#this time its set in 1986 with hope and i think its kind of cute :')) hope you like it too!

[erineverly]

father’s day drabble. childhood verse ( 1986. )

        chocolate waves settle around her sun-kissed cheeks, ocean hues impossibly bright and crinkled at the very corners by the force of one of the most dazzling grins this world has ever seen. especially so early in the morning. propped up on her elbow, erin feels her chest expanding with an immeasurable amount of LOVE. her whole being fills with a nearly overwhelming sense of warmth. the look of utter adoration hasn’t left her sleepy features ever since she opened her eyes and laid them on her daughter. their daughter. their ray of sunshine. their HOPE. the tiniest, most precious gift sent to her and her childhood best friend ( the man she gets to call her husband now ) straight from the heavens above is lying right beside her. little toes peeking from a soft blanket, petal-colored lips adorned with a smile as sweet as sugar and these eyes — a deep shade of green, two sparkling emeralds just like her father’s, shot through with tiny specks of gold and silver, gentle and endearing and oh so mesmerizing. her skin feels so delicate beneath her mother’s loving palm as she affectionately begins to stroke her beautiful strawberry locks, smoothing out any invisible tangles. and she smells so divine that it’s intoxicating. erin finds herself breathing the scent of her favorite little human in as she leans closer to plant a tender kiss on her dimpled, drool-covered cheek. her pink pacifier must have fallen out in the middle of the night, now tangled somewhere in the sheets but it apparently doesn’t matter — hope is the happiest baby on the planet.

         “hello, little lion cub. hi. did you sleep well? looks like you did, huh? almost all night without waking up. mommy’s so proud of you. you’re getting so big. good morning, sweet princess,” the brunette coos quietly, pecking the sensitive spot right beneath her baby’s chin while rubbing her belly and making her giggle in a way that’s so impossibly charming. the sound so beautiful that it puts all the love songs to shame. ( it’s one of many things hope and her dada have in common — axl too responds with laughter every time he gets showered with kisses ). tiny hands rising above her head, fingers grabbing erin’s long curls, lithe body squirming as it’s being attacked with endless affection. the sounds of utter happiness exploding from both of their chests, bouncing around the bedroom walls. the way the little girl is beaming at her mother makes erin feel like the luckiest person on earth. she has no idea how someone so tiny, someone who came into her life way too early and rather unexpectedly, can so effortlessly rock her whole world, turn it upside down without even intending to do so. hope has been absently doing it for seven months now, making her mother’s heart flutter. ever since erin first heard this weak, heart-wrenching cry in the delivery room, she’s been wrapped around her daughter’s small finger.

         “you’re so pretty. how did you get this pretty, huh? the prettiest girl i’ve ever seen. are you an ANGEL? you are, aren’t you? where are your wings then? where are you hiding them, my little rose petal?” giggling, she carefully pulls the blanket down as if to search for those missing wings. with a pearly white grin embellishing her features, erin nuzzles into hope’s belly before blowing a raspberry against her skin. kissing her thighs and feet next, the brunette could spend hours just loving on and marveling at their perfect miracle. tiny fists pulling at her curls, legs kicking in anticipation — hope’s definitely enjoying being the center of attention. she is her father’s daughter in every way. it’s something that never fails to amuse erin. how alike they are. “you look just like your daddy, you know that? you even have his cute nose,” erin muses happily, pressing her lips to the beautifully-curved slope of her daughter’s nose, planting a kiss there. “and his chubby cheeksies and these adorable dimples. they’re called heart-thieves, you know?” gently pinching one of them before squishing them together and making the baby giggle wildly. “his hair and chin and eyes and… you’re just a mini axy, aren’t you? my perfect little simba. baby simba.” the curly-haired girl can’t help but drink this moment in, let her heart continue to swell, listening to their daughter’s adorable babbling as her fingers absently tickle her sides. she still can’t believe that this awe-inspiring creature is really theirs. her and axl’s. how is it possible? how can two flawed human beings bring to life someone so absolutely perfect in every way? it seems impossible and yet somehow it did happen. they’ve been blessed.  

         hearing her baby coo happily and seeing her wiggle her arms in excitement, the young model can’t imagine a more perfect way to start the day. at least not until she looks around and realizes that there’s one very important person missing — the most important man in her life. she immediately changes her mind. she CAN definitely imagine a more perfect morning… one where he’s right by her side, where it’s not just her melting every time their daughter lets out a joyous squeak or blesses her with a smile. a morning where they’re both spoiling her with their attention and LOVE. unfortunately, right now only an old teddy bear and a couple of pillows occupy axl’s side of the bed ( making sure that even if hope does roll over during the night, she at least won’t fall off the mattress and hurt herself ) and it feels extremely cold and empty without the redhead there.  

         physically, he might not be that far away. her husband is sleeping on the couch in the living room, just a few feet away — erin knows for certain because she heard him when he came back to their apartment mere minutes before dawn, he’d probably tried his best to be quiet but still managed to knock something over and made a lot of noise. but it’s not the physical aspect of separation that bothers her. when it comes to the emotional part of their relationship not just the literal distance separating them, it seems to erin that they’re not even just miles but galaxies and light years apart at this point. there’s an enormous gap between them and they only let it expand as days go by. somehow they’ve lost themselves somewhere along the way, went from being best friends and soulmates to complete STRANGERS in a matter of just few months. it’s terrifying but this is what’s been happening to them.

         axl has been working his butt off to make sure that his family is not starving, that they have everything they might need, that they have enough money to pay the bills so that they won’t end up on the streets with a baby. he’s holding onto any part-time job he can find for dear life and it’s still not enough. then every night he’s out, chasing what’s left of his dreams, screaming his lungs out on the sunset strip while erin’s stuck home with their daughter. it seems to the young girl that he’s hardly ever there with them ( or for them ) and when he finally does come back to his wife and child, he’s too exhausted to play with hope or have long, meaningful conversations with the person he swore to LOVE for the rest of his days. which is more than just understandable but still makes the curly-haired brunette feel alone — almost as if there was a giant hole in her heart, a huge void of nothingness consuming her from the inside. she wonders if he too feels this way sometimes or if he’s already learned how to live without any kind of closeness or intimacy. without kisses and hugs and sweet words. he eats, showers and sleeps as much as he can so that he can get up and go to work again the next day. erin feels extremely guilty for wanting his attention, for feeling like he’s forgotten about her and their daughter ( when in reality he’s basically sacrificing his dreams and his future for them ) and for not being able to help him support their family financially.

         their differences create a lot of tension and misunderstandings between them. they barely even talk these days and all they do when they finally do get to have a conversation is argue. sometimes, it feels like they’re just trying to survive from one argument to another, make it out alive so they can try and rip each other’s throats out the next morning.

         when a few days ago, erin got a call from her agent, telling her that they wanted her in new york, they wanted her to model for them — axl flipped even though she hadn’t made up her mind yet. he told her that he didn’t want her to live on the other coast, to abandon him and their daughter when they most needed her, accused her of being money-hungry and doing everything to run away from her family because she’s just an immature kid herself. he said she let him down, called her a bad mother and then they both ended up sobbing in separate rooms, feeling like their world was falling to pieces. it felt like the ground was shrinking beneath their feet and they could only watch, helpless and hurt.

         they break up at least once a month and they accuse each other of all sorts of unspeakable crimes, from lying to cheating and everything in between. curses and horrible names echoing throughout their apartment. frustrations brimming in both of their hearts, anger boiling in their bodies. there are nights when nothing within their reach is safe, flowers and vases flying around, shattering as soon as they meet the nearest hard surface, picture frames breaking, window panes rattling. it usually ends when they get greeted by the sound of the most pitiful wailing coming from their bedroom and a red-faced, terrified baby with tears running down her porcelain cheeks waiting for them to come back to their senses. to stop breaking her only home up. but there are moments when not even hope is enough to pacify them, when one of them has to walk out and slam the door before something horrendous happens.

         they’re young. too young. barely even in their twenties. and there’s too much on their plate. it’s something that erin desperately doesn’t want to admit ( not even just to herself because it makes her feel awful, as if she was the worst person on this planet ), but ever since their daughter was born, neither she nor axl have been the same. that’s when their priorities changed drastically, when most of their dreams went out the window.

         ever since they were little children, ever since the day when the bashful, strawberry-haired boy in adorable glasses offered his awkward, chicken-legged friend with rosy cheeks a cherry-flavored ring pop and promised to marry her for real ( not under another oak tree ) one day, erin and axl have both known that being a mother and a father is their biggest dream. they’ve always valued the same things — not money, not fame but family because at the end of the day, having someone to rely on is the only thing that truly matters. they’ve always wanted to stick together and build a happy, loving home for themselves and their future children. when they ran away from lafayette, made it all the way across the country from indiana to california without anyone’s help, they had one of many serious conversations about their plans for the next few years. it all seemed rather simple and didn’t involve barely making ends meet or raising a child while living in a one bedroom apartment in a rather rowdy, dangerous neighborhood. they’ve learned the hard way that nothing in life goes as planned, that fate always laughs when it hears people talking about the days that are about to come as if they had any control over those when the truth is… they don’t have much to say in that matter, they have no idea what’s waiting for them around the corner.

         when on a cold, autumn evening their newborn baby’s cries filled the room, erin knew their lives would never be the same again but she had no idea just how different everything was going to be. she remembers axl bursting into tears of nothing but relief and joy, squeezing her hand harder than ever to keep himself from bouncing up and down or perhaps even fainting. the second he turned his glossy emeralds to her, kissed her forehead and in a voice that she’d never heard before assured her that their daughter was just PERFECT, so beautiful and most importantly healthy, she knew that he was going to be the most caring and loving father. her worries about him running away from responsibility, choosing something else over her and their baby melted away that day. despite her own tears and exhaustion, she graced him with a warm smile and a look that said we’ll make it, we’ll survive every storm, not just you and i, but us as a family. she let her tired eyes flicker away from his handsome face and glance down at the most precious gift she’d ever received. trying to take in their daughter’s beauty, erin thought that someone must have taken her back in time because she was holding a miniature version of her own husband in her arms. shedding the sweetest tears she’d ever known, all the pain of moments before fading away.

         with all the vivid memories from that special day coming back to life, flooding her brain with short videos, different voices and the words of the promises they made then, erin is reminded of just how important axl is. how important he’s ALWAYS been to her and much she LOVES him. their daughter will never have a better father and she will never be able to find herself a better husband. not that she even wants to. he’s the only one for them, the only man erin wants to share the rest of her life with, build a better future with. he’s her soulmate and despite the awful things they’ve said and done recently, she’s determined to fight for their marriage.

         fortunately for erin, she can save it all today. because today is a very important day and she can easily make it mean even more to her husband — the day every man wants to celebrate but not everyone gets lucky enough to do so. father’s day. the very first one for axl. erin wants to make it count. when she puts her pride and ridiculous anger aside, when she locks all the jealousy and worries out, she can see clearly just how much he deserves it. he deserves to be appreciated for everything he’s done for their little girl — for the countless hours he’s spent worrying and praying for her health and safety, for the nights he’s stayed by her crib just making sure she’s breathing right, for the days he’s held her in his arms to make her feel wanted and loved.

         being a dad to a little human is always a huge responsibility, especially being a young dad when all your friends are out partying and you have to put your fun aside and come back home because there’s someone waiting for you, someone who’s dependent entirely on you and just won’t survive without your help, someone so fragile and innocent, someone who needs nothing but your love to be content. it sometimes seems as difficult as rocket science, or maybe even harder than that and yet axl’s been doing so well. he’s never had a good example of how to be a dad. his father was a monster and his stepfather wasn’t much better, perhaps he was even worse with his wicked games and cruel ways. axl has never experienced an ounce of fatherly love in his life but somehow he’s managed to figure everything out on his own. he’s great with hope. PERFECT. he knows exactly what she needs even before she has the chance to cry for it. one look and he just knows. his heart is so full of love for her that it’s indescribable and immeasurable. he would reach out and steal all the stars from the sky just to make their daughter happy. he would do anything for her. and of course, some days are absolutely terrible and axl must feel like giving up. sometimes it’s all just too much for a young man who’s barely even out of diapers himself. sometimes, hope cries for what seems like an eternity, neither her mom or her dad getting much sleep but erin knows that her husband would never trade those exhausting hours for all the peace and quiet in the world ( peace and quiet seem strange and boring after knowing what their baby’s laughter sounds like ).

         the all-consuming love axl has for their daughter, how gentle he is with her, how patient and caring, how he smiles when he looks at her and how softly he sings all kinds of precious lullabies to her every night — erin knows that even though he works a lot, he doesn’t want to miss a second of these babyhood days, wants to make the best of them. he wants to be there for hope and for her. he just can’t sometimes. he’s doing something they both previously thought would be impossible. when their daughter grows up and learns about all the things her dada has done, she will see him as a superhero. superman is just a dumb guy with boring superpowers and ugly tights compared to axl.

         that’s why it’s so important to erin to make him feel special today, to thank him for being her rock, for being the best dad out there even when she’s failing as a wife and mother.

         “come on, little bird. it’s time to wake up. there’s a busy day ahead of us. we have to get ready. yes, we do,” she chirps, planting one last kiss on the baby’s forehead before she’ll climb out of bed. she opens the curtains and lets the morning light fill the room. a bright patch creeping across the pillows, warming up hope’s porcelain skin and encouraging her to babble a bit louder and more cheerfully. “what is it? the sun’s giving you kisses, too? everyone always wants to kiss my little rosie.” chuckling, erin turns to the strawberry-haired angel and carefully scoops her up. doing what axl always does to hype their baby up, she throws her into the air, up above her own head and lets her fall back right into her open arms. hope laughs and shrieks with delight. she doesn’t just look like her dad, she also has his positive, bubbly personality which isn’t something erin’s willing to complain about — it’s what makes her even more adorable. the brunette cradles her daughter to her chest, hand stroking her back and her lips attacking her sweet cheeks again. she’s irresistible.

         “what’s that smell? are you a stinky girl? are you my stinky scoob? you really are your father’s daughter, aren’t you? not happy unless you’ve made a mess that i have to clean up.” laughing quietly at her own joke, trying not to wake axl up, erin’s not really affected by the smell of baby poop after seven months of changing diapers and dealing with all kinds of dreadful explosions. she lets the baby sit on her hip while she’s spreading a clean towel on the bed. she’s learned that it’s the easiest way to avoid disgusting smears and accidents, and their mattress happens to be the perfect changing table. laying her daughter down with utmost delicacy, she already feels bad because it’s the part of their morning routine that hope absolutely hates. erin can’t really blame her — she can’t imagine just lying on her back with her butt exposed to the cool air and some nasty sticky stuff all over it. “mommy loves you. it’s no big deal. here, mister bunny wants to give you hugs.” reaching a hand out while keeping her other one on hope’s side to make sure she won’t try to roll away, erin grabs axl’s old stuffed rabbit and offers it to their daughter. the little girl’s features light up all at one, emerald eyes shining with happiness. she clumsily grabs the toy with both of her hands and brings one of its ears to her mouth. hopefully, it’s enough to occupy her for a few more minutes.

         never the one to waste time, the curly-haired brunette unclasps the white, short-sleeved onesie before entirely removing it. gently pulling one tiny arm through the hole, then another and finally tugging it over hope’s head, she takes it off rather smoothly and manages to avoid a meltdown. mister bunny really does work wonders. “naked strawberry. naked strawberry.” goofily chanting, she kisses her cute belly button and quickly gets rid of the dirty diaper. “you love your bunny, don’t you? show mommy how you give him hugs. give him a big hug, hope.” content with just sucking on his huge ear, the little girl squeezes the stuffed animal to her chest and gurgles happily. cleaning her backside with wet wipes before putting a fresh diaper on her and using more wipes to clean the rest of her body, erin considers this morning a huge success.

         “we’re going to surprise daddy with something awesome because today is daddy’s day, you know? we’ll show daddy how much we love him, okay? we’ll give him kisses and hugs and we’ll try to avoid spitting up milk on his clothes, alrighty-o? does it sound like a plan to you, little missy?” cooing to keep the baby entertained as she opens the bottom drawer and pulls out a soft, yellow romper with a smiley lion’s face printed on the front. it’s the same one that axl’s sister sent to them just a week ago, a lovely gift from hope’s godmother — something erin couldn’t thank her enough for. she knows that amy doesn’t have much herself and yet she chooses to randomly spoil her niece ( axl’s sister, mom and even his grandma have all been extremely sweet and supportive ever since they learned about their baby ). complimenting her adorable look with a headband with a big bow on it, erin decides against socks and shoes since it’s way too hot outside and hope is still too small to toddle around on her own. the brunette helps her roll onto her tummy and lets her play with her toy for a moment while she’s stuffing the diaper bag with all the essentials for their secret trip — two diapers, wipes, butt cream, a pacifier, a baby bottle filled with water, a clean onesie just in case, a burp cloth, sunscreen, her wallet. “stay here, lion girl. mommy will be right back.” once again barricading her daughter with pillows and rolled up blankets before trailing to the kitchen.

         passing by the couch, she can’t help but smile softly at the sight of peacefully sleeping axl. her first love. her husband. her favorite boy with a heart of pure gold. her chest expands, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. she’s been so mean to him lately, so unforgiving and demanding. but those days are over. he’s her whole world and she has to fight for him. “i love you so much,” she whispers while untying his heavy boots and sliding them off his feet, letting them sit on the carpet by the coffee table. it makes her feel horrible when she realizes that he must have been extremely uncomfortable with them on ( but it only shows just how exhausted he was when he came back ). carefully unbuckling his belt, she pulls down his jeans and leaves him in just his socks, boxers and black t-shirt. picking up the blanket that must have fallen when he rolled onto his back, erin affectionately tucks him in and leans in to kiss his smooth cheek. he doesn’t even smell like beer — he definitely wasn’t drinking or hanging out with other girls all night long. erin feels awful for always accusing him of such actions, of choosing someone over the two of them when it’s never true. he’s too tired to wake up but she sees the way his lips twitch, curving up into a dreamy smile and it’s enough of a reward to her. she brushes his flaming locks out of his face and softly murmurs, “you’re the best husband and daddy ever. hope and i love you. we really do.” it’s something she hasn’t said to him in a long, long time. something he’s been definitely needing to hear.

         once in the kitchen, erin finds their daughter’s bottle on the dish rack and gets her milk ready. she sprinkles a few drops on the inside of her wrist to make sure it is not too hot before grabbing a small jar of baby food ( banana and apple puree because it’s one of hope’s favorites ) and a spoon for later. she returns to the bedroom just a few seconds later. “hello, precious cupcake. did you miss me? because i missed you like cwazy! mommy’s got something yummy for you.” picking her giggly baby up, erin adjusts her headband so that it’s not sliding all the way down to her nose and places her in her car seat on the floor. little arms extending, emerald eyes alight with excitement upon seeing the familiar bottle. a small laugh emits from the brunette as she lets her have her breakfast. pink lips wrapping around the nipple, fingers gripping the bottle, hope even closes her eyes in pure contentment. it doesn’t take much to make her happy — she’s naturally a sweet, joyous baby. erin and axl have truly been blessed with such a good child. “dada would be so proud of you if he could see you now.” holding her own bottle like a pro, eating without spitting up all over herself. it’s a huge achievement for such a tiny human, erin thinks to herself, completely enamored and filled with pride. it’s only as she’s putting the baby food and the pink spoon in the diaper bag, getting ready to leave that the brunette realizes she’s still in her panties and axl’s old t-shirt. “wow, mommy has really lost her mind. she wanted to go out dressed like this. your mommy is so silly.” speaking in a sweet, soft voice, erin takes off her clothes and leaves them lying on the bed.

         she doesn’t want to wake axl up and ruin everything she’s planned for today, she takes hope with her car seat to the bathroom. “pretty poopy place to have breakfast at. i’m sorry, little bug but it’s the only way.” placing the car seat on the floor, she steps into the tub and takes a quick shower. leaving the curtain open, she just wants to keep an eye on her little one. especially while she’s eating. even though the doctor says she’s old enough and doesn’t need to be burped afterwards, the mere thought of her choking still has the tiny hairs on the back of erin’s neck rising. thanks to her daughter, the model has learned how to make her own morning routine last five minutes. drying her body with a towel, she puts on her favorite yellow sundress and fluffs up her curls. adorning her look with a dainty bracelet and a heart locket ( a valentine gift from axl ), she’s almost good to go. she puts a more or less decent makeup on and dolls herself up just as hope’s finishing her bottle. “good job, baby. we’re the best team. mommy and baby rock. we are awesome!” chuckling, she can’t believe that everything’s going so smoothly this morning — god is definitely helping her out.

         she picks the car seat with her baby up and slips her sandals on, grabbing the diaper bag, the bunny and the keys to axl’s car on her way to the front door. the redhead wouldn’t be very delighted to know that she’s left without having breakfast herself — it’s a good thing he’s still asleep. glancing down to make sure that hope isn’t squished and feeling uncomfortable, erin gently strokes her tiny feet. toes curling, a radiant grin graces her angelic features. it’s surreal to think that she and her childhood best friend really do have a baby together. a perfect baby. the most perfect baby in the world. she can’t help but marvel at their daughter some more, make goofy faces just to hear her giggle as she’s carrying her toward the staircase to take her outside of their apartment building. it makes her wonder how they could ever be so ungrateful and selfish to turn their backs on god, complain and feel like her pregnancy was a curse not a blessing, makes her want to slap her younger self now. god is the only reason they are a family. she can’t imagine her life without hope, just like she can’t imagine it without axl. today would be a sad day if she wasn’t here with them. she is the only reason why they’re celebrating after all.

         pushing the heavy door open, she’s greeted by a wave of heat and an oddly pleasant breeze that blows through her curls and smacks her cheeks. the world around her is so beautiful — the sky painted the deepest shade of blue, tiny clouds sailing across it, all the trees and flowers and butterflies are enough to turn her smile into a pearly white grin. opening the backseat to axl’s car, erin makes sure to secure the car seat in place and buckle her baby up. “will you be a sweet angel and play with mister bunny while mommy drives? please, be a good baby today. for daddy, okay?” she puts the diaper bag on the floor and gives hope her dad’s old toy to hold onto before placing a kiss on her forehead. she wonders whether she should cover her bare leggies with a blanket but decides against it. she definitely doesn’t want to overheat her baby. it’s hot enough in this car. taking her pacifier out, erin slips it in between her daughter’s plump lips to distract her in case they get stuck in morning traffic. she doesn’t forget to roll the window down just a bit because there’s no ac and they will just fry otherwise. she closes the door and circles around the car to climb into the driver’s seat. starting the car, she pulls her seat belt on as well and makes sure hope’s doing okay before backing out of the parking space. turning the radio on as for some reason music always soothes their baby, erin isn’t even surprised to find out that axl’s favorite u2 cassette is still in. the unforgettable fire album might not be very suitable for a not even one year old yet but it’s still better than anything led zeppelin. she has no doubts — their daughter will love rock n’ roll just as much as her dada does.

         making it to the mall after a very peaceful ride, erin smoothly parks the car and climbs out to get hope. usually being on the road, the gentle rocking back and forth, the hum of the engine are enough to lull her baby to sleep but not this time. this time, she’s still wide awake and contently squishing her bunny’s legs with her chubby hands. “we’ve made it and you’ve been such a sweet little angel. mommy’s so proud of you.” rubbing her belly, erin picks up the car seat and throws the diaper bag over her shoulder before shutting the door with her foot. the little girl is squealing, clapping her hands and babbling around her paci as she’s being carried inside. hypnotized by all the lights and strange faces, she’s not fussing around and rather taking everything in. with brilliant grins on their faces, they walk into axl’s favorite record store first. it really must be erin’s lucky day because it turns out that one of their old friends, john, is working today. he’s sweet enough to have a small conversation with her and even compliment her looks and hope’s outfit, ask about their lives and axl’s band. erin eagerly answers all of his questions, asks some of her own, happy to learn that their mutual friend has been doing great. he helps her pick two vinyls ( one of elton’s and van halen’s newest album ) that aren’t in her husband’s collection yet, a few band pins that he can put on his denim jacket and an ac/dc t-shirt that will look beautiful on him.

         “your daddy’s going to love all these things. you have such a great taste, little lady,” john muses, fascinated by this tiny creature and how her features resemble his friend’s. even when she laughs, her cheeks dimple just like his. it’s wild. he doesn’t want to take any money from erin but after her endless pleading and nagging, he has no other choice. he makes her pay only half of the price and accepts the invitation to dinner next sunday. collecting the bag, the brunette gives their friend a smile and thanks him for helping her out, and entertaining hope.

         the list of the places they have to visit isn’t short but as long as hope’s content, erin doesn’t mind carrying her around. even though she regrets not taking the stroller. her skinny arms are definitely going to ache by the time they make it back home.

         after the record store, they head towards the one with all kinds of home goods. she finds a beautiful album ( where she’ll later put pictures with axl and hope, add cute captions ) and decides to buy it. picking a few cards, she lets her daughter grab the one she likes best — which turns out to be the heart-shaped one. “good job. it’s my favorite, too. daddy will love it so much. he’s going to give you a big kiss.” definitely more than one big kiss. erin’s heart begins to race at the mere thought of axl’s reaction when he sees these things. he probably doesn’t expect anything. there’s even a corner in this store where people can decorate the cards as they please, with colorful markers and glitter and stickers and the curly-haired girl doesn’t hesitate to go there. sitting down on a chair, she unbuckles her daughter and puts her on her lap. she can’t hold a crayon yet but with a little help from her mom, they create a beautiful drawing of their little family — they even include mister bunny as he is without a doubt a very important member. taking a purple sharpie, erin carefully writes in beautiful cursive:

                           happy first father’s day, dada!!           i can’t speak yet and mommy has to help me pour my thoughts onto paper so it’s a good thing that we both agree — you are the best daddy ever!!! and we LOVE you so so so much!!! thank you for singing me my favorite songs even when you’re tired and for telling me all these awesome stories about princesses and lions and puppies before bed. thank you for changing my stinky diapers without puking and never complaining even when you sometimes struggle. thank you for letting me sleep on your chest ( as we all know that it’s my favorite pillow ) and for always rubbing and kissing my belly when it hurts. i know that you sometimes doubt yourself and think you’re failing me but mom and i STRONGLY disagree — you’ll always be the best in our eyes. i’ll one day tell you just how much i love you but for now you have to trust mom and the sloppy kisses i shower you with on that! i don’t drool on just anybody, okay?           LOVE YOU,         HOPE aka your little rose petal.

         bouncing the baby on her knee, erin puts the sharpie down and kisses her daughter’s cheek. she wraps her arms around her and gives her little body a gentle squeeze. “do you like it? what do you think about it? i love it, you know? i think it’s perfect. we did a great job on that.” chuckling, erin carefully lowers her daughter into her car seat and straps her in. picking up all the bags and making sure nothing gets left behind, she pays for the card and the album and leaves the store. they go to the donut shop next. she gets him a dozen of them, knowing how much he loves them and how rarely he spoils himself with something sweet. the strawberry iced with sprinkles, the glazed chocolate filled, the glazed blueberry, the chocolate iced raspberry filled — she makes sure to get a few of each of the ones her husband likes best. and finally last but not least, they find their way to target. they get him a bunch of chocolates, a pack of gummy bears and a mug with BEST DADDY written across it in bold letters ( only because as they’re passing by, their daughter reaches her little hand out and it seemes to erin that she’s pointing at this one mug, as if she knew ). it might be cheesy but she hopes that he’s going to like it.

         by the time they make it back home, it’s already noon and erin’s delighted to find out that axl’s slowly beginning to wake up. she quickly puts the box with donuts on the coffee table and packs all the gifts into one decorative bag that she then places beside the couch. scooping hope up into her arms, she makes sure her outfit isn’t stained and she doesn’t need her diaper changed before approaching the redhead. grinning from ear to ear, she kneels to be on the same level with his cheek before kissing it. “wakey, wakey, axy baxxy. do you know what day it is? because hope does and she has something very, very important to say to you.” chirping cheerfully, erin places their daughter on top of his chest and lets her happily clasp his cheeks in her small hands. she’s so delighted to be reunited with her dad that she starts babbling and giggling at the same time. the pink pacifier falling out of her mouth, accidentally smacking axl’s chin. “happy daddy’s day! happy dada’s day!” since he’s definitely more than just a father, he’s a DADA. “you’re the best daddy in the world.” erin can’t imagine raising a child with anyone else. only axl. it’s always been axl and it will always be axl. he’s the only person she’s ever loved and who’s ever loved her unconditionally. she will fight for him and for their family because even though it’s not always easy — it’s worth it. “and i’ve finally made up my mind. i’m not going to new york. not without you and hope. i’ll find something in los angeles. i don’t want to leave you and our baby. i love you.”

// @thornrosed

[maddie-grove]

The Top Twenty Books I Read in 2019

My main takeaways from the past year’s reading:

Sometimes you think something is happening because of magic, but then it turns out to have a non-magical explanation so weird that you find yourself saying, “You know what? I wish faeries or God were responsible for this. I’d honestly feel less disturbed.”

Stop bathing and changing your clothes and shaving for three years, three months, and three days. You’ll find out who your real friends are. I promise you that.

I want more books about bisexual ladies!!! Give them to me!!!

Anyway...

20. The Prodigal Duke by Theresa Romain (2017)

Childhood sweethearts Poppy Hayworth and Leo Billingsley were separated when his older brother, a duke, sent him away to make his fortune. Years later, the duke is dead, a financially successful Leo has come back to England to take his place, and Poppy has become a rope dancer at Vauxhall Gardens after a life-shattering event. New sparks are flying between them, but is love possible when so much else has changed? Leo and Poppy are believable and charming as old friends, Romain makes great use of obscure historical details from the oft-depicted Regency period, and I loved Leo’s difficult but caring elderly uncle.

19. Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi (1996)

Althea Winsloe, a young widow in 1900s Arkansas, has no interest in remarrying, but almost everyone in her small Ozarks community is pressuring her to remarry, and she still needs someone to help farm her land. Enter Jesse Best, a strong young man with cognitive disabilities who’s happy to take on the work. As he makes improvements to her farm and bonds with her three-year-old son, Althea gets to know him better and starts to see him in a new light. This earthy romance could’ve been a disaster, but instead it illustrates how people with disabilities are often...uh...simplified and de-sexualized in a way that denies them autonomy. Morsi has a similarly nuanced take on Althea and Jesse’s community, which is claustrophobic and supportive all at once.

18. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (2018)

Outspoken and insecure, bisexual high school senior Leah Burke is having a tough year. Her friend group is in turmoil, her single mom is seriously dating someone, and she’s caught between a sweet boy she’s not sure about and a pretty, perfect straight girl who couldn’t possibly be into her...right??? The sequel to the very cute Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Leah on the Offbeat pulls a The Godfather: Part II with its messy protagonist, sweetly surprising romance, and masterful comic set piece involving the Atlanta American Girl Doll restaurant.

17. Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper (2006)

Kidnapped from her home in eighteenth-century Ghana, fifteen-year-old Amari is sold into slavery and winds up on a South Carolina plantation, where she faces terrible cruelty but finds friends in an enslaved cook, her little son, and eventually a sulky white indentured servant around her age. When their master escalates his already-atrocious behavior, the three young people flee south to the Spanish Fort Mose in search of freedom. Draper’s complicated characters, vivid descriptions, and deft handling of heavy subjects makes for top-notch historical YA fiction.

16. A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole (2019)

After her controlling politician father was jailed for poisoning a bunch of people in their small, prosperous African country, Nya Jerami gained unprecedented freedom but also became the subject of vicious gossip. Johan von Braustein, the hard-partying stepson of a European monarch, wants to help her, partly because he sympathizes and partly because he has a crush, but she thinks he’s too frivolous and horny (if wildly attractive). After an embarrassing misunderstanding compels them to enter a fake engagement, though, she begins to wonder if there’s more to him. I’m not a huge fan of contemporary romance, but this novel has the perfect combination of heartfelt emotion, delicious melodrama, and adorable fluff. 

15. One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney (1997)

Stephen, the Duke of Ashburton, has always done the proper and responsible thing, but that all changes when he learns that he’s terminally ill. Wandering the countryside in the guise of an ordinary gentleman, he ends up joining an acting troupe and falling in love with Rosalind, the sensible adopted daughter of the two lead actors. Like another Regency romance on this list, this novel celebrates love in many forms: there’s the love story between Stephen and Rosalind, yes, but there’s also Rosalind’s loving relationship with her adopted family, the new bonds she forms with her long-lost blood relatives, the way her two families embrace the increasingly frightened Stephen, and the healing rifts between Stephen and his well-meaning but distant siblings. Stephen’s reconciliation with his mortality is also moving.

14. My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes (2018)

Facing a death sentence in Newgate, footman-turned-prosperous banker Quinton Wentworth decides to do one last good thing: marry Jane McGowan, a poor pregnant widow, so she and the baby will be financially set. Then he receives a pardon and a dukedom at the literal last minute, meaning that he and Jane have a more permanent arrangement than either intended. I fell in love with the kind-but-difficult protagonists almost at once, and with Burrowes’s gorgeous prose even faster. 

13. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2013)

It’s 1986, and comics-loving, post-punk-listening, half-Korean Park and bright, weird, constantly bullied Eleanor are just trying to get through high school in their rough Omaha neighborhood. He’s only grudgingly willing to let her share his bus seat at first, but this barely civil acquaintance slowly thaws into friendship and blossoms into love. Far from being the whimsical eighties-nostalgia-fest I expected, this is a bittersweet love story about two isolated young people who find love, belonging, and a chance for self-expression with each other in an often-hostile environment (a small miracle pre-Internet).

12. Shrill by Lindy West (2016)

In this memoir, Lindy West talks about the difficulties of being a fat woman, the thankless task of being vocally less-than-enthused about rape jokes, the joys of moving past self-doubt, and the very real possibility that Little John from Disney’s Robin Hood was played by “bear actor” Baloo, among other subjects. I was having a hard time during my last semester of law school this past spring, and this book’s giddy humor and inspiring messages really helped me in my hour of need.

11. Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood by Karina Longworth (2018)

In 1925, very young businessman Howard Hughes breezed into Hollywood with nothing but tons of family wealth, a soon-to-be-divorced wife, and a simple dream: make movies about fast planes and big bosoms. He got increasingly weird and reactionary over the next thirty years, then retired from public life. More a history of 1920s-1950s Hollywood than a biography, this book has the same sharp writing and in-depth film analysis that makes me love Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This.

10. The Beguiled by Thomas Cullinan (1966)

In Civil-War-era Virginia, iron-willed Martha Farnsworth and her nervous younger sister try to run their nearly empty girls’ boarding school within earshot of a battlefield. When one girl finds Union soldier John McBurney injured in the woods, she brings him back to the house, where he exploits every conflict and secret among the eight girls and women (five students, two sisters, and one enslaved cook). Charming and manipulative, he nevertheless finds himself in over his head. Cullinan makes great use of the eight POVs and the deliciously claustrophobic setting; it’s fascinating to watch the power dynamics and allegiances shift from scene to scene.

9. A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian (2018)

Reserved tavern keeper Sam Fox wants to help out his brother’s sweetheart by finding and destroying a nude portrait she once sat for; disgraced gentleman Hartley Sedgwick isn’t sure what he wants after having his life ruined twice over, but he happened to inherit his house from the man who commissioned the painting...plus he’s not exactly reluctant to assist kind, handsome Sam in his quest. I wrote about this heart-melting romance two times last year; suffice it to say that it’s not only one of the best Regencies I’ve ever read, but also possibly the best romance I’ve ever read about the creation of a found family.

8. Frog Music by Emma Donoghue (2014)

Blanche Beunon, a French-born burlesque dancer in 1876 San Francisco, has a lot going on: her mooching boyfriend has turned on her, her sick baby is missing, and her cross-dressing, frog-hunting friend Jenny Bonnet was just shot dead right next to her. In the middle of a heat wave, a smallpox epidemic, and a little bit of mob violence, she must locate her son and solve Jenny’s murder. This is a glorious work of historical fiction; you can see, hear, smell, and feel the chaotic world of 1870s San Francisco, plus Blanche’s character arc is amazing.

7. The Patrick Melrose novels (Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother’s Milk, and At Last) by Edward St. Aubyn (1992, 1992, 1994, 2005, and 2012, respectively)

Born to an embittered English aristocrat and an idealistic American heiress, Patrick Melrose lives through his father’s sadistic abuse and his mother’s willful blindness (Never Mind),  does a truly staggering amount of drugs in early adulthood (Bad News), and makes a good-faith effort at leading a normal life (Some Hope). Years later, the life he’s built with his wife and two sons is threatened by his alcoholism and reemerging resentment of his mother (Mother’s Milk), but there may be a chance to salvage something (At Last). Despite the suffering and cruelty on display, these novels were the farthest thing from a dismaying experience, thanks to the sharp characterization, grim humor, and great sense of setting. Also, I love little Robert Melrose, an anxious eldest child after my own heart. 

6. The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1974)

In 1550s England, no-nonsense Kate Sutton is exiled to the Perilous Gard, a remote castle occupied by suspicious characters, including the lord’s guilt-ridden younger brother Christopher. Troubled by the holes she sees in the story of the tragedy that haunts him, she does some problem-solving and ends up in a world of weird shit. Cleverly plotted, deliciously spooky, and featuring an all-time-great heroine, this book was an absolute treat. The beautiful Richard Cuffari illustrations in my edition didn’t hurt, either.

5. An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole (2019)

Daniel Cumberland, a free black man from New England traumatized from being sold into slavery, and Janeta Sanchez, a mixed-race Cuban-Floridian lady from a white Confederate family, have been sent on a mission to the Deep South by the Loyal League, a pro-Union spy organization. Initially hostile to everyone (but particularly to somewhat naive Janeta), Daniel warms to his colleague, but will her secrets, his shattered faith in justice, and the various dangers they face prevent them from falling in love? Nah. Alyssa Cole’s historical romances deliver both on the history and the romance, and this is one of her strongest entries.

4. The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite (2019)

Heartbroken by the death of her father and the marriage of her ex-girlfriend, Lucy Muchelney decides she needs a change of scenery and takes a live-in position translating a French astronomy text for Catherine St. Day, the recently widowed Countess of Moth. Catherine, used to putting her interests on hold for an uncaring spouse, is intrigued by this awkward, independent lady. I’ve read f/f romances before, but this sparkling Regency was the first to really blow me away with its fun banter, neat historical details, and perfect sexual tension.

3. The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli (2010)

After losing his entire fortune to a tidal wave, Sicilian nineteen-year-old Don Giovanni de la Fortuna sinks into poverty and near-starvation. Then Devil makes him an offer: all the money he wants for as long as he lives if he doesn’t bathe, cut his hair, shave, or change his clothes for three years, three months, and three days. This fairy-tale retelling is an extraordinarily moving fable about someone who learns to acknowledge his own suffering, recognize it in others, and extend compassion to all. 

2. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell (2013)

In this collection, Russell weaves strange tales of silkworm-women hybrids in Japan, seagulls who collect objects from the past and future, and, yes, vampires in the lemon grove. She also posits the very important question: “What if most (but not all) U.S. presidents were reincarnated as horses in the same stable and had a lot of drama going on?” My favorite stories were “Proving Up” (about a nineteenth-century Nebraska boy who encounters death and horror on the prairie), “The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis” (about a disadvantaged high school student who discovers an effigy of the even more hapless boy he tormented), and “The Barn at the End of the Term” (the horse-president story). 

1. The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (2016)

Lib Wright, an Englishwoman who has floundered since her days working for Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, is hired to observe Anna O’Donnell, an eleven-year-old Irish girl famous for not eating for four straight months. With a jaundiced attitude towards the Irish and Catholicism, Lib is confident that she’ll quickly expose Anna as a fraud, but she finds herself liking the girl and getting increasingly drawn into the disturbing mystery of her fast. Like The Perilous Gard, this novel masterfully plays with the possibility of the supernatural, then introduces a technically mundane explanation that’s somehow much more eerie. Donoghue balances the horror and waste that surrounds Anna, though, with the clear, bright prose and the moving relationship that develops between her and Lib, who grows beyond her narrow-mindedness and emotional numbness. I stayed up half the night to finish this novel, which cemented Emma Donoghue’s status as my new favorite author.

[sanguinarysanguinity]

You made that amazing vid, Something Good, and know so much about various Holmes adaptations. What less-known adaptations would you recommend for watching and where to find them?

Oh, gosh, so much of this is a matter of personal taste! For myself, I like a competent, capable Watson, a Holmes that feels human joys and frailities, and a strong, affectionate relationship between them. So, things I love that deserve a bigger following:

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979-1980), starring Geoffrey Whitehead and Donald Pickering, is one of my two favorite discoveries from making the vid. Holmes is reserved but warm-hearted (and excellent with children!), and Watson is strong and active, with much to contribute to the partnership. (There’s a little bit of a through-line where Watson teaches himself Holmes’ methods, getting better and better at it as the series progresses.) Furthermore, the Holmes-and-Watson dynamic is lovely, with lots of affectionate, teasing banter. (In fact, Holmes can barely stop trolling Watson for long enough to solve a case!) Honestly, this is my comfort adaptation, the one I’m mostly like to put on when I’m blue or anxious and want to feel better. 

(Also, Holmes and Watson wear eyeliner, and who doesn’t need a Holmes or Watson in eyeliner?)?

If I understand its history correctly, it never aired in the UK or the US (and thus is far better known in Italy and Germany than among anglophones); further, it was tied up in a rights battle for yonks, so the only DVD release that I know of is dual-language German. But if you can tolerate somewhat-deteriorated VHS rips, most of it is available on YouTube. (Try this playlist, or this one.) I love it well enough that I gave myself the German DVD for a birthday present: it’s region-free, so it’ll play on both US and UK machines.

名探偵ホームズ | Sherlock Hound (1984-1985). Charming and sweet and silly (omg, Moriarty and his over-the-top mecha!), this is my other big favorite from making the vid. This is Japanese anime (the original six episodes were directed by Miyazaki, before the project got tied up in a rights battle and he moved on to the other things), set in a steampunk universe where everyone is a dog. (Except for Moriarty, who is a wolf.) Hound himself is hands-down one of my very favorite Holmeses: courteous, warm-hearted, human in his frailities, passionate in his defense of his clients, and with a child-like joy in his calling. Watson is fierce and growly and stubborn but also very warm-hearted, and the two of them are smitten with each other. (And both of them with Mrs. Hudson. Everyone loves Mrs. Hudson: even Moriarty!) Moriarty is ridonk over-the-top and I adore him: a brilliant inventor but a sad disaster at criminal masterminding. If you want more info, I have a longer post on Dreamwidth about why I love it, complete with links to various moments in the series.

If you’re in the US, the whole thing is available on the studio’s YouTube channel, although they have the episode order wrong and a few eps misnamed: start with “The Four Signatures” and continue to “The Mazalin Stone,” then you’re fine with playlist-order thereafter. Outside of the US I have no idea how to lay hands on it, sorry.

If you do subtitles, there are three Russian adaptations that are well worth your time: 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1979-1986) aka “Russian Holmes” 

My Dearly Beloved Detective (1986), and 

Sherlock Holmes (2013) aka “New Russian Holmes”. 

The original Russian Holmes (1979-1986) is much like the Jeremy Brett Granada series in its loving regard for canon, and is similarly well-respected. Livanov and Solomin are a charming Holmes and Watson, and I honestly like their Reichenbach better than Granada’s. I find it a little slowly-paced overall, but if you’ve finished Granada and want something similar but with its own take, this is a solid choice.

My Dearly Beloved Detective is… gosh… a female-centric tragi-comic satire, maybe? It’s a bizarre little film, but I am fond of it. Its premise: all of England, much taken with Conan Doyle’s stories, cried out for a Holmes and Watson of their very own, and Shirley and Jane were hired to fulfill the need; unfortunately, Scotland Yard is jealous of Shirley’s and Jane’s success, and conspire to take them down. The film has as devoted a femslash following as you might expect, but I don’t think it will spoil too much if I warn you that nearly all the fic is pining or fix-it or both.

New Russian Holmes is a subversion of the original Russian series, where instead of a romantic fog-and-gaslight Victorian London, we get something much more gritty and Dickensian. I adore this series’ willingness to get down into the muck and wrestle with Holmes canon, but a lot of people hate it for that very same reason, so ymmv. I will say, however, that Panin is one of the very best Watsons running, and anyone who disagrees is categorically wrong. 

All three of these (and more besides!) can be found via @spiritcc, who is part of a fan-driven subtitling team that has heroically provided English subtitles to a variety of Russian Holmes adaptations. Masterpost for video and subtitles here.

Mystery Queen (2017) is a Korean drama that was released too late for us to use in the vid, but ugggggghhhhh it hurts me that it’s not in there. Holmes is an adorable, sweet, scythingly sharp housewife who is studying in secret against her family’s wishes to become a police detective; Watson is the highly-decorated police detective that she ends up collaborating with. I cannot convey how much I adored the first season: on the one hand, emotionally complex cases that ripped my heart out; on the other, fanservice slathered on with a goddamned trowel. (In the first episode, Holmes and Watson went from meet-cute to Three Garridebs in seven minutes flat.) I just. I mean. It’s a hard-fought Holmes-and-Watson relationship, but good god I love them each and together, and by series’ end either one would walk through fire for the other. I haven’t watched season two yet, but I have high hopes for it.

You can watch it with English subtitles on Vicki.com: Season 1 and Season 2.

And that’s my starter list of favorite lesser-known Holmes things – I hope you find something here you like! If there’s a specific kind of thing you’re looking for, let me know and I’ll try to make you a rec – this fandom is large enough that there’s a Holmes and Watson for nearly any taste. ;-)

[greatconjunction]

Kira: What are those funny marks? Jen: This is all writing. Kira: What’s writing? Jen: Words that stay.

If you’ve never seen the 1982 movie The Dark Crystal, then don’t just stand there, go find it! My family saw it in theaters when I was around 12 years old. It wasn’t what you’d call a really big blockbuster when it first came out; we were the only family in the whole theater for that showing. But I remember staring at the screen, simply enrapt by the spectacle of it all.

It’s a timeless tale along the lines of a basic Hero’s Journey. Jen, an affable elflike fella called a Gelfling, is an orphan raised by the Heffalump-looking Mystics; his parents and indeed almost his entire race have been murdered by the rulers of that land, the vulture-like Skeksis, who send horrible crablike monsters out to find them. The wisest of the Mystics took the young Gelfling under his wing after rescuing him from those monsters and taught him to read and write, as well as to at least understand the basics of magic (though Jen doesn’t really do anything strictly-speaking magical in the movie).

But Jen’s gentle master is dying. He barely has time to relate a prophecy to Jen that the Gelfling must complete, or else the world as they know it will end. So, still mourning his now-deceased master, Jen sets off and has many adventures doing that. Along the way he meets a cute female Gelfling named Kira and a weird astronomer-hermit called Aughra, explores ruins from his race’s past, and encounters a huge variety of critters in that alien world.

As it turns out, the prophecy says that a Gelfling will fix the broken Crystal and basically destroy the Skeksis in the process, so obviously they’re very interested in finding and killing all Gelflings. This crystal-healing has to happen before the Great Conjunction, which is basically a triple eclipse where all three of that planet’s suns align perfectly in the sky. Jen has to fulfill the prophecy before that alignment happens.

Considering that the movie was made well before CGI became a regular thing for moviemakers (and often an annoyance for moviegoers), it’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The story might be kinda overused, but the set designs, puppet designs, puppetry skills themselves, and the overarching themes of love, hope, perseverance, heroism, and compassion all hit a chord with the movie’s fans. The villains of the movie are, themselves, kinda puppy-kicking caricature villains who appear to be nasty for the joy of it, but by the end there’s a decent rationalization given for why they are that way–and as their Crystal is healed, so are they. There are a lot of interesting philosophical ideas here, ones that I’m still mulling over decades later.

As one might expect of a movie like this, it’s actually a considerably darker and more grown-up movie than kids get nowadays; really, I’d consider it more of an all-ages film. Many of its scenes are incredibly intense–evil monsters raid villages and enslave innocent people, who then are “drained of their essence” by one of the Skeksis in an arcane procedure and thus turned into near-zombie slaves, and the heroes find themselves in several life-and-death struggles. Also, in addition to the genocide of the Gelflings there are some vast betrayals and counter-betrayals going on, plus some politicking of the most earnest sort. (I don’t have kids, but if I had to name an age range for this thing, I’d probably go 10ish and up. I was way into comic books by age 12, and I didn’t have any trouble at all with it.)

But it’s really the worldbuilding that got my attention that day 35 years ago and has kept it ever since. I like older movies because I love seeing the ingenuity of moviemakers from a time before CGI. And there’s a lot of it here. It’s astonishing to watch any scene in the movie and think to oneself, Someone had to hand-create, sculpt, and arrange every single thing I’m seeing here. Every plant’s frond, every wrinkle in every face, every single home and temple and dining-hall, every creature from the squeaky mice to the breathtaking landstriders that Jen and Kira ride on the last leg of their trip, and every swamp and river and dribbling storm drain, all of it had to be done completely from scratch. And it was done properly and well.

Jim Henson’s crew did their usual spectacular job with the puppetry, of course; it seems like most viewers generally forget that they’re seeing puppets at all, as characters react to their surroundings and to each other. The moviemakers drew upon the artistic genius of the prolific English artist Brian Froud (who also did work for the 1986 movie Labyrinth and put out a number of art books, including a classic you might have heard of, Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book). He has a very distinctive style, one that the puppet- and set-designers took loving advantage of to create a world that looked nothing like anything we’d ever seen before back then.

There’s a real honesty in The Dark Crystal, both in spirit and in execution. Jim Henson himself called it “a work of art,” as well as the most difficult thing he’d ever done–and the work that made him feel the proudest.

AND GUESS WHAT?

Aughra: Who sent you? Jen: My master, wisest of the mystics. Aughra: Where is he? Jen: He’s dead. Aughra: Hmph. Could be anywhere then.

The Dark Crystal is returning!

Indeed, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is debuting soon on Netflix in a miniseries that takes place a few decades before the events of the movie.

From what I can see, both the Henson Creature Shop and Brian Froud are coming back too! They’ve already said that this new series will be mostly practical effects and real puppetry, with a little bit of CGI. Hopefully it won’t be a lot, though it may be simply an unavoidable evil at this point, I guess.

Me personally, I’m just waiting to see how 35 years of advances in animatronics and other technology are going to look with Jim Henson-style puppetry. The very little I’ve seen of it (like in trailers, like the one above here) indicate that it’s gonna be epic. It’ll concern three Gelflings who discover the dark secret of the Skeksis and try to organize a rebellion against them.

But it’s also gonna be a little while yet before it turns up on Netflix. Shooting begins soon, but you know how these things go.

Our Fascination With the Sky.

When single shines the triple sun, What was sundered and undone shall be whole: The two made one, by Gelfling hand or else by none.

–The central prophecy of The Dark Crystal

Astronomy has fascinated humans for many tens of thousands of years. La Wiki calls astronomy “the oldest of the natural sciences,” saying it tied directly into the very birth of our ideas about religion as well as the innovation of the calendar. One can certainly see why.

And humans’ first fumbling efforts to understand what they were seeing in the night sky now comprise many of the earliest artifacts we’ve discovered from their time: scratches on bones and stone, standing-stones built to surprisingly precise astronomical measurements, metal calendar discs set with moons and star-clusters, and even fascinating giant golden hats covered in astronomical symbols. When we rose up from all fours, we looked up at the sky, and it seems like we never stopped.

That’s perhaps why there are hundreds of fictional stories that hinge their plots on astronomical phenomena of various kinds. Pretty much as soon as we began making movies at all, too, we were putting astronomical events like eclipses into them (remember the one that broke the lovers’ curse in Ladyhawke?). So in that sense, The Dark Crystal is simply one of many movies that recognize our species’ tendency to see eclipses as bringers or portents of great change.

In the real world, though, a lot of us still see them that way. Since those earliest days of our history, eclipses alone have shown up in all kinds of ancient myths all around the world. Christianity is no exception to that observation, either; various astronomical events show up more than a few times in both the Old and New Testaments–and as this newest prophecy shows us, even today a great many Christians struggle with how to interpret these events.

[topfygad]

Gothic Hotels (and Songs by R.E.M., Part 2) — The Agenda by Tablet Hotels

It’s Halloween, so we’re taking a look at hotels with Gothic architecture, a style synonymous with the mysterious and macabre. Why did we also include songs by R.E.M.? The answer may shock you.

Earlier this year, we wrote about some of our favorite Southern hotels, comparing them to songs from one of our favorite Southern bands, R.E.M. So why write about R.E.M. again? Well, the band actually saw the first story, liked it, and asked if we’d do a part two. Not since Coppola and The Godfather has anyone had such a good reason to make a sequel.

There’s hardly been a better time to talk about “scary” hotels, either. This is Halloween week, of course, and it’s also the week that R.E.M. releases the 25th Anniversary reissue of Monster, their terrifyingly titled ninth studio album. But instead of another list of haunted hotels, we’re focusing on the style of architecture most commonly associated with things that go bump in the night.

Gothic architecture secured its association with the spooky and supernatural in the 18th and 19th centuries, when writers like Horace Walpole, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker chose Gothic castles and abbeys as the backdrop for their stories of darkness and death. An entire genre of horrifying literature became known as Gothic fiction, and an entire mode of architecture was never viewed the same again.

R.E.M. has crossed paths with the Gothic label as well — especially during the first half of their career. With a sound driven up from underneath Georgia’s genteel facade, the Athens natives were considered a sort of modern musical counterpart to the Southern Gothic literature of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. Sonically and thematically, their music reflects the murky and eccentric spirit of the region, underscoring its postbellum tensions and investigating its idiosyncratic characters.

And so, without further ado, enjoy this selection of thirteen hotels with Gothic architectural elements, paired with some of R.E.M.’s most Southern Gothic songs.

Follow along with our R.E.M. — Southern Gothic playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

“Wendell Gee” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

The 19th century obsession with Gothic elements comes through loud and clear in The Qvest. Now a hotel, the 1897 building initially housed Cologne’s archives and a public library. In keeping with the reigning aesthetic in those days, a neo-Gothic influence touched just about every element in the construction: ribbed vaults, lancet windows, hood moulding, tracery, and an overarching verticality all remain visible today. Similarly, all the elements of R.E.M.’s Southern Gothic signature come through in “Wendell Gee,” one of the band’s most under-appreciated pieces of musical mastery, and the final track from their darkest and most overtly South-saturated album.

See More Photos

  1898 The Post

Ghent, Belgium

“Strange Currencies” — from Monster, 1994

“Strange Currencies” might not feel at first like a song with Southern folk roots, but imagine it without Monster’s trademark distorted guitars and you begin to hear the swagger and sway of classic country-blues. It’s the kind of plaintive-yet-hopeful ballad that R.E.M. perfected throughout their career, and it’s paired on this list with 1898 The Post, a hotel that’s equally the shining example of a genre. The old Central Post Office in Ghent was completed at the turn of the last century, and while its neo-Gothic style makes it look much older than that, a brand-new renovation has this beautifully preserved structure ready to host guests in the current century and beyond.

See More Photos

  Bryant Park Hotel

New York City, New York

“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” — from Chronic Town, 1982

Starting with the gargoyle on the cover, R.E.M.’s debut EP Chronic Town oozes a dark, peculiar, and highly literary Southern Gothic vibe. And “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars),” with its calliope intro and images of clandestine railway activity, all but revels in the murky mood. Gargoyles don’t make an appearance on the Bryant Park Hotel, despite its home inside the American Radiator building, a strange and imposing black-gold gothic skyscraper that towers above the midtown park like something out of a comic book — or out of Ghostbusters. Penthouse guests might be safe from that movie’s statues-turned–terror dogs, but the hotel does look down on the New York Public Library, where other ghost-busting scenes were filmed.

See More Photos

  Kruisherenhotel Maastricht

Maastricht, Netherlands

“The One I Love” — from Document, 1987

“This one goes out to the one I love…” — the instantly recognizable first line from R.E.M.’s 1987 hit sets the stage for a song that practically drips with heat and humidity. This song, as much as any other, announced to the world that R.E.M. was a contemporary sonic interpretation of the steamy South found in the plays of Tennessee Williams. Kruisherenhotel Maastricht is another thoroughly modern interpretation, this time of a fifteenth-century Gothic monastery. Designer Henk Vos transformed the original monks’ cloisters into handsome hotel rooms that are anything but ascetic, and even the relatively undisturbed spaces are deeply altered by the introduction of sleek furnishings and bits and bobs by the likes of Le Corbusier, Philippe Starck and Marc Newson.

See More Photos

  Conservatorium Hotel

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Country Feedback” — from Out of Time, 1991

The Conservatorium is a radical repurposing of Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium building — its soaring institutional spaces and ornate century-old neo-Gothic construction transformed into a contemporary design hotel. Offering a focus on pop music alongside more traditional conservatory studies like classical and jazz, there probably was a surprising bit of guitar feedback heard in the Conservatorium during its time as a music school. There’s a bit of feedback heard in “Country Feedback” as well, wandering almost incongruently in between and around more traditional country sounds like pedal steel guitar and organ, adding the right amount of frustration and edge that the song’s cryptic lyrics cry out for.

See More Photos

  Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

Los Angeles, California

“So. Central Rain” — from Reckoning, 1984

Legend has it that “South Central Rain” refers to massive downpours and flooding in R.E.M.’s home state of Georgia in 1983. The band was apparently out on tour, and wasn’t able to check in on family members because the storms had knocked out the phone lines. Specifically, the legend asserts, they were in Los Angeles, which is the reason for this hotel-song pairing, and not because of L.A.’s South Central neighborhood. For the Gothic connection, look no further than the United Artists building, a 1920s Spanish Gothic Revival tower and theater that is the current home of Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

See More Photos

  SINA Centurion Palace

Venice, Italy

“Oh My Heart” — from Collapse Into Now, 2011

Michael Stipe wrote “Oh My Heart” about post-Katrina New Orleans. His lyrics can sometimes be impenetrable, but not here. This is very clearly a song about resilience in the face of tragedy and persevering into the future so we can continue to honor the past. There are no New Orleans hotels on this list, but maybe that would’ve been too cute. Instead, we turn to another timeworn city fighting back against Mother Nature and climate change: rising sea levels have led to regular flooding in Venice, the home of Centurion Palace and its postcard-perfect Venetian-Gothic exterior. The former convent is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, which has survived everything from World Wars to the Black Death, and we’re confident it will survive its latest challenge.

See More Photos

  Chicago Athletic Association

Chicago, Illinois

“Oddfellows Local 151” — from Document, 1987

Long before a recent renovation converted it into a stunning boutique hotel, the Chicago Athletic Association was a private club for the city’s (male) movers and shakers. Dating back to the final decade of the 19th century, this Venetian Gothic landmark hosted the kinds of government and business elite that “Oddfellows Local 151” suggests are at least partially responsible for the plight of the characters in the song: the homeless population that was left behind by the political and economic machines of 1980s America. Document was an album filled with fiery passion as R.E.M. found their political footing — no more so than on this, its closing track.

See More Photos

  High Line Hotel

New York City, New York

“Swan Swan H” — from Life’s Rich Pageant, 1986

Chelsea’s High Line Hotel makes its home in an imposing red-brick Collegiate Gothic seminary — and its designers, the local duo Roman and Williams, managed to created an enormously fun hotel in what was an otherwise solemn environment. R.E.M. pulled the same trick, but in the opposite direction, with “Swan Swan H.” At first glance, this song about the Civil War appears to be a celebration of freedom, but as it progresses the true cost of a destructive moment in American history becomes more clear. And while the lyrics reference wooden beams of a presumably different sort, for the purposes of this list, we’ll think about the ornate ceiling of the Hoffman Hall event space, pictured above.

See More Photos

  Le Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City, Canada

“World Leader Pretend” — from Green, 1988

A century-old Gothic Revival castle high on a bluff over the St. Lawrence river, Le Château Frontenac is Québec City’s most famous landmark, and has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests. Musicians, movie stars, and titans of industry have walked its halls, but powerful politicians may have left the greatest influence — suites are themed after heads of state who have stayed at the hotel. According to Michael Stipe, “World Leader Pretend” was the most political song of the band’s career up to that point, and it might continue to be so today. After clashing with Donald Trump over his unauthorized (obviously) use of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” the band followed up by contributing “World Leader Pretend” to an anti-Trump compilation.

See More Photos

  Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California

“Drive” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

The Chateau Marmont was constructed to the specifications of the Loire Chateau Amboise in France, and scattered throughout are certain reminders of the French late Gothic Flamboyant style. But though inspired by France, this particular chateau and its infamous scenes of Hollywood decadence could only exist in Los Angeles. Likewise, “Drive” is a song that could only have come from R.E.M. With an echoey atmosphere as haunted as the hallways of the Chateau, the song drives forward slowly and madly, calling out like a pirate radio station in the middle of the night, seeking to empower the youth through rock and roll.

See More Photos

  St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

London, England

“Life and How to Live It” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

In R.E.M.’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, there once lived a man named Brev Mekis. Suffering from schizophrenia, Brev split his house into two totally different apartments, each with its own unique furniture, books, clothing, even pets. To suit his disparate personalities, Brev would periodically switch back and forth between his two lives. After he passed away, discovered inside the house were hundreds of identical copies of a book he had written called: “Life and How to Live It.” The great Gothic structure at St. Pancras has a split personality of its own. On the one hand, it is a lavish, luxurious hotel. On the other, an introduction to a busy, full-functioning rail station. Taken all together, it is the ideal of a grand European railway hotel.

See More Photos

  Borgo dei Conti Resort

Perugia, Italy

“Find the River” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

Borgo dei Conti Resort is a deeply romantic place. Originally built as a fortress in the 13th century, the estate was remade into a noble home some 500 years later. Surrounded by acres of gardens and lawns and parkland, the building is a dramatic example of 19th-century neo-Gothic architecture, still as imposing as ever today. On its sprawling grounds, you’re likely to find some of the herbs and fruits mentioned in “Find the River,” a song that celebrates life specifically because death is always present. Despite the heavy themes, “Find the River” is a gorgeous and uplifting song. It closes out an album full of radio hits, and is equal to or even better than each of those more well-known singles. All of this is coming your way.

See More Photos

  source http://cheaprtravels.com/gothic-hotels-and-songs-by-r-e-m-part-2-the-agenda-by-tablet-hotels/

[topfygad]

Gothic Hotels (and Songs by R.E.M., Part 2) — The Agenda by Tablet Hotels

It’s Halloween, so we’re taking a look at hotels with Gothic architecture, a style synonymous with the mysterious and macabre. Why did we also include songs by R.E.M.? The answer may shock you.

Earlier this year, we wrote about some of our favorite Southern hotels, comparing them to songs from one of our favorite Southern bands, R.E.M. So why write about R.E.M. again? Well, the band actually saw the first story, liked it, and asked if we’d do a part two. Not since Coppola and The Godfather has anyone had such a good reason to make a sequel.

There’s hardly been a better time to talk about “scary” hotels, either. This is Halloween week, of course, and it’s also the week that R.E.M. releases the 25th Anniversary reissue of Monster, their terrifyingly titled ninth studio album. But instead of another list of haunted hotels, we’re focusing on the style of architecture most commonly associated with things that go bump in the night.

Gothic architecture secured its association with the spooky and supernatural in the 18th and 19th centuries, when writers like Horace Walpole, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker chose Gothic castles and abbeys as the backdrop for their stories of darkness and death. An entire genre of horrifying literature became known as Gothic fiction, and an entire mode of architecture was never viewed the same again.

R.E.M. has crossed paths with the Gothic label as well — especially during the first half of their career. With a sound driven up from underneath Georgia’s genteel facade, the Athens natives were considered a sort of modern musical counterpart to the Southern Gothic literature of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. Sonically and thematically, their music reflects the murky and eccentric spirit of the region, underscoring its postbellum tensions and investigating its idiosyncratic characters.

And so, without further ado, enjoy this selection of thirteen hotels with Gothic architectural elements, paired with some of R.E.M.’s most Southern Gothic songs.

Follow along with our R.E.M. — Southern Gothic playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

“Wendell Gee” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

The 19th century obsession with Gothic elements comes through loud and clear in The Qvest. Now a hotel, the 1897 building initially housed Cologne’s archives and a public library. In keeping with the reigning aesthetic in those days, a neo-Gothic influence touched just about every element in the construction: ribbed vaults, lancet windows, hood moulding, tracery, and an overarching verticality all remain visible today. Similarly, all the elements of R.E.M.’s Southern Gothic signature come through in “Wendell Gee,” one of the band’s most under-appreciated pieces of musical mastery, and the final track from their darkest and most overtly South-saturated album.

See More Photos

  1898 The Post

Ghent, Belgium

“Strange Currencies” — from Monster, 1994

“Strange Currencies” might not feel at first like a song with Southern folk roots, but imagine it without Monster’s trademark distorted guitars and you begin to hear the swagger and sway of classic country-blues. It’s the kind of plaintive-yet-hopeful ballad that R.E.M. perfected throughout their career, and it’s paired on this list with 1898 The Post, a hotel that’s equally the shining example of a genre. The old Central Post Office in Ghent was completed at the turn of the last century, and while its neo-Gothic style makes it look much older than that, a brand-new renovation has this beautifully preserved structure ready to host guests in the current century and beyond.

See More Photos

  Bryant Park Hotel

New York City, New York

“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” — from Chronic Town, 1982

Starting with the gargoyle on the cover, R.E.M.’s debut EP Chronic Town oozes a dark, peculiar, and highly literary Southern Gothic vibe. And “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars),” with its calliope intro and images of clandestine railway activity, all but revels in the murky mood. Gargoyles don’t make an appearance on the Bryant Park Hotel, despite its home inside the American Radiator building, a strange and imposing black-gold gothic skyscraper that towers above the midtown park like something out of a comic book — or out of Ghostbusters. Penthouse guests might be safe from that movie’s statues-turned–terror dogs, but the hotel does look down on the New York Public Library, where other ghost-busting scenes were filmed.

See More Photos

  Kruisherenhotel Maastricht

Maastricht, Netherlands

“The One I Love” — from Document, 1987

“This one goes out to the one I love…” — the instantly recognizable first line from R.E.M.’s 1987 hit sets the stage for a song that practically drips with heat and humidity. This song, as much as any other, announced to the world that R.E.M. was a contemporary sonic interpretation of the steamy South found in the plays of Tennessee Williams. Kruisherenhotel Maastricht is another thoroughly modern interpretation, this time of a fifteenth-century Gothic monastery. Designer Henk Vos transformed the original monks’ cloisters into handsome hotel rooms that are anything but ascetic, and even the relatively undisturbed spaces are deeply altered by the introduction of sleek furnishings and bits and bobs by the likes of Le Corbusier, Philippe Starck and Marc Newson.

See More Photos

  Conservatorium Hotel

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Country Feedback” — from Out of Time, 1991

The Conservatorium is a radical repurposing of Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium building — its soaring institutional spaces and ornate century-old neo-Gothic construction transformed into a contemporary design hotel. Offering a focus on pop music alongside more traditional conservatory studies like classical and jazz, there probably was a surprising bit of guitar feedback heard in the Conservatorium during its time as a music school. There’s a bit of feedback heard in “Country Feedback” as well, wandering almost incongruently in between and around more traditional country sounds like pedal steel guitar and organ, adding the right amount of frustration and edge that the song’s cryptic lyrics cry out for.

See More Photos

  Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

Los Angeles, California

“So. Central Rain” — from Reckoning, 1984

Legend has it that “South Central Rain” refers to massive downpours and flooding in R.E.M.’s home state of Georgia in 1983. The band was apparently out on tour, and wasn’t able to check in on family members because the storms had knocked out the phone lines. Specifically, the legend asserts, they were in Los Angeles, which is the reason for this hotel-song pairing, and not because of L.A.’s South Central neighborhood. For the Gothic connection, look no further than the United Artists building, a 1920s Spanish Gothic Revival tower and theater that is the current home of Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

See More Photos

  SINA Centurion Palace

Venice, Italy

“Oh My Heart” — from Collapse Into Now, 2011

Michael Stipe wrote “Oh My Heart” about post-Katrina New Orleans. His lyrics can sometimes be impenetrable, but not here. This is very clearly a song about resilience in the face of tragedy and persevering into the future so we can continue to honor the past. There are no New Orleans hotels on this list, but maybe that would’ve been too cute. Instead, we turn to another timeworn city fighting back against Mother Nature and climate change: rising sea levels have led to regular flooding in Venice, the home of Centurion Palace and its postcard-perfect Venetian-Gothic exterior. The former convent is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, which has survived everything from World Wars to the Black Death, and we’re confident it will survive its latest challenge.

See More Photos

  Chicago Athletic Association

Chicago, Illinois

“Oddfellows Local 151” — from Document, 1987

Long before a recent renovation converted it into a stunning boutique hotel, the Chicago Athletic Association was a private club for the city’s (male) movers and shakers. Dating back to the final decade of the 19th century, this Venetian Gothic landmark hosted the kinds of government and business elite that “Oddfellows Local 151” suggests are at least partially responsible for the plight of the characters in the song: the homeless population that was left behind by the political and economic machines of 1980s America. Document was an album filled with fiery passion as R.E.M. found their political footing — no more so than on this, its closing track.

See More Photos

  High Line Hotel

New York City, New York

“Swan Swan H” — from Life’s Rich Pageant, 1986

Chelsea’s High Line Hotel makes its home in an imposing red-brick Collegiate Gothic seminary — and its designers, the local duo Roman and Williams, managed to created an enormously fun hotel in what was an otherwise solemn environment. R.E.M. pulled the same trick, but in the opposite direction, with “Swan Swan H.” At first glance, this song about the Civil War appears to be a celebration of freedom, but as it progresses the true cost of a destructive moment in American history becomes more clear. And while the lyrics reference wooden beams of a presumably different sort, for the purposes of this list, we’ll think about the ornate ceiling of the Hoffman Hall event space, pictured above.

See More Photos

  Le Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City, Canada

“World Leader Pretend” — from Green, 1988

A century-old Gothic Revival castle high on a bluff over the St. Lawrence river, Le Château Frontenac is Québec City’s most famous landmark, and has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests. Musicians, movie stars, and titans of industry have walked its halls, but powerful politicians may have left the greatest influence — suites are themed after heads of state who have stayed at the hotel. According to Michael Stipe, “World Leader Pretend” was the most political song of the band’s career up to that point, and it might continue to be so today. After clashing with Donald Trump over his unauthorized (obviously) use of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” the band followed up by contributing “World Leader Pretend” to an anti-Trump compilation.

See More Photos

  Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California

“Drive” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

The Chateau Marmont was constructed to the specifications of the Loire Chateau Amboise in France, and scattered throughout are certain reminders of the French late Gothic Flamboyant style. But though inspired by France, this particular chateau and its infamous scenes of Hollywood decadence could only exist in Los Angeles. Likewise, “Drive” is a song that could only have come from R.E.M. With an echoey atmosphere as haunted as the hallways of the Chateau, the song drives forward slowly and madly, calling out like a pirate radio station in the middle of the night, seeking to empower the youth through rock and roll.

See More Photos

  St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

London, England

“Life and How to Live It” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

In R.E.M.’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, there once lived a man named Brev Mekis. Suffering from schizophrenia, Brev split his house into two totally different apartments, each with its own unique furniture, books, clothing, even pets. To suit his disparate personalities, Brev would periodically switch back and forth between his two lives. After he passed away, discovered inside the house were hundreds of identical copies of a book he had written called: “Life and How to Live It.” The great Gothic structure at St. Pancras has a split personality of its own. On the one hand, it is a lavish, luxurious hotel. On the other, an introduction to a busy, full-functioning rail station. Taken all together, it is the ideal of a grand European railway hotel.

See More Photos

  Borgo dei Conti Resort

Perugia, Italy

“Find the River” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

Borgo dei Conti Resort is a deeply romantic place. Originally built as a fortress in the 13th century, the estate was remade into a noble home some 500 years later. Surrounded by acres of gardens and lawns and parkland, the building is a dramatic example of 19th-century neo-Gothic architecture, still as imposing as ever today. On its sprawling grounds, you’re likely to find some of the herbs and fruits mentioned in “Find the River,” a song that celebrates life specifically because death is always present. Despite the heavy themes, “Find the River” is a gorgeous and uplifting song. It closes out an album full of radio hits, and is equal to or even better than each of those more well-known singles. All of this is coming your way.

See More Photos

  from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2qdR9l4 via IFTTT

[topfygad]

Gothic Hotels (and Songs by R.E.M., Part 2) — The Agenda by Tablet Hotels

It’s Halloween, so we’re taking a look at hotels with Gothic architecture, a style synonymous with the mysterious and macabre. Why did we also include songs by R.E.M.? The answer may shock you.

Earlier this year, we wrote about some of our favorite Southern hotels, comparing them to songs from one of our favorite Southern bands, R.E.M. So why write about R.E.M. again? Well, the band actually saw the first story, liked it, and asked if we’d do a part two. Not since Coppola and The Godfather has anyone had such a good reason to make a sequel.

There’s hardly been a better time to talk about “scary” hotels, either. This is Halloween week, of course, and it’s also the week that R.E.M. releases the 25th Anniversary reissue of Monster, their terrifyingly titled ninth studio album. But instead of another list of haunted hotels, we’re focusing on the style of architecture most commonly associated with things that go bump in the night.

Gothic architecture secured its association with the spooky and supernatural in the 18th and 19th centuries, when writers like Horace Walpole, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker chose Gothic castles and abbeys as the backdrop for their stories of darkness and death. An entire genre of horrifying literature became known as Gothic fiction, and an entire mode of architecture was never viewed the same again.

R.E.M. has crossed paths with the Gothic label as well — especially during the first half of their career. With a sound driven up from underneath Georgia’s genteel facade, the Athens natives were considered a sort of modern musical counterpart to the Southern Gothic literature of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. Sonically and thematically, their music reflects the murky and eccentric spirit of the region, underscoring its postbellum tensions and investigating its idiosyncratic characters.

And so, without further ado, enjoy this selection of thirteen hotels with Gothic architectural elements, paired with some of R.E.M.’s most Southern Gothic songs.

Follow along with our R.E.M. — Southern Gothic playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

“Wendell Gee” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

The 19th century obsession with Gothic elements comes through loud and clear in The Qvest. Now a hotel, the 1897 building initially housed Cologne’s archives and a public library. In keeping with the reigning aesthetic in those days, a neo-Gothic influence touched just about every element in the construction: ribbed vaults, lancet windows, hood moulding, tracery, and an overarching verticality all remain visible today. Similarly, all the elements of R.E.M.’s Southern Gothic signature come through in “Wendell Gee,” one of the band’s most under-appreciated pieces of musical mastery, and the final track from their darkest and most overtly South-saturated album.

See More Photos

  1898 The Post

Ghent, Belgium

“Strange Currencies” — from Monster, 1994

“Strange Currencies” might not feel at first like a song with Southern folk roots, but imagine it without Monster’s trademark distorted guitars and you begin to hear the swagger and sway of classic country-blues. It’s the kind of plaintive-yet-hopeful ballad that R.E.M. perfected throughout their career, and it’s paired on this list with 1898 The Post, a hotel that’s equally the shining example of a genre. The old Central Post Office in Ghent was completed at the turn of the last century, and while its neo-Gothic style makes it look much older than that, a brand-new renovation has this beautifully preserved structure ready to host guests in the current century and beyond.

See More Photos

  Bryant Park Hotel

New York City, New York

“Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)” — from Chronic Town, 1982

Starting with the gargoyle on the cover, R.E.M.’s debut EP Chronic Town oozes a dark, peculiar, and highly literary Southern Gothic vibe. And “Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars),” with its calliope intro and images of clandestine railway activity, all but revels in the murky mood. Gargoyles don’t make an appearance on the Bryant Park Hotel, despite its home inside the American Radiator building, a strange and imposing black-gold gothic skyscraper that towers above the midtown park like something out of a comic book — or out of Ghostbusters. Penthouse guests might be safe from that movie’s statues-turned–terror dogs, but the hotel does look down on the New York Public Library, where other ghost-busting scenes were filmed.

See More Photos

  Kruisherenhotel Maastricht

Maastricht, Netherlands

“The One I Love” — from Document, 1987

“This one goes out to the one I love…” — the instantly recognizable first line from R.E.M.’s 1987 hit sets the stage for a song that practically drips with heat and humidity. This song, as much as any other, announced to the world that R.E.M. was a contemporary sonic interpretation of the steamy South found in the plays of Tennessee Williams. Kruisherenhotel Maastricht is another thoroughly modern interpretation, this time of a fifteenth-century Gothic monastery. Designer Henk Vos transformed the original monks’ cloisters into handsome hotel rooms that are anything but ascetic, and even the relatively undisturbed spaces are deeply altered by the introduction of sleek furnishings and bits and bobs by the likes of Le Corbusier, Philippe Starck and Marc Newson.

See More Photos

  Conservatorium Hotel

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Country Feedback” — from Out of Time, 1991

The Conservatorium is a radical repurposing of Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium building — its soaring institutional spaces and ornate century-old neo-Gothic construction transformed into a contemporary design hotel. Offering a focus on pop music alongside more traditional conservatory studies like classical and jazz, there probably was a surprising bit of guitar feedback heard in the Conservatorium during its time as a music school. There’s a bit of feedback heard in “Country Feedback” as well, wandering almost incongruently in between and around more traditional country sounds like pedal steel guitar and organ, adding the right amount of frustration and edge that the song’s cryptic lyrics cry out for.

See More Photos

  Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

Los Angeles, California

“So. Central Rain” — from Reckoning, 1984

Legend has it that “South Central Rain” refers to massive downpours and flooding in R.E.M.’s home state of Georgia in 1983. The band was apparently out on tour, and wasn’t able to check in on family members because the storms had knocked out the phone lines. Specifically, the legend asserts, they were in Los Angeles, which is the reason for this hotel-song pairing, and not because of L.A.’s South Central neighborhood. For the Gothic connection, look no further than the United Artists building, a 1920s Spanish Gothic Revival tower and theater that is the current home of Ace Hotel Downtown L.A.

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  SINA Centurion Palace

Venice, Italy

“Oh My Heart” — from Collapse Into Now, 2011

Michael Stipe wrote “Oh My Heart” about post-Katrina New Orleans. His lyrics can sometimes be impenetrable, but not here. This is very clearly a song about resilience in the face of tragedy and persevering into the future so we can continue to honor the past. There are no New Orleans hotels on this list, but maybe that would’ve been too cute. Instead, we turn to another timeworn city fighting back against Mother Nature and climate change: rising sea levels have led to regular flooding in Venice, the home of Centurion Palace and its postcard-perfect Venetian-Gothic exterior. The former convent is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, which has survived everything from World Wars to the Black Death, and we’re confident it will survive its latest challenge.

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  Chicago Athletic Association

Chicago, Illinois

“Oddfellows Local 151” — from Document, 1987

Long before a recent renovation converted it into a stunning boutique hotel, the Chicago Athletic Association was a private club for the city’s (male) movers and shakers. Dating back to the final decade of the 19th century, this Venetian Gothic landmark hosted the kinds of government and business elite that “Oddfellows Local 151” suggests are at least partially responsible for the plight of the characters in the song: the homeless population that was left behind by the political and economic machines of 1980s America. Document was an album filled with fiery passion as R.E.M. found their political footing — no more so than on this, its closing track.

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  High Line Hotel

New York City, New York

“Swan Swan H” — from Life’s Rich Pageant, 1986

Chelsea’s High Line Hotel makes its home in an imposing red-brick Collegiate Gothic seminary — and its designers, the local duo Roman and Williams, managed to created an enormously fun hotel in what was an otherwise solemn environment. R.E.M. pulled the same trick, but in the opposite direction, with “Swan Swan H.” At first glance, this song about the Civil War appears to be a celebration of freedom, but as it progresses the true cost of a destructive moment in American history becomes more clear. And while the lyrics reference wooden beams of a presumably different sort, for the purposes of this list, we’ll think about the ornate ceiling of the Hoffman Hall event space, pictured above.

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  Le Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City, Canada

“World Leader Pretend” — from Green, 1988

A century-old Gothic Revival castle high on a bluff over the St. Lawrence river, Le Château Frontenac is Québec City’s most famous landmark, and has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests. Musicians, movie stars, and titans of industry have walked its halls, but powerful politicians may have left the greatest influence — suites are themed after heads of state who have stayed at the hotel. According to Michael Stipe, “World Leader Pretend” was the most political song of the band’s career up to that point, and it might continue to be so today. After clashing with Donald Trump over his unauthorized (obviously) use of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” the band followed up by contributing “World Leader Pretend” to an anti-Trump compilation.

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  Chateau Marmont

Los Angeles, California

“Drive” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

The Chateau Marmont was constructed to the specifications of the Loire Chateau Amboise in France, and scattered throughout are certain reminders of the French late Gothic Flamboyant style. But though inspired by France, this particular chateau and its infamous scenes of Hollywood decadence could only exist in Los Angeles. Likewise, “Drive” is a song that could only have come from R.E.M. With an echoey atmosphere as haunted as the hallways of the Chateau, the song drives forward slowly and madly, calling out like a pirate radio station in the middle of the night, seeking to empower the youth through rock and roll.

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  St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

London, England

“Life and How to Live It” — from Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

In R.E.M.’s hometown of Athens, Georgia, there once lived a man named Brev Mekis. Suffering from schizophrenia, Brev split his house into two totally different apartments, each with its own unique furniture, books, clothing, even pets. To suit his disparate personalities, Brev would periodically switch back and forth between his two lives. After he passed away, discovered inside the house were hundreds of identical copies of a book he had written called: “Life and How to Live It.” The great Gothic structure at St. Pancras has a split personality of its own. On the one hand, it is a lavish, luxurious hotel. On the other, an introduction to a busy, full-functioning rail station. Taken all together, it is the ideal of a grand European railway hotel.

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  Borgo dei Conti Resort

Perugia, Italy

“Find the River” — from Automatic for the People, 1992

Borgo dei Conti Resort is a deeply romantic place. Originally built as a fortress in the 13th century, the estate was remade into a noble home some 500 years later. Surrounded by acres of gardens and lawns and parkland, the building is a dramatic example of 19th-century neo-Gothic architecture, still as imposing as ever today. On its sprawling grounds, you’re likely to find some of the herbs and fruits mentioned in “Find the River,” a song that celebrates life specifically because death is always present. Despite the heavy themes, “Find the River” is a gorgeous and uplifting song. It closes out an album full of radio hits, and is equal to or even better than each of those more well-known singles. All of this is coming your way.

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