. You can peruse their shared blog and enjoy essays by Bordwell, as well as video essays that help visualize his words. (I especially enjoy the video essay on CinemaScope, which you can watch here.) Bordwell and Thompson do a great service to film fans and autodidacts everywhere by keeping so much of their work accessible and free online. (You can also invest in their published works and support their scholarly pursuits with your wallet, if you’re able and so choose.)

Read film criticism. Some of my personal favorite critics include Pauline Kael and Molly Haskell, but I also respect Roger Ebert and Haskell’s other half, Andrew Sarris. You can read many of their articles and reviews online for free after a quick Google search, or you can purchase or borrow entire books of their work. Reading criticism can teach you how to best apply your subjective judgment to a film and thus put your unique viewing experience into words. No two people see a movie the same and you have nothing to lose by learning others’ perspectives.

To keep yourself open to diverse voices, I encourage you to follow the @femalefilmcritics account on Twitter. I’ve personally discovered many insightful and contemporary film critics through this site and enjoy participating in the progressive environment fostered there. Social media is a great place to discover voices and opinions you might otherwise be deaf to.

And speaking of criticism, you can download a copy of The Permanent Crisis of Film Criticism by Mattias Frey, here. The book covers an interesting and vital aspect of film history: film’s journey to acceptance as an art form and the perpetual argument over the purpose of criticism.

Read screenplays. Every year, film studios provide free access online to the screenplays for their major awards contenders. I usually check www.thefilmstage.com to keep up with the recent output of free screenplays. (You can read 2019’s most hyped screenplays here.) Read them and watch the movies so you can witness how a cast and crew translates the written word into film’s unique grammar of image, sound, and performance.

Watch

Film historian Kevin Brownlow’s Hollywood: a Celebration of the American Silent Film first aired in 1980 and was made available on VHS and LaserDisc, then never again on physical media. The series utilizes primary sources in the form of interviews with some of Hollywood’s most beloved artists: Buster Keaton, Lillian Gish, John Wayne, William Wyler, and Louise Brooks, just to name a sampling. Film fans have no official means to access to the series, but you can watch 12 of the 13 50-minute episodes on YouTube, starting here, but you will need to visit here to view the 12th episode, as it was removed from YouTube.

Almost everyone knows of Martin Scorsese’s passion for cinema, both for foreign and classic Hollywood features. In A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Cinema, he covers the history of American filmmaking from his viewpoint as a fan and a filmmaker: the movies that inspired him, the ones that made the biggest impact on his appreciation for cinema, the ones that he pays homage to in his own work. You can watch the documentary in parts on YouTube here.

Listen

Listen to commentaries. Whether you stream movies, rent them from RedBox, or straight up buy them, most discs or digital copies give you access to audio commentaries from cast, crew, critics, or historians. You can learn about film history and appreciation from the critics and historians, filmmaking tools through the crew’s anecdotes, and actors’ methods straight from the mouths of professional actors. Commentaries give you a front row seat to a film’s production history, so take advantage of that “special features” tab on your DVD menu.

Listen to podcasts. Beloved movie critic Leonard Maltin hosts the podcast Maltin on Movies with his dear daughter and fellow movie fan, Jessie Maltin. Every week, they interview a legend or legend-in-the-making of the movie industry. The Maltins conduct the interviews with a wealth of respect, knowledge, and enthusiasm, since both Leonard and Jessie have spent at least the majority of their lives observing the movie business, one for a living and one by association. Some previous guests include Mitzi Gaynor, Greta Gerwig, and Christopher Guest, to give you a sense of the variety of personalities and perspectives your earbuds will encounter.

Hosted by writer April Wolfe, the podcast Switchblade Sisters invites a different guest every week to choose and discuss a genre movie at length on the show. All of the guests work in the film or TV industry and give a lot of insight into their own work while dissecting and appreciating the work of others.

Another genre-loving podcast, on Faculty of Horror, Andrea Subissati (executive editor at Rue Morgue magazine) and Alexandra West (freelance writer) analyze horror movies from an academic perspective. The hosts make a point to include show links that serve as a bibliography, so you can continue to learn about an episode’s specific subject after you’ve finished listening.

These recommendations cost money, ranging from $9 a month to hundreds of dollars a year. If you have the cash to spend, and want to, these resources can help you access movies and lectures, with an emphasis on quantity of content and convenience.

Can’t afford investing in physical media, but want access to a better selection of classics without subscribing to multiple streaming platforms? Party like it’s the early 00s and consider a DVD Netflix subscription. You can use the service to a keep a steady stream of movies coming your way. Not sure what to add to your queue? Check out popular lists like “1001 Movies to See Before You Die,” or if you want to keep it local, peruse the reviews and lists published on CineMama for inspiration.

For $10.99 a month or $99.99 a year, you can access hundreds of movies on the Criterion Channel. In addition to a treasure trove of classic and critically-acclaimed films, you also have access to enlightening video series like Observations on Film Art and Split Screen. As if all of that wasn’t enough, you also can enjoy and learn from countless supplementary materials related to the movies currently streaming. If the movies sold by the Criterion Collection are “film school in a box,” then the Criterion Channel is film school in an app.

For $180 a year, you can sign up for MasterClass and enjoy hours of lectures with filmmakers with decades of experience, including Spike Lee, David Lynch, Ron Howard, and Jodi Foster, as well as screenwriters and dramatists and other leaders in their respective fields. The upfront fee seems steep compared to the monthly payments to which audiences have grown accustomed, but the program’s still cheaper than paying some bozo at a community college with only a couple more years of education than you. (If that.)

If you want to stay up-to-date on recent releases and have an AMC near you, I would consider investing (at least) $20 a month in the AMC Stubs A-List program. For a monthly fee, you can attend three movies every week (regardless of the ticket price or if you’ve seen the movie already) and also earn rewards points to save on concessions. Though less of a necessity now that so many filmmakers release their films straight to streaming or VOD, the A-List can help you save money if you’re a frequent moviegoer.

I wouldn’t recommend this program for parents of small children, because unless you have magical powers, I doubt you’ll have the time or energy to go to the movies more than once or twice a month. However, you may want to remember the AMC Stubs A-List program for when the whole family can enjoy a night out at the movies. Even if you just go once a week as a group, you could save on tickets and concessions by paying for your monthly subscriptions.

And finally…

Visit your local library for an abundance of free and quality resources! See what sparks your interest by browsing the shelves. Not just in the film section, but I also strongly suggest skimming the biographies. (That might just be the history nerd in me, though.) Check out the e-books and audiobooks available through your library’s online program. I know for a fact that the Sioux City Public Library hosts an impressive DVD collection. (It’s where I first borrowed a copy of Paul Leni’s The Man Who Laughs.) You can also do some research online and provide your local research librarian with a list of books to request for you through interlibrary loan.

For resource recommendations on any particular film-related subject, reach out to your local CineMama on social media and I can help point you in the right direction. Also, let me know if any of these links break over time and I can update them as necessary.

#personal #resources #reference

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zandercjew566-blog · 6 years ago

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lodelss · 5 years ago

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Soraya Roberts | Longreads | January 2020 | 8 minutes (2,233 words)

On the cover of Susan Sontag’s 2003 book-length essay Regarding the Pain of Others, her last publication before her death, is a Goya print from his graphic 19th-century series The Disasters of War. It shows a reclining soldier passively taking in a dead man hanging from a tree, a body in a row of indistinguishable dangling bodies. Its pain — and the indifference with which that pain can be met — is the perfect illustration of Sontag’s book, which was her response to the query, “How in your opinion are we to prevent war?” She questioned whether the representation of suffering has any hand in ending it. “For a long time some people believed that if the horror could be made vivid enough, most people would finally take in the outrageousness, the insanity of war,” Sontag writes.

Is that why American Dirt, a sensationalized, stereotype-ridden piece of telenovela exploitation written by a self-identified white (later Puerto Rican–grandmother identified) woman, was met with a seven-figure deal and trumpeted by a publishing industry — Oprah’s Book Club most notably — that ignores countless Latinx stories? Is that why On the Record, a documentary initially backed by Oprah about various women accusing Def Jam cofounder Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct, premiered at Sundance when so many other films about women’s oppression have not? Both of these works have been held up in the tradition of pain iconography and as part of a wider culture that both defers to and is let off the hook by Oprah, its designated high priestess of compassion. An indigent black girl from the rural South, she was an exemplar of one of the most neglected demographics in America. That this capitalist society made her a billionaire for inspiring a cultural bloodletting has immunized it from the sort of criticism levied when white men like Jerry Springer (or white women like Gwyneth Paltrow) do the same thing.

But the merciless critique Oprah has received both for her support of American Dirt and lack of support for On the Record points to a framework that simultaneously benefits her and uses her as a shield. This empathetic entrepreneur’s predictably myopic choices — just like her acolytes’, from Dr. Phil to Reese Witherspoon — may not serve the majority, but they do serve the system that lets her take the fall for its larger failures of representation. Oprah is one of the most salient testaments to capitalism.

***

“People want to weep,” Sontag writes. “Pathos, in the form of a narrative, does not wear out.” She may have been referencing war photography, but the sentiment applies to all narrative forms of suffering, which “are more than reminders of death, of failure, of victimization. They invoke the miracle of survival.” This almost superhuman transcendence of misfortune, this ability to raise yourself out of your primordial pain toward the heavens, is the prototype for the American Dream. It is also the perfect paean to plutocracy. Oprah is the prime example: teen mom, child sex abuse, teen pregnancy, drug use. While working her way toward a journalism career, she was told early on that she was too emotional while anchoring the news. It was here that she found a gaping hole in the market: Oprah turned her “failure” into a touchy-feely talk show, eventually netting herself a cult of personality and an empire approaching $3 billion. Her triumph over her past imbued her with the authority to turn beleaguered strangers’ private torment into public good and served as testament to a hierarchy of success founded on flagellation. “There is nothing greater than the spirit within you to overcome,” she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show. “You and God can conquer this,” conquering here implying profiting. She was proof that it worked. Oprah may not think you are responsible for your own misery, but she does believe you are responsible for flipping your misfortune, just like she did. As she told a women’s economic conference in 1989, “There’s a condition that comes with being and doing all you can: you first have to know who you are before you can do that.”

Her suffering was transformative, a brand of anguish Sontag defines in her book with an unintentionally spot-on characterization of how Oprah, who referred to her talk show as her “ministry,” secularized (and capitalized on) a pious approach to hardship. “It is a view of suffering, of the pain of others, that is rooted in religious thinking, which links pain to sacrifice, sacrifice to exaltation,” Sontag wrote. The people Oprah chose to interview (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston), the books she chose to plug (Toni Morrison, James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces), and the films she chose to produce (Beloved, Precious) — all followed this same general trajectory from trauma to some semblance of deliverance, hewing with her own personal experience. They also served to convince the most downtrodden members of the population that the system was only failing to work for them because they failed to plumb their own souls deeply enough. If capitalism was unprofitable for them, it’s because they weren’t doing the work — not in the industrious sense, but in the therapeutic one.

Oprah’s recent projects fall well within that tradition, including On the Record, the Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary she was executive producing for Apple TV+ (it will now air on HBO Max), which centered around a group of women accusing Russell Simmons of sexual abuse. (He has been accused by at least a dozen women in total and denies all the charges.) The question is why this high-profile film by multiple-award winning filmmakers that already had a distributor was playing at a highly sought-after festival, when a struggling independent film could have used that rare opening to seek distribution? Instead, the news out of Sundance focused on whether Oprah, who pulled out of the film at the last minute over creative differences, was siding with Simmons or not — whether she was betraying not only her own race, but her own brand (the enabling of struggling black women to claim their due). “In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured,” she said in a statement. This reads to me as uncomfortably on brand, Oprah squeezing as much as possible out of a desperate situation — particularly if it’s at the expense of another capitalist success story, in Simmons’s case — to get maximum returns. But this isn’t all down to her own prurience. It’s the industry around her (including Apple) that encourages her to do this, that pays her excessively for it — the same industry that doesn’t even consider the marginalized stories that do not comply with those standards (standards upheld by a black woman, remember).

Having said all of that, it is also a function of technology that our culture expects us to bleed out to survive. The more intimate media becomes, Sontag argued, the further our shock threshold moves. “The real thing may not be fearsome enough,” she wrote, “and therefore needs to be enhanced or reenacted more convincingly.” This is where you get a situation like Jeanine Cummins’s “trauma porn” American Dirt, the latest Oprah’s Book Club pick, about a Mexican migrant fleeing a drug cartel across the border with her son. “I’m interested in characters who suffer inconceivable hardship,” Cummins writes in her author’s note, “in people who manage to triumph over extraordinary trauma.” It was a direct dial to Oprah, and in particularly unfortunate timing, she expressed her support for this hyperbolic yarn about a fictional woman of color’s pain on the same CBS morning show in which she discussed pulling her support from a documentary full of actual women of colors’ pain. In a video posted on Twitter, Oprah held up the Cummins book, with its cover of watercolor birds and barbed wire, and gushed: “I was opened. I was shook up. It woke me up. And I feel that everybody who reads this book is actually going to be immersed in the experience of what it means to be a migrant on the run for freedom.” Her description reminded me of Sontag’s portrayal of graphic battle imagery: “Stop this, it urges. But it also exclaims, What a spectacle!” American Dirt was another in Oprah’s Apple streaming projects, part of her ambition to make “the world’s largest book club,” and it showed a level of outdated hubris that was revisited tenfold upon her mentions.

While the flesh-and-blood migrants who are dying at the border have not been much of a priority to the world of capitalist enterprise, the literary industry’s corner offices have been effusive in their tone-deaf praise for American Dirt, which last year celebrated its release with — no shit — barbed twig centerpieces. The hypocrisy was too much for the Latinx community (and social media) to bear. They balked at a non-Mexican woman who claimed her husband was undocumented (he’s Irish) and painted her nails with her book cover (more barbed wire) being edified for a cheap piece of Mexican cultural appropriation, while their own perhaps less uplifting (see less white) stories were serially overlooked — Oprah’s Book Club has never chosen a Mexican author. “The clumsy, ill-conceived rollout of American Dirt illustrates how broken the system is,” wrote Mexican American author and translator David Bowles in a heavily circulated New York Times op-ed, “how myopic it is to hype one book at the expense of others and how unethical it is to allow a gatekeeper like Oprah’s Book Club to wield such power.” He pointed out that a bestseller doesn’t just happen; it’s deliberately made by big publishers sinking money into its promotion and rallying press and booksellers around it. One book’s immoderate gain is then every other book’s loss: For three months in the wake of Oprah’s book announcements, other books’ sales plummet. This is a clear impoverishment of culture, but, more importantly, it limits the dissemination of ideas that do not serve big business’ hierarchical ideals. Trauma is valued as long as it’s sanctioned by the small number of powerful people who maintain an overwhelming amount of sway over the capitalist system they uphold. The voices that are ultimately projected are their own, serving their interests and no one else’s. As Drew Dixon, the woman at the center of the Simmons doc, said, echoing Bowles: “Oprah Winfrey shouldn’t get to decide for the whole rest of the world.” More importantly, the machine that created her shouldn’t get to either.

***

“So far as we feel sympathy, we feel we are not accomplices to what caused the suffering,” Sontag writes at the end of her book. “Our sympathy proclaims our innocence as well as our impotence.” In the case of Oprah, it proclaims hers while hiding the main accomplices. Once among America’s most oppressed populations, her triumph is not only immune to interrogation, so is American plutocracy for having anointed her as its apostle. Oprah gamed the system that once neglected her, and her success lends it a veneer of progress and perpetuates it into the future. With her accumulated power, she shifted taboos and secured the first black American president approximately 1 million votes. But Oprah’s $2.7 billion net worth, her $25 million private jet, her empire — none of these are incidental. They are emblems of a world which has traded millions of people’s poverty for a handful of people’s riches, millions of perspectives for one authority. Oprah may still be full of good intentions, but good intentions are no longer as significant as actions, and every one of us is now accountable — and not just for ourselves. It is not enough anymore to ask people to lift themselves by their bootstraps now that people are aware that those straps are all rigged to snap.

In the midst of American Dirt landing at No. 1 on the Times bestseller list, its publisher acknowledged mistakes but also announced its epic book tour, the one which elbowed out so many other more worthy books and authors, was being canceled over safety concerns. The move proved that Flatiron — also publisher of five Oprah books — fundamentally buys into the notion that when the country’s marginalized populations interrupt the capitalist machinery, it’s a risk to the country itself. The Hispanic Caucus has since requested a meeting with the Association of American Publishers. Bowles, meanwhile, praised the director of a border library — Kate Horan of Texas’s McAllen Public Library — for declining to be part of a pilot partnership with Oprah’s Book Club. Sontag writes that a transformative approach to suffering like Oprah’s is “a view that could not be more alien to a modern sensibility, which regards suffering as something that is a mistake or an accident or a crime. Something to be fixed.” But Horan’s response to the question “How in your opinion are we to prevent war?” is neither Oprah’s nor the opposite — it is to reject the war itself. Oprah serves up war stories to the system that is responsible for them — her response is to meet suffering with suffering. The Latinx community sees the paradox even if Oprah, in her prism of privilege, cannot. “We’ll never meekly submit our stories, our pain, our dignity,” writes Bowles, “to the ever-grinding wheels of the hit-making machine.”

* * *

Soraya Roberts is a culture columnist at Longreads.

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cutshawsnidowoa · 5 years ago

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Say Hello to House Calls

The post Say Hello to House Calls by Mary Schwager appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Danielle Rothman’s beloved cat, Petey, has never traveled well. The day her family got him, they had an unexpected kitty extra-cat-ion (or just go with extrication) on their car ride home.

“My mom decided to hold him in her lap,” Danielle says. “But he crawled into the door of the car and got stuck. We had to take the car to the mechanic, and they took the door off to get the cat out.”

They laugh about it now, but they learned their lesson: Petey prefers to stay in one place. So, when he needs vet care, Danielle arranges for a house call.

“This seemed like the kinder approach,” Danielle says. “He’s the classic definition of a scaredy-cat.” And the visiting vet wasn’t fazed by Petey’s aversion to strangers. “My husband had to catch him and put a towel over him to calm him down. The vet put him in the bathroom sink,” Danielle says. “The vet was really knowledgeable, answered all our questions and got down to business.”

Related: Mobile Vet Care — 4 Advantages and 1 Drawback

Photo: kali9 | Getty Images

A house-call comeback

Mobile pet professionals are a growing trend. The house calls of 2020 are hip, in some cases high tech, and many say that they are affordable.

You can book appointments online or via an app. A medical clinic on wheels offering minor surgeries and X-rays may roll up your driveway. And when it comes to cats, house calls are usually win-win.

“If you have ever taken a cat to the veterinarian, it is noticeable how stressed they are. In their home, the cats are relaxed,” says Dr. Karie Johnson, veterinarian and co-founder of the mobile clinic VIP Vet Visit in the south Chicago suburbs.

Photo: Chalabala | Getty Images

Better for your cat?

House calls could even help keep your feline friend healthier.

“The vet office is a stressful environment that can cause anxiety for a cat, which can weaken their immune system,” Dr. Johnson says.

Veterinarian and owner of Vet At Your Door in the Portland, Maine, area, Dr. Deirdre Frey says she’s seen cats come into animal hospitals so freaked out they’ve vomited or had accidents.

Dr. Frey fears some owners, hoping to avoid that kind of agony, may put off bringing their cat to the vet.

“I do feel like people may forgo either concerning symptoms or vaccines because they’re weighing the stress it would put on the cat,” Dr. Frey says.

And the more relaxed a cat is, the better exam a vet can perform.

Former Army veterinarian Turnera Croom, who now runs Dr. Croom Mobile Veterinary Service in Southwest Michigan, gets resourceful on cat house calls.

“We ask that the owner close off any major hiding places,” she says.

Dr. Croom also uses a cat pheromone spray called Feliway. “It’s supposed to smell like the natural scent of cat contentment, and it does appear to work a lot of the time.”

Dr. Turnera Croom, who runs a mobile vet service, tends to one of her feline patients.

Time to say goodbye

Industry experts say in-home pet euthanasia is in huge demand.

Kelly Meister-Yetter says she was frustrated when her regular vets refused to come to her home to put her cat to sleep. “I didn’t want my cat’s last moments to be ones of fear.”

So she searched online and found a vet offering house calls. “I thanked her profusely, a number of times, for being a mobile vet because putting my beloved cat down in her own home was really important to me,” Kelly says.

Pet professionals on wheels

Vets aren’t the only pet professionals on the move.

Your cat can sit on the couch while Caitlin Isbister from Pet Acupuncture Works in the Boston, Massachusetts area, stops by for a home-treatment session.

“When I’m treating cats, usually, the pet dad or mom will stay with the cat during the treatment,” Caitlin says. “They also keep a hand on them to gently encourage them to sit with the needles.”

And Linda Schmoldt is one brave house-call pro.

If you live in Manhattan, she will come to your place and bathe your cat. Linda’s company, Spiffy Kitty House Call Cat Grooming, isn’t afraid of a challenge.

“Lots of groomers are scared to groom cats,” Linda says. “Cats move so fast and have seriously sharp teeth and claws. They’re beautiful beasties.”

If you’re thinking, “Do cats need to be groomed?” Linda says some breeds need their day of beauty more than others.

“Old cats can get awfully greasy and sad looking,” Linda says. “I restore them to their former glory.

And Persians, no surprise, need at a minimum to be groomed monthly, or you wind up with a knotted weirdo instead of a beauty queen. Siberians and Maine Coons and Ragdolls need help, a lot of help.”

Is in-home care for your cat?

Danielle says she is sold on house calls for Petey. “He is important to us, so we prioritize his care. It was not as expensive as you think,” Danielle says.

Top photograph: Elnur | Dreamstime.com

Read Next: Have You Ever Felt the Need to Break Up with Your Vet?

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