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lady-lunaaa · 3 years ago

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This is gonna be long and I'm not sorry about it.

What a beautiful opening to a beautiful story. I absolutely adore the small details you grace us with (readers "girly" headscarves, pirate toilet habits) it really immersed me in the AU from the get go. I felt a part of every moment. And readers background only adds to this, it's amazing. I love she is a stowaway noble on an adventure, ready to chart her own course! Sets the story perfectly.

I have to mention the gambling element, holy shit I read that scene in awe because of this rowdy, tense atmosphere you have created (plus Sano's banter, he's such a cheeky shit and I'm living for it). When he hit her I physically winced and my heart was hammering when he realised her secret. That whole sequence was incredible. I also appreciated the lil detail that everyone lets her winning slide because she feeds them decent, hot meals. Again the tiniest of details just had me buzzing with excitement!

Him slowly falling for her ignites my soul, it's so well done, you are a master at character pov. When he protects her from the drunk shipmate OH MY GOD! Heart racing all over again, your dialogue is insane. You got that drunk as a skunk, casual homophobia vibe down and I felt sick.

I have to include one of my favourite parts, because of how beautifully it's written:

But most of all, he loves the fire inside of you, the one you refuse to extinguish. He still has no idea why you're here, on this boat, but he knows—just knows that it's probably because someone tried to extinguish that fire. And he will do anything in his power to help keep that fire alive inside of you.

This made me gooey and ache, in all the good ways, such stunning imagery throughout the romantic scenes and ohhhh the tension ~

THE "I'M GOING TO KISS YOU NOW"!!!!! HELP ME. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.

"If we can't be together forever, can we at least have today?"

PLEASE, YOU ARE KILLING ME. God, I love him and your writing 🥺

And that fucking ending adsfshdhfkgllll "LAND APPROACHING!" I am enamoured. I am struck dumb. The perfect cliffhanger! I love an open-end with that dash of uncertainty and pain.

Just a thousand times well done, I will never get over this ever.

Paring: Sanosuke Sagara x Fem!Reader

Warnings: 18+ Female presenting reader hiding gender, discussion of arranged marriage, discussion of societal gender roles, cursing, punching/fighting, Sanosuke punches reader (when he thinks she’s a male), Sano antagonizes reader, talks of pirates not being the best to women, alcohol, reader is shorter than the other crew members, one crew member being a total asshole, asshole crew member says some things that are a hint homophobic, incorrect pirate knowledge, pet names: baby, pretty girl and missy, soft smut (male receiving oral, vaginal sex), not necessarily a happy ending. Pretty sure that is all of them, if I missed any please let me know

Word Count: 13.8k (I'm so sorry)

A/N: This is part of Pocket Friends' High Seas Collab, check out the masterlist So I know this is an absolutely dead fandom but I've loved Sano since I was like 12 years old and it just felt right picking him for this. Thank you so much to my wife, my love, my beta, and my cheerleader, @lady-lunaaa this piece wouldn't exist without you and I still read over how your screaming and it makes me smile. I cannot thank you enough

Ocean waves smash against the weathered side of the boat you currently call your home. The not-so-gentle rocking of the waves is causing your stomach to churn around. Sunlight beats down harshly on your head, and it's times like these you wish you had packed another scarf to protect your irritated scalp. You had lost your only one shortly after boarding your floating prison. You had left the rest of them behind because of the small embroidered flowers or notes of pink or purple adorning them. They would be a sure giveaway to your gender that you desperately were trying to hide.

But you wish someone had told you how hard it is to hide your female body on a pirate ship of all places. It seems that men had no personal space, or at least these men didn't. For example, after holding your bladder all day and finally waiting until the dead of night to sneak out to the bow to relieve yourself, someone would always be waiting to relieve themselves next, or if they were really bold, just saddle up next to you. The list goes on and on from there of how you always have to mask who you really are.

But anything, even the daily turmoil of being discovered. Even the seasickness that you were sure would have disappeared by now. Even dealing with the backbreaking toil of being a ship hand. All of that is better than being forced to marry a man who would save your family from debt— a man twice your age who wouldn't consider you as more than just a housewife to warm his bed and cook his meals. Nope, you weren't going to live that life. You were meant to travel, to explore what the world had to offer, not to play house just so your father could get out of his gambling debts.

You couldn't merely get on a boat and escape, though; regular sails required documentation, and your to-be fiance (not that you wanted to call him that) was well connected and would stop you the moment he got word of your getaway. So your only other option was left with a less than savory group of individuals. Ones that wouldn't care what your background was.

That's how you ended up here, on this vessel filled with smelly, non-boundary respecting pirates. You disguise yourself as a man by wrapping bandages around your chest and stealing some of your older brother's clothing to fit the look of a young adult male. Thankfully, you convinced the captain that you would be helpful on deck by flaunting your food preparation skills even with the limited resources. The captain was quickly confident you would be valuable but told you that he expected you to help with daily labor.

At this point, you had only been on board for about a week into your month-long journey to a place where you could hopefully escape and start a new life. You planned to slip away as soon as the ship docked and never turn back. When things would get dicey, you would just escape again. Or at least, that was the plan you had right now.

When not cooking, cleaning, or doing manual labor, you were able to find some ways to pass the time with your fellow crew members. And one of the most common ways that everyone on board liked to participate in was gambling. It was a simple game of odds-and-evens with dice. One person would roll the dice while another would call for an odd or even. Whatever the two small pieces showed determined the winner. Strange how such a simple game would occupy people for hours, but you imagined the rum and promise of money was more important than entertainment value.

You had been able to smuggle a fair amount of money with you during your escape from selling family jewelry, needing as much money as possible when you landed to start a life of your own until you found a job that would bring in some cash. But you had decided to risk some at the possibility of winning more; maybe gambling ran in your veins because the game pulled you in like a moth to a flame.

Whether it was lady luck finally hearing your pleas for help or if you had skill with this game, you would never know. Despite that, what you did see was that night after night, in that cramped area below the main deck filled with rowdy men, was that you continued to win. You had lost a few rounds, of course, but the majority was in your favor. It sent a thrill through your veins every time your call was correct.

Thankfully, no one had really retaliated at your constantly growing winnings. Your fellow players would complain or say something profane, but you never had to argue for your winnings. Most of the crew actually liked you because you could fill their stomachs with somewhat substantial meals rather than the cold gruel they had been subjected to for most of their trips. They let your winnings slide for the most part because at least they were getting a good meal.

But on this dark cloudless night, your luck ran out. You were seated across from one of the tallest individuals on the ship. He had to be over six feet, and his spiky brown hair just added to that height. Sitting cross-legged, a lanky body looming over the tiny dice in his large hand sat Sanosuke Sagara or Sano, as most of the men called him. He was one of the musclemen on the ship, a convicted criminal who proved his worth by doing heavy lifting or giving out powerful punches when under attack. He had a mess of wild mahogany brown hair that stuck out from all sides and intense brown eyes that felt like they were shooting through your soul as they gazed at you from across the table.

He was an intriguing individual. Sanosuke was serious about not changing his attire to fit the pirate lifestyle. While he carried around an old battered brown cloak, he hardly ever wore it. His regular day-to-day outfit consisted of a thin white open jacket adorned with fraying black trim with the symbol for "evil" on his back and matching white pants. Sanosuke seems vehemently against shirts because his chest is always bare. You wondered how he could stand the constant sunburns that would eventually turn his toned chest into a more golden tan. But he never complained about it; he worked hard and endlessly unless he was getting drunk and gambling below deck. The final piece of his attire is a long red headband wrapped around his head, the edges long and frayed as they lay on his back.

Many had asked him to explain his odd clothing; he would always skirt around the answer, though. The only time you ever saw him become serious was when someone tried to touch that red headband adorned on his head. One very drunk crewmember once made a grab for it after Sanosuke had beaten him out of all his winnings. And while you had seen Sano move quickly despite his tall frame, this time, he moved like lightning. He grabbed the offending hand that was wrapped onto the red cloth, and from what you heard from those who had seen Sano's face, he gave a look that would make the dead shiver in their graves.

Tonight though, Sanosuke wore a cocky smirk that was fueled by alcohol as he gazed into your eyes. You wouldn't let him scare you away, though; you had a good feeling about tonight—you were going to take everything the towering man had. Sending your own snarky smirk back to Sanosuke, you drop a brown leather bag that was previously sinking in your hand due to the weight of the coins inside. You placed down a reasonably large sum tonight, not all of your money—you weren't stupid. But enough to make Sanosuke's eyes light up as the bag hits the table with a thud.

"Well, well, well, feeling risky tonight, are we?" he drawls out as his eyes scan the bag sitting on the beat-up table between the two of you. His eyes flash up to meet yours again, intimidating and cat-like, masking whatever his actual thoughts were as he fingers the dice between two long digits. Sanosuke had already placed down what you were sure were all of his winnings over time. Whether he won or lost, he always boasted in a go big or go home sense. His smug attitude made you want to smack him sometimes.

You clear your throat to lower the octave of your voice and respond, "Yeah, I am, so shut up and roll the dice, I call evens." You hold his gaze, refusing to back down from him. Weakness potentially could lead to death here. Not immediately, but others were quick to leave you behind if they sensed you couldn't hold your own. It was a dog-eat-dog world, and only the strongest survived. And while you were mentally strong, you couldn't always compete with the physical strength of the pirates.

"Alright then, shrimp." Sanosuke grins as he demeans you with the nickname. His tone is full of snark, and you know his statement is meant to taunt you.

Keeping your eyes steady with his, you ignore the name-calling; it wouldn't get you anywhere to react. Your mind, though, can't stop the snarky response— of course, you were shorter than him; practically everyone else was on the ship. What a poor attempt at a taunt.

"Just roll Sano," you let out with a grunt; you could feel a headache starting to form from the aroma of rum mixed with the sea salt air. You just wanted to finish this and then head to your bunk to sleep off your weary bones and aching body.

"Alrighty, shrimp! Let's get this started," He says as he tilts his neck from side to side, his body letting out a large crack with each movement.

After his theatrics, you watch his every movement like a hawk. You wouldn't put it past him to cheat.

Sanosuke picks up the beaten and old clay cup from the wooden table and slips the dice in effortlessly. You are too focused on the movements of his hands that you miss the way he doesn't take his eyes away from the stern look on your face.

Sanosuke was always puzzled by you. You were quiet, much smaller than every other man on this ship; you didn't act like a child or a young adult despite your looks. You knew how to cook, and you kept to yourself for the most part. Your hands looked like they hadn't worked a day in their life before this boat, and your skin was free of scars that typically adorned people who decided to follow this line of work. He usually prided himself on figuring others out quickly, but you gave more questions than answers. You were hiding something; he just had to find out what.

And tonight was the night he planned to do just that; whether he won or not, he was going to get a reaction out of you and see just what you were made of. Covering the cup's opening with his hand, Sanosuke flipped the cup and shook it along with the dice inside, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Feeling the two small pieces inside jostle around, he stopped shaking after a few seconds and moved his hand and the cup towards the table.

Your eyes met his again, and the anticipation in the room was palpable. Sano slides the cup and his hand effortlessly onto the table and then removes his hand from below the cup as it makes a soft clink as its lip meets the table. "What was your call again, shrimp?" That smirk on his face grows wider.

You knew he was baiting you; he didn't forget your choice that quickly. Sanosuke is far from an idiot; you knew this after watching him this first week. But you didn't plan to play into this little back and forth game he seemed to love to torment others with.

"Evens," you say in a firm voice, eyes never straying from his hazelnut-colored stare.

That smirk he's sporting doesn't falter at your noncompliance to his prodding. He's set on winning more than just the gold in these baggies tonight. His real prize would be something more than your stone-faced expression. He wanted to see you break. Sano moves to grab the cup and pulls it quickly up off of the dice.

And there they are, sitting in all their glory, four blacked-out circles on one and two on the other. You aren't sure if it's the rum you had earlier or that the smirk had finally fallen off of Sanouske's face that fuels the following action, but it would change the course of your future.

"HA!" You yell as your composed facade falls and move your hand to quickly grab your winnings.

But just as quickly as your hand moved, Sanosuke's was faster. His hand wraps around your wrist just as your fingers clench around the bag holding his previous winnings. You snap your head up to glare at him intensely, but you meet that infuriating smirk again.

Your mind starts to race— Why is he smiling? Shouldn't he be going off to sulk? He damn sure shouldn't look so smug.

You try to tug your hand away from his grasp, but it's no use. His massive hand engulfs your wrist with a vice-like grip. Panic starts to flood your brain— this is not how things were supposed to go. "Let go," you let out through gritted teeth. Your eyes are still hyper-focused on his, never separating. You feel like a hare about to be eaten, but you know you can't back down.

With a slight tug from Sanosuke, you lose your balance and fall forward into the table. Your body hits the hard wood, and you can tell your skin will ache with a bruise the next day from the impact. The old clay cup goes crashing onto the floor and shatters. The dice are also thrown off by the clash of your body and the table. Two bags of coins land with a thump right at your feet. There's a rowdiness in the air now; other crew members are starting to shout and jeer at the scene, driven by their own liquid courage.

This is not what you wanted, your plan was to be as inconspicuous as possible, but now that smug bastard had brought the entire ship's attention to the two of you. Anger bubbles up inside of you. An explosion is threatening to spill from your grimaced lips. Deep behind that anger, though, is fear— fear of being found out, of being sent home to marry a man that would only use you. But what fuels that volcanic eruption inside of you is that stupid fucking smirk Sanosuke never let falter as he watched you crash into the table. His smug face only showed that you had played directly into his hand. And that's when the composure you worked so hard to hold for a week came crashing apart.

With the fall, Sanosuke had let go of your wrist. You quickly get up and maneuver to your feet; rage is seeping out of you. When your eyes meet his brown ones, a renewed fire sparks inside of you. You wish your glare could melt him from the tip of his stupid hair down to his ridiculously long legs. "What the hell was that, Sanosuke?" You roar, struggling to keep your voice low, but your body is shaking from anger. It's the only emotion left inside of you, and it's far from acting rationally at this point.

You wouldn't have guessed that the smirk on Sanosuke's face could grow more expansive, but it does when he hears the words coming from you. He got exactly what he wanted. He's chipped your armor, and now he was going to break the rest of it down. "Well, shrimp, looks like ya had too much to drink. That was a nasty fall," he snickers as he continues to poke at you.

If anger was sweat, it would be pouring from your body right now. You want to smack that dumb smirk right off Sanosuke's face. And before you can second guess that thought, you're moving. Scrambling towards the towering man, your hand closes, making a tight fist. You don't think you've ever actually punched someone before, but you don't care as you funnel all your strength into your hand to make contact with the man's cheek.

Sanosuke hardly budges when your fist meets his face. You aren't sure what you expected—to be honest, you weren't expecting anything; you were just acting on emotion. If you had thought things through, you would've remembered the number of fights you've watched him in. You would have recalled that he hardly budged when men taller and stronger than you punched him. So how was your punch going to do a thing? But you didn't think, and now he had you even further in his snare. There was no way out now.

Sanosuke was lightning fast as he moved to his own feet and threw a punch into your stomach. The impact knocks the wind out of you as you fly directly into the wooden floorboards. Your back screams at you, and again, you know there will be a nasty bruise on your body.

"Alright! This is what I'm talking about! You've got to have more than that, come on!" He yells, a sinister grin on his face. This was the Sanosuke many knew, the fighter for hire. His high came from the impact of a punch or the shedding of blood.

The fire in his eyes ignited as he watched you struggle to get into a sitting position. He was ready for a fight, ecstatic he was able to finally break you. But then something unexpected caught his eye. Your worn brown shirt had torn at the collar at some point during the shuffle. Instead of the smooth skin and pectoral muscles he expected to see, he saw white bandages starting to slowly unravel and under those bandages were the outline of— his eyes widened, everything connecting into place. The reason why you were so secretive, why you were so much smaller than the others, and why you had skills that none of them had.

Shame floods through him. Sanosuke couldn't deny he was a brute, that's for sure, but he didn't hit women. It was against his honor code. He never would have messed with you if he knew. Thoughts are flying through his head as he tries to come up with something to make the situation better.

It dawns on him that he wasn't supposed to know this about you because, for sure, no one else on this ship knows. This place was filled with unsavory individuals, and unfortunately, women didn't last long on pirate voyages. Most men saved their urges when the boat docked, but Sanosuke knew of a few who would pounce on a female if they knew she was on this boat. And that definitely wouldn't have been kept quiet.

Thankfully, his figure was looming over yours, shielding parts of your breast that had been exposed from the eyes of the rowdy men. Sanosuke realized he had to act quickly before anyone else saw. He shrugged out of his jacket and dropped the worn material over your chest. "Everyone out! It looks like shrimp couldn't take much of a punch. Nothing else to see," he bellows the command adding on a hearty laugh. The crew is quiet and grumbles because the fight finished quickly. But no one was stupid enough to challenge Sanosuke unless they wanted a beating of their own.

You struggle beneath the fabric of the jacket to get up. But your legs refuse to cooperate. You feel like a young fawn struggling to take its first steps. This isn't how this was supposed to go. You had to prove your worth. These words flashed through your mind as you tried to push yourself up.

You kept moving until you heard a quiet hiss from the man standing above you, "Stay down." You were surprised by the urgency in his tone, cocky attitude from before completely gone.

Lifting your eyes, you met the tall figure with confusion since just moments before, he had put you on the ground with his fists. Sanosuke's tan and taut torso casts a shadow over your figure in the dim lights of the room. Your eyes quickly moved past his torso to his face, meeting his brown eyes again. His expression is not what you would have expected. Concern is laced in his features and punctuated by his furrowed brow. You don't understand the shift in the mood. Sanosuke was relentless when he fought, so why was this any different? Why did he stop the fight? Where did that cocky street fighter go?

Finally, the last crew member shuffles out of the room, and Sano lets out a breath that had been trapped inside of him. You observe as his hand moves to his forehead, and he runs it through his hair; stress is etched in his features. You try to prepare your body to escape. Every nerve is firing with anticipation and preparing you to fight or flee. Your eyes grow wide as the lithe man before you bends down into a crouch so that you are face to face.

"What the fuck are you doing on this boat, missy?"

Your face crumples in confusion at the new nickname. It doesn't make sense why Sanosuke was calling you that— it was when you finally realized the disarray of your clothing, ripped shirt, tattered bandages, and if it weren't for his jacket, your cleavage would be on display. Clutching his coat tighter to your frame, you're thankful he ended up dropping the article of clothing on you when he did.

"Are you-? What-?" Sanosuke lets out a huff as he tries to find the right words. A sharp exhale escapes him as he gathers himself. "Do you want to die? This is not the place for any woman," he's finally able to finish, the stress still evident in his tone.

You are quick to spit back at him, wanting him to know that you aren't going to back down quietly. "What does it matter to you? Keep your mouth shut, and we won't have any issues." You poke your pointer finger in his face as you punctuate the keep your mouth shut bit. But you can't hide your frustration in your voice. You have worked hard to keep this secret, meet the demands that the other men also had to meet, and now it was out in the open with this loud-mouth.

He was right, though, as much as you hated to admit it. You probably wouldn't make it off alive if others found out. You still had at least a month left on this journey and no escape besides the deep depths below. As a child, the rumors of pirate ships scared you of how cruel and ruthless they were. And while not everyone was that way here, most of them did not care about anyone but themselves.

"Hey hey hey, stop that now. Cool it," Sanosuke says in a bit of a gentler tone while placing one of his large hands on your shoulder as he responds to your defensive tone. The weight and warmth of it almost feels good; if your mind wasn't in a panic, you might actually welcome his touch; it's the first time you've been gently touched by someone since you made your escape. "I'm not going to tell your secret, I may not be a saint, but I won't put your life in danger."

You can't help but narrow your eyes at him. There's no way he doesn't want something in return. Your mind immediately starts creating the many scenarios you know you might have to do to keep him quiet.

"Bullshit, what's in it for you?" You challenge him defiance and venom weaved throughout your tone.

His expression softens a bit, and a big smile grows on his face, one that makes his eyes close and crinkle at the sides. He moves the hand from your shoulder and places it on top of your head, and moves it back and forth to ruffle your hair. "You're a spitfire, aren't ya, missy?"

You move your free hand to push away his large one off of your head. "Don't talk to me like I'm a child! Just tell me what you want so we can get it done and move on." You avert your eyes from his knowing full well what most men want on this boat.

It's what they don't get until they reach land, horny bastards. You've heard them talking during meals about what they'll look for when they arrive, the type of women they plan to seek out. And the discussions dissolve into much more nasty things from there. So many things you wish you hadn't heard. But nonetheless, hopefully, this would be a one-time thing, and you could move on from it. Maybe he wouldn't even want full sex; perhaps he'd like a blow job and then leave you alone. You could only hope you were so lucky.

A confused look passes Sanosuke's face, and it takes a moment for him to realize what you're alluding to. "Hey, hey! No! I don't want anything from you." Lifting up his hands in front of his shoulder, palms facing you as a nervous laugh escapes him.

You're still skeptical, though, as you look at him through squinted eyes. Trusting people could be the downfall for you. You couldn't afford to let your guard down. Plus, the people here didn't treat others well without ulterior motives.

Sanosuke picks up on your hesitancy by the look in your eyes—like a frightened cat, ready to strike. His tongue moves out to wet his lips, a nervous habit he's had since he was a child. "Look, okay," a sigh escapes him, "the only thing I want in return is an explanation. Is that fair?"

Your eyes study the tall man still squatting in front of you. While this was obviously a better outcome for you, you also were incredibly reluctant to release any information to anyone on this boat. It would be an easy way for these men to make a quick monetary value, to offer you back to your fiance for a coin. Hell, you'd probably do it if you were one of them too, easy money and no backlash.

Sanosuke watches you just as carefully; it appears like a thousand thoughts are flying through your mind, your face is stuck between hostility and contemplation.

Every moment of silence causes concern to creep up inside him. "Okay, how about you tell me eventually? How does that sound?" He's gentler with his technique, now dropping his voice to a lower and calmer tone than how he usually speaks. It hits him like a ton of bricks that your attitude is just like Karou's back home. And he knows that if she was in this predicament, he'd want someone to care for her instead of hurting her, to show her kindness. He also can empathize with your feelings, that wall you are holding up. He used to have one too. Sanosuke wishes someone would have shown him compassion in those moments, that someone would have let him tell his secrets on his own time instead of forcing them out.

Your eyes soften just for a moment as you hold his gaze. He sounds genuine to you, but you are still uncertain. But you know that staying here in a staring contest wouldn't really help either of you. So you concede, begrudgingly. "Fine, just don't you dare bring it up around anyone else." Your finger is in his face again, threatening, hoping you sound tough enough.

Sanosuke grins at you again, hearing the fire in your tone. His heart is aching for his found family back home. "Alright, missy, that's fine. You're secret is safe with me, I promise." He moves into a standing position towering over you again, his bones cracking as he straightens himself.

You move to get up on your own, your body yelling in protest from the hit you had taken. Surprise overtakes you when Sanosuke extends one of his large hands out to you. Studying his palm, you can see the years of fighting and work etched into them. Bruised and ripped skin on his knuckles from punches, scars from battle, and tan skin from the sun that beats down on all of you daily. It's beautiful really, the story his hand can tell just but the marks on it. So different from yours, from years of living the life of a noble, unblemished, boring in comparison to Sanosuke's hand.

You grasp his hand and, for the first time, show vulnerability and allow him to help you up. And just as you marveled in Sanosuke's hand, he noticed how yours was different from his too. He admired how soft it was and how gentle the touch of your skin was on his calloused palm. It felt so right on his ragged palm, like a softness he didn't know he needed had touched him, like a petal gracing a pond. Heat begins to rise to his face as he holds your small delicate hand in his own, and Sanosuke finds himself surprised but also incredibly intrigued. That was the moment he knew he had to learn more about you.

Life after Sanosuke found out you were a woman was interesting, to say the least. You tried to dodge him whenever you could, hoping that by doing this long enough, he would either forget or the boat would reach land, and you could disappear. What you didn't expect was that Sano would try to build a friendship with you.

At mealtimes, he would sit his imposing figure right next to you and start to converse about the day. Or he would find you during the evening as you sat on the deck staring out into the endless stars; again, he would sit next to you and try to talk to you. Your quiet nights were forever interrupted now.

Sanosuke always asked questions, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't even about why you were on the ship. It was random things What do you like to do off the boat? Where is your family from? But the most intrusive question that ended up catching you completely off guard was— Do you have a guy waiting for you when you get off?

The shock that went through you when he asked immobilized you for a moment. Why would he even care, you wondered. Relationships and romance weren't really what flourished here on board. If anything, the men only talked about sex. That was the extent of romance that happened here. And while Sanosuke had the most chivalry out of the men, his demeanor didn't really scream romantic.

When you questioned him about why he wanted to know that of all things, he just shrugged and looked up into the vast night sky. After what seemed like ages, he finally responded with, "I just want to know you more."

An array of feelings flooded you at that moment. Nervousness at why Sanosuke wanted to know more about you. Hesitancy because you were starting to trust him, and you didn't want your walls to come down any more than you've already let them. And probably the scariest feeling of them all because you couldn't explain why— but you felt excitement. A small thrill rushed through you knowing he wanted to learn more about you.

Because to be completely honest, you wanted to know more about him too. You had been watching him closely after the gambling night incident. It started as just keeping an eye out to see if he would betray you, or worse, physically hurt you. But you began to notice so much about him that you had never seen before.

First, he was very attractive. Before the incident, you didn't allow yourself to focus on the boat's men in that way. Of course, there were plenty of well-built men on the ship. But you had been more focused on your goal of escape, and there was no way you were going to have a relationship with a pirate. Or so you thought before Sanosuke wiggled his way into your life.

But Sanosuke seemed to be a whole different breed of man. He was the tallest on the ship, which made him stand out a little more, along with the attire he chose to wear. But beyond that, he was built as if he was sculpted out of marble. He tended to remove his open jacket when working, and you had caught yourself staring at his tan, sweat-covered, toned stomach more often than you wanted to admit. His outfit left little to the imagination, but with his jacket off, you could see every taut muscle flex as he pulled the ropes for the sail with his large hands. Broad and robust shoulders left you speechless as they curved under the sun.

The second thing you begin to notice about Sanosuke is that he has a softness inside him behind the hard exterior. He jokes with practically everyone on the ship or greets everyone with a smile or some sort of joke.

It was intriguing to watch him interact with others. His past and history of wins brought him respect. But he also created relationships with others, whether it was a simple wave or getting into a full-blown conversation. Everyone knew Sanosuke Sagara here. But even more than getting along with everyone, he was kind. Rugged but kind is the best way you could describe him. When he saw someone struggling, he would take the extra weight. You lost count at the number of times now you saw him carry someone else's barrel below deck or when he would take someone else's job if they were too exhausted by the beating sun.

And that kindness extended to you as well. You weren't sure if it was because Sanosuke knew you were a woman or if it was just in his nature. But after the gambling night incident, he began to grab your heavier sacks of food, slinging them over his muscular shoulder and carrying it to the kitchen for you.

At first, you snapped at him, "I've got it; I don't need your help; you're going to draw attention."

Sanosuke would always respond with a grin that spread across his face like wildfire and motion for you to follow him with his free hand with an "I got ya, missy." After so many times of the same response, you finally gave up, but you couldn't ignore the little pang in your heart when he called you the pet name he had just for you. You didn't want to admit he affected you this way; this isn't how you wanted things to go. There was even less of a future for you if you were around a convicted criminal once you made it to land. Even though you would never admit it, Sanosuke became one of your favorite parts of the day.

You became more intrigued by him every day. And so, while he wanted to know you more, you had to admit to yourself you wanted to learn more about him as well. You wanted to know why he wore the "bad" symbol on his back, what his red headband meant and why it meant so much to him; a deep part of you also wanted to know if he had someone waiting for him too.

Heart aching to know this tall, mysterious man more, you began to let down your own walls. The first thing you told him was your real name. Sanosuke tested it on his tongue, and you wanted to urge him to say it more but held back. You told him you enjoyed reading and cooking at home. He responded with a low whistle at you and a comment about how you must have had some schooling since you knew how to read. Cursing yourself, you realized you were letting him learn more about you than you had initially expected to give away.

You tried over and over to keep to yourself, to hold yourself back, to respond indifferently. But over and over, Sanosuke came to you with his warm personality, his joking tone that would turn serious when he really wanted to know something about you, and your walls crumbled like a clay pot hitting the ground.

Eventually, you told him that no one was waiting for you, sheepishly, very quiet, and you wondered if he even heard you over the waves smashing into the ship.

He must have because he responded with a slight smile, head still tilted to the stars and a hum.

Gathering your own courage, you asked him the same, moving your eyes away from his profile to stare at the stars so you wouldn't have to meet his eyes. You weren't sure what you would do if he said yes— that someone was waiting for him. Absolutely, you wouldn't be heartbroken, but you didn't want to feel the pain thrum in your chest if he did have someone. You'd much rather ignore all of those feelings, stuff them so far down you don't ever have to visit them.

Sanosuke let out a hearty chuckle at your question, which surprises you and brings your attention back to his face. He's looking at you now, chestnut brown eyes staring into the deepest parts of you. "Ah, so you want to know about me now too?" He jests as his laugh turns into that smirk that infuriated you just a short time ago.

Embarrassment floods through you and then annoyance; How dare he make fun of me for asking the same thing. "Forget it then, I don't care," you let out in a huff crossing your arms over your chest and turning your head towards the sea.

"Wait, come on, don't be that way!" Sanosuke quickly backtracks, reaches out one of his hands, and places it on your shoulder with a light shake.

You can't help the grin that grows as he begins to beg for you to give him another chance. Turning back to him, you realize he's scooted much closer to you during the exchange, and you can feel your heart begin to thrum in your ears. His nose practically touches yours, your eyes are locked together, and you can feel his breath just a beat away from your own.

Your eyes are wide as he begins to speak his answer in a soft voice, "It's just me against the world, missy. Unless that's something you want to change."

Heart pounding, you open your mouth to retort, but nothing comes. It's like you were stuck at a fork between two paths. Neither of them is straight or easy to navigate anymore. One way leads you down a relationship you can't really grow in, stuck forever on this ship. The other path denies the feelings that have started to rumble deep inside you.

You aren't sure what comes over you when your brain tells you to move forward. Without another moment of hesitation, your lips delicately touch Sanosuke's. Both of your lips are chapped from the lack of care. But still, feel so tender and soft once they meet. Sanosuke meets your energy with soft and gentle movements of his own. Skilled like a musician who knows exactly how to play his instrument.

The kiss is brief; it wouldn't be a fun story to explain if someone stumbled upon the two of you. Relief and contentment wash over you afterward. After watching Sanosuke for the past week, you've come to see him as more than another crew member. It's like everything that had been brewing inside of you finally had an outlet through the kiss.

Doubt began to creep into your mind as the two of you wordlessly made your way to your respective cots. Too tired and caught up in your thoughts to say anything to him, you wonder if Sanosuke only sees you as something for right now. A temporary plaything while he's stuck at sea. Things were moving too fast for your liking. And all of that scared you; it made you want to cut this thing off before it got too deep, but another part urged you to keep whatever this was alive.

But what you weren't aware of is that Sanosuke had been watching you too since the gambling incident. He really saw you now. He was able to see how dedicated you were to your work. How cute you were when the tip of your tongue would stick out of the corner of your mouth as you prepared meals. And how you didn't take shit from anyone. Despite being shorter than everyone on the ship, you didn't back down when someone came after you. He saw that you were never aggressive, but you were quick-witted in response to them, leaving your opponent in a daze trying to decipher your insults.

Sanosuke wasn't sure when it happened, but he had become enamored with your fiery attitude and mysterious demeanor. He wanted to know everything about you, much more than the original question of why you were on this ship. And that's when he started to seek you out. During dinner, when you had only sat alone before and at night when you were gazing up at the stars, he was looking at you, memorizing every part of your face.

For the first time since Sanosuke arrived on this ship, he didn't want the journey to end. He tried to soak in every second he could with you because the more he got to know about you, he could tell he was falling hard. He began to find himself drawn to every little smile you would give when he told a joke or the number of times you rolled your eyes when he tried to cheer you up on a bad day. He wanted to be able to hold you, to know you, to feel you on a much deeper level than he was able to currently.

He has to pretend he doesn't feel these things. So that no one suspects anything is going on between you two. The last thing he wanted to do was to jeopardize your secret. He holds back on his urges to grasp your hand at night or to cup your small face in his hands. To feel your soft skin against his again. He settles for wrapping an arm around your shoulder in a friendly way but can't stop himself as he pulls you close, aching to feel you more than this, wanting to hold you so tightly and never let go.

This kiss that was so brief only caused those feelings inside of him to blaze even brighter. He relished in the feel of your lips on his rough ones. Catching together, only for a moment, due to the lack of moisture from the sea salt air. The kiss lingered in his head for the entire night; he wasn't able to sleep because you flooded his brain. He wanted to know everything you were willing to give. He wanted to drink it all in.

Days passed after the kiss between the two of you. And you yearn to be near each other, even more than before. Neither of you brought the kiss up; it was a special secret you shared. Sanosuke continued to spend more time with just you. Talking endlessly about whatever pops up in his mind. Instead of wishing for the silence you once cherished, you began to enjoy the times with him.

He started to unravel more of himself to you. He told you about his past with the Sekihō Army. He recounted the pain of his captain dying before his eyes with you. And at that moment, you wanted to hold him, wanted to shield him from the pain as he wiped away a stray tear. This man had already gone through so much in his life and still had a beautiful outlook on life. It warmed your heart and endeared you to him even more. Every day you find another thing to love about Sanosuke Sagara.

Along with the pain of his younger years, he tells you about the happiness he found in his "found family." He talked about each member with such enthusiasm you felt yourself becoming fond of them. Kenshin, the brutal swordsmen with a heart of gold. Karou, the other spitfire in his life besides you, was like a younger sister to him. And Yahiko, a kid who had great potential as a future swordsman and the drive to rival a whole army.

You found yourself questioning him about why he left them, but he gave you that shit-eating grin and told him you didn't get that answer until you gave him yours. Flustered, you huffed and rolled your eyes. You didn't want to provide him with that information; it wasn't that you didn't trust him now. In fact, you considered him a friend. But you were worried what he would think of you, running away from your problems, something that he never did. He ran into battle headfirst, honor for whatever he was fighting for. It was something you picked up when he recounted his life to you; he fought for what he believed in, never backing down. You didn't want him to see you as a coward or, worse, be disgusted with your decision to leave instead of choosing to stay and fight things through.

So you didn't push to know why he was here anymore. Instead, you spent more time working alongside him. You would try to help him out on deck when your meal prep duties were done. The manual labor was hard, but it allowed you time to ogle his toned physique. But you also enjoyed more time with him, watching his outgoing personality flourish among the other crew members. A smile plastered on your face as you watched him joke with others and release hearty laughs of his own. His happiness lifted your own mood daily; you couldn't get enough of him.

One of those sunny warm days when you had joined him on deck, things went awry. It was clear that one of the crew members had had too much sun and rum and was beginning to become delirious from the continued exposure. The man was a larger crewmate usually fueled by rum and sea biscuits. He came stumbling over to you, his legs struggling to keep his form upright as he swayed. Before you were even aware of his presence, he was right next to you. The stench coming from his breath confirmed that rum was his breakfast this morning. His eyes were half-lidded, blood-shot, and trained directly on you.

You try to move away from his imposing figure by scooting yourself an inch away, but with the movement, he shoots a hand out and grabs your arm roughly. Dirty nails dig into your skin, leaving imprints. Eyes narrowing, you cringe as his smell overwhelms you and try to yank your arm free of his grasp. But it's to no avail; he has a tight hold on you and doesn't seem to be letting go anytime soon.

The man opens his mouth and slurs out, "Hey, pret-ty boy," a hiccup interrupts his speech; you become more on edge, realizing that this man is overly inebriated. "You-you, probably get all the pussy back home, don't ya, with a face like that?" The words stumble out of his mouth slowly and garbled.

You can't help but wince and turn your face away from him as his breath makes its way into your nostrils. All you want is to escape; you can't even think of how to respond to his question; giving this guy any more time would only draw unwanted attention. You yank your arm again to try and get away, but this time the man rips you back, and you find yourself falling to the floor with an oomph.

The drunkard is still holding your forearm above you as you kneel on the floor. You look up to his flushed face and can see malice laced in his eyes. "I hate your ty-pe," he slurs out at you. For whatever reason, in his drunken state, he has decided to take out this grudge against you. Your eyes move to his other hand holding a small silver knife, glinting in the sun that you had missed up until now.

Panic starts to set into your veins; you aren't strong enough to pull your arm free, and you don't know how to fight. This was very bad. You could kick and scream and try to punch, but you aren't sure how that would turn out.

But like in the old fairy tales that your mother used to tell you when you were young, your knight shows up to save the day. A shadow falls over your figure as Sanosuke blocks the sun's rays. Your face moves to look at him, and you're shocked by his expression. It's one you've only seen when his headband was touched—serious and threatening. If a look could kill the drunkard holding, you would be visiting the underworld. Sanosuke was seething, shoulders tense, teeth clenched, and knuckles held tightly.

"You wanna fuckin' take a step back?" Sanosuke's voice comes out as a low growl as he places a large hand on the man's shoulder connected to the hand holding you.

The inebriated man is fueled by his liquid courage as he responds to Sanosuke, "I seen th-the two of you, this your toy Sano? Didn't take you for the type, but he's pretty enough, I guess." The man can hardly get the sentence out, the alcohol slowing his words as he sways under the weight Sanosuke has placed on his shoulder. You can see Sanosuke's fingers tighten on the man's shoulder at the statement, and his face looks like it is set in stone; the lack of his typical self shocks you.

You're scared—scared of this man finding out your gender, scared because Sanosuke looks like he would dismember this man if he had the chance, and scared because of the knife still glinting in the sun. This could get ugly quickly with a weapon involved. You didn't want Sanosuke to get hurt, he's strong, but a stab wound wouldn't hold well on the ship.

Heart racing, you try to slip out of the man's grasp once again, hoping to draw his attention back to you. There was no plan in your head, just the need to fight-or-flight. If you could get him away from Sanosuke, you were quick enough to escape him and wouldn't have to worry about Sano getting injured.

But surprisingly, the man's grip is tight despite his alcohol-induced state. He jerks your arm back after you try to pull away, and you yelp at the force used as a shock of pain flies through your shoulder. Events are a blur after that.

As soon as your yelp of pain meets Sanosuke's ears, he can't hold back anymore. While he didn't consider himself the most chivalrous man in the world, he hated seeing men hurt women. It didn't even click in his head that this idiot didn't know you were a woman when he saw you crumple to the ground. He only saw red, could only think about how dare that alcoholic bastard lay a hand on his woman. The thoughts came so quickly he didn't have time to process them; he just reacted. He physically had to stop himself from crushing the man's shoulder when he first made contact.

And watching that alcoholic hurt you brought something out in him that was lying dormant before. A wave of unbridled anger and need to protect you surged through him as he removed his hand from the man's shoulder and clenched his fist to deliver a punch. With a woosh of wind, as his fist soars through the open air, it slams hard into the side of the man's nose. The sickening crunch explodes into the atmosphere, along with a gush of blood.

The man screams and curses, dropping his knife to bring both of his pudgy hands to cup his injured nose. Finally, with your arm free, you quickly move away from the falling blood and rush over to Sanosuke's figure to stand beside him. His body is still rigid, his fist is covered in specks of blood.

"You bastard!" The man wails, still holding onto his nose.

A devilish grin appears on Sanosuke's face as he finally unclenches his fist. He knows he's won at this point. There's no way the drunkard would come after him now bleeding and wounded. "I gave you a warning, didn't I?" Sanosuke's voice still holds that tone of hostility as he stares down the man.

For one of the first times, you were able to see that this was the man everyone feared back on land. The ruthless fighter-for-hire who fought with no regrets. While you had seen Sanosuke fight before, you had never seen so much emotion in his fighting before. You're sure he would tear the drunk man limb from limb if he had a chance. You stand in silence, watching the scene unfold before you, trying to understand why there was so much ferocity in the tall man beside you.

The drunk man mutters more curses at Sanosuke before turning tail and running below deck to nurse his wounds. You're shocked by everything that just happened, and you feel light-headed from the adrenaline coursing through you. Turning to Sanosuke, you try to form words, but nothing comes out of your mouth. Your eyes travel to his hand, and through the spots of blood, you can see purplish marks forming on his knuckles. He should get that cleaned up — is all you can think at the moment.

Before you can mention that, he turns his face to yours, and all that malice and anger is gone. You're baffled by the sudden change, not even realizing you are the reason he's able to smile. Knowing that you are safe helps calm that burning anger in him. And knowing that he protected you fills him with a sense of pride.

"You okay, missy?" He whispers as he gazes at your wide eyes. His voice is soft enough so only you can hear.

Your heart jumps in your chest without you wanting it to at his question, and you respond with a bit of nod and a slight sniffle. Trying to compose yourself because everyone is starting to stare now, focused on the spectacle that just happened, you can't break down and cry right now. You have to act like you're unbothered by it all—strong, unshaken.

With a cough, you respond to Sano in your disguised voice, "I'm perfectly fine. I could've gotten out of there!" Your eyes meet his, begging for him not to question you.

Sanosuke hesitates a moment, his face falling at your words, not understanding because you were doing the exact opposite of getting out of there. And then he feels the eyes of the rest of the ship on him, and it dawns on him why you are acting tough when he can see the sheen of tears in your eyes. Because you have to play this facade, to survive, for whatever unknown reason. But something in him longs to envelop you in his arms, to shove away the rest of the world, to let you know you're safe—with him. But he's stuck there dumbly staring at you as the pain in his knuckles begins to sting.

After a few moments of onlookers realizing the fight was over, they return to their work tasks. Sanosuke flexes his hand and lets out a hiss at the sting that goes through the joints with the movement. He gives you a final glance. He wants to spill everything he's feeling right then and there but knows he can't—too much risk, too many eyes watching. But fuck he just wants to hold you. Even though he's never done it before, he knows you would feel just right.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he resigns himself back to work until your delicate hand catches his wrist. His eyebrows quirk, not sure exactly what you're doing because you aren't saying anything. Until he hears your melody of a voice, tell him that he should clean that up, with a gesture to his injured hand.

A feeling of bliss settles in his chest at your statement. His mind travels to other places, like how he aches to feel your lips on his again. He wants you so badly; this secret of you being a woman just might kill him, he thinks. But he wordlessly lets you lead him down below deck to the area where you prepared meals for the crew.

It's secluded and far away from everyone doing their own work. You knew no one would bother you down here. The shipmates only came when it was time for food, and the next meal wouldn't be ready for hours. You motion for Sanosuke to sit on a wooden box in the corner.

Sanosuke obliges, smoothly dropping his form onto the box with a thud. He watches your figure make your way over to a large barrel in the meal preparation area. He can't help but take a glance at your ass as you bend down to the spout to let out a bit of water onto an old rag. Your ragged pants aren't tight on you, but he can still make out the curve of your backside. Testosterone and adrenaline are still coursing in his veins, and while he usually would have better control with things like this, he can't ignore the tightness of his own pants around his dick.

The pain in his hand is momentarily forgotten until you start to speak to him. "You're lucky he didn't stab you. There's hardly anything on this boat to effectively clean a wound." You kneel down in front of him and motion for him to give you his bruised hand. Both of you know that the water supply you just pulled from is strictly for the food. It would eventually go bad, and you were instructed to use it only for meal prep. Using it to care for him was breaking a cardinal rule of the ship.

Sanosuke feels that swell in his chest again when he thinks about you doing something like this for him. He likes the way you fret over him even though he's had much worse injuries than a slight bruise. He lets you gingerly take his hand into your own smoother smaller one as you let out a tsk with a you shouldn't have punched him.

All Sanosuke can do is let out a noise of confirmation. He's too caught up in watching you slowly dab and wipe at the blood-spatter on his hand, taking extra care around any parts that have already started to bruise. Your little pink tongue is poking out of your lips as you concentrate on cleaning him up.

You're so fuckin' cute is the only thing that rattles around in his brain. But you finish too quickly and stand up to go discard the rag. Sanosuke isn't listening to the words falling out of your mouth; all he can focus on is how your hips sway as you walk away.

He's jolted back into the moment when you ask him in annoyance, "Do you hear me, Sanosuke? Why did you do something so stupid?" You turn to him with your hands on your hips and an uneasy look. He watches as you pull your bottom lip below your teeth and chew on it pensively—god, what he wouldn't give to bring your lips to his own right now. He wants to be closer to you so severely it is like an ache he can't soothe.

Sanosuke can't seem to stop himself when the following words tumble out, "Because I think I love you."

He sits quietly, wondering how you'll react because he means it. He's been with a fair amount of women before. Saved many from bad situations, but it's different with you. You're like a siren that calls out to him, a melody he can't ignore. All this time after he found out who you were, he's come to love all of your mannerisms. His body aches with want when he watches your hips sway or when he sees you bend over. But most of all, he loves the fire inside of you, the one you refuse to extinguish. He still has no idea why you're here, on this boat, but he knows—just knows that it's probably because someone tried to extinguish that fire. And he will do anything in his power to help keep that fire alive inside of you.

The silence coming from you is starting to create a pit in Sanosuke's stomach. He doesn't regret telling you, but he doesn't think he can handle the pain of rejection. He believes you must like him too, you spend time with him, you laugh with him, you kissed him. All those things have to amount to some sort of feeling. All he can see is apprehension from your silence to how you've wrapped your arms in front of you in a protective way.

He starts to fill the silence again with a nervous chuckle as he drags his hand across his face. But his heart stills in his chest when he hears your voice softly ring out. "We can't do this, Sanosuke. There isn't a happy ending for us. You're a wanted criminal, and I'm—well, I'm probably wanted in a sense as well."

You sink to the floor and curl in on yourself, bringing your knees to your chin. This was never supposed to happen. You were supposed to pay your dues on this boat and get off. Never to be seen again. You weren't supposed to get attached to this big stupid lanky man. A man that made you smile just by being himself, whose body put to shame the bodies the noble men had back home, a man that made you let down your guard unlike anyone had before.

"But why? When we get off, we'll find something. I'll make money for us." He says almost desperately like he's losing his chance with you. "Please," he whispers out along with your name. And then he's squatting in front of you, much like he did all that time ago when he found out your secret. But he's softer this time as he grazes his hand down your cheek. The calloused palm weighs heavy against your skin.

Your eyes move up to meet his brown depths, and you can practically see the yearning in them, and you wonder if yours are reflecting the same feeling. Because, deep down, you've thought about a life with him too but shoved those thoughts away, knowing that it would be nearly impossible.

There is no way the two of you could live an easy life together. "Sano, I-" you hesitate, but you know he deserves to know now. "I ran away from an arranged marriage, Sanosuke. I couldn't do it. I didn't want to be some old man's housewife. I've barely lived or experienced anything. I want to travel to just do what I want to do. And so I ran away like a scared child." You avert your eyes again, not wanting to see his face, afraid that he won't see you like he has anymore because you were a coward and ran away from your problem. Tears begin to prick in your eyes. You can't stand the silence.

But to your surprise, you feel that vast palm tuck under your chin and gingerly lift your face to his. And your tearful eyes aren't met with the disgust you expected but with that ear-to-ear grin that lights up your soul.

You soften when you see it, and more tears begin to flow as Sanosuke speaks softly to you. "And I still love you, every part of you. I wouldn't want you to be tied down to some old bastard when you deserve so much more." He stops himself from saying he wants you with him because he knows you're right– there's no stable future for the two of you. Life would constantly be on the run if you stayed with him. And the two of you together? It would draw even more attention.

Sanosuke moves his hand, wraps it behind your head, and pulls you into his chest. He smells like sea salt, sweat, and musk that is so clearly him, a scent that you're sure would have made you hold your nose before you got on this ship, but now it's a source of comfort, a smell that you're going to miss. That you'll never be able to take in again once you leave here. So against all better judgment, you let your wall down. "I think I love you too, Sano."

You feel crushed under Sanosuke's hand as he pulls you into an embrace, and you feel him take in a shaky breath at your words. He removes his large hand from the back of your head. He gently cradles your face in both of his weathered palms. "I'm going to kiss you now," the words rumble from inside of him, and he pulls you into a passionate kiss.

Chapped and sun-drenched lips meet each other and move like they have never been quenched before. Your lips meld with Sano's perfectly, and the moment you feel his hot tongue swipe against your lower lip, you open your mouth to let him in. Tongues meet and explore each other until the two of you have to pull away to breathe. Panting your eyes meet his chestnut ones. And it is like you can see all of his want for you in them, and you know that you want him to.

Sanosuke gently presses his forehead against yours and speaks with a low huskiness, "If we can't be together forever, can we at least have today?" Below the lust is a pleading tone. He's not sure he'll survive if he doesn't get one time with you. He'd ache for you for the rest of his life—even though he knows he already will when the two of you part ways.

And so again, you throw caution to the wind and give him a nod. Sanosuke's eyes light up at your confirmation, and he moves to the doorway of the food prep area. Thankfully, it is one of the few places with a door attached, and he quickly shuts it.

When Sanosuke turns around, you can see his erection through the material of his pants. Your mouth waters at the sight of his arousal. You can't pretend you haven't imagined what he's like under those white pants. Especially being so tall, you've always wondered if his size matched his stature. From the outline you can make out, it definitely seems that your hunch is correct.

You don't have too much time to consider it, though as Sanosuke approaches you again, you are still on the floor as he looms over you. You suddenly begin to feel shy. But Sanosuke's calm smile and outstretched hand put your mind at ease. Grasping his hand, you allow him to pull you up so that you are standing.

Sanosuke maneuvers around you to sit back on the box he was on before with a glint in his eye. He motions to you to come closer. Anticipation is heating your veins as you move towards him.

"You know how beautiful you are? I always want to tell ya when I see you, but so many other people are around," Sanosuke says as he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you on top of him. You can feel your entire body heat up at his words, but he doesn't give you a chance to respond. Sanosuke moves quickly like he can't bear to keep his hands off of you for one more moment and begins kissing you again with fiery intensity. He shrugs out of his jacket and tosses it to the floor. You marvel again at his broad sun-kissed shoulders. He wraps a hand around your chin and splays his long fingers down part of your neck.

You sit there too stunned and hazy to respond until Sanosuke coaxes you. "Missy, open your mouth." You comply quickly as Sanosuke devours your lips again. His tongue goes quickly into your own mouth, and you let out a moan.

You end up adjusting yourself so you can adequately straddle him. The feeling of his hard member is pressed up against your clothed pussy. Sanosuke removes his hand from your face and starts to knead at your thighs. You almost melt at the sensation. Heat is building up quickly inside of you. It feels like his hands are all over you now, everywhere at once, and the feeling is driving you crazy. You feel trapped under a spell— unable to move or speak through your cloudy thoughts.

Sanosuke pulls away, panting. He leans his head against your chest for a moment as you both catch your breath. But it doesn't take long until Sanosuke finds the exposed skin of your chest, the area right above your bandages. He begins to leave feather-soft kisses in there—his mouth continues to dip lower over the fabric covering one of your most sensitive areas until his nose meets your covered breasts. Your nipples press hard against the bandages as they become erect, another sensation that continues to build a tight coil inside of you.

Sanosuke's hands continue to wander from your thighs to your ass. He groans at the feeling of your butt in his palms. A desperate need to see all of you arises. But he would have to be content with just touch for now as he continues to squeeze your cheeks until you let out a little squeak—a sound Sanosuke swears is one of the sweetest things he's ever heard— it sends a rush of blood to his aching cock.

You find yourself rocking against his hips as you ignore the growing wetness between your thighs.

"Alright, alright, baby. Let me get these pants off. It wouldn't look too good if my only pair got ruined," he coos in your ear as he rubs a large hand over your back. You groan, not wanting to separate your body from his. Your hips beg to keep grinding against him until you reach that release.

Sanosuke gives you a small peck to your pouted lips before gently standing up. You wrap your legs around his torso, refusing to waste a single second separated from him. One of his large hands holds onto the small of your back to keep you upright as you cling to him. With the other, he shucks his white pants down, the weathered fabric pools around his feet. Sanosuke kicks his way out of them and then lays you down on the wooden box. The hard surface is unwelcome compared to the heat of his chiseled body. But before you can let out a protest, he climbs on top of you.

"I wish I could spend every moment with you, like this, splayed out before me," he says, voice husky and eyes hazy. "But the gods didn't hand us the best of circumstances, so we are going to have to be quiet and quick." Sanosuke presses another passionate kiss to your lips.

After you break apart, you can't help but slide your hands on his toned muscle. You had been holding back for a while now and didn't want to waste the only opportunity you had. Sanosuke chuckles softly at the movement—a sound that sends shivers through your body. He moves his own hand down your chest and pulls down your tattered old shirt, the bandages are blocking his view, but he doesn't want to rip them, fearing they might be the only ones you have. You are able to read the contemplative look on his face and grasp his large hand, and placing it at the top of the bandages, you give a nod of approval to him.

Sanosuke wastes no time with your confirmation and easily tears the bandages apart unceremoniously. He stares in awe for a moment. Your tits are perfect, even covered with the red marks from the bandages that previously held them. He marvels how you could hide them but doesn't want to spend too long on that thought. Bending down, he gives both of your erect nipples attention, taking time to slowly suck on each of them earnestly. Your hands find his hair, and you hold his head gently, running your fingers along his scalp as you stare at the wooden ceiling. The feeling of his warm mouth on your breasts feels like heaven. That aching need inside you is only getting more robust with each suck.

Sanosuke begins to slide his hands down your body, his long fingers grasp at the tie that holds your pants up, he quickly pulls it. Without hesitation, you help him and shimmy your pants off. You can't help the moan that escapes you when the outside air hits your exposed pussy.

"Shhhhh," Sanosuke hushes you with a soft tone. And presses another warm kiss to your lips.

He continues his journey with his mouth further. Collecting your slick on two fingers, he can't resist the urge as he sticks them into his mouth. Your flavor explodes on his tongue, tangy and sweet.

Staring up at the imposing figure over you, your legs are still wrapped around his waist, desperately hanging on, your body entirely on display for him. His eyes watch you with deep intrigue as your lips part for him. You also want to make him feel good. While you weren't the most experienced in this department, you want to ensure he never forgets about you. If this was the only chance you would get with him, you wanted him to have this moment cemented in his mind. A wave of heat flows through you, thinking of him fucking his fist to this moment with you in the future.

Sliding off the wooden box, you kneel in front of Sanosuke. His dick is inches away from your face. It's large and noticeably long with a pretty flushed tip and a bead of pearlescent pre.

Sanosuke's hands find their way into your hair. With a deep chuckle, he asks, "What are ya doing, missy?" Although he's positive, he knows where you are going with this. Sanosuke moves a hand to your face and pushes it up with his thumb. "Look at me."

Your eyes meet his chestnut ones for what seems like an eternity.

"Fuck pretty girl, I'd be a liar if I said I never imagined this," he says with a glint in his eyes. The words cause heat to pool more in your belly. You flash him a devious look while leaning forward and pumping his stiff length.

The sensation of his dick between your fist makes you want to whine. He seems even larger now that you can actually touch him. All those days of fantasizing couldn't prepare you for his actual size. Sliding your fist back and forth, you bring your face to his tip and place a light kiss on the tip.

Sanosuke leans back, his hand roams to your cheek, where he traces the line of your cheekbone beneath his fingers. The feeling of him touching your face only encourages you as you finally take his member into your mouth. Your tongue dances around his tip, causing him to let out a sinful moan.

You continue to take him further into your mouth, trying to ignore the gag reflex telling you to pull back—you want to take him as far as you can. After a moment, you pull back, sliding your tongue along his dick and placing chaste kisses every so often. Sanosuke's head is so clouded he starts to feel like he's on a cloud. His other hand grips tightly to the wooden box he's perched on.

"Oh god, yes, baby, don't stop," he chokes out as he moves his large hand to the back of your head to encourage you to take his member back in your mouth again. Taking his length in your mouth as he guides your head, your breasts graze his shins, the touch of his skin on your nipples causes a shiver to run through you.

Sanosuke takes his hand from your head and reaches down to feel one of your breasts, kneading it slowly as you moan around his cock. He wasn't sure he could hold out much longer. As much as he wanted to cum down your throat, he didn't want this to end that quickly. Instead, he chooses to fully commit this moment to memory—although he's done that with every interaction now. He gently pulls you off of his dick until just his tip—leaking precum is touching your lips.

"Come here, beautiful," Sanosuke purrs as he helps you up to your feet and lets you settle in his lap again. With his member pressing up against your wet core, you both let out a groan when you make contact. Grabbing his face in your small palms, you bring your gazes to each other.

Sanosuke is enraptured by the fire inside of you. He can't look away even if he wants to. With the guidance of his large hands on your hips, you slowly sink down onto his cock, your eyes never leaving each other. Sanosuke swears he could die right there watching the pinch of pain on your face until you adjust to his size and then when pleasure takes over your features. You look like an angel or a goddess, something ethereal to him. His eyes filled with passion over you.

You breathe out his name between pained puffs tipping your head back, fighting to not release a moan. Sanosuke's cock twitches inside of you. Bringing your gaze back to him, you see that his eyes never left you, still trained on every curve of your body.

Sanosuke takes a hand from your hip and reaches to rub your breast. He rubs a thumb over one of your pebbled nipples. The action causes you to release a gasp as you pick up your pace, rutting your hips in an attempt to snap the coil bound so tightly inside of you. Sanosuke wraps an arm around your waist to stabilize you and hold you tight as he stands up—there's too much distance between your bodies his mind roars.

Sanosuke takes over at that point, hips slamming up into yours. You feel like your mind has gone blank at the sudden feeling. It's as if you can feel every inch of him inside of you. He continues his movements, rutting upwards into your sopping pussy. And still, his gaze is trained on you, watching the pleasure overcome your features. This is one of the few times you will ever be taller than him, and you feel heavenly seeing the way his lust-filled eyes meet yours. You wish you could live this forever with him, stay with him forever, just the two of you.

The way you move on his dick makes his mind foggy. He's desperate to feel every single inch of you. Your moans and cries were louder than he wanted them to be—but he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. He wants to see you unwind entirely, wants to hear you scream his name when you cum.

"Sano, m'close," you moan out as you move one of your hands from his shoulders and down to rub your aching clit. The call of his name from your mouth only encourages him to fuck you faster and harder. He ends up pushing you against the ship wall with a loud thud. Wooden splinters stick into you, but you can't even be bothered anymore.

You find yourself moaning Sanosuke's name over and over. A hymn to his ears.

"Fuck," he lets out with a guttural groan as he continues to thrust deeper and deeper inside of you. Until the coil in you finally snaps and your relief comes exploding from you. Sanosuke continues to move into you as your orgasm finishes. His eyes meet your face, loving how you look when you come undone. He leans forward to capture your lips in one final kiss as he reaches his own end, filling you with thick hot ropes of cum. You’re panting and trying to catch your breath when he breaks the kiss, your pussy still trying to milk him dry with its spasms.

Sanosuke plummets down on the box with a loud thump not worrying about how he's going to get the splinters out of his ass later. "You are so fuckin' beautiful, you know that?" He tells you through pants as he presses kisses along your collarbone.

Leaning a bit away from him, you take him all in; his messy hair looks even more frazzled, sweat stains his skin, but his face is full of such bliss you wish you could take a photo and frame it.

The two of you sit there in silence, together, just listening to each other breathe. Knowing this is the only moment the two of you will have is something neither of you wants to acknowledge now. So instead, your lips find each other again, a slow passionate kiss—a goodbye kiss.

After a while, you finally separate, sweaty and sticky. A final I love you is whispered softly from both of you after your clothes are back on and bandages re-wrapped.

And as the two of you approach the deck, unsure what will happen next or how much longer you will have with each other, you hear the lookout call the words you were dreading since the moment you realized your feelings for Sanosuke.

"Land approaching!"

#i am losing my everloving shit over here #i could gush about this for days #i legit have been crafting a response to this fic for days #i have two pages of notes like the fic nerd I am #i didn't wanna miss a thing BECAUSE THAT'S HOW GOOD THIS IS #my wife writes so cleverly and beautifully #PLEASE read this #you will not regret it #will be the best thing you do today 💙#sanosuke x reader #sanosuke sagara x reader #sanosuke sagara smut #ruroni kenshin x reader #a single moment #🌠wifeys writing🌛#fic recs #highseascollab #pocketfriendscollab

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turquoisebooks · 2 years ago

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First, let me say that I loved being back in this world. Sure, you can read Foul Lady Fortune without reading the original duology (These Violent Delights & Our Violent Ends) but I highly recommend that because it would spoiler the duology´s ending for you and it makes so much more sense to read it because of the events and characters. Foul Lady Fortune focuses on Rosalind. In the beginning, you get to know what´s happening in her life four years after the events of Our Violent Ends. It’s 1931 and Shanghai is unrest once again. Japanese Imperial Army is getting closer, while the city has to deal with a civil war between the Nationalists and Communists. As if the city hasn't been through enough already. It´s a golden age of espionage - with double and even triple agents roaming the streets - and that´s how Rosalind meets with her fake husband Orion Hong. Together, they depart on a mission to uncover the culprits behind the gruesome murders terrorizing Shanghai. “Across the city and outside of it, Friday arrived to the sound of war drums.”

Heartbroken and atoning Rosalind is prepared to do anything to glue the broken city back together - to heal it, to make it whole again. You may originally hate her for what she´s done but in the end, cannot help to root for her. She´s not a perfect human, she has her flaws, but that´s what makes her a perfect character. By the way, Rosalind is demisexual and while it is not directly stated (through this modern term), it is discussed in the text.

Speaking about romance, Rosalind and Orion Hong are a great couple and a power duo, in public and in private as well. I loved how Orion calls her “beloved” or “ my wife” even when they are alone or with people who know. They both have their own secrets which undeniably adds to the ever-present tension between them. Their interactions are amazing and I live, ache, and breathe for this pairing. Besides meeting and getting to know a bunch of new characters - (previously mentioned) Orion, his brother Oliver and sister Phoebe - we get to be reunited with now seventeen-year-old Alisa Montagova as well as Rosalind´s sister Celia. Together they become entangled in the political machinations and despite being on different sides of the conflict, end up cooperating and saving each other's butts. I loved this group (every one of them) and their dynamics. Around ¾ of the book felt kind of “peaceful” to me or how to describe it. Of yours, there is a lot of spying to uncover all the dangerous secrets, occasionally some gunshots or poisoning happening, but overall, it is very political - which is still amazing because I love this kind of books - until the whole situation escalates, making you sit at the edge of your seat holding your breath and praying that everyone survives the inevitable storm coming their way. As the tension rises and the stakes get higher, it is very hard to put the book down. It is INTENSE. I could not stop reading till the ending, well… it broke me. At last, I want to say that I´ve genuinely missed Chloe Gong´s writing. She never disappoints. Foul Lady Fortune is beautifully written and well thought through from the first word to its very last. Overall, it is very cleverly done. Now I have no idea how I am going to survive the wait for the second book of this incredible spin-off to These Violent Delights. Special thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an electronic reading copy in exchange my honest review.

#foul lady fortune #chloe gong #young adult #book review #turquoisebooks #turquoisereview #NetGalley #books #Book Recommendations #moodboard #Moodboards #bookish moodboard

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dangermousie · 5 years ago

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2019 END OF YEAR KDrama Post

Wow, I haven’t made one in years. This is going to involve only dramas that came out in 2019 because I watched a hell of a lot dramas made prior to that and trying to figure out which ones will give me a headache.

DRAMAS WATCHED (In order of liking from most to least as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen at least two eps AND feel it was enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

Extraordinary You - A philosophy and religion course AND a love story, and perfect at both.

My Country - a brutal, passionate, intense masterpiece of a sageuk. This is how they should be.

Crash Landing On You - the two eps that have aired brought my joy in watching kdramas back to me so vividly. This is everything.

Encounter - the perfect noona romance of the year for me. It seems to have little plot (powerful older woman, idealistic younger man) but the characters made me love them with an unhealthy amount of attachment and the mood is just perfect.

Haechi - smart traditional sageuk with a heart. This one will make you love it but also respect it in the morning :)

Queen: Love and War - Period, romance, mystery, helpless king and feisty heroine. It’s everything I love in one package.

Chocolate - if, like me, you like slow old-school melo with genuine grown-ups, this one is for you. Ha Ji Won and Yoon Kye Sang are both incandescent in this.

One Spring Night - a rare slice of life that worked for me so so much. I rooted for the main OTP like crazy (I did skip all the sister stuff though because boring to me.) It’s just a breath of fresh air.

The Tale of Nokdu - a rare funny youth sageuk that worked for me (except, ironically, for when they tried to be politics-heavy and serious about it.) Wonderful OTP, funny situations and just generally a delight.

Memories of the Alhambra - I can hear people screaming that I put this so high, but this is a faves ranking, not objective one, and I loved the unusual premise (it ultimately fell apart but it tried), and Hyun Bin’s performance was out of this world and the aaaaagnst and I enjoyed waiting for it each week until almost the end. That ending though!!!!!

Psychopath Diary - this is black comedy at its best and hysterical and smart and somehow got me invested in the hapless protagonist.

Hotel del Luna - clever and funny and smart. Hong Sisters largely back to form. I found the sageuk parts more engaging than modern ones, but what else is new.

Search WWW - some parts of it worked for me more than others, but it had solid writing and cool characters and some interesting OTP(s).

Love is Beautiful Life is Wonderful - has the weekend drama slowness but it lovely and fun.

When the Camellia Blooms - it was well made and the OTP was great and the acting top notch, I just don’t tend to go gaga for slice of life dramas, especially ones involving market ladies, much.

Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency - competently done, pretty period piece about nothing. It was enjoyable and forgettable at once.

Catch the Ghost - I put it as high as I did because the OTP really did have lovely chemistry but the story was a complete mess, the police work made no sense and the heroine’s character was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Joseon Survival - I got about four episodes in and liked it a lot but then Kang Ji Hwan turned out to be a convicted rapist, they replaced the lead and I didn’t go back. I kind of want to because I liked what I saw and I am madly curious as to whether they changed the main character or just said he had a different face now, no explanation.

The Last Empress - pure inconsistent trash but so entertaining!

Vagabond - I made it eight episodes in before I realized that I would have as much fun staring at traffic. It’s a competently done actioner but without more, actioners never work for me, so this was a viewer/drama mismatch.

Arthdal Chronicles - incoherent, visually odd and boring, this is arguably the worst drama this year but I am giving it higher place because the cast really tries (even if it tends to fail because it has nothing to work with) and because it attempted something different even if it failed spectacularly. SO BAD.

Melting Me Softly - yes, my brain was fully melted by this soulless, charmless waste of Ji Chang Wook and my limited free time.

VIP - Any drama that makes the main mystery and thrust of the story who the husband cheated on his wife with is BORING. Seriously, this is not exactly Hercule Poirot. They wasted their cast - I have NO idea why Lee Sang Yoon agreed to be in this as a one note character and Jang Nara is playing a second scorned wife in a row but without even the entertainment value of her previous outing.

Abyss - aptly named. The best thing I can say about it is it didn’t offend me but oh boy was it dull.

Absolute Boyfriend - I loved the manga but it’s time to accept this can never be adapted well. They wasted the cast and that ending was just an insult on top of a trash heap.

The Lies Within - you cast that cast and deliberately have no romance. You are dead to me.

Woman of 9.9 Billion - competently made, but it’s everything I dislike - dour unpleasant bored people behaving as if they are in a particularly dreary art-house French movie but without any nuance or interest the latter came provide.

Love with Flaws - shrill, dumb, neither acted nor written by anyone trying at all.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung - objectively, it’s not the worst drama on the list, but it’s everything I hate in one package - willfully ahistorical but not cleverly so, male lead incapable of acting, the characters so one-dimensional they disappear, this purports to be a period drama but about as period as a space ship. God, I loathed this.

FAVORITE DRAMA

Extraordinary You - smart (so mind-bendingly smart) and moving and totally unpredictable and with so many things to say about free will and religion and self and nature of memory and narrative, this had an insane impossible premise and yet somehow managed to do it full justice and stick the landing.

WORST DRAMA

People with Flaws - this is different from least favorite because even if I loathed e.g., Rookie Historian or Woman of 9.9 Billion, I recognized some positive features; it’s just certain things really rubbed me the wrong way due to personal preferences. But this shrill hot mess of a drama is really everything that’s wrong with dramaworld.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Prince Yeoning, Haechi - fiercely smart, strong, tormented by the duality of his birth (royal father, servant mother) but not letting this distract him from his purpose, loyal to the bone, and with integrity nothing can shake but where you can feel that it’s not easy and that it costs him.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Eun Dan Oh, Extraordinary You - a go-getter who remakes the world (literally); smart, cheerful, strong, beautifully human. She feels so real and yet is larger than anything around her.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Yi Seung Gye, My Country - a sociopath destroying lives in his quest for power and control, even the destruction of his own family barely gives him anything but momentary pause. He is the reason for the tragedy of MC.

FAVORITE SHIP

Eun Dan Oh x Haru, Extraordinary You - their love is literally universe and god-defying. They have loved each other as different people in three separate worlds (and counting), and have defied loss of memory and even loss of self as well as death, the end of worlds, and their god and the narrative and literally anything and everything, to be together.

Runner Up: Soo Hyun x Jin Hyuk, Encounter: tender and decent and his bringing her back to vivid life and the way they love and support and compliment each other.

Probably gonna be on list if doesn’t go haywire: Crash Landing on You: she is a SK heiress, he’s a NK officer, they have mad chemistry and so much potential.

NOTP:

Tae Mi x Morgan, Search WWW - love the actors, love the chemistry, love the characters in terms of the way they are written, but they are absolutely wrong for each other and there is no future of any sort but misery ahead. None of their issues are resolved but are swept under the rug. It’s a cautionary tale, not a romance. I did a long rant before so not repeating.

BEST SECONDARY OTP

Scarlett x Ji Hwan, Search WWW - they stole the shippiness in the drama for me. Cooky and adorable and noona romance done right.

FAVORITE SCENE

Haru’s final disappearance, Extraordinary You - the lights start to go out, the world literally dissolving, Eun Oh and Haru clinging to each other, with his telling her she was his beginning and the end. His name, the one she gave him, is the last thing he hears. In a drama full of amazing scenes the very gist of which was defying the very creator and universe and meaning of existence, this was the one that stayed with me the most.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Seo Hwi, My Country - I have a thing for deeply honorable, deeply tortured period badasses with long hair and a death wish (see Choi Young in Faith etc.)

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yi Bang Won, My Country - he started out as an antihero and ended up as arguably a tragic villain (or maybe still an anti-hero) but oh boy, was he magnetic and fascinating and sucking out all the oxygen whenever he was in the scene.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Memories of the Alhambra - WTF ending was that?! All that misery and no real resolution?! Dammit!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Youth Sageuk - I hate most of them! They are anachronistic and dumb and honestly, what is the point of having fully modern people in period clothes? Just make a modern show and call it a day.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Melting Me Softly - Ji Chang Wook’s first project back from the military was an unfunny, unmoving, pointless mess with not an ounce of genuine enjoyment despite the excellent pedigree of everyone involved in front and behind the camera.

Arthdal Chronicles - the makers made excellent Queen Seon Duk, Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons. The cast was uniformly A grade. The result was an open-ended, boring, incoherent mess that looks like a bad sort of a drug trip and made about as much sense.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Extraordinary You - I had zero interest in yet another high school drama with no actors I recognized. By the end, EY was an emotional brainy twister of a marvel that became my favorite drama of all time. I’ve been watching dramas for over 13 years so that’s saying something.

2019 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

The Crowned Clown - I love sageuks and cast and it looks so smart and emotional

Angel’s Last Mission: Love - my next contemporary - I watched a little and loved what I saw

Fates and Furies - I saw a few eps and classic melo is so up my alley.

Clean with a Passion for Now - I like the cast and it’s a year of falling for hot weird bosses apparently.

Graceful Family - I love makjang and Im Soo Jung.

The Secret Life of My Secretary - downmarket Beauty Inside and I loved BI.

Love Affairs in the Afternoon - artsy adultery FTW

Item - I don’t like crime stuff but I am here for Joo Ji Hoon.

My Strange Hero - seems a little cooky but I am fond of Yoo Seung Ho.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2020

King: the Eternal Monarch - Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan and parallel worlds and written by Kim Eun Suk. Yes Please.

I should probably make one for cdramas too though that one would be rather shorter.

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thebandcampdiaries · 5 years ago

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Robert Abernathy introducing a brand new full-length album: Ride of a Lifetime.

A genuine, catchy, and earnest country music album with a lot to offer.

May 2020 - Robert Abernathy is a singer and songwriter with a passion for acoustic music, country, and more. Inspired by modern icons such as Garth Brooks and Jack Johnson, as well as legendary artists such as Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle, Robert set out to achieve something truly special. Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, he managed to develop a sound that’s at the heart of true country music, but that also embraces a more modern flair. It is not surprising to see that Robert received many accolades and a lot of praise for his work. He was named Alabama Country Artist of the Year in 2018, and received many other awards, including the Gigmasters Rising Star Award Recipient for four consecutive years, starting from 2016.

He recently released a studio album titled “Ride of a Lifetime,” which is actually a very insightful and personal record, showcasing Robert’s stories and musings on a life worth living, and sharing with others as well! This release is a really perfect example of the artist’s creative vision and musical aesthetics, really hitting the mark with a fantastic tone and a really huge sounding production. The album featured 12 studio tracks, and each song has something special to offer. Each track is an opportunity for Robert to explore different ideas, as well as collaborating with other people to further expand his sonic palette.

“Give a Little” love has been pinned as the album’s lead single, and it is really not surprising. In addition to sporting some amazingly catchy melodies, this song was also penned with co-writer Durand Robinson, and it also happens to feature Craig Pruett, Robert’s best friend and fellow singer-songwriter. There is even room for a came of his daughter, Vivi, who is quite the performer in her own right and is in for a small vocal bit!

There is a little bit of everything on this album, from sunny vibes (“On a Beach Somewhere,”) down to more introspective vibes loaded with nostalgia (“Torn Up Photograph”)

What makes Robert’s sound so easy to relate to is the fact that he sings about personal experiences. His songs are filled with powerful stories and natural emotions that speak about things he has been going through in his life, from his political and religious feelings, down to personal topics such as his relationship with his wife, which is beautifully depicted on the song “I Bought A Guitar,” and “Marry You Again,” two of the album’s highlights, and almost like two different sides of the same coin. Robert and his wife divorced back in 2009, but eventually, they found their love for one another again and remarried back in 2013!

“Dear Future Me” is another highlight on the album. It seems that whenever Robert speaks about topics that are really close to his heart, such as his relationships and his family, something truly special happens. In this particular case, the song was written with the help of Durand Robinson, as well as Robert’s beloved daughter, Vivi, who also recorded a version of this song as a lead performer.

“Goodbye Jesus” is one of the most poignant songs on the album, touching on political themes, cleverly discussed using lyrics that are open to interpretation, and are multi-layered. Ultimately, Robert has a passionate and truthful voice, which exudes energy and vibe, yet at the same time it can be intimate and personal, revealing multiple sides to his artists and creativity. These are only some of the many highlights on this wonderful and eclectic album, which is worthy of being discovered, and not only by country music fans. This is a beautiful, heartfelt and genuine record that will undoubtedly connect with anyone who likes sincere music, that comes from a personal place. The songs are deeply tied to the artist’s life, and there is something truly special going on when an artist is more in tune with his or her material. Robert is all about sharing his experiences with the audience, going for a very insightful approach to his songwriting, as well as song arrangements.

Find out more about Robert Abernathy, and do not miss out on Ride of a Lifetime. The album is going to be released on the 26th of May, so stay tuned and find out more!

https://youtu.be/xmPWr1zKDOI

https://youtu.be/jpp9ZSvlfCQ

https://youtu.be/P87cETHmG5Y

https://www.robertabernathy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/rabernathy2013

https://twitter.com/rabernathy41

https://www.instagram.com/rabernathy/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7ATqUklbyGLI30U3d5nVjL

As a bonus treat, check this amazing rendition of “Dear Future Me” as performed by Vivi Abernathy, Robert’s own daughter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BGk4NUX3N8

We also had the chance to ask Robert a few questions: keep reading to learn more!

I love how you manage to render your tracks so personal and organic. Does the melody come first, or do you focus on the beat the most?

Answer: Most of the time it's a phrase or hook that someone says inadvertently or just comes across my mind. Immediately a melody morphs around it. From there, I draw from as many personal experiences as possible to create songs that are genuine.

Do you perform live? If so, do you feel more comfortable on a stage or within the walls of the recording studio?

Answer: I perform on average around 3 shows per week and I love it. Most of my shows are just with me and an acoustic guitar playing whatever the audience wants to hear. I stick to quite a few cover songs from my favorite eras of music which tends to be late 70’s Classic Rock, ��Mid 80’s pop, late 80’s and early 90’s Country, and some modern favorites. Those styles find their way into my own songs. So being in the studio is my way of bringing the diversity of those Vince Gill, Bee Gees, Brad Paisley, and Jack Johnson songs that I love to life in their own unique way.

If you could only pick one song to make a “first impression” on a new listener, which song would you pick and why?

Answer: Give a Little Love. I can’t remember the exact words I said over the phone to my co-writer Durand Robinson (as soon as the hook and melody had popped into my head), but it was something like, “Get your ass over here now. I’ve got us a great song, and I don't want to screw it up”. In today’s political culture and in our own social media circles, the world has just turned upside down. The freedom to express opinions that are influenced so easily by misinformation and various news media is putting up a wall between us all. We all want the same things in life right? Love. Security. Knowing that you will have food on the table for you and your family tomorrow. Acceptance. And Peace. These are all fundamental attributes of a society we long to be in. Unfortunately, I feel we have lost sight of how to attain those things without beating each other to death to get them. In my mind, the first step is to “Give a Little Love”. Loving your neighbor or someone who doesn’t necessarily look like you is an essential skill in crossing divides. We so often create these divides ourselves over reasons that are petty when you look at it objectively.

What does it take to be “innovative” in music?

Answer: Being innovative is a difficult thing to do because it is such a risk. I think ultimately, being “you” and writing or performing with the influences that molded you into a songwriter or artist is innovative. No one has ever lived your experiences. You own them. And to draw from them like picking up a book off the shelf when you need it during the creative process makes you innovative. I think the more “files” or books you have to draw from, the more innovative you can be. Then one day, you find that song that can potentially define your career. A good melody can be timeless. Look at “Don’t Stop Believin’”. That song can't come on the airwaves at any time without everyone jumping in and singing along. Trying to create a song that is like chasing a lyrical and melodic unicorn, but we all try to do it.

Any upcoming release or tour your way?

Answer: Yes and no. I don't formally have a tour scheduled. I tend to stick to playing shows close to home within about a 100-mile radius. I venture out for quite a few private events. However, transitioning from playing so many covers to playing more of my original music is coming as this new album is released. As the catalog has grown, I am finding that I need to make the effort to stick to my own music. So many people who come to my shows can expect to see more of that in the future.

Anywhere online where curious fans can listen to your music and find out more about you?

Answer: My homepage is https://www.robertabernathy.com. There is lots of information there. On social media:

Facebook www.facebook.com/rabernathy2013

Instagram @rabernathy

Twitter@rabernathy41

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peri-helia · 6 years ago

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5 OTPS

Tagged by my darling @childoftimeandmagic (B, why are you doing this to me, I CAN’T CHOOSE :D)

5. Wolf/Virginia

This was before I even knew what shipping was. They are just a great ship because they meet in such an unconventional yet fairytale way and he recognises his problematic behaviour and wants to change and then he supports her endlessly (despite a relapse or two) and is both her guide in the strange world and endlessly loving. I hope we get the sequel.

4. Captain Swan

I adore this couple, I do, but they completed their journey. They went from enemies to friends to lovers to parents. They literally got their happily ever after and it was cleverly and precisely done. The writers paid attention to them and I guess that’s one moral of the story beyond being better for the ones we love and writing our own story and our own rules, is that when writers pay attention to their characters, things get awesome. Hook’s relationship with Henry, his unwavering love for Emma, her opening up...it’s just gorgeous.

3. Henry/ Anne

A real life OTP. I just - I cannot express my frustration that I will never know them, that the truth has been lost to the ages. He loved her and she loved him, despite the power and the other goals, the high odds. How could she have held him otherwise? There would have been other, sharper women for him to take as mistress or hell even his Queen. But no, he chose her, he loved and respected her. And it all went to hell in a handbasket but if she had had a son, if he hadn’t had that fall. And despite everything, despite all that, they are one of the greatest love stories of all time.

2 Rick x Evie

CAN WE TALK ABOUT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT???

I mean - its so BEAUTIFULLY DONE - you have two people who on no level should work, bookish and quiet and dreams about DEAD GUYS and gunslinger, only interested in treasure and yet AROUND EACH OTHER THEY MELT. He steals archeology tools so she can pursue her passion, he spends the whole movie (even before she becomes a target) trying to keep her (and teach her to be) safe. And they respect each other, their decisions, their viewpoint and their capability. And in the SEQUEL. She’s harder, bad-ass Protector of the Bracelet, wife and mother, but he’s softer ‘if anything happened to either of you’ I mean this IS HOW YOU WRITE A SEQUEL UGH

1) Klaroline

I don’t think there is a time I won’t love them. I couldn’t believe that this ship worked. BUT IT DOES. Endlessly. i couldn’t have written them in so many different times and places if it didn’t. Because she was written off. Nothing. The self confessed back-up. He’s the BIG BAD. Irredeemable. Scourge upon this Earth. And yet. And yet. He SEES her. WANT THE WORLD FOR HER. Witholds everything for her touch, for the chance of her smile. Her good opinion once lost is lost for ever. Plans for her, saves her, not for a bargaining chip, not for anything other than herself. Wants her when no-one else does. Respects her choices, even when its not him. And like she badmouths him, she all but tells him to go fuck himself and HE LETS HER.

And CAROLINE. This beautiful girl who thinks SHE’S NOTHING and yet he sees she’s worth a million of them. He facilitates her, encourages her, admires her. He bolsters her and says FUCK EVERYONE ELSE WHICH IS PRECISELY WHAT SHE NEEDS. Her, out of everyone, beyond Elena. Where he is concerned, there is no crowd only Caroline, and the Crown he wishes to forge her.

Tagging @rickgrrrrimes, @thetourguidebarbie, @honestgrins @austennerdita2533 @soapieturner

#klaroline #rick x evelyn #wolfinia #10th Kingdom #mine #anne x henry

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katiecomma · 5 years ago

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Pride - Book Recs

So... this year has been my year of happy casual representation in the books I’ve been reading. I’ve found a series, and two standalone books that have just made me rejoice with queerness.

So, in honour of pride month... I’mma talk about them and rave a little:

The first thing that happened to me... was that I discovered Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly

This book (which is a series of three that is complete so you don’t have to wait and you can just binge them all) quickly jumped to the very top of my list of favourite all time books. Displacing The Time Travellers Wife, which I never actually thought would happen.

I have to be brief, because I’m reviewing three books here and I don’t want to bore you. But... why do I love these books, you ask?!

- The main characters are a drag queen emcee and a badass gay spy who are sleeping together - and they’re brilliant and lovely - the other main character? A stripper with something to prove and a lot of attitude.

- The settings - these books take place in a modern fantasy world and jump all over the place - from New Yorkesque Amberlough, to a country that’s Bollywood meets 1950′s Miami... the settings are so extreme but perfect and unique - you’ll fall in love

- The story - I was constantly guessing about the end of these books... never sure exactly what she was going to do to my heart in the process - edge of my seat the WHOLE time

- And today’s theme: Casual representation - CONSTANTLY throughout these books... there are queer characters that come and go, and their orientation is just what it is... Oh, her and her girlfriend... oh, he’s seeing that guy... beautiful casual representation. Even a poly relationship. PLEASE MORE OF THIS

NEXT WE HAVE

Stitches by Samantha Simard

Quick and dirty what did I love:

- Characters - from the beginning I LOVE Wolfe, Scarlett, and Bash. They are such different and beautiful characters. And they are vivid from the first page they show up on.

- The plot - without giving anything away... I literally did not see ANYTHING coming in the BEST way.

- Unique POV - This isn’t a spoiler, so don’t worry - making the killer in this book a second person POV was CLEVER AND SO CREEPY - in doing so, you become the killer in the book... which makes EVERYTHING that happens feel so much closer to home... it makes you feel involved in a way that I felt really added to the story

- Today’s theme: Casual representation - YYYYEEESSS!!! There are SOOO many queer characters in this book... while at the same time not being a book that is ABOUT being queer. This book is about the mystery, and the killings... and there just happen to be a TON of amazing queer characters throughout. And Wolfe is my new bisexual hero. I love him a lot. We need more representation that doesn’t fit the stereotype, and Stitches delivers in DROVES... Have I mentioned I love Wolfe? My new bisexual king?!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Ok... I’m not even actually done reading this book... but I love it anyway. And I cannot laughing and crying and screeching at it... so here we go with Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

What do I love?

- The writing is SOOOO clever you will fall off your seat - I laugh (genuinely, out loud, open mouth laugh) every few pages of this book. The references throughout (nerd and otherwise) are so clever and hit perfectly with me.

- The political commentary - This book really hits on the current political climate... there’s a lot of clever jokes and things that really hit on major serious issues in a way that doesn’t bring down the lightheartedness of the book.

- The fanfiction vibe - honestly, I would put my life savings down that she wrote a lot of fanfic before this. It just reads like REALLY WELL written fanfiction... except it’s all original content. There are many tropes... that are beautifully done... there are mentions of the fandom community that are handled VERY cleverly and VERY well... and I love the vibe.

- It’s just so lighthearted and fun. It’s nice to read something just for the sheer joy of it.

- Today’s theme: casual representation - throughout this book, other than the obvious problems that fuel the plot: A Prince can’t be gay... there is a lot of queer acceptance and representation. One of Alex’s mentors is a gay senator. And before he even questions his sexuality he goes to this man for advice in other matters... In addition to queer representation, there’s a SUPER effeminate man in the book that is straight. Which really, is also something we need to see more of... cause down with Toxic Masculinity making men think that they can only be effeminate if they’re gay. Although, who knows, I’m not done the book yet... maybe he ends up being gay in the end. Who knows.

So, these are my Pride Month book recommendations!!!

#pride #pride books #queer books #book recs #book recommendations #READ THESE BOOKS #BUY THESE BOOKS #SUPPORT QUEER CONTENT

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douxreviews · 6 years ago

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The Princess Bride Review

[This review includes spoilers.]

Grandson: "Has it got any sports in it?" Grandfather: "Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..."

The Princess Bride is often described as a fractured fairy tale, but I don't think that's accurate because it's so much more. In his original book, William Goldman took the standard elements of a fairy tale and twisted them off center into something exceptionally funny, while still retaining all of the elements that made it an enjoyable fairy tale. And then Rob Reiner took Goldman's story and translated it into a movie that was just as good and did the same thing, which is a remarkable achievement. The Princess Bride is a satire, a tale of true love, a touching story of bloody vengeance, and it's hilarious. It's unique, and defies categorization.

It's difficult to launch directly into a fantasy world, so Goldman cleverly encapsulated the fairy tale into a story that a grandfather (Peter Falk) is reading to his sick grandson (Fred Savage). I've always loved the skillful way it goes back and forth ("Is this a kissing book?" "She does not get eaten by the eels at this time"). Because the grandfather clearly loves the story he's telling, and at the end, his grandson does too, it bridges the generational gap between them. Lovely.

But it's the fairy tale that's important, and I love every minute of it. I want Buttercup and Westley to live happily ever after. I want Inigo to avenge his father and find peace at last. And there are so many scenes that are absolute gems. The duel at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity is probably my favorite because of the way the Man in Black and Inigo bond as they're trying to kill each other. The duel of wits with the iocane powder is priceless. I love the shrieking eels. I love the R.O.U.S.'s in the fire swamp. Inigo's duel with the six-fingered man is just wonderful, a perfect emotional climax to the movie.

The performances are also gems. Westley (Cary Elwes) is gorgeous, dashing, and ridiculous. Buttercup (Robin Wright) is earnestly beautiful and beautifully earnest, the perfect straight woman. Inigo's story is the most compelling, and Mandy Patinkin brings perfect comic timing as well as pathos to the role. It's not easy to pull off a line like "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" not just once, but many times, and to give it so much impact each and every time.

I can't say enough good things about Wallace Shawn as Vizzini; practically every line he says in this movie is terribly funny. Andre the Giant imparts such sweetness to the role of Fezzik, while still being physically imposing. Honorable mention to Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal and Carol Kane. And Peter Cook as the minister, who made one small scene unforgettable; I start laughing even before he opens his mouth. "Mawwidge. Mawwidge is what bwings us togedder today."

The sight gags are special, too. The climb up the Cliffs of Insanity. Vizzini laughing maniacally before keeling over. Inigo leaning against the tree. Practically every scene with Westley after they give him the pill. The men standing guard in front of the gate makes me laugh every time I see it. But my favorite has always been this one:

"We are but poor, lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby?"

If I have any complaint at all, it's that while Andre the Giant is well cast, Fezzik's lines are sometimes difficult to understand. The scene with the holocaust cloak in particular is almost incomprehensible without subtitles. Okay, I've always hated Inigo's hair, too. Small things, though. And I can't imagine The Princess Bride without them.

I still laugh out loud every time I watch this movie, even while I know the lines so well that I repeat them with the actors. It's that good. William Goldman is probably best known for writing one of the great movies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I love that movie. But I love The Princess Bride more.

Quotes:

I wanted to put half of the movie in the quotes section, but I restrained myself and just listed my absolute favorites. So if I missed a line or two that you love, feel free to add it to the comments.

Westley: "This is true love. Do you think this happens every day?"

Vizzini: "And you! Friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed, in Greenland?"

Inigo: "Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?" Fezzik: "If there are, we'll all be dead." Vizzini: "No more rhymes now, I mean it." Fezzik: "Anybody want a peanut?" I love the way Inigo indulges Fezzik in his rhyming. It's so sweet.

Inigo: "You are sure nobody's follow us?" Vizzini: "As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable ... Out of curiosity, why do you ask?" Inigo: "No reason. It's only I just happened to look behind us and something is there." Vizzini: "What? Probably some local fisherman, out for a pleasure cruise, at night... in eel-infested waters..."

Vizzini: "He didn't fall? Inconceivable!" Inigo: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." The most quotable line in the movie. I use it a lot.

Fezzik: "You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted."

Inigo: "I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?" Man in Black: "Do you always begin conversations this way?"

Fezzik: "Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?" Man in Black: "Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future."

Man in Black: "I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But for now, rest well and dream of large women."

Vizzini: "You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia', but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line'!"

Buttercup: "You mock my pain." Man in Black: "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

Westley: (looking around the Fire Swamp) "It's not that bad. (Buttercup looks at him) Well, I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."

Humperdinck: "Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work. But I've got my country's five hundredth anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped."

Inigo: "Offer me money." Rugen: "Yes!" Inigo: "Power, too. Promise me that." Rugen: "All that I have and more. Please!" Inigo: "Offer me anything I ask for." Rugen: "Anything you want... " Inigo: "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"

I'm not much for hobbits or Harry Potter, so this is my favorite fantasy movie. I love every scene and every line. Am I being too effusive? Inconceivable!

Four out of four white horses,

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#The Princess Bride #Westley #Buttercup #Inigo Montoya #William Goldman #Rob Reiner #Doux Reviews #Movie Reviews #something from the archive

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ebenvt · 5 years ago

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Introduction to Bacon & the Art of Living

The quest to understand how great bacon is made takes me around the world and through epic adventures. I tell the story by changing the setting from the 2000s to the late 1800s when much of the technology behind bacon curing was unraveled. I weave into the mix beautiful stories of Cape Town and use mostly my family as the other characters besides me and Oscar and Uncle Jeppe from Denmark, a good friend and someone to whom I owe much gratitude! A man who knows bacon! Most other characters have a real basis in history and I describe actual events and personal experiences set in a different historical context.

The cast I use to mould the story into is letters I wrote home during my travels.

Eskort Ltd.

October 1960

Over the years I have written letters to my kids telling them what I learn and about my experiences. They followed my quest to produce the best bacon on earth through these monthly communications. When I returned home I found that they kept every letter. When they were here last December, the gave me the draft of a book where they are including every letter. They even contacted Dawie and Oscar who both sent them my mails. They asked me to write the introduction to every county and the “Union Letters” as they called the letters I sent them from Cape Town.

I asked them if I can add three accounts of companies who achieved perfection in the large-scale production of bacon. This is the first of the three good examples of people who achieved what I sought. I think that for a time at Woody’s we achieved the same and when Duncan and Koos took over, things took a dip, but they are recovering beautifully. What makes this an insanely exciting story is the fact that Wynand Nel, the legendary production manager of Eskort is a good friend!

These stories begin much in the same way. A very close tie with England. A young nation that is trying to find its place in the global village; visionary farmers and politicians and one man who made all the difference!

Background

In the Natal Midlands, on the banks of the Boesmans river lays the largest bacon plant in South Africa, that of Eskort Ltd.. A few months ago I visited Wynand at the factory. I was 30 minutes early and instead of reporting to reception, I decided to drive a few hundred meters further and up the hill, right next to the bacon plant to Fort Dunford. The Fort is situated exactly 500m apart with the bacon plant nestled between the Boesmans River and the Fort.

It was built by Dunford in response to the Langalibalele Rebellion in 1873. The location of the old military site at Bushmans River drift, overlooked by Fort Dunford is where the Voortrekker leader Gert Maritz originally set up camp along the river.

The curator, Siphamandla, saw me driving up. I was the only visitor and he came running up to give me a proper welcome. I told him I will be at Eskort but when we are done, I’m coming back to see the Fort.

While waiting in reception at Eskort, I took a photo of a stone that was laid by J. W. Moor in 1918. He was the first chairman of “The First Farmers Co-Operative Bacon Factory Erected in South Africa”, the Eskort factory. I was intrigued!

I saw Wynand, visited the Fort briefly and was on my way back to Johannesburg. As soon as I got home I started digging through piles of information on the subject of Eskort and an amazing story emerged. All the information was firing through my mind as connections started to form between the new facts I learned and old history. When I finally fell asleep, I kept waking with every new connection made. Bits of information jolted me from deep sleep to a light slumber. Here is what I discovered.

Introduction

The origins of the Eskort Bacon factory is tied up with the story of the development of the Natal Midlands in the mid-1800s to the early part of the 1900s. It is embedded in the broader context of the existence of a very strong English culture in Natal. The Natal colony was created on 4 May 1843 after the British government annexed the short-lived Boer Republic of Natalia. A unique English culture continued. This bacon factory became one of the cornerstones of the creation of a meat industry in South Africa and contributed materially to the establishment of a meat curing culture in the country. The historical importance is seen in the fact that the South African roots of large scale industrial meat curing are English and not German.

The broader international context of its establishment in a cooperative can be traced back to Peter Bojsen who created the first cooperative abattoir and bacon curing plant in the world in Horsens, the Horsens Andelssvineslagteri, in 1882 in Denmark. By 1911 the first such cooperative factories were built in England, namely the St. Edmunds Bacon Factory, modeled in turn after the factory at Horsens. The 1918 development in Estcourt, Natal would, no doubt, have been a continuation of the model.

In terms of curing technology, the bacon plant produced its bacon in the most sophisticated way available at the time, using the same techniques employed by the Harris Bacon operation of Calne in Wiltshire. Following WW1, its curing techniques progressed from the Wiltshire process of the Harris operation (and through Harris, to Horsens where the technique was developed) to the direct addition of sodium nitrite to curing brines through the work of the legendary Griffiths Laboratories.

The great benefit of the dominant English culture of the Natal Midlands was in the fact that they had access to the Harris operation in Calne and the St. Edmunds Bacon Factory more so than the fact that the English population of the Midlands could have provided a possible market for their bacon. The population in Natal at the time and even in South Africa remained relatively small and the goal of creating such a sophisticated operation was to export.

In terms of access to local markets, I have little doubt that they relied heavily on the Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company Ltd. of Sir David de Villiers Graaff (1859 – 1931) who was a contemporary of JW Moor (1859 – 1933). They were born a mere 6 months apart with David in March 1859 and John (JW Moor) in September of the same year.

One can say that David with his Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company in Cape Town was a follower of Phillip Armour in Chicago with the establishment of refrigerated rail transport and cold storage warehouses throughout Southern Africa (just as Phil Armour did in the US). David probably met Phil in Chicago in the mid-1880s and possibly again in the early 1890s, who, in all likelihood, showed him his impressive packing plant and gave him the idea of refrigerating railway carts. John (JW) Moor, on the other hand, was in technical detail and broad philosophy, a follower of the Dane, Peter Bojsen in his creation of the first farmer’s coop for slaughtering and production of bacon and its marketing in England and the English operations of C & T Harris with their Wiltshire bacon curing techniques.

The location of the plant in Estcourt is in all likelihood closely linked to the existence of Fort Dunford and the close association with the military of the Moor family as is evident not only through the heritage of their grandfather but through their close involvement in the schooling system and the introduction of cadet training. The possible involvement of the Anglo Boer war hero, Louis Botha is fascinating.

The context of its creation is, more than anything, to be understood by two realities. One was the first World War. The second, the Moor family of Estcourt with a wider lens than a focus on JW Moor. To understand the Moor family, we must understand their heritage and how they came to South Africa.

Immigrating to South Africa

Immigration back then was done as it is today, through entrepreneurs who made money by facilitating movement to the new world and who sell their products through colourful displays and exciting tales of success and a new life. Between 1849 and 1852, almost 5000 immigrants arrived in Natal through the various schemes. One such an agent was Joseph Byrne who chartered 20 ships to ferry passengers to Natal between 1849 to 1851. One of the 20 ships was the Minerva which set sail on 26 April 1850 with 287 passengers from London. A festive atmosphere must have prevailed on the voyage to Natal and the promise of a new life. (Dhupelia, 1980)

On 4 July 1850, they arrived in Durban and the Minerva was wrecked on a reef below the Bluff. All occupants and cargo ended up overboard. Two of the passengers aboard were Sarah Annabella Ralfe who was traveling with her family and Frederick William Moor. (Dhupelia, 1980)

Romance and Settlement

F.W. Moor lifted the young Sarah Annabella Ralfe from the waters and carried her to the safety of the shore. It is not known if they were romantically involved before this event but romance bloomed afterward and the couple was married in June 1852. (Dhupelia, 1980) They settled in the Byrne valley which Byrne cleverly included in the total package he was selling back in England.

The Moors and the Ralfes were interested in sheep farming and the wet conditions at Byrne, close to Richmond were not favourable. In 1869 F.W. Moor moved to a farm Brakfontein, on the Bushman’s River at Frere close to Estcourt. Here the conditions were more suitable. “The farm was some five miles (8 km) south-west, of Estcourt and he obtained it from the Wheeler family in settlement of a debt. This farm has some historical interest. It was the site of the Battle of Vecht Laager in 1838 when Zulu impi of Dingaan clashed with the Voortrekkers who had settled there. It was on this farm that F.R. Moor and his wife settled on their return to Natal, his father having moved to Pietermaritzburg. Moor and his wife stayed for some years in a house built by the Wheelers until he built a larger house which he called Greystone. It was on this property that Moor’s seven children were born and it was here that he carried out his adventurous farming activities.” (Morrell, 1996)

Sara and FW, in turn, had 5 children. Two of these were F. R. Moor, born on 12 May 1853 in Pietermaritzburg and J. W. Moor born in September 1859 in Estcourt.

Strong Military Traditions

The Moor family had strong military connections going back to the father of F.W. Moor (FR and JW’s grandfather). FW was the youngest son of Colonel John Moor. Col Moor was an officer in the Bombay Artillery in the service of the British East India company. FW was born in Surat in 1830 and returned to England on the death of his father. “He and his mother settled first in Jersey and later in Hampstead while he trained to be a surveyor and, not entirely satisfied with his position in England, he decided to emigrate to Natal.” (Dhupelia, 1980) His mother followed him to Natal and passed away in 1878 on the farm of FW, Brakfontein, aged 85. (The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; 18 Oct 1878)

The military connection of the Moor family is highlighted when one considers that when FR Moor was in high school, he and other students considered it desirable that the school should have a cadet corps. FR attended the Hermannsburg School situated approximately 15 miles (24 km] from Greytown and founded in the early 1850s by the Hanoverian Mission Society.

Moor, as a senior student at the school, was deputed to write to the Colonial Secretary seeking permission for the school to initiate the movement. Permission was granted and in 1869 a cadet corps of 40 students, between the ages of 14 and 18 years, was formed with a teacher, Louis Schmidt, as the captain and 16 years old F. R. Moor and John Muirhead as the first lieutenants.

Moor thus played a role in the establishment of the cadet movement and in giving Hermannsburg School the distinction and honour of being the first school not only in Natal but in the British Empire to have a cadet corps. Though the Hermannsburg cadet corps lasted only until 1878 its example was followed by Hilton College and Maritzburg High School in 1872. Yet another pupil of this first boarding school in Natal who was to make a name for himself in politics and was to be later closely associated with Moor was Louis Botha.” (Dhupelia, 1980)

Initial Capital

The Moor family became one of the large landowners in the Natal Midlands. Some of these families brought wealth from England and some, as was the case with the Moor family, made their money in other ways. The two most likely ways to make a fortune in those days were in Kimberley on the diamond fields or riding transport between Durban and Johannesburg.

After school, in 1872, the young FR Moor went to Kimberly to make his fortune. JW was still in school when FR left for the diggings where he remained for 7 years. The 19-year-old Moor made his first public speech on behalf of the diggers while in Kimberley “standing on a heap of rubble”. “Later he was twice elected to the Kimberley Mining Board which consisted of nine elected members representing the claim holders for the purpose of ensuring the smooth and effective running of the mines and diggings. This experience probably gave him confidence as well as experience in public affairs.” (Dhupelia, 1980) He later served as Minister of Native Affairs between 1893–1897 and 1899–1903. He became the last Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal between 1906 and 1910.

“While FR Moor was in Kimberley he met Cecil John Rhodes, another strong personality with outstanding qualities of leadership. There is some indication that the two men were closely associated during these years for the Moor and Rhodes brothers belonged to an elite group of 12 diggers who were teasingly named “the 12 apostles” and who associated with each other because of their common interests. Moor’s daughter, Shirley Moor, claims that her father would not have associated with Rhodes for he disliked him and in the 1890’s he abhorred Rhodes’ role in the Jameson Raid and held him responsible to a certain extent for the Anglo-Boer war of 1899.” (Dhupelia, 1980)

“After Moor got married, he felt that there was no security in remaining in the fields. He consequently sold his claims to his brother George, and returned to Natal in 1879 to take up farming has been very successful financially at the diamond fields.” (Dhupelia, 1980)

Dhupelia states that FR was “later joined (in Kimberley) by two of his three brothers.” As far as I have it, he had only two brothers with his siblings being George Charles Moor (whom we know took his diggings operation over); Annie May Chadwick; John William Moor and Kathleen Helen Sarah Druwitt. (geni.com) If both brothers joined him, this would mean that JW also spent time on the diggings. (This needs to be corroborated.) It would explain why JW shared in the wealth that his brother obtained in Kimberley.

Success in Farming

FR’s success in farming-related to JW, the main focus of our investigation, in that they conducted many of their farming activities as joint ventures. This is why I suspect that JW joined FR for a time on the diggings. Morrell (1996) states that “Moor displayed a considerable initiative and a pioneering spirit in his farming activities, making a name for himself as had his father who was one of the first in the colony to introduce imported Merinos from the valuable Rambouillet stock in France. Estcourt was one of the four villages in Weenen County and most farmers kept cattle, sheep, and horses. By 1894 Moor, in partnership with his brother J.W. Moor, was engaged in farming ventures over an area of 20 000 acres [8097,17 ha]. Their stock consisted of 6000 to 7000 sheep and they were among the largest breeders of goats in Natal possessing 1200 goats. Moor, in fact, acquired the first Angora goats in Natal where the interest in the mohair industry was considerable in the 19th century. In addition to the sheep and goats, Moor engaged in ostrich farming, for he believed there was a good market for the sale of ostrich feathers. He also kept horses and cattle and imported Pekin ducks.” (Morrell, 1996)

The British Market in Crisis

Walworth reported that by 1913 in the UK, “imported bacon had largely secured the market.” This was according to him one of the reasons for a rapid decline in the pig population with a 17% reduction in numbers from 1912 to 1913. (Walworth, 1940) Conditions in 1917 and 1918 were desperate in the UK with meat supply falling by as much as 30%. Stock availability, increased prices, and war rationing all played a role. Canada responded to the shortage of pork in 1917 and their export of bacon and ham increased from 24 000 tonnes to 88 000 tonnes in 1917. Corn was in short supply during the war, but it was in reaction to meat shortages that rationing was finally introduced in the UK in 1918. (Perren) The 1918 situation related to bacon in England was reported on by The Guardian (London, Greater London, England), 6 July 1918. The meat situation was generally better than it has been in a while. In the article, they report that Bacon is being imported into the country in large quantities and that the import “will be maintained at the same rate throughout the year.” It is interesting that the article also reports that “the intention is to build up a big reserve Bacon in cold storage for later use.” (The Guardian, 1918, p6) The entire article oozes with planning and deliberateness happening in the background.

It is clear that the two countries well-positioned to respond were Canada and South Africa. New Zealand was focussing on exporting frozen meat, as was Australia. Walworth leaves the South African response to bacon shortages out (except one comment that South Africa was one of the countries that eventually responded) but it is clear from the Estcourt case that the response was there.

The immediate context of the establishment of the bacon company is the war but in the early 1900s, the pork industry in the UK was in a bad state in terms of industrializing the process of bacon production. Producers were unable to compete in price or quality with imports. The reasons are interesting. Much of the curing in the UK was done by small curing operations or farmers who used dry curing. A large variety of pig breeds made it difficult. Small volumes or a large variety of bigs vs a large variety of a standard pig – the latter suits an industrial process. Fat was highly prized in many of the curing techniques, as it is to this day, but for lard to be cured takes a year. Again, it does not fit the industrial model. The main reason for high-fat content in bacon was due to imports from America who generally produced a much fatter pig on account of its diet. (Perren)

Market trends moved away from fat bacon and a leaner pig was required which the UK farmers were unable to deliver in the volumes required. The consumers also called for a milder bacon cure that we achieved with the tank curing method. The predominant way that bacon was cured in the UK was still the dry curing which resulted in heavily salted meat.

In April 1938, at the second reading of the Bacon Industry Bill before the British Parliament, the minister of Agriculture Mr. W. S. Morrison summarised the conditions in the bacon market in the UK pre-1933 as follows. “As far as the curers (in the UK) are concerned, lacking the proper pig as they did, and a regular supply, they could not achieve the efficiency in large-scale production and the economies which were within the power of their foreign competitors. Nor could they achieve adaptation to the changed taste of the public, and the change in taste was, indeed, largely the result of the foreign importation.” The change of taste he was talking about was a movement away from fatty bacon to lean bacon and a milder cure (less salty). The solution in terms of the fatty bacon was to breed less fatty pigs but the UK market failed to deliver such pigs. My suspicion is that this was not due to a technical inability or ignorance of the British farmers, but due to the deeply entrenched nature of the specialized, small scale dry-curing operations. Having gotten to know butchers from the UK, now in their 70’s, who stem from such traditions, I understand that they hold their trade in such high esteem that they would rather amputate a limb than compromise the dry curing traditions they were schooled in.

The fact is that for whatever reason, the UK pork and bacon market pre-1933, was fragmented and Morrison stated that “the factories in this country worked to a little more than half of their capacity with consequent high costs. The cheaper and quicker process of curing bacon (i.e. tank curing) made little headway and the whole industry was in a very weak position to stand competition even of a normal character.”

In response to the enormous size of the UK bacon market and the inability of local curers to convert to tank curing, foreign curers moved aggressively to fill the void. This aversion of the British to convert from dry curing to tank curing did not disappear after the war and would continue to be the basis of bacon exports into the UK following 1918 when the war ended. Mr. Morrison continued that “what was in store for the industry was not competition of a normal character. In the years 1929 to 1932, there ensued a scramble for this bacon market.” “In 1932 the importation rose to 12,000,000 cwts. or more than twice as much as it had been in the five-year period preceding the War.”

The British market started to respond after major government programs to change the bacon production landscape in the UK and tank curing was adopted to a large extent. Even though I have little doubt that the potential to export to England was a major driving factor in the creation of the company, as it was in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, and the USA, a further mention must be made of the very robust local bacon market. An interesting comment is made in an article published in The Gazette (Montreal, Canada) 24 January 1916. In an article entitled “Trade for Canada in South Africa” the comment is made about bacon that “good business can be worked up in Canadian bacon brands if attention is paid to the packaging.” The first interesting point to take from this comment is that the demand for bacon in South Africa by 1916 was sizable and, secondly, that the standard of packaging was very high, pointing to high technical competency.

Agricultural Operations and the Establishment of a Bacon Cooperative

Back in Natal, farmers saw the benefit of various forms of cooperation precisely due to their small numbers and the fact that cooperation gave them access to larger markets and more stable prices. The children growing up in the Natal Midlands were encouraged after completing their schooling, to join one of the many farmers’ associations (FA). “The “reason for being” of these agricultural societies was to hold stock sales. As Nottingham Road’s James King (founder member of the LRDAS in 1884) said. “The worst drawback was the lack of markets”. (Morrell, 1996). It was this exact issue that JW addressed with his bacon cooperative.

“Their function was thus primarily marketing and their fortunes were generally judged by the success or failure of sales. The sale of stock differs markedly from that of maize (the product which sparked the cooperative movement in the Transvaal). In Natal. the market was very localised with local butchers and auctioneers generally dealing with farmers in their area.” (Morrell, 1996)

“A variety of factors increased the importance of cattle sales particularly in the late and early twentieth century. Catastrophic cattle diseases, particularly Rinderpest (1897-1898) and East Coast Fever (1907-1910) reduced herds dramatically making it all the more important for farmers to realise the best prices available for surviving stock. The number of cattle in Natal was reduced from 280 000 in 1896 to 150000 in 1898. This amounted to a loss of £863 700 to farmers.” (Morrell, 1996)

“It was only in the area of stock sales (sheep, cattle and to a lesser extent, horses) that cooperative marketing operated. Foreign imports began to undercut local products, particularly once the railway system was developed. In 1905, on behalf of the Ixopo Farmer Association, Magistrate F E Foxon objected to the government allowing imported grain.” (Morrell, 1996)

In other domains (such as dairy and ham products), cooperative companies were formed. These were joint stock companies, generally headed by prominent and prosperous local farmers (JW Moor and George Richards of Estcourt, for example), who raised capital from farmer shareholders. The members of the Board were generally the major shareholders. Farmers who joined were then obliged to supply the factory/dairy with produce, in return for which they got a guaranteed price and, If available, a dividend.” (Morrell, 1996) This was the basis of the operation of the Farmers’ Cooperative Bacon Factory.

“The small size of the local market put pressure on farmers to export. The capacity of Natal’s manufacturing industries was minuscule. It began to expand around 1910 yet by 1914 there were no more than 500 enterprises in the whole colony.” “So it happened that many prominent farmers were also directors of agricultural processing factories.” (Morrell, 1996)

Generally, it seems that as FR’s political involvement increased, his attention to farming decreased and he relied increasingly more on JW to take care of their farming interests. JW himself was politically active, but never to the extent of FR. JW Moor became MP for Escort while he was director of Natal Creamery Limited and Farmers’ Cooperative Bacon Factory.”

It is interesting that, as was the case around the world, pork farming followed milk production. This was what spawned the enormous pork industry in Denmark and to a large extent, sustains the South African pork farming industry to this day.

“It was Joseph Baynes, a Byrne settler and dairy industry pioneer who established a milk processing plant in Estcourt under the name of the Natal Creamery Ltd. where JW was a director. “This factory was located adjacent to the railway station. Baynes died in 1925 and in 1927 the factory, which by this time was owned by South African Condensed Milk Ltd. was bought by Nestlés. Today the factory produces Coffee, MILO and NESQUIK.” (Revolvy)

In 1917 a group of farmers, including JW Moor, met in Estcourt to discuss the establishment of a cooperative bacon factory. The Farmer’s Co-operative Bacon Factory Limited was founded in August 1917 and the building of the factory started. When the plant opened its doors, it was done on 6 June 1918 by the Prime Minister General Louis Botha. We can not overstate the massive symbolic nature of the leader of a country in the midst of war opening a food production facility.

The products were marketed under the name Eskort. It takes about a year to get a factory up and running and it was no different in the plant in Natal. When they were ready to supply the UK, the war was over but not the shortages. In 1919 the factory started exports to the United Kingdom. The honour went to the SS Saxon who carried the first bacon from the Estcourt plant exported to the United Kingdom, in June 1919. The products were well received.

A fire in 1925 caused significant damage to the factory. Production was relocated to Nel’s Rust Dairy Limited in Braamfontein, Johannesburg while renovations were being done at the plant. Despite this, the company still won the top three prizes at the 1926 London Dairy Show. (openafrica.org)

They were ready with streamlined efficiency when the second World War broke out and supplied over one million tins of sausages to the Allied forces all over the world and over 12 tonnes of bacon weekly to convoys calling at Durban harbour. (Revolvy) “Early in 1948 plans for a second factory in Heidelberg, Gauteng, were drawn up and the factory commenced production in September 1954.” (openafrica.org) In “1967 the Eskort brand was the largest processed meat brand in South Africa. In 1998 the company was converted from a cooperative to a limited liability company.” (Revolvy)

An interesting side note must be made here. This is the story of my travels to Denmark and the UK to learn how to make the best bacon on earth. The purpose of the venture was to export the bacon and supply the Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company. The similarity of what we did to prepare for our own bacon production in Woodys and how the bacon plant in Estcourt came about is striking. To raise capital for the venture we relied on investors and I rode transport between Johannesburg and Cape Town. Without any knowledge of JW Moor, by simply looking at the Southern African context of the late 1800s and early 1900s, their course of action was logical. (2)

Technological Context

The technical aspects behind the curing technology employed at the new plant are of particular interest. The establishment of the operation in 1918 placed it right in the transition time when science was unlocking the mechanisms behind curing and an understanding developed (beginning in 1891) that it was not saltpeter (nitrate) that cured meat, but nitrite.

The second technical fact of interest was the form of cooperation that was chosen to house the bacon plant. From Denmark to England farmers saw the benefit of the cooperative model to solve the problem of “access to markets” and this was no different in South Africa.

Tank Curing or using Sodium Nitrite

In terms of curing brines, the scientific understanding that it was not saltpeter (nitrate) curing the meat, but somehow, nitrite was directly involved came to us in the work of Dr. Edward Polenski (1891) who, investigating the nutritional value of cured meat, found nitrite in the curing brine and meat he used for his nutritional trails, a few days after it was cured with saltpeter (nitrate) only. He correctly speculated that this was due to bacterial reduction of nitrate to nitrite. ( Saltpeter: A Concise History and the Discovery of Dr. Ed Polenske).

What Polenski suspected was confirmed by the work of two prominent German scientists. Karl Bernhard Lehmann (1858 – 1940) was a German hygienist and bacteriologist born in Zurich. In an experiment, he boiled fresh meat with nitrite and a little bit of acid. A red colour resulted, similar to the red of cured meat. He repeated the experiment with nitrates and no such reddening occurred, thus establishing the link between nitrite and the formation of a stable red meat colour in meat. (Fathers of Meat Curing)

In the same year, another German hygienists, one of Lehmann’s assistants at the Institute of Hygiene in Würzburg, Karl Kißkalt (1875 – 1962), confirmed Lehmann’s observations and showed that the same red colour resulted if the meat was left in saltpeter (potassium nitrate) for several days before it was cooked. (Fathers of Meat Curing)

This laid the foundation of the realisation that it was nitrite responsible for curing of meat and not saltpeter (nitrate). It was up to the prolific British scientist, Haldane (1901) to show that nitrite is further reduced to nitric oxide (NO) in the presence of muscle myoglobin and forms iron-nitrosyl-myoglobin. It is nitrosylated myoglobin that gives cured meat, including bacon and hot dogs, their distinctive red colour and protects the meat from oxidation and spoiling. (Fathers of Meat Curing)

Identifying nitrite as the better (and faster) curing agent was one thing. How to get to nitrite and use it in meat curing was completely a different matter. Two opposing views developed around the globe. On the one hand, the Irish or Danish method favoured “seeding” new brine with old brine that already contained nitrites and thus cured the meat much faster. (For a detailed treatment of this matter, see The Naming of Prague Salt) The Irish and the Danes took an existing concept at that time of the power of used brine and instead of a highly technical method of injecting the meat and curing it inside a vacuum chamber, a simple system using tanks or baths to hold the bacon and regularly turning it was developed which became known as tank curing.

The concept of seeding the brine did not develop from science around nitrite, but preservation technology that was a hot topic in Ireland’s scientific community at the beginning and middle of the 1800s. Denmark imported tank curing or mild curing technology in 1880 from Ireland where William Oake invented it sometime shortly before 1837. Oake, a chemist by profession developed the system which allowed for the industrialisation of the bacon production system. (Tank Curing was invented in Ireland)

A major revolution took place in Denmark in 1887/ 1888 when their sale of live pigs to Germany and England was halted due to the outbreak of swine flu in Denmark. The Danes set out to accomplish one of the miracle turnarounds of history by converting their pork industry from the export of live animals to the production of bacon (there was no such restriction on the sale of bacon). This turnaround took place in 1887 and 1888. They used the cooperative model that worked so well for them in their abattoirs namely the cooperative.

They were amazingly successful. In 1887 the Danish bacon industry accounted for 230 000 live pigs and in 1895, converted from bacon production, 1 250 000 pigs.

One would expect that the Irish system of curing was imported to Denmark then. This is however incorrect. The first cooperative bacon curing company was started in Denmark in 1887. Seven years earlier, in 1880, the Danes visited Waterford and “taking advantage of a strike among the pork butchers of that city, used the opportunity to bring those experts to their own country to teach and give practical and technical lessons in the curing of bacon, and from that date begins the commencement of the downfall of the Irish bacon industry. . . ” (Tank Curing was invented in Ireland)

This is astounding. It means that they had the technology and when the impetus was there, they converted their economy. It also means that Ireland not only exported the mild cure or tank curing technology to Denmark but also to Australia, probably through Irish immigrants during the 1850s and 1860s gold rush, between 20 and 30 years before it came to Denmark. Many of these immigrants came from Limerick in Ireland where William Oake had a very successful bacon curing business. Many came from Waterford. A report from Australia sites one company that used the same brine for 16 years by 1897/ 1898 which takes tank curing in Australia too well before 1880 which correlates with the theory that immigrants brought the technology to Australia in the 1850s or 1860s.

Tank curing or mild curing was invented without the full understanding of nitrogen cycle and denitrifying and nitrifying bacteria and the chemistry of nitrite and nitric oxide. Brine consisting of nitrate, salt and sugar were injected into the meat with a single needle attached to a hand pump (stitch pumping). Stitch pumping was either developed by Prof. Morgan, whom we looked at earlier or was a progression from his arterial injection method. (Bacon Curing – a historical review and Tank Curing Came from Ireland)

The meat was then placed in a mother brine mix consisting of old, used brine and new brine. The old brine contained the nitrate which was reduced through bacterial action into nitrite. It was the nitrite that was responsible for the quick curing of the meat.

Denmark was, as it is to this day, one of the largest exporters of pork and bacon to England. The wholesale involvement of the Danes in the English market made it inevitable that a bacon curer from Denmark must have found his way to Calne and I am the one who told John Harris about the new Danish system and implemented it at their Calne operation. (Bacon Curing – a historical review)

A major advantage of this method is the speed with which curing is done compared with the dry salt process previously practiced. Wet tank-curing is more suited for the industrialisation of bacon curing with the added cost advantage of re-using some of the brine. It allows for the use of even less salt compared to older curing methods. (Bacon Curing – a historical review)

Corroborating evidence for the 1880 date of the Danish adoption of the Irish method comes to us from newspaper reports about the only independent farmer-owned Pig Factory in Britain of that time, the St. Edmunds Bacon Factory Ltd. in Elmswell. The factory was set up in 1911. According to an article from the East Anglia Life, April 1964, they learned and practiced what at first was known as the Danish method of curing bacon and later became known as tank-curing or Wiltshire cure. (Bacon Curing – a historical review)

A person was sent from the UK to Denmark in 1910 to learn the new Danish Method. (elmswell-history.org.uk) The Danish method involved the Danish cooperative method of pork production founded by Peter Bojsen on 14 July 1887 in Horsens. (Horsensleksikon.dk. Horsens Andelssvineslagteri)

The East Anglia Life report from April 1964, talked about a “new Danish” method. The “new” aspect in 1910 and 1911 was undoubtedly the tank curing method. Another account from England puts the Danish system of tank curing early in the 1900s. C. & T. Harris from Wiltshire, UK, switched from dry curing to the Danish method during this time. In a private communication between myself and the curator of the Calne Heritage Centre, Susan Boddington, about John Bromham who started working in the Harris factory in 1920 and became assistant to the chief engineer, she writes: “John Bromham wrote his account around 1986, but as he started in the factory in 1920 his memory went back to a time not long after Harris had switched over to this wet cure.” So, early in the 1900s, probably between 1887 and 1888, the Danes acquired and practiced tank-curing which was brought to England around 1911. (Bacon Curing – a historical review)

The power of “old brine” was known from early after wet curing and needle injection of brine into meat was invented around the 1850s by Morgan and others. Before the bacterial mechanism behind the reduction was understood, butchers must have noted that the meat juices coming out of the meat during dry curing had special “curing power”. It was, however, the Irish who took this practical knowledge, undoubtedly combined it with the scientific knowledge of the time and created the commercial process of tank-curing which later became known as Wiltshire cure when the Harris operations became the gold standard in bacon curing. Their first factory was located in the English town of Calne, in Wiltshire from where the method came to be known as Wiltshire cure. Its direct ancestor was however Danish and they, in turn, capitalised on an Irish invention. (Bacon Curing – a historical review)

It is of huge interest that the Eskort brand of bacon, to this day, bears the brand name of Wiltshire cure. Wiltshire is an English county where Calne is located which housed the Harris factory. (C & T Harris and their Wiltshire bacon cure – the blending of a legend) There is no doubt in my mind that the same curing was practiced in Estcourt in 1918, as was done in the Harris factories in Calne and that this is the historical basis for the continued reference on the Eskort bacon packages as Wiltshire Cure.

At a time before the direct addition of nitrite to curing brines, the only two ways to cure bacon was either dry curing or tank curing. Dry curing requires about 21 days as against 9 days for tank curing. The Bacon Marketing Scheme officially established tank curing in the UK. (Walworth, 1940)

It would not have been possible for the plant to use sodium nitrite in its brine in 1918. Where the Danes and the English favoured tank curing, the Germans and the Americans liked the concept of adding nitrite directly to the curing brines. This was however frowned upon due to the toxicity of sodium nitrite. In America, the matter was battled out politically, scientifically and in the courts. It became the standard ingredient in bacon cures only after WW1. The Germans used it during the war due to a lack of access to saltpeter (nitrate) which was reserved for the war effort and the need to produce bacon faster to supply to the front. The American packing houses in Chicago toyed with its use due to the speed of curing that it accomplishes.

The timeline, however, precludes its use in the Bacon factory in Estcourt in 1918. In fact, Ladislav Nachtmulner, the creator of the first legal commercial curing brine containing sodium nitrite, only invented his Prague Salt, in 1915. Prague Salt first appeared in 1925 in the USA as sodium nitrite became available through the Chicago based Griffith Laboratories in a curing mix for the meat industry. (The Naming of Prague Salt)

In Oct 1925 in a carefully choreographed display by Griffith, the American Bureau of Animal Industries legalised the use of sodium nitrite as a curing agent for meat. In December of the same year (1925) the Institute of American Meat Packers, created by the large packing plants in Chicago, published the document. The use of sodium Nitrite in Curing Meats. (The Naming of Prague Salt)

A key player suddenly emerges onto the scene in the Griffith Laboratories, based in Chicago and very closely associated with the powerful meatpacking industry. In that same year (1925) Hall was appointed as chief chemist by the Griffith Laboratories and Griffith started to import a mechanically mixed salt from Germany consisting of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite and sodium chloride, which they called “Prague Salt.” (The Naming of Prague Salt)

Probably the biggest of the powerful meat packers was the company created by Phil Armour who gave David de Villiers Graaff the idea of refrigerated rail transport for meat. More than any other company at that time, Armour’s reach was global. It was said that Phil had an eye on developments in every part of the globe. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, 10 May 1896, p2) He passed away in 1901 (The Weekly Gazette, 9 Jan 1901), but the business empire and network that he created must have endured long enough to have been aware of developments in Prague in the 1910s and early ’20s. (The Naming of Prague Salt)

Drawing of David de Villiers-Graaff in his mayoral robes. The drawing appeared in a newspaper in Chicago on 11 April 1892 when he was interviewed at the World Exposition. He traveled to Chicago the first time in the mid-1880s when he probably met Armour.

There is, therefore, no reasonable way that the bacon factory in Estcourt could have used sodium nitrite directly in 1918. If Armour’s relationship was with JW Moor, this could have been a possibility since I suspect that Armour was experimenting with the direct addition of nitrite to curing brines as early as 1905, but his relationship, if any, would have been with David de Villiers Graaff who was a meat trader at heart and did not have any direct interest in a large bacon curing company until ICS acquired Enterprise and Renown, long after the time of David de Villiers Graaff (the 1st). Besides this, where would they have found cheap nitrite salts in South Africa in 1918? This takes the 1918 establishment of the company back to the technology used by the Harris family in Calne which was mother brine tank curing, the classic Wiltshire curing method which was later exactly defined in UK law.

At the demise of the Harris operation, many of the staff were taken up into the current structures of Direct Table which is, according to my knowledge, one of the only remaining companies in the world who still use the traditional Wiltshire tank curing method for some of its bacons. It undoubtedly is the largest to do so. In the Eskort branding of its bacon, the reference to Wiltshire cure it is a beautiful reference back to the origins of the company which pre-dates the direct addition of sodium nitrite.

The Griffith Laboratories became the universal prophet of the direct addition of nitrite to curing brines. They appointed an agent in South Africa in Crown Mills. Crown Mills became Crown National and Prague Powder is still being sold by them to this day. It could very well have been Crown Mills who converted Eskort from traditional tank curing to the direct addition of sodium nitrite through Prague Powder.

It must be mentioned that the butchery trade was well established in South Africa long before the cooperative bacon factory was established in Estcourt. Bacon curing was one of the first responsibilities of the VOC when Van Riebeek set the refreshment station up in 1652. Swiss, Dutch, German and later, English butchers were scattered across South Africa. The largest and most successful of these companies in Cape Town was Combrink and Co., owned by Jakobus Combrink and later taken over by Dawid de Villiers Graaff who changed the name to the Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company. I suspect that most of these operations used dry curing which was not suitable for mass production.

Peter Bojsen and cooperative Bacon Production

The second technical aspect is the form of cooperation that was established and a few words must be said about Peter Bojsen for those who are not familiar with him. Cooperative bacon production was the buzz word in the early 1900s, but where did this originate?

It started in Denmark. The Danes were renowned dairy farmers and producers of the finest butter (Daily Telegraph, 2 February 1901: 6) They found the separated milk from the butter-making process to be excellent food for pigs. The Danish farmers developed an immense pork industry around it. (Daily Telegraph, 2 February 1901: 6) The bacon industry was created in response to a ban from England on importing live Danish pigs to the island. The Danish farmers responded by organising themselves into cooperatives who build bacon factories that supplied bacon to the English market. (Daily Telegraph, 2 February 1901: 6) This established bacon curing as a major industry in Denmark.

“On 14 July 1887, 500 farmers from the Horsens region joined forces to form Denmark’s first co-operative meat company. The first general meeting was held, land was purchased, building work commenced and the equipment installed.” (Danishcrown.com) “On 22 December 1887, the first co-operative abattoir in the world, Horsens Andelssvineslagteri (Horsen’s Share Abattoir), stood ready to receive the first pigs for slaughter.” (Danishcrown.com) The first cooperative bacon curing company was also established in 1887. (Tank Curing came from Ireland)

The dynamic Peter Bojsen (1838-1922) took center stage in the creation of the abattoir in Horsens. He served as its first chairman. He created the first shared ownership slaughtering house. In years to follow, this revolutionary concept of ownership by the farmers on a shared basis became a trend in Denmark. Before the creation of the abattoir, he was the chairman of the Horsens Agriculture Association and had to deal with inadequate transport and slaughtering facilities around the market where the farmers sold their meat at. (Horsensleksikon.dk. Horsens Andelssvineslagteri) Peter was a visionary and a creative economist. The genius of this man transformed a society.

In 1911, the St. Edmunds cooperative bacon factory was opened in England in Elmswell, with Danish help. It is clear that the concept of the Horsens plant crossed the English channel. It is plausible that its creation reached the ears of a group of farmers in a very “British” part of the empire, in Estcourt, Natal not just with the Wiltshire Tank curing of the Harris operation, but the cooperative movement in bacon production from St. Edmunds in 1911.

Early Success for Eskort

An article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales), 2 June 1919, p7 entitled “On Land, Livestock in South Africa – Further Competition for Australia.” The article reports on pork production that “pig breeding has been taken up systematically and while in the year before the war imports of bacon and hams were valued at GBP368,112, last year they were reduced to GBP31,590, and there is good reason to think that soon these articles will be exported.” One may think that the reduction in import is due to the war and that in general South African producers were stepping up to the plate to fill the void, but the trend of the article is that something is happening “systematically” and there is a trend that projects that soon the GBP368,112 import figure will completely be supplied by South African producers and that surplus bacon will be exported.

The farmers cooperative were founded in 1917 in Estcourt. Moor laid the cornerstone in January 1918, the report in the Sydney Morning Herald appeared in June 1919, the same month when the first exports of Eskort bacon to the UK took place. Export may have taken place before the local market was completely saturated. Regardless of the actual circumstances, the export of bacon to the UK was not just a major achievement and competing nations took notice. I also suspect that Eskort managed to supply a sizable portion of the 1913 import figure of GBP368,112 in 1918 and that the article may elude to exactly this.

Pulling the Military Connections Together

The location of the Estcourt plant is of interest virtually right next to Fort Dunford, between the fort and the Bushmans river. My suspicion is that the land belonged to the army and that Moor, either JW or with the help of FR, secured rights to purchase it. This could have been done only by a family who had very cozy relationships with the military and had friends in high places in the persons of Louis Botha and FR Moor himself.

Fort Dunford is indicated with the red marker. Take note of the position of the Boesmans River, the Eskort plant, the Fort and the Hospital.

Just look at the defenses of the Fort. There were three defenses. The first would have been the Bushmans river. Secondly, there was a moat around the fort, 2 meters deep and 4 meters wide. Then, one part of the staircase could be pulled up in case two of the defenses were bridged. It is clear from the map that even the hospital was strategically located to be within the general protection of the Fort and the Boesmans River bend.

There is a second interesting contribution that the military post could have made to the establishment of the bacon plant. It is known that men from Elmswell and Wiltshire were drafted into service in South Africa. Could it have been that some of these men actually worked at the cooperative bacon plant in Elmswell? These records can quite easily be checked and will be worth the effort.

Strong circumstantial evidence, however, points to more than just a coincidental relationship between the location of the plant and the military establishment. Probably more important than the affinity of Moor family for the military was the fact that FR Moor was the political leader of the Natal colony until the Union of South Africa was created in 1910 and the fact that the old school friend of FR, General Louis Botha was in 1918, the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. Whichever way you look at it, it is hard not to recognise the close proximity of the Eskort plant to the military installations. What could be the uniting thought that pulls all these facts together? (Of course, in part, predicated on the fact that the factory is in the original location)

Looking at the state of the British Empire and wartime circumstances in the UK, I believe offers the answer. The military context goes much deeper than schoolboy comradery, family nostalgia or friends in high places. 1918 was the beginning of the last year of the Great War. On the one hand, it is hard for us to imagine the unified approach that the Empire had towards the war and every citizen in every Empire country. The empathy and support that the war elicited in South Africa generally, but especially in Natal, so closely linked with the UK in spit and culture was enormous. One source reports that in Estcourt school staff subscribed a portion of their salary monthly to the Governor-General’s Fund in support of the war. (Thompson, 2011) It is outside the scope of this article to delve deeper into the unprecedented effort that was being expended by the South African population and the people in Natal in particular in support of the troops but reading the accounts of what was being done in Natal is quite emotional.

On the other hand, directly responding to wartime shortages in the UK was an international effort. Bacon, in those days, was not just a luxury. It was staple food. The production of bacon was a matter of national importance debated in parliament. It was a key food source sustaining the British navy. Many people only had bacon as food every day. They would boil the bacon before eating it. The parents who had to work the next day had the actual meat and the kids only had the water. Eduard Smith made the remark in his landmark work, Foods (1873), that in this way both the parents and the children went to bed “with a measure of satisfaction.” Bacon had strategic importance to the military and in the first world war, spoke to the general food situation in war-ravaged England.

The fact that the bacon company was established in Estcourt in 1917 shows clearly that South Africa was ready to step in to prop up meat and bacon supply in particular to the UK. Was there direct involvement from the South Africa leader, General Louis Botha who possibly passed on a request from London to all Empire states to assist in the supply of meat and bacon in particular? It is a matter of conjecture, but a tantalising possibility. These are speculations that can be corroborated by looking at the correspondence of Botha. FR Moor himself had direct communication with London and Botha may have simply opened the factory in support of the idea. FR’s letters along with that of JW have to be scrutinised for leads. The one reason that makes me suspects that there may have been a direct request from Botha or some early support for the venture is the location of the factory, right next to the Fort. In my mind, it swings the possibility for direct involvement from Botha from possible to probable. (Facts from correspondence should solve the matter)

Supplying the British market may have been done to build up South Africa, just as much as it was done in support of the Empire. I suspect that the former may even be more of a driving force than the latter. On 13 June 1917, an article appeared in the Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota), reporting from London that “Developments on an enormous scale are expected in South Africa after the war and plans in this connection are being made as regards the export of food. It is confidently predicted that so far as meat is concerned the Union will be in a position to compete very soon with any other part of the world and in order to assist the expansion of the industry all the steamship lines propose, it is understood, to increase their refrigerated space very considerably and to place more vessels in service.” This report came out in the year when the Cooperative bacon Company in Estcourt was formed. It oozes with deliberateness and purposefulness from the highest authorities.

One person who was clearly involved in the “deliberateness and purposefulness” becomes clear from a pamphlet that was published in that same year. In a document dated 12 Jan 1917 about the South African meat export trade, compiled by A. R. T. Woods to Sir Owen Phillips, chairman of the Union Castle Line who by this time was carrying meat from South America to Europe in their Nelson Line of Steamers, the following interesting quite is given by Gen. Louis Botha. The background is the delivery of what is described in the document as “by universal consent,. . . probably the best specimen of South African meat (beef) yet placed upon the London market” delivered by the R. M. S. “Walmer Castle” to the Smithfield market in London and inspected by a group from South Africa featured below in 1914. (I will give much to know the names of the men below. Will there be the name of one JW Moor?)

The party traveled to London by invitation from The Hon. W. P. Schreiner, High Commissioner of South Africa and Mr. Ciappini (the Trades Commissioner). The South African meat was deemed comparable to frozen meat produced in any part of the world. The letter was a motivation that the South African meat trade was mature enough to be taken seriously and some helpful advice was given based on experience in South America.

He quotes Gen. Louis Botha who advised farmers that “so far as mealies are concerned the export should not develop, but that the mealies should be used to feed stock in this country, and that the export should be in the form of stock fed in South Africa on South African Mealies.” There is, therefore, good evidence of Genl. Louis Botha involving himself in the details of the establishment of the meat trade from South Africa and, I believe that it is in part this general encouragement that JW Moor followed in creating the Cooperative Bacon Curing Company in 1917.

I located this pamphlet among documents in the Western Cape Archive of J. W. Moor and his farmers Cooperative where they apply for permission to erect an abattoir and a bacon curing company in East London on the harbour. It is interesting that one of the recommendations given in the pamphlet is that abattoirs and chilling factories be erected in Ports, “along the quays where the ocean-going refrigerated steamers load” as it was done in Argentina. The influence of Botha’s encouragement on Moor can be well imagined.

The application for the abattoir was lodged in 1917, the same year when the Farmer’s Co-operative Bacon Factory Limited was founded in August 1917. It is possible that members of the Natal Farmers Co-operative Meat Industries and the Farmer’s Co-operative Bacon Factory Limited were the same people. Or that the one owned the other. Whichever way you look at it, John Moore was a key figure in both and the establishment of a bacon company in East London was directly in line with the proposals set out to boost meat exports. It is very interesting that both occurred in 1917 and that only the Eskort factory survived. As someone who established such a venture myself, my initial thoughts were that having a curing company at two such geographically distant sites as East London and Estcourt would have been impossible to manage, especially since both were new ventures. Further documents show that the factory was built on the proposed site and it is telling that only the Estcourt site survived.

East London’s harbour at the mouth of the Buffalo River. In the absence of facilities ashore, the vessel SV Timaru, fitted with cold chambers, was moored here by the East London Cold Storage Company for an extensive period early in the 20th century. (From Ice Cold in Africa). The businesses of David de Villiers Graaff and Moor were intertwined and mutually dependant.

The stone in Estcourt was unveiled by JW Moor on Jan 7, 1918, almost a full year before the Armistice. The Farmer’s Co-operative Bacon Factory Limited was founded in August 1917, 16 months before the end of the War. The factory was opened on 6 June 1918 by the Prime Minister General Louis Botha, 6 months before the Great War ended. This is remarkable.

The shortages in the UK in 1917 and 1918 were dire. The end of the war was not in sight and calls went out across the Empire to assist. Meat supply, at this time, diminished with 30% in the UK. In this context, it is easy to see how military land was either made available or that it would have been strategically prudent to locate such an installation close to a military site, but again, it would have required high-level support (involvement?).

For the South Africans, the call for help would have been close to home. Delville Woods took place in 1916, a year before the company was created. In the month when it was founded, August 1917, Lieutenant-General Sir Jacob Louis van Deventer had just taken over command of the mostly South African troops involved in the German East African campaign. His offensive started in July 1917. The entire East African region remained very active for the duration of the war.

When the fighting was all done almost 19 000 South Africans lost their lives. The madness of the time can best be described by the opening sentences of Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair… Such would have been the experience of the men and women involved in the war while setting up the Farmer’s Co-operative Bacon Factory on the banks of the Boesmans River in Estcourt, Natal. (1)

Finally

The Eskort factory is a historical site where many interesting cross-currents meet. Its uninterrupted existence from a time before nitrite was directly added to brine makes it unique in the world! Apart from Danish Crown and Tulip, I know of very few other companies.

Besides this, tied up in the story of its creation is a romantic immigrant, a family, defining themselves through diamond digging and making powerful friends; re-investing its fortunes in farming and establishing a food company that exists to this day. We see the use of tank curing which predates the direct addition of nitrite to curing brines. The global influence of Griffiths who probably converted Eskort to an operation using the direct application of nitrite to curing brines following WW1. We see the influence of the Danish Cooperative system, probably through the St. Edmunds Bacon Factory. Besides any of these, we see hard work, imagination and high character and a particular response to a specific call for help.

What is the purpose of this study? Besides the fascinating context of the Eskort operation, is there anything we can learn from the past? I offer a few suggestions.

1. Stay on top of the game. Use the best and latest technology available to stay well ahead in the race. A 1914 US newspaper article, from the Deming Headlight, called the Danish cooperative bacon factory “the last word as to efficient scientific treatment of the dead porker.” The article was entitled A Cooperative Bacon factory. (The Deming Headlight (Deming, New Mexico), Friday 8 May 1914, Page 6.)

2. Use the best corporate structure, appropriate for the time.

3. This point probably dovetails into the previous one – ensure that the business is well funded.

4. Think big! No, think massive! By no account was any of the plans of JW Moor or any of his brothers or their father ever small!

5. The factory was built with a specific market in mind. “It was built for exports”, even though saying it like this may be too specific. Lets state it this way – “technology was chosen to attract the right clients.” A modern-day example may be investing in a tray ready packaging line for fresh meat for the retail trade or cooked bacon for the catering trade.

6. Things are not as bad today as they were during the world wars. If anything, we have more opportunities. No matter what is happing in our country, this can be our age of wisdom, our epoch of belief, season of light and our spring of hope!

A last comment must be made about the legacy of the bacon plant. There can be little doubt that it had a large impact on the meat processing landscape in South Africa over the years. It provides a fertile and productive training center for many men and women to later either set up their own curing operations or work at other plants across the country, thus transferring the skills inherent in the Estcourt plant to the rest of the country. In this regard, the impact of the visionary work of the Moor family is volcanic. It is interesting to talk to executives in Eskort and to realise how many people in top positions in curing operations across the county started their careers at the Eskort plant in Estcourt in the Natal Midlands.

These are some of the obvious lessons I take away from the study. This is insanely exciting!

Aftermath 1:

Back row, left to right: Gen JBM Hertzog, H Burton, FR Moor, Col. G Leuchars, Gen JC Smuts, HC Hull, FS Malan and David de Villiers Graaff. Front: JW Sauer, Gen Botha and A Fischer.

Gen Louis Botha was the man who pushed for the development of the meat industry in SA. Of course, he found a great ally in David de Villiers Graaff who created ICS. At the end of 1934, the company was in serious financial trouble following the Great Depression. Anglo-American corporation was the largest investor and as it invested more money in the company, while the company worked ever closer with Tiger Oats which was another Anglo subsidiary. In March 1982 Barlow bought a large share of Tiger Oats and the controlling share in ICS. In October 1998 Tiger Brands (Tiger Oats Limited) bought Imperial Cold Storage and it was taken up in the portfolio of this companies brands.

Look at this old photo I found. In 1910 the Union of South Africa was created uniting the Transvaal, Free State, Natal and the Cape. Botha was asked to become Prime Minister. Here is a photo of his first cabinet. David was a member of this cabinet. He is in the back row on the right.

FR Moor is 3rd from the left, back row, looking to his right. His younger brother, JW Moor was the chairman of the farmers cooperative that became Eskort. Botha opened the Eskort factory in Estcourt, Natal shortly before he passed away. The complete list of men on the photo and members of the first Union cabinet is: Back row, left to right: Gen JBM Hertzog, H Burton, FR Moor, Col. G Leuchars, Gen JC Smuts, HC Hull, FS Malan and David de Villiers Graaff. Front: JW Sauer, Gen Botha, and A Fischer.

In a way, both Eskort and Enterprise (at least Tiger Brands) were represented. The individual photos are of De Villiers Graaff and Moor.

The history and impact of bacon men and woman, run deep! What a story!

Aftermath 2:

Arnold Prinsloo, the CEO of Eskort, sent me a message. He has a present for me, a book commemorating the first 100 years of Eskort, Ltd..

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hdrpl

It was a day when Paul Fickling, my partner in crime at Van Wyngaardt and I decided to follow Christo Niemand’s advice to stand back a bit and think about our strategy with the business. I was glad that Paul was with me so that I could introduce him to one of the legends in our industry.

What never had was an image of JW Moor. Arnold showed me his photo.

JW Moor

Finally, I am looking for the legendary first chairman of the First Farmers Cooperative Bacon Factory to be established in SA in the eyes. We spoke about history and the Moor family; the industry at large and then Arnold gave us a bit of information that is invaluable to our quest. “Build your company on quality! Nothing less than that will exist for 100 years.”

At home, I could hardly wait to page through the book. Here I saw so many of my friends.

Wynand Nel

Arnold Prinsloo

Melindi Wyma

Bob Ferguson (I know his son, Alex)

Bob Furgeson

Wynand Nel who worked with me at Stocks Meat Market, Arnold Prinsloo, Melindi Wyma, Bob Ferguson – I know his son, Alex who is heading up Multivac.

This morning Paul was telling me about a small hotel they stayed over in Natal the previous week, Hartford House. It turns out that the house was owned by JW Moor. Arnold elucidated us and suggested we get in contact with Mickey Goss, the current owner of the estate for an in-depth discussion of the history of the region and the Moor family.

I will definitely send Mickey correspondence and arrange for a visit to his famed estate. I am thrilled to be part of this incredibly rich history, humbled by the gesture of Arnold and the coincidence of Paul and his family staying at the exact house a week ago, well, that is just strange!!

Further Reading

John William Moor’s Short Biography

The speech was given by Mr. W. S. Morris, the Minister of Agriculture at the second reading of the BACON INDUSTRY BILL before the UP parliament on 11 April 1938 3.40 p.m.

History-of-Estcourt

Tank Curing Came from Ireland

Bacon Curing – a historical review

Walworth, G.. 1940. Imperial Agriculture, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

The Mother Brine

A Most Remarkable Tale: The Story of Eskort

“Bacon & the art of living” in book form Stay in touch

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Note

(1) 1917 and 18 were very interesting years besides for the creation of the bacon plant in Estcourt. On 8 June, two days after the start of production, the South African financial services group Sanlam was established in Cape Town. 1917/ 1918 was the year when the RAF was founded with another interesting South African connection. On 17 August 1917, General Jan Smuts released his report recommending that a military air service should be used as “an independent means of war operations” of the British Army and Royal Navy, leading to the creation of the Royal Air Force in 1918. (Hastings, Hastings, 1987)

(2) In reality, I did go to Denmark to learn bacon curing. The interesting thing is that Tulip is a Danish company, wholly owned by Danish Crown and a direct outflow of the creation of the cooperative curing plant at Horsens. In the ’70 and ’80, the Danish abattoirs and large processing companies consolidated and formed Danish Crown. The Danes created Tulip in England to, in a way, set up their own distribution company in England for the vast quantities of bacon they produced in Denmark. Essentially, they created their own client. In later years Tulip became involved in every aspect of the pork industry in England and currently is the largest pork farmer in the UK. Exactly as it was logical for my path to lead to Tulip, so, it was logical for JW’s path to lead to the Harris operations and a cooperative bacon plant. Given the same set of variables, the best choices are obvious to all, no matter how far in the future you look back at decisions of the past.

References

https://www.danishcrown.com/danish-crown/history/

Dhupelia, U. S.. 1980. Frederick Robert Moor and Native Affairs in the Colony of Natal 1893 to 1903. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Durban-Westville. Supervisor: Dr. J.B. Brain; Date Submitted: December 1980. Download: Dhupelia-Uma-1980

Dommisse, E. 2011. First baronet of De Grendel. Tafelberg

The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; 18 Oct 1878, p1.

The Guardian (London, Greater London, England), 6 July 1918, p6.

Max, Bomber Command: Churchill’s Epic Campaign – The Inside Story of the RAF‘s Valiant Attempt to End the War, New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1987, ISBN 0-671-68070-6, p. 38.

Morrell, R. G.. 1996. White Farmers, Social Institutions and Settler Masculinity in the Natal Midlands, 1880-1920. A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Economic History. University of Natal. Durban, March 1996

http://www.openafrica.org/experiences/route/24-drakensberg-experience-route/participant/925-eskort-limited-factory-shop

Perren, R. Farmers, and consumers under strain: Allied meat supplies in the First World War. The Agricultural Historical Review. PDF: Richard Perren

The Saint Paul Daily Globe, 10 May 1896

Thompson, P. S.. 2011. Historia Vol 56 no 1, The Natal home front in the Great War (1914-1918) On-line version ISSN 2309-8392; Print version ISSN 0018-229X. The Historical Association of South Africa c/o Department of Historical and Heritage Studies, University of Pretoria.

Walworth, G.. 1940. Feeding the Nation in Peace and War. London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

The Weekly Gazette, 9 Jan 1901

Wilson, W. 2005. Wilson’s Practical Meat Inspection. 7th edition. Blackwell Publishing.

http://www.elmswell-history.org.uk/arch/firms/baconfactory/article2.html”>

http://www.elmswellhistory.org.uk/arch/firms/baconfactory/baconfactory.html

https://www.revolvy.com/page/Estcourt

Where I referenced previous articles I did, the links are provided in the article and I do not reference these again.

Chapter 12.02: Eskort Ltd. Introduction to Bacon & the Art of Living The quest to understand how great bacon is made takes me around the world and through epic adventures.

#bacon and the art of living #Bacon History

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carot-dj · 8 years ago

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newyorktheater · 5 years ago

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The stunning production of “Fairview,” Jackie Siblies Drury’s challenging play, is now being remounted with the same extraordinary cast and creative team at the Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn, a year after its brief run at the smaller Soho Rep, and two months after winning the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The new run offers theatergoers a second chance to see what the buzz was about. But, for better or for worse, this second run also comes with a new context.

“Fairview” is in three acts, each one cleverly investing the title of the play with a completely different meaning, and in the process blowing up the audience’s perceptions and increasing our discomfort.

In the first, Fairview sounds like the name of the suburb where the play takes place. As it begins, Beverly (Heather Alicia Simms) is peeling carrots over the dinner table in the living room, preparing for a birthday dinner for her mother. One by one the other characters enter – her loving and lovable husband Dayton (Charles Browning), who has to be prodded to bring the correct silverware; her visiting sister Jasmine (Roslyn Ruff), about whom Dayton says “That woman knows every thing about every body and never has one good thing to say about anybody”; Beverly’s bubbly teenage daughter Keisha (MaYaa Boateng), who chatters on about a teammate who is always late for practice, but then asks Jasmine a favor – to help her convince Beverly to allow her to take a “gap year” before college. Mentioned but not yet arriving at the party – Tyrone, Beverly’s busy if neglectful brother, who is a lawyer on the fast track to make partner, and Mama herself unseen upstairs. Keisha talks about her best friend Erika.

It feels like an affectionate, and inviting, and familiar, look at a comfortable black middle class family. It promises some laughs, some warmth, maybe some low-stakes intrigue that leads to a moment where a character says something wise or sentimental.

“I love these women,” Keisha says, in an aside to the audience. “Joy. And Dancing and Singing!”

But from the get-go, things also seem a little… off. There’s a bit too much dancing and singing, and even when Jasmine is not dancing, her gestures are self-consciously theatrical, almost regal. The music Beverly turns on has momentary blips and glitches. There is something too elegant about Mimi Lien’s set; the color scheme — off-white, decorated with an all-white abstract painting — starts to feel like a clue. Most telling of all, in retrospect, is the very first line of the play. Beverly says to Dayton: “What are you looking at?!”and then “You say hello, you don’t just watch a person.” Much later Keisha says to another character: “I can’t hear anything but you staring at me.”

Drury has said that “Fairview” grew out of her interest in exploring “surveillance.” By the end of the play, it seems clear the playwright has been examining what many have come to call the white gaze. The white gaze can be taken as literal in the theater, given the demographics of theatergoers. This was driven home by a recent essay in the Washington Post by Gbenga Akinnagbe, who portrays wrongly-accused black defendant Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird, who wrote about how taxing it has been to portray an oppressed black man in front of a mostly white audience eight times a week.

But in Fairview, Drury is making a larger point, delivered meta-theatrically, that black people always feel on stage, always being observed, judged, summed up.

This message helps make “Fairview” tricky to review.

In awarding “Fairview” the Pulitzer, the jury described the play as:

“A hard-hitting drama that examines race in a highly conceptual, layered structure, ultimately bringing audiences into the actors’ community to face deep-seated prejudices.”

Is it fair now in a review to reveal more of that “layered structure” than most reviewers did last year? The concept of a “spoiler” arguably has been rendered moot in a work that’s been labeled an exemplar of the age and thus considered a candidate for the canon.

For that matter, are there any great plays that hinge on surprise – that are “spoiled” if you know in advance what happens? Does “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” have less of an impact to those theatergoers who already know George and Martha’s secrets? Will “Fairview” on a second viewing?

The theatergoers in Ancient Greece are said to have known the plots of all the great tragedies in advance; scholars maintain that the communal knowledge is much of what gave these plays their power.

There’s much talk these days that our culture has become atomized – that our digital lives are divided into niches, that there’s no longer any collective knowledge. But “Fairview” implicitly assumes a modern-day communal knowledge – the knowledge of family dynamics that comes from watching sitcoms. In “Fairview,” Drury is questioning the accuracy – and fairness — of that knowledge.

For those of you who are planning to attend “Fairview”; feel I’ve told you enough so far to go on; and/or don’t want anything “spoiled”: You can stop reading this review at the end of this paragraph. But I will continue to describe the play (beneath the photographs), albeit mostly in outline, for two basic reasons. It will help explain how well crafted Drury’s writing is, how complicated the challenge mastered by the actors, and how both technically and aesthetically accomplished the work of the creative team — Sarah Benson’s direction, Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography, the quartet of designers’ intricately coordinated production. I also feel it only fair that a theatergoer be told what exactly is potentially uncomfortable in the show, so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to attend.

Heather Alicia Simms as Beverly

Charles Browning as Dayton

Heather Alicia Simms and Charles Browning as man and wife Heather and Charles

Roslyn Ruff as Jasmine

MaYaa Boateng as Keisha

At the end of the first act, in the suburb of Fairview, Beverly faints, the lighting changes – and the entire first act repeats, with two crucial differences. The first is that none of the characters from the first act say any of their dialogue; they silently and precisely repeat every movement they made. This showcases Kelly’s choreography, revealing just how inspired and meticulous it is. The choreographer has planted gestures in the voiced run-through of Act I that now have a different resonance in the second run-through. We are made to grasp the artificiality of performances we had taken to be largely realistic.

The second difference in Act II is that there is now a soundtrack – a voiceover discussion of race by four new characters, all of whom are white. And this is now the second meaning of fair view – fair as in white. The first part of their conversation is each in turn discussing the question: “If you could choose to be any race at all, what race would you be?” What’s especially admirable in this cringe-worthy conversation is that it is not terribly exaggerated. Their commentary stays within the bounds of what you might actually overhear people, maybe slightly drunk, saying at a party. It reflects distinctly different attitudes towards race — blunt, ignorant, tortured, patronizing, well-meaning, from “You’d just want to be Black so you could say the N-word.” To “the person in my life who expressed love to me in a way that I could feel it, that was Mabel.” (her black nanny) – all problematic because the subjects of their conversation are treated like The Other.

Both the movement on stage and the voiceover commentary become increasingly overheated and surreal and more and more interconnected (kudos for the coordination both to Kelly and sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman.) And then, in Act III, the white characters appear on stage, taking the identity of the characters we were waiting for in Act I – Tyrone, Mama. Montana Blanco goes to town with their costumes, a pointed satire on white envy, appropriation and distortion of black culture. They are intruders and instigators, changing the narrative, imposing stereotypical behavior and situations on the black characters. One even breaks in on Keisha’s aside, a violation of standard theatrical practice.

It’s all too much for Keisha, who rebels, breaks the fourth wall, and talks in a long, impassioned monologue (beautifully delivered by MaYaa Boateng) about the need for white people “to make space for us” for “my people of color…my colorful people.” She makes her point about the dominance of the white gaze not so much through her words, which are not especially memorable, as through one action, requiring audience participation. It is the third meaning of the title of the play – and it is itself a pun. She is asking for a fair view – fair as in just, view as in perspective. The last word in the piece is “fair.”

But she also means a literal view: In a variation of what Taylor Mac did at one point in his A 24 Decade History of Popular Music, Keisha/MaYaa Boateng asks, gently insists, that all the white people in the audience get up on the stage, and all the black characters/actors sit in the audience. Those theatergoers who don’t identify as white stay seated. Keisha/Boateng (for it’s not clear at this point whether it’s the character or the actress) sits in a row in the middle of the auditorium, with her back to the stage, facing the theatergoers who remain in their seats for her climactic address.

It’s proven an uncomfortable moment for many people, for a variety of reasons. “It’s curious to me that even a simple embodiment of a gesture toward dismantling white supremacy is so difficult for people to do,” Drury told American Theatre Magazine about this moment. There feels in her remark a lack of empathy towards theatergoers, who may be disabled for example, or shy, or ambivalent or uncertain about their identity.

It might be worth mentioning that the Pulitzer is awarded for a script, not a production; the five jurors, all of whom were white, might not have had to get out of their seats, because they might not have attended a performance. If you find my mention of the jurors’ race irrelevant and even in questionable taste, “Fairview” might not be for you.

Fairview TFANA at Polonsky Shakespeare Center Written by Jackie Sibblies Drury; Choreography by Raja Feather Kelly; Directed by Sarah Benson. Set design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Montana Blanco, lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker, sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman Cast: MaYaa Boateng, Charles Browning, Hannah Cabell, Natalia Payne, Jed Resnick, Luke Robertson, Roslyn Ruff , Heather Alicia Simms Running time: About two hours, with no intermission Tickets: $55-$115. “New Deal” tickets for those ages 30 and under or full-time students of any age: $20 Fairview is on stage through July 28, 2019

Fairview Review: 2019 Pulitzer Winning Drama About Race and the White Gaze Remounted The stunning production of “Fairview,” Jackie Siblies Drury’s challenging play, is now being remounted with the same extraordinary cast and creative team at the Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn, a year after its brief run at the smaller Soho Rep, and two months after winning the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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lazyreviewstudent7-blog · 7 years ago

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REVIEWED: "THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND" (2006)

Yes, there has been a change of plan. Owing to writing constraints and me having watched other films more recently, we have a different first review.

At this point, in the year 2017, 11 years after TLKOS was made, I feel like it’s too easy to drop into the old movie journalism trope of saying “This was a very personal film for me”. The phrase brings to mind images of dusty old critics embalmed in their black polo necks, seeking to create some kind of anecdotal gravitas by telling you a connection they have to whatever film they’re writing on. In lieu of this, I’d like to tell you of two connections I have to this film. Both, (alongside curiosity and knowledge of its acclaim), were great influences in getting me to watch the movie. In other words, these connections have a point.

Firstly, my Dad went to school with Kevin Macondald. He knew Kevin relatively well and has often remarked on what an interesting person he already was even then before his career in film. Secondly, the great African dictator Idi Amin had always casually fascinated me after I was told my Mum saw him buying a pint of milk in Saudi Arabia during his exile. This truly weird and unique belittling of a man well known for his brutality and feared persona drove me to wonder: What was he really like?

“The Last King of Scotland” is not, as I myself believed at first glance, based on an entirely true story. It is an adaptation of Giles Foden’s 1998 modern historical fiction of the same name. It tells the story of a young Scottish doctor, (James McAvoy) who through both a chance encounter in the Ugandan countryside, and his nationality, becomes personal physician to President Idi Amin, (Forrest Whittaker). The narrative then tracks the twosome’s respective downfalls, Amin’s real life descent into paranoia and political nightmare after political nightmare, and Dr Garrigan’s imagined downfall brought on by Amin’s destructive lifestyle. The DVD blurb describes Garrigan being “…Blinded by his (Amin’s) decadence”, an apt description as the young man’s initial dreams of worthwhile and altruistic medical work are tainted into a whirlwind of free-spirited women, booze and parties.

While Whittaker and McAvoy dominate the screen for the most part, TLKOS hides a very effective and perhaps under-appreciated supporting cast. Gillian Anderson burns twice as bright but half as long, (given only bookended appearances at the beginning and end) as the conflicted but well-meaning wife to Adam Kotz’s Dr Merrit, Garrigan’s original boss. The warm chemistry between her and McAvoy is used cleverly by Macdonald to foreshadow Garrigan’s decadence when he attempts an affair with her behind Merrit’s back. Meanwhile Simon McBurney’s smarmy British diplomat Stone instils dread most effectively, coming off as a cross between Lost Highway’s Mystery Man and Michael from Mean Streets. Stone is a perfect secondary antagonist, one that is both willing to manipulate Garrigan for the government’s benefit all the while without a shred of compassion. The single-mindedness with which he constantly haunts and pesters Garrigan recalls Richard Romanus’s ever-present and quietly menacing mafioso in Scorese’s Little Italy. Last comes Kerry Washington in the roll of Kaye Amin, the dictator’s estranged and neglected wife of an epileptic son. With a startlingly accurate portrayal of the Ugandan accent and her character’s identity, Washington delivers a tragic and sensitive performance and works well alongside McAvoy. It is their joint story arch, somewhat predictable at first but improved as the story marches on, that makes the third act so shocking and edge-of-the-seat.

Concluding my views on TLKOS’s acting, I feel it would be pointless to shower as much praise on Forrest Whittaker’s Amin and McAvoy’s Garrigan as has already been written. Suffice to say that both are fantastic performances full of heart and stolid understanding of their respective characters motivations and identities. Though Whittaker may steal the show with what has been called “One of the great performances of modern movie history”, McAvoy is right there behind yet mostly beside him, delivering on every level one would expect of his character. Garrigan is fleshed out and deepened in tandem with Amin, yet McAvoy does not let this slow development hinder his performance.

Macdonald’s direction and Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography are sharp and on point. Interesting use is made of montage to convey both symbolism and build emotional and situational tension. Scenes are shot with an Alfonso Cuaron-ish clarity and realism, full of verisimilitude and appearing to place the viewer directly into the narrative and plot. The soundtrack and music often stands out with Alex Heffes’s score jumping from non-existent to full or raw passion and fury, (sometimes even with a beautifully authentic Ugandan and African flavour), with the speed and immediacy of a well oiled machine or highly trained dog.

THE VERDICT: A thoroughly enjoyable, thrilling and above all intelligent semi-fictional biopic that both entertains and introspects without losing any balance or misfiring too hard. The Last King of Scotland is a must watch for fans of Whittaker, McAvoy and proper “Good old fashioned” performance-driven cinema.

ACTING: 9/10

CINEMATOGRAPHY: 8/10

STORY (PLOT, NARRATIVE ETC.): 8/10

OVERALL: 8.8/10

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gracelowrie1 · 8 years ago

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Ten Favourite Book Romances

I enjoy reading a wide range of fiction in a variety of different genres and my favourite authors range from Iain Banks to Sarah Waters; Chuck Palanhiuk to George R.R. Martin; and Kate Atkinson to Stieg Larsson. But I write Women’s Fiction and mainly Romance so I’ve come up with a list of ten favourites.

While not all are classed as ‘Romances’ these books contain love stories that inspire me. I am drawn to those with an unusual quirk to them, a sinister edge or a tragic undercurrent – traits that I try to bring to my own work. To narrow down the selection I’ve excluded fave classics such as Pride and Prejudice, and focused on those published within my lifetime. (The list is arranged alphabetically, because that was easier than trying to order them by preference).

Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan

Archer Hale, the tortured male lead in this story, is both original and beautifully compelling and the main reason this book made such an impression on me. Bree Prescott is a girl with her own problems, but has the right combination of skill and determination, to draw Archer out of his shell.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

A masterfully written book, by one of my favourite authors, which starts in 1935 and takes us on through the Second World War. The potential relationship between Cecilia and Robbie, is witnessed second-hand through the eyes of Cecilia’s younger sister Briony, and yet it is as romantic, powerful and moving as any I’ve ever read.

Control by Charlotte Stein

I’m a huge fan of this author’s work – she has a distinctive, almost neurotic style of writing, which quickly becomes addictive. This is the story of a woman torn between two, very different, potential lovers and the book is both erotically charged and laugh-out-loud funny in places. I can’t recommend it enough.

Gabriel’s Inferno by Sylvain Reynard

For those who like a bit of taboo, this explores the relationship between a university professor and his student, and has a deliciously Gothic feel; woven out of literary themes of sin, hell and spiritual love. I must admit I didn’t enjoy the second book in this series as much, but I highly recommend this first one.

Night Owl by M. Pierce

This book also features an enigmatic male lead, in the form of reclusive writer Matt Sky, who is as bold and darkly intriguing as he is secretive. This book is the first in a trilogy, and although I’ve yet to read the third, I definitely recommend the first two.

One Day by David Nicholls

The quirk of this book is how it cleverly follows the relationship between two people over twenty years, but only on the same day of each year. The characters of Emma and Dexter are brilliantly written and believable and the story moved me to tears.

On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

The enduring appeal of this gem of a book for me, aside from the main characters being stranded together on a desert island, is the unusual dynamic between the two – Anna is thirteen years older than TJ and was due to be his tutor before they found themselves marooned. But as they struggle to survive, with only each other to rely on, the years pass and their relationship strengthens and deepens.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

A gripping time-slip novel set in rugged Scotland. Claire, the heroine, is feisty and determined, and Jamie Fraser – a true hero in every sense of the word – is perhaps my favourite leading male character of all time. I don’t usually choose to read historical novels, generally preferring a contemporary atmosphere, but I am in awe of this author’s epic work and am currently reading the eighth book in this phenomenal series.

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

I first devoured this book, in one sitting, when I was just a teenager and I have never forgotten it. The poignant story of two people who meet and have a brief tender affair in middle age, is as memorable for its quietly beautiful setting, as it is for the fact it made me cry.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

An enduring favourite and one of those books that really made me want to write. Henry is a sporadic time traveller but with no control over his ability, which often leads him to some dark places. The journey of Clare and Henry’s unusual relationship (she has known him since she was a child) is deeply emotional and told from both points of view.

What are your ten favourite book romances?

#books #romance

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gildeddamselfly · 8 years ago

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When beauty transcends from within: Beauty and the Beast Review

“Look...look at me. Come wake me up, for so here I be.”

*Spoiler Alert*

I didn’t expect myself to write a review of the most highly anticipated Beauty and the Beast, but now that I’m fresh out of the cinema I just HAD to pen down something. I somehow knew that this movie was not just going to be child-friendly, the plot was also going to be refreshing from a young adult’s perspective. But I definitely didn’t see how the plot could be so cleverly created, even while delivering a fairytale like no other.

Beauty and the Beast was beautiful, so elegantly and timelessly beautiful. The movie was captivating from start to finish, and I was just so fascinated by the breathtaking scenery and the warm welcome into Belle’s world. Every scene was shot so perfectly, every mood was on point and the emotions hit all the right spots. Even scenes that I never knew I could feel so strongly for made me tear up, and mind you I had to blink away tears 95% of the time because all the emotions kept pouring forth scene after scene.

Characters, be my guest

Of course, the movie wouldn’t have been this amazing if not for its exceptional actors. I love the diversity of the actors, they brought their own unique spin to a classic and made it relevant to events happening in the real world. What I also loved about this film is that no character was singled out and they were given powerful personalities (even the most minor characters like the three village bimbos caught my attention). Every character had sufficient character development and I was so glad that the movie presented them all to me. It’s like having my cake and eating it too.

Belle: To be honest I’ve always seen Emma Watson as Hermione Granger growing up so when she was cast as Belle I begin to worry if her Harry Potter side would show up anywhere during the film. It did - at first, because who wouldn’t see her as Hermione whenever she appears in a cinema after the Harry Potter series? But it wasn’t long before Belle appeared. Bookworm Belle who wanted adventure, puzzled Belle when she discovered the talking antiques, and finally Belle in her famous yellow ball gown. I certainly cannot move on with her dress, it was so simple and yet it looked so beautifully elegant on her! Also Belle was, as the film would say, ‘wise beyond her years’, and I liked how she found out her mother was fearless, for in the later parts of the movie she too became courageous in the face of danger and was able to look past Beast’s outer features and loved him anyway. It broke my heart as Belle had tears in her eyes when she had to decide between leaving Beast or saving her father from Gaston’s cruel lies, and I rejoiced with her when she got her most beloved Beast back. I saw how Emma was greatly invested in her role and she really did prove herself that she was worthy to be a princess of her own, on her own. She saved her prince and became her own kind of Belle, and it was spectacular.

(A D O R A B L E .)

Beast: Probably one of my favourite characters in the movie!!! Dan Stevens really brought Beast alive in this one. Beast in the animated film was very subtle, probably because it’s a children’s movie and it would be too complicated to show more sides of him but I am really really glad that Dan was given a LOT more character development in this remake. We don’t just see him as a selfish and angry beast, but rather we see a stripped down version of Prince Adam who had lost everything and is agonizingly serving his eternal punishment. We see an uncertain Adam who could have had so much potential to be good and kind-hearted if it hadn’t been for his mother’s demise and his tyrant father, and we see how he willingly accepted his fate when he selflessly let Belle go and yet, still longed for her to come back. He went through so much as compared to his arrogant self at the start of the movie, now he’s just so worn out and deep inside he’s filled with sorrow and vulnerability which he keeps caged up under his beastly fur. I begin to question the enchantress’ motive of making him a beast forever like helloooo he’s just misunderstood and now that he’s changed his ways you want to punish him for eternity? I guess it’s a 'good for him, he deserved it’ kind of thing but still his situation is so sad and I just want to hug him and wish he’d find someone to end his misery. Maybe the enchantress found some good in him, and made him a beast to make him realise it on his own, and I was glad Beast really learned from his lesson, to discover his own true beauty in kindness.

Gaston: Luke Evans did really good being the main antagonist of the movie. He made Gaston so full of himself that he doesn’t know that he’s already being a jerk. I don’t know why the enchantress hadn’t made a move on him, he’s so much more arrogant than Beast is but I think Gaston got the worst punishment of all, which is falling from a damaged bridge. Ah, what a happy ending.

LeFou: I have absolutely no idea why this character is being bashed just because he’s gay. Come on, people should really look beyond LeFou’s gender identity and see his personality. LeFou had a moral compass, but was just blinded by his unrequited love for Gaston. I wished we had more of this guy singing about following his heart or staying true to himself, but I guess changing to Mrs Potts’ side in the end would suffice. I was so so glad he got his happy ending too, when he ended up with one of the male villagers! More than anything, LeFou was a bright addition to the BatB world and I think Josh Gad is a brilliant actor!

Lumiere, Cogsworth and Enchantress: Really glad more of these characters were brought into the light! Actually it’s wonderful that the important antiques were given more exposure. I feel like I can empathize with their struggles more, and you can feel their helplessness after getting into this mess the enchantress created (tbh the enchantress should receive the Most Annoying Award at intruding and manipulating people’s lives). You can see Lumiere is a natural leader here, maybe a little too much because I sense that he’s just helping the Beast and Belle more for saving himself and the antiques rather than seeing a better change in his master. Maybe it’s just a teeny weeny flaw, but overall my vibes on Lumiere is still very positive. I actually like Cogsworth’s realism and cynicism, it offsets Lumiere’s optimism in a good-humored way, and they make really great bros. At least now the enchantress seems more tangible, she plays the moving silhouette among the villagers and silently helps for the greater good.

(I completely had no clue that Ian McKellen is Cogsworth! Well, it does makes sense for a metal-attracting superhero to become a clock. HAHA.)

Plumette, Maestro Cadenza, Madame de Garderobe: I guess these were probably the minor minor antiques, but they were still impactful as characters as they were the companions of the other antiques. It’s nice to know that they’re still a team all these years and they’re constantly supporting each other along with Beast. It’s not easy being stuck in a crumbling castle, never-ending winter and the dire possibility of turning into objects, but I really have to commend their positivity.

Mrs Potts and Chip: I don’t know why these characters is the most heartwarming ones out of the antiques, they’re such an adorable mother-son pair. I think Mrs Potts is more empathetic than Lumiere in the sense that she also wants the best for Beast, and wants him to bring back the nice and kind prince he was supposed to be. And Chip is so bright and pure you just wish he’d become a boy and enjoy the childhood he never got to experience after the tragedy. Did you guys also realise that the first character Belle talked to was Mr Potts? He was looking for something but he couldn’t remember what it was. It was only at the end of the movie did we realise that he was missing his wife and son. *did you hear my heart breaking*

Maurice and the villagers: I’m assuming that Belle’s kingdom is a small kingdom nestled in a rural countryside in Normandy, and that is why there is only one village called Villenueve. I like how we’re getting to know Belle’s father as a man trying to be strong for his daughter after losing his wife. This backstory really gives Maurice more depth and we see him more than just an artist, and I want to applaud him for being given a singing scene. We may not have seen him as much as the antiques, but his role is pivotal to Belle’s courage and compassion towards Beast. The villagers however, led a simple life and never did aspire for the greater things in life. Them making fun of Belle’s wisdom and seeing the Beast for his appearance just shows how close-minded they are, and it reflects human inability to accept differing values and opinions and human reluctance in response to change. I wish there was more about what happened to the villagers now that they remember the prince, and how they decide to dream big just like Belle.

Now I know she’ll never leave me Even as she runs away She will still torment me, calm me, hurt me Move me, come what may

Wasting in my lonely tower Waiting by an open door I’ll fool myself she’ll walk right in And be with me for evermore

- Evermore, Dan Stevens

Significant transformations

In the animated movie, Beast was still aging because the spell can only be broken 'before the Prince’s 21st birthday’, but in this remake he too became ageless. I assume it has been 20 years since he turned into a beast, since he knows about the plague that killed Belle’s mother.

I absolutely loved how they brought in the backstory for Belle and Beast, I think it tied well in the story and gave us more insight to their upbringing. Now we know where Belle got her courage and wisdom from, and why the kind Adam was influenced by his father to be proud and conceited. At the start of the movie we see that Belle always requested a rose from her father every year, and at first I thought that it had some connection to Beast’s enchanted rose. But when she and Beast went to her old home in Paris we discover that she had a rose rattle as a gift from her mother, so it was as if her mother led her to Beast through that figurative symbol, and suddenly you get that sharp tinge of sadness.

The enchanted map is a gift to Beast from the enchantress, a travelling device that can take anyone to a place he or she most desires. I think this is a nice addition because this means that Beast doesn’t have to stay in the castle all the time (though maybe he’d rather stay in the castle because people would be frightened of him and he’d be hiding everywhere he goes), and this is Belle’s wish of wanting to venture out being granted. I’m very sure this is not the only time Belle and Beast travelled out of the castle, and I wish the film could have showed more of their adventures!

LeFou’s character was a really significant step into bringing an unconventional character into the adaptation of a child’s classic. A tribute to the director of the first movie, LeFou was a nod to character diversity and it played out excellentfor this movie, well done! *applause*

The new songs just took the feels to the next. Level. Maurice’s song about longing for his wife and Beast’s 'Evermore’ about waiting for Belle to come back to him really tugged at my thickest heartstrings and it left me wishing they could be truly happy again. Celine Dion’s 'How Does A Moment Last Forever’ concluded the film in a powerful and heartfelt note, and this is probably the first time I’m still crying during the credits scene. You won me over, Disney.

Favourite Belle/Beast moments:

When they were talking about their favourite novels. I’m glad that Belle finally found someone who shared her intellect, I can imagine them arguing about poets and authors for the rest of their lives.

Not to mention the famous ballroom scene. It was simple and didn’t feel grand, but the slow dance and atmosphere was so calming and the whole thing left me breathless and in awe. It didn’t need a fancy orchestra nor glittering chandeliers, the moment was already magical.

When Belle watched Beast turn into human again, and they stared at each other in wonder as they walked towards each other. When they held each other’s faces as Belle looks for her Beast and Beast looks at Belle with human eyes, finally together again. I could feel all the emotions in that scene alone and I was practically tearing up when their disbelief turned to realisation and then to pure happiness. *holds hand to heart and cries tears of joy*

Beast’s growl in response to the beard question went from 0-100 realllll quick. HAHAHA that aside, Belle and Beast had a beautiful relationship, and that’s what keeps me invested in them that they will live out their happily ever after.

And I loved that as Belle and Beast were dancing at the ending they were smiling the same way when they were still getting to know each other before romantic love blossomed. I am incredibly happy that they still remained amicable throughout the film and it really just shows that their love is so genuine, and I think that’s really beautiful.

That being said, this is probably the BEST remake ever, even outshining Cinderella a hundred times over. I think if Disney had never had the animated version in the first place I would still have felt all the emotions.

I wouldn’t say it was the perfect Disney remake for everyone, but it was the perfect balance of all things beautiful. The cinematography, the animation, the landscape, the costumes, the musicals, the character portrayal, everything was so beautifully put and thought out. I really have to commend the directors for taking inspiration from a classic and turning it into a tale that will go as old as time. After all, who would ever NOT love a story of how a beautiful girl went against all odds to love a beast?

Review: 4.2/5.0

My thoughts: *cries the entire movie* — Gaston is actually pretty hot lmao — LeFou is a lovestruck “le fool” ahahaha get it get it — awww Belle is falling for Beast — *speechless over ballroom scene* — my heart cries with Beast — Prince Adam is so handsome!!! — ahhhhhh lovely ending — *still crying at the credits scene*

My takeaway: True beauty comes from within, and we should all learn to look beyond to see the beauty that is inside all of us 🌹

(Picture sources: Facebook & Tumblr)

#beauty and the beast #belle #lefou #review #emma watson #dan ste #josh gad #mine

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segnalibroblog · 8 years ago

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Deadly Game (Orenda Books) by Matt Johnson

Today is the day that I get to post my review for the blog tour for a much awaited novel, ever since I had the fantastic honour of revealing the intriguing cover of Deadly Game by Matt Johnson last year. I have been a great supporter of Matt Johnson since his first book, Wicked Game, was my inspiration to start book reviewing, so I was particularly keen to get my hands on a copy of his book. Also, Orenda Books never disappoints, so when this book arrived, I started reading it straight away.

Robert Finlay is back and whilst he is struggling with the mental after-effects of the near-death experiences of himself and his wife, Jenny, he is trying his best to move on with his life. However, when he saves the life of the daughter of a Romanian publisher, Gheorghe Cristea, after an apparent chance encounter on a diving holiday, Finlay finds himself in danger yet again. Whilst investigating the murder of escaped slave trafficking victim, Relia Stanga, with his new team, Finlay finds himself questioning his judgement yet again, and as the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder take hold, Finlay’s marriage and his life is on the line. To add to Finlay’s misery, old ghosts seem to be raising their ugly heads and Finlay is struggling to work out what is genuine danger and what is just his paranoia getting the better of him.

Having suffered with PTSD himself, Johnson brings a real authenticity to Finlay’s suffering, as Finlay’s paranoia is another enemy that he has to try and outsmart. Finlay flits between vulnerable and heroic as he tries to manage his symptoms, whilst attempting to return to a sense of normality. Finlay doesn’t know who to trust, but nor does the reader, which adds to the mystery of who knows what and who is pulling the strings. Johnson writes Finlay so beautifully to generate the readers sympathy for this man who appreciates where his flaws are but who has such astute instincts that even when he is under pressure, he can still come out fighting and be able to weigh up a difficult situation and to know how to respond.

Johnson strategically manoeuvres Finlay through a world of spies, criminals and crime fighters, and as the authorities seem to all be at odds with each other, Finlay seems to be an almost impartial element who will follow his instincts more than he would follow the status quo. Where there should be a sense of protection from these various agencies, their motives are thrown into doubt throughout and Finlay is left to try and sift through the various viewpoints and game plans to try and work out what is true and what is staged for the greater good. Johnson provides enough authenticity to the roles and procedures of these various agencies that the reader is left to work out with Finlay who are the good guys and who are the bad guys and Finlay’s PTSD provides the reader with enough doubt in Finlay’s decision-making to generate lots of twists and turns and tension throughout.

Cleverly written, the intricate character building and changes in narrative voice has created a beautifully confusing plot as the reader doesn’t know who to trust. Also, the fear and worry of the one woman who knows Finlay better than anyone, his wife Jenny, further gives the reader a sense of doubt in their flawed hero. I made it clear in my review of Wicked Game that I loved the character of Jenny, and that hasn’t changed a bit. Although we don’t hear a lot from her in Deadly Game, she is undoubtedly the most important influence to Finlay and most in tune with his fluctuating emotions. Whilst I love Jenny and her input, it actually works to have her only in a few important scenes in the novel, as she is the key to determining just how much Finlay has a grip on things. These little hints are enough to confirm to the reader that Finlay is far from okay, but doesn’t completely obliterate the reader’s faith in Finlay by potentially giving too much information on just how much Jenny is concerned for her husband. Johnson’s care in building in each character up and revealing them just enough is key to how this book grips the reader and he gets it perfectly right.

Johnson has honed in on real issues which undoubtedly remind the reader of genuine atrocities that plague the U.K. The focus on human trafficking from Eastern Europe is not a fictitious problem and he takes great care to show how this occurs. He starts the book with Relia Stanga’s story, her belief that she is going to a better life, and the result of how this turns out for her is further explored throughout the book. Again, his extrapolation of real issues adds to the authenticity of his novel and definitely gives the reader plenty of food for thought. Johnson gives the reader an awareness of an issue perhaps not given a lot of thought to, which is a commendable thing to do in the writing of his book. Indeed, the promotional video issued by Johnson for Deadly Game focuses on the real problem of human trafficking more than the promotion of his novel.

Deadly Game does not disappoint at all. I loved reading this novel as much as I hoped I would. I love that the focus is more on Finlay’s state of mind rather than the action as we wind our way through the story. Again, awareness of an important issue, PTSD, is paramount for Johnson and this undoubtedly gives the novel a really interesting dimension. Rather than the main protagonist just doubting himself, he has a real issue that often prevents him from making sense of what is going on. Whilst the plot reaches a definite conclusion, Johnson leaves the reader with a sense of more to come. I am very much looking forward to Finlay’s next story, and would like to state my intention, here and now, that I would love to be on the blog tour for the next book too, please. In case there was any doubt… 🙂

Deadly Game (Orenda Books) by Matt Johnson was originally published on segnalibro.co.uk

#Blog Tour #book review #Crime Novel #Deadly Game #Matt Johnson #Orenda Books