#Grace did not originally have any power!!! James truly loved her and she was just a cruel person!

[gracecarstairss]

@lyrnaalnieren said: let’s start with how the original love triangle is cordelia x james x grace i’ll fight anyone who disagrees

SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS!!!!!

hot take but the only reason that the gracelet (and Grace’s power in general) exists is to cause salvageable relationship drama between James and Cordelia that ends in the fact that James only ever truly loved Cordelia. It was the cheap way out instead of the bold move which would be to have James actually love Grace and then grow out of that love and then fall in love with Cordelia and not perpetuate “Herondales only love once” because that’s BS and unhealthy imo

[buckysforeverprincess]

Same Story, Different Pen

James Barnes/Chase Collins x Reader

Words: 1953

Warnings: Sad James/Chase

A/N: Hey all! I’m back with the second installment of the James Barnes/Chase Collins crossover. The title says it all. I felt we needed to hear from James/Chase. I got more planned, just have to find the time to get it written Hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading! ❤️❤️❤️

GIF by @erikisright​

Five years had passed since he last spoke to her and time had not been nice to him. Gone were the pretty boy looks he’d once used to charm the literal pants off her and in its place, he looked more like he was approaching middle age. The change was so drastic, she hadn’t recognized him when he approached her today and it was a punch to his gut. The love of his life no longer knew who he was.

 Chase had been keeping an eye on his girlfriend and son for the past year. Well, it was more or less stalking, watching their every move and making sure they were okay and wanted for nothing. He’d always known where they were, using his magic to locate them, and was surprised to find them closer to his location than expected. Only over the course of the last couple of months did he decided it was time to show himself to her. To let his presence be known.

 He’d followed them, like usual. Saw them leave the apartment building and walk to the park, the two of them holding hands and unsuspecting of his presence. His cold heart ached for them, his love and his son. They were nothing but smiles as they made their way down the crowded street and to the park and he desperately wanted to be a part of it.

 The warmth they shared made him long for a time when they could be together as a family, exchanging loving looks and walking hand in hand. Chase yearned for it, to spend time with them while he still could but was unsure of just how well his resurrection would be perceived and he was living in borrowed time. With each passing day his looks changed, and he grew older. It was only a matter of time before he’d leave this life for good, leaving the people he truly loved behind.

 When the pair arrived at the park, he watched his son like a hawk as he let go of his mother's hand and ran over to the slide to play with the other children. Chase was sure the boy didn’t know any of the kids hanging around but that didn’t stop him from running right up and making friends, the others accepting the brown-haired child like they’d always known him. Chase couldn’t help but smile and feel a pang in his heart. His son was just as outgoing as he was, and it warmed him to think he’d got more than just his looks from his father.

 Reasoning his son was fine, his eyes gravitated to the bench his love sat on, watching their child playing with the other kids. Chase could feel his pulse accelerate as he stared, caught up in her beauty and grace. She’d glanced over in his direction but turned away, quickly focusing back on her child so she wouldn’t miss a thing, smiling and waving when they made eye contact with each other. Chase knew, no matter what life threw her way their child was her priority and she’d always be an amazing mother.

 As he continued to watch, Chase figured it was now or never and he stood from the bench he had occupied and began to walk over to the love of his life. The sky began to darken, and he stopped, knowing it was his magic causing the shift in the atmosphere. Damn him! His powers had grown so much that even a negative thought could make something change or shift, and in this moment, he needed the sun shining if this was going to work. On the flip side, the dark clouds could signify an omen… his rejection. Chase didn’t know if he could suffer another heartbreak and the loss of losing them both again.

 Chase only moved when he concluded she was lost in thought, her head looking up towards the sky. His eyes were focused on her while he closed the distance and sat down beside her without making a sound.

 “It’s not going to rain.” His voice is low and ragged from the lack of use and he knows he startled her. Chase kept his head forward, not wanting to make eye contact or show his face to her, trying to get a read on the situation.

 “Are you a meteorologist? Got the inside scoop on what’s in store with the weather?”

 It was a joke, or her attempt at humor. She was tense and rightfully so. It wasn’t every day a man sits next to you and makes small talk. In this day and age, people kept to themselves and allowed for as little contact as possible. His love had every right to be skeptical of the man taking up space on the bench next to her. In her mind, there was no telling what his intentions were.

 “You're a good mom… I’m sorry you had to go through so much on your own.” The words were out before he could stop them, and he knew at that moment he had fucked up.

 “Do I know you?”

 Chuckling, he faces her. His eyes lock onto hers and he can feel the intensity of her stare but doesn’t answer her question. It wasn’t that he wanted to avoid it and lie, he just wasn’t ready. This wasn’t the time and the place for full disclosure, and he couldn’t risk being honest and watching her take their son and run away. Chase would have to play this smart and let the wheels in her head spin and make the connection to who he was on her own.

 “Forgive me,” he holds out his hand in offering, “I’m James. James Barnes.” The alias he’d been using rolls off his tongue with ease.

 She stares at him, like she’s searching for something within him. Chase knows he looks nothing like the eighteen-year-old boy he’d once been with the baby face. He was young and carefree once and she loved his soft features and playful smile, but that wasn’t the person he was anymore and in front of her was a middle-aged man with some very adult wrinkles and a graying beard. There was no way in the world she’d recognize him like this and not a chance in hell she’d believe him if she told her who he really was.

 “I don’t bite.” Chases’ eyes move between his hand and her face, a silent plea for her to take. She just stares at it and he can sense the gears shifting in her head. The love of his life doesn’t trust him, smart woman. He can tell she’s at war with herself and because she can’t figure it out, she does the one thing he hoped she wouldn’t do. Chase shakes his head when she grabs her purse and quickly stands, hurrying to put some distance between the two of them. Fuck! This is not how he’d played things out in his head and he was hoping for a better response than running away from him.

 “Y/N!” Chase yells making her stop and looks back at him. He couldn’t tell if it was fear or curiosity staring back, but he’d called out her name without thinking of the consequences of what that might do. His gut was telling him explaining this away wouldn’t be easy and she wouldn’t give up without answers.

 “Who are you and how do you know my name?”

 That was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question now, wasn’t it? If he told her who he really was, game over. She’d run. Chase knew she’d disappear without ever looking back. And who’s to say she wouldn’t end up back in Ipswich and telling those four fuckwads he was still alive? Right now, he was off their radar and he’d like to keep it that way. There’s no way he could tell her the man she once loved and shared a child with was standing in front of her wanting to make things right. No, today’s not the day for that.

 James shrugs and gets up from the bench and slowly makes his way to where she stands. “I don’t understand. Why Brooklyn? You could’ve gone anywhere, any place in the world. Why here?” He was doing his best to avoid answering her. He could play the distraction and omission game all day long if it meant not sharing his deepest secret.

 “You… you didn’t answer my question. Who are you and how do you know my name?”

 Of course, she wouldn’t give up. Chase knew she was stubborn and headstrong. It’s one of the many reasons he fell for her in the first place. She was a firecracker and once that fuse was lit, she wouldn’t stop until she either got what she wanted, or she went bang. He was trying not to make the former or the latter happen. Not today, devil.

 James takes a chance at distraction and leans in to her ear. So close he knows she can feel his breath on her skin. “I told you… my name is James Barnes… and you have something that belongs to me,” he says low and soft, almost like a whisper.

 “I-I… I have nothing… please, let me go.”

 Chase can’t help but laugh. He’s not holding her and definitely isn’t prohibiting her from walking away if she really wants to. If she had her wits about her, she’d know she’s the one holding all the power. Chase is at her mercy and is the one who should be begging her for absolution.

 “Is that what you want… to go? I let you go once… I don’t intend to make that mistake again.” Chase knows he’s practically giving himself away, but he needs her to make the connection on her own. He can’t divulge who he is without her freaking out. The warlock knows it’d be better for all of them if she’d look past the face fuzz and the gray hair and figure out just who was standing in front of her.

 “Mom!” The sound of his son’s voice pierces his ears, gaining his attention. God, seeing his son up close is like looking in a mirror, his own reflection staring back at him. Chase wants nothing more than to scoop him up and hold him close, never letting him go.

 Chase stands watching the interaction between mother and son, desperately wanting to be involved, but he can’t. Today was about appearing before the love of his life, trying to ease her into knowing. It was up to her to connect the dots and see the big picture. It was apparent he’d have to give her a little more push than he’d originally intended.

 “Here young man…,” he takes an envelope from his pocket and hands it to his son, a little insurance plan he’d already planned out, written by him prior to leaving his own house. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Y/N.” As soon as his son takes it, he starts to back away, but not before leaving a parting gift for one of them to find.

 Chase was able to disappear without being seen, using his magic when he was far enough away to leave without a trace. He didn’t stick around to see the end result and how she reacted to the letter, he couldn’t. The only part left of his heart was broken and he wasn’t sure how or if it could ever be repaired. It’d been five years and he regrets ever letting his greed and lust for power control him. How in the hell would he ever win the love of his family… and could he do it before it was too late?

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[shemakesmusic-uk]

After releasing their album Play With Fire last year via Suicide Squeeze Records, Californian punk trio L.A. Witch are sharing a new video for their standout track 'Motorcycle Boy'. Speaking about the video, L.A. Witch singer and guitarist Sade Sanchez said "The song is inspired by Moto Boys like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando, and Steve McQueen, so of course we took a lot of inspiration from our favorite biker movies like The Wild One, Rumble Fish, On any Sunday, Easy Rider, Hells Angeles '69 and The Girl on a Motorcycle. I had worked with (director) Ambar Navarro and Max on another project and loved their other work, so we wanted to work with them on this. They definitely did their homework and came up with a cool story line. I got to feature my bike that I'd been rebuilding during the pandemic. It was nice to shoot a video where you get to do two of your favorite things, riding motorcycles and play guitar."

Margo Price has shared a new music video for 'Hey Child', said to be the heart and “centerpiece” of her acclaimed 2020 album That’s How Rumors Get Started. It’s directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch. In the moving visual, the country star confronts the demons of her past. There are scenes referencing the time she spent in jail for substance abuse, as well as others depicting her struggles with addiction and depression. Price’s vulnerability is on full display here, and she ultimately uses it to heal and find strength again. Watch it down below. According to Price, 'Hey Child' was originally written back in 2012 “not long after my husband Jeremy and I lost our son Ezra.” She continued, noting how fellow country star and album producer Sturgill Simpson helped encourage her to release it: “'Hey Child' was a song that was written back in 2012 not long after my husband Jeremy and I lost our son Ezra. We were playing shows with our rock and roll band Buffalo Clover and occupying most of the bars in East Nashville. We had begun hanging with a rowdy group of degenerate musician friends and partying harder than The Rolling Stones…The song was about how many of our talented friends were drinking and partying their talents away but after a few years had passed, we realized it was just as much about us as our friends. I had retired it when the band broke up but Sturgill Simpson resurrected it when he asked me if I would re-record it for That’s How Rumors Get Started.” [via Consequence of Sound]

NYC collective MICHELLE has today unveiled their first new single of 2021. Titled 'FYO,' the track powerfully recounts the four lead singers’ experiences growing up with mixed race identities. The track arrives alongside a music video directed by the band’s own Layla Ku and Emma Lee. Speaking on the message behind the song, Jamee Lockard from the band shares: “'FYO' is about belonging to different worlds but feeling rejected by both. Growing up as a mixed-race minority in the US, my self concept was warped by other people telling me what I am and am not, pushing and pulling me between identities. Although my feelings of cultural dissonance still ebb and flow, now I have the vocabulary, support system, and perspective to unpack that inner conflict on my own terms. We should never give others the authority to define who we are."

With her new album Homecoming set for release on April 2 via Daemon T.V., Du Blonde is sharing the video for ‘Medicated’. Featuring Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Du Blonde says of the song, “‘Medicated’ is a letter to my 27 year old self who didn’t want to live anymore, from my now medicated, functioning and content self. It might sound depressing or concerning, but really it’s quite joyful. Like ‘look at how things can be if you hang around’. Shirley and I had talked about her adding vocals to a track and when I wrote Medicated it seemed like the perfect fit. She’s been a voice of reason for me many times when i’ve been struggling and it felt really appropriate to have her. I shot the video in my childhood bedroom using a green screen Girl Ray gave me at the start of lockdown,” she continues. “The spiders are a reference to a hallucination I had in my early teens where I pulled back my bed covers to see thousands of spiders writhing around in my bed, which now I see as a result of extreme anxiety. A lot of the scenarios in the video are a celebration of the things about me that I feel people might feel shame about. There’s so much stigma around taking medication in order to ease mental health conditions, so I wanted to express my feelings on the subject which is basically ‘I take medication and i’m stoked about it because thanks to that i’m still alive’.” [via DIY]

Back with her powerful Y2K sound, Spain's Rakky Ripper channels PC Music and Rina Sawayama on brightly catchy new single 'Whatever'. The new EP Xtra Cost is released  February 19. If you are over the age of 25, odds are that you can recall a very specific kind of pop that graced our launch into the new millennium. Since coined as "Y2K", chart music of that short era was flush with R&B beats, synthetic arrangements and sickly sweet hooks. Britney was the industry’s honey-highlighted princess whilst Christina made it dirrty. It’s something that Rina Sawayama has made 2020-relevant again with the release of her debut album Sawayama, whilst PC Music and Charli XCX took it to another extreme with the redefinition of what it means to be pop. Meanwhile, over in Spain, the alt-pop scene is flourishing courtesy of artists such as Rakky Ripper and her own unique blend of Y2K-meets-hyper-pop. Already gaining Charli XCX approval when the Mercury Award nominee asked Rakky to join her onstage at her Madrid show, the Granada talent shows crossover potential with her new single 'Whatever'. Punchy beats and playful synths capture the sticky heat of pop done well whilst its fuzzy guitar gives it an alternative edge, however it’s its hook-riddled chorus and Rakky’s Spanglish lyrical mix that make 'Whatever' a standout moment. “‘Whatever’ is the pop girl in my new EP Xtra Cost,” shares Rakky of her new release. “It’s my 2021 version of Britney, *NSYNC and the Spice Girls. The new video tells the story about two people who are in love but one of them pretends not to care, so the other person is always chasing.” [via Line Of Best Fit]

Things are afoot in the FKA twigs camp. In October, the R&B star revealed that her third album had been completed during quarantine. Now, she’s back with a new song called 'Don’t Judge Me'. It's her first since dropping the masterful album MAGDALENE in 2019. In addition to a stunning performance from FKA twigs, the track features UK rapper Headie One and producer Fred again…, who’s worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Brian Eno. 'Don’t Judge Me' appears to be something of a companion release or sequel to 'Don’t Judge Me (Interlude)', an early 2020 collaboration that also featured all three artists. Unlike the intentional vagueness of that song, the themes on this version are a lot more direct. During her verse and the hook, twigs begs her lover to hold her and appreciate the “precious love” she sends their way with a devastating urgency. Headie One takes a different approach in his verse and goes off about racial injustice and police brutality. “Know more about my people from the streets than from my teachers/ I done a million speeches/ No justice, no peace, ’cause we in pieces/ Officer, am I allowed to breathe here?,” he raps with a conversational directness. It’s a really powerful pairing from two different yet complementary artists with voices that demand the listener’s full attention. Check it out above via a dazzling video co-directed by FKA twigs and Emmanuel Adjei, who was heavily involved in Beyonce’s Black Is King visual album. Like all of FKA twigs’ clips, this one is truly something to behold. [via Consequence of Sound]

Girl Friday have delivered a surrealistic visual for 'Earthquake,' the powerhouse lead single from Androgynous Mary, their acclaimed album of 2020 out now on Hardly Art. 'Earthquake' is one of the band's most gloriously raging moments and sees the group power through three and a half minutes of unadulterated catharsis. Girl Friday’s Vera Ellen, who directed the new video, offers this, “The greatest love story is between a song and a video. I wanted to deconstruct the creative process. How do ideas find each other? What happens when the artist lets outside forces get in the way of an idea? How is an idea affected by us, the audience and our expectations? What does an idea have to do to become it’s complete, purest, self. Beyond anything, it’s a story of fighting for true liberation. This will look different for everyone but I hope people can project their own struggle onto the story, and relish in the freedom experienced by the characters (if only for a moment)."

J-Pop girl-group, FAKY has released their first single of 2021, 'The Light' with an accompanying music video. This song was selected as a campaign song for the horror film Jukaimura (Suicide Forest Village), the most recent work by the master horror director, Takashi Shimizu, who also directed The Ju-on (The Grudge) and Inunakimura (Howling Village). This up-tempo and cheerful track was created to add another layer of eerieness and uncertainty to the hair-raising storyline and themes of the movie. 2020 was a successful year for the girl group. FAKY hopes to further their success in 2021 starting with the release of 'The Light'. “Our new single ‘The Light’ is an uplifting song with its pop melody, powerful live band sound, and motivating message to move forward towards the light” - FAKY. The music was composed by up-and-coming music producer, Maeshima Soshi (Hypnosis Mic, Hey! Say! JUMP, Rinne and Sorane). 'The Light' expresses that moment when your heart quivers, just when you are about to change, with the theme being about overcoming conflict and having “power to strike out into the world.”

Kinlaw's dark-pop quest has seen her shatter boundaries. Snapped up by Bayonet Records, her piercing, roving eye deconstructs her personal feelings, illuminating electronic structures in their stead. New album The Tipping Scale is out this month, and it expertly reflects the vagaries of winter, the spartan landscapes and the self-examination. Taken from the record, new single 'Haircut' deals with shifts in her life, with the urge to propel herself into something fresh. "I cut my hair to confuse myself," she comments. "It started as a mission to change who I was, to make a new and better version, but ended with my feeling like I no longer knew what I was mourning." A song about leaving trauma behind and embracing the possibilities of the present, 'Haircut' carries some inspired connotations for these troubled times. Kinlaw says the single offers "a question of personal power, and even speaking on this song today has been challenging because it was written when I was unsure if I had any power left. I think 'Haircut' can be a lot of things to many different people, particularly those who identify with the juxtaposition of in-depth, internal dialogue paired with everyday coping strategies. There is a sweetness to it, but also such substantial, unwavering difficulty. Today, I prefer to think of 'Haircut' as an anthem of resilience and an ode to the ways we keep going, we shapeshift, and we reinstall that there is a way to find what it is we are hoping to find." The visual leans on the intimate, opening up a window into Kinlaw's life, and her true feelings. [via Clash]

The Rhode Island born,  Los Angeles based singer, songwriter, musician and actress Emeline is known for her work with Thievery Corporation's Rob Garza as well as her solo music full of biting lyrics and catchy hooks. Her new music video for '6 Foot Deep' was filmed at the infamous Westerfeld Mansion a.k.a “House of Legends.” Icons like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin have lived there, as well as the founder of the Church of Satan. Covered in satanic etchings and scratches from his pet lions, the energy within the house added to the feel of the music video. Also previously used for the Russian Embassy, the house has featured on "Ghost Hunters" for it's haunted happenings.

The Charli XCX-crafted Nasty Cherry have returned with their first single of the year, 'Lucky'. The new track follows last year's Season 2 EP, and arrives as first taster of a new EP landing this spring. The band say of their new single, "'Lucky' is a song we wrote for each other during the pandemic where the six weeks we got to spend together felt incredibly precious and introspective. It's a reflective, sweet and spiky little song." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Griff has premiered the video for her incredible new single ‘Black Hole’. Launched as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World last week, the striking new visual sees Griff examine a past relationship through a surreal, Alice in Wonderland’-esque journey from the sewing room into self-discovery (directed by duo SOB). [via With Guitars]

Poppy Ajudha has shared her new single 'Weakness' in full. The London based artist blends together jazz, soul, R&B, and a whole lot more besides, resulting in a sound that is truly her own. 'Weakness' is a song about love, and it finds Poppy capturing that nuanced dichotomy between the rush of pleasure and an innate fear of being out of control. In a note, Poppy explains that her new single is "about feeling out of control and at the mercy of someone else because of how crazy they make you feel, but also feeling bittersweet about it, because you’re a bad b*tch and you don’t have time for that ish." The songwriter steered the video, too, a self-admitted "control freak" who oversaw the neat mixture of animation and a superbly styled set. "Self-directing was really fun," she comments. "I’m a control freak so it was great to get stuck into all the facets of making a music video. Choosing the team, the makeup looks, directing the styling ideas, writing the narrative, working out how to build the set. It definitely felt like a challenge to direct, star-in and perform choreographed moves for the first time but I love to push myself and am really glad I did." [via Clash]

GG McG’s latest single, ‘Good Morning’, is her first release this year and second overall, following ‘Boom’ in 2019. The song was written on GarageBand during lockdown and was produced by Japanese Wallpaper’s Gab Strum, mixed by Konstantin Kersting and mastered by Andrei Eremin. “‘Good Morning’ is about the total, complete chaos of the past year and the feeling of waking up every morning, reading the news and being blown away by just how much worse things were than the day before,” McGauran said in a statement. [via the Music Network]

Singer HyunA dropped her seventh mini album I’m Not Cool on Thursday, singing of the ups and downs of being the “cool girl” on stage. The album’s title song 'I’m Not Cool' sings about the nice things she tells herself. “It’s really about my originality. I try to compliment myself before going onto the stage. I tell myself it’s not bad to be myself. I’ve long dreamed of this moment right now, and I feel like I’m a bird flying freely in the sky or a flower blooming in the field. I know I cannot be loved by everyone, but I become perfect with just one person’s love. The song is about these kind of every day thoughts.” Donned in exotic outfits and flashy makeup, HyunA said she “became a snake” in the song that sings “No one’s as intense as I am, like salmosa. I tried to show as much of myself as I could in the music video. I wanted to show how intense the ‘not cool’ HyunA could become when fully set,” she added. The creativity behind the title track comes from the unique minds of herself, singer and the founder of her agency P Nation Psy, and her best colleague and boyfriend Dawn. “We worked on the song while just chatting about it endlessly with each other,” HyunA said. “When Psy threw in a big catchy chunk, Dawn would creatively unfold this, adding fun elements to make it fit my style and state of mind. I personally like writing those rebellious lines. Mingling these three minds together, every day, was just so much fun.” [via The Korea Herald]

THYLA are sharing their first new music of 2021, with new single 'Breathe', a track that the band confirm will appear on their long-awaited debut album, set for release later this year. Putting 2020 firmly in the rear-view mirror, the Thyla ethos of putting one foot in front of the other serves them well as they look toward what a long-awaited debut album might sound like. As self-confessed underdogs they've developed an attitude that aims at turning the possible into the inevitable, and with the hypnotic 'Breathe' they reach for reflective, melancholy sounds to accompany what is a time of intense loneliness for many. It is a theme that has been creeping into Thyla's music for some time, and 'Breathe' sees them further explore the idea that, in a world more connected than ever, we are paradoxically more shut off as individuals. 'Breathe' shows yet again that even at their subtlest, Thyla are capable of carving out an impassioned pop world full of the intricacies of our much-missed IRL interactions. Lead singer Millie Duthie offers these thoughts on the track: "'Breathe' was written in the early hours of the morning. Eventually we chanced upon this really vibey atmospheric lick that you hear in the intro, and the whole song grew from there. The song blossomed into a slightly melancholic dream-pop bop, it’s bittersweet and has a slightly inconclusive feeling to it; imagine a film where the main character never actually gets the happy ending you’ve been so long yearning for. The result of how the instrumental sounded no doubt manifested lyrics that held the same sentiment. The song is about loneliness, estrangement from family and close friends, yet despite this, feeling a sense of inner strength about the situation. It’s like recovering from a breakup and realising you’ve come out stronger, but a reflection of the scar tissue that resulted from the trauma."

[ethenell]

Best Films of 2018: Honorable Mentions

The time, once again, has come. The Oscars nominations are out there, and they’re ... puzzling ... But anyone interested in an alternate take can look no further. 

The cinema of 2018 offered too many notable treasures to whittle down to a simple list of ten, so before we get into the meat of my countdown, here is an alphabetical list of ten films that just missed out on making my list, but are essential viewing for anyone looking to take in the best that 2018 had to offer.

Enjoy!

Blindspotting (dir. Carlos López Estrada)

I’m still waiting for the moment when the world collectively discovers the thing at which Daveed Diggs is not amazing. He had already garnered acclaim as a part of the experimental hip-hop group clipping. before reaching a wider audience and netting himself Grammy and Tony Awards for his role in the paradigm-altering musical, Hamilton. To that already distinguished list, we can now add co-writing and co-starring in one of 2018’s most original films. Blindspotting, set in Digg’s hometown of Oakland, CA, is a searing take on gentrification, racism, and police brutality that show off a deep understanding of the myriad political problems in the rapidly-changing Bay Area, while displaying an equally deft touch with the characters who find their lives irreparably damaged as a direct or indirect result. It’s impressive work from Diggs and co-writer/co-star Rafael Casal that first-time director Carlos Lopez Estrada brings to life with singular vision. Something tells me we’ll continue to see more of everyone involved, but Diggs is undoubtedly headed for greatness.

The Death of Stalin (dir. Armando Iannucci)

You’d be forgiven if you thought the creator/director of Veep, The Thick of It, and In The Loop had already mined politics’ deepest, darkest depths for the pitch-blackest comedy that one could possibly generate from the toxic combination of bureaucratic incompetence and egotistical narcissism. However, as The Death of Stalin shows with brutal precision, you would be wrong. The Death of Stalin is at times so bleak its difficult to even describe as a comedy without a bit of a cringe on your face, but it revels brilliantly in the theater of the absurd and probes ruthlessly at the ruling class with chilling contemporary resonance. And that’s all without mentioning that it features one of the best ensemble performances of the year. In a time when its easy to despair how much our everyday political reality has started to resemble a particularly discomfiting episode of Veep, Iannucci makes a triumphant return with an even more discomfiting message - never forget, things can always get much, much worse.

 Hereditary (dir. Ari Aster)

Another year, another Sundance horror breakout. Even if it doesn’t quite match up with some of its more distinguished predecessors (I wouldn’t quite put it at the level of It Follows, The Babadook, or The Witch) Hereditary is clearly the year’s best horror film, featuring a handful of sequences sure to push you to the edge of your seat, and then keep you up at night. The perennially under-appreciated Toni Collette delivers a performance of such vast emotional range that it deserves mention among the absolute best performances of the year – which, of course, meant that it was doomed to be ignored by the Oscars. Nevertheless, any fans of the genre should stop what they’re doing (including, presumably, reading this list) and watch this film immediately. You won’t be sorry.

If Beale Street Could Talk (dir. Barry Jenkins)

A pairing like Barry Jenkins and James Baldwin makes so much sense, and has such immense creative potential, that it’s generally something that could exist only in cinephile dreams. It simply makes *too* much sense. Yet, here we are, and Jenkins’ follow-up to the critically-revered Moonlight, an adaptation of one of Baldwin’s lesser-known novels, If Beale Street Could Talk, is very much real. Does it measure up to the immense expectations thrust upon it, due in no small part to Moonlight’s rapturous reception and the much-hyped pairing of Jenkins and Baldwin? In some important ways, no. Is Jenkins’ script at times overly-reverent of its source material? In some important ways, yes. But when Jenkins filters Baldwin’s story of the redeeming power of love in the face of oppression through his own unique cinematic voice, the results are breathtaking. Jenkins remains one of cinema’s greatest emerging artists. 

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)

At the very least, this latest installment in the M:I franchise was the most balls-to-the-wall fun I had in a theater this entire year, hurtling at a breakneck pace from one jaw-dropping set piece to the next with one of the world’s biggest stars carrying the screen from the first frame to the last. But at most, you could call it one of the decade’s best action films, with some of the most breathtaking stunt work ever put to film with an absolutely singular star who continues to push his penchant for cheating death and tempting fate for our entertainment to daring new heights. The truth probably lies somewhere between the two extremes, but either way, the Cruise’s latest ride as Ethan Hunt is undeniably one of the most thrilling yet.

 Private Life (dir. Tamara Jenkins)

With 11 years having passed since her Oscar-nominated feature debut, The Savages, hit the silver screen, news that Netflix was financing and developing a new film from Tamara Jenkins was met with nearly unbridled optimism. More than delivering on that promise, Jenkins once again delivered a film that delves deeply into all-too-common but dramatically under-explored modern adult experiences. While The Savages followed two adult siblings dealing with the mental decline of their elderly parent, Private Life details a couple in their 40s going through fertility treatments. Like her debut, Private Life uses this trying, even destabilizing experience to explore the ways in which our long-established adult lives can be uprooted as much by our own choices as by external, unforeseeable events. With two sterling performances from Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti at its center, Private Life is rife with incisive observations about overlooked truths of aging together. It’s beautiful work, and undoubtedly one of Netflix’s best “original” offerings.

The Rider (dir. Chloe Zhao)

Using a cast of untrained actors to spin a poetic tale lost opportunity by way of the American rodeo, director Chloe Zhao’s sophomore feature has keyed her as a rising master of cinematic realism. The film follows the struggles of a former rising rodeo star dealing with the fallout of a traumatic head injury suffered during a bronc riding competition, and mirrors the real-life experiences of its star, Brady Jandeau. who Zhao befriended while shooting her debut feature, Songs My Brothers Taught Me. Drawing out brilliant performances and setting them against the perma-golden picturesque of the Badlands, The Rider is a testament to what truly independent cinema is capable of and is sure to springboard Zhao to greater heights.

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (dir. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman)

The most unexpected triumph of the year, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse is not just a high watermark in the Spider-Man film series, it is almost certainly the best film to ever come out of Marvel Studios, and possibly the greatest superhero film since The Dark Knight. With an airtight script that spans several universes (literally) with ease, and featuring some of the most glorious and inventive animation ever to grace the big screen, Into the Spiderverse is a rare and perfect marriage between the words on the page and the visual language employed on screen. It a testament to what’s possible when talented artists with an original vision take big risks - it’s a breath of fresh air.

A Star is Born (dir. Bradley Cooper)

Even with an improbably underwhelming Oscar campaign sputtering its way to the finish line, it’s hard not to peg A Star is Born as the year’s most-talked about film. Bradley Cooper brought his gestating passion project to life with scope and vision rarely seen from a first-time director and Lady Gaga turns in an absolutely electric performance that elevates the film whenever she’s on screen. From the spine-tingling live concert scenes to the beautiful on-screen chemistry between Cooper and Gaga, there’s an awful lot to love about this latest iteration of this long-tenured Hollywood classic. Sure, there’s also plenty to nitpick at - obviously more than enough to fuel a backlash against the once-assumed Oscar frontrunner - but when this film is firing on all cylinders, it’s right up there with the greatest cinema of 2018. Cooper is officially a filmmaker to watch, and A Star Is Born looks every bit like a directorial debut that will stand the test of time. 

 You Were Never Really Here (dir. Lynne Ramsey)

One of the year’s most boldly-directed films, Lynne Ramsey’s latest is a lean thriller that goes for your throat but takes up permanent residence in your gut. Ramsey and star Joaquin Phoenix (delivering yet another show-stopping performance) bury you deep inside the mind of killer for hire, traumatized by his abusive childhood and haunted by his military past, as he embarks on a job to rescue a young girl from sex traffickers. If this premise seems familiar, believe me, the execution is anything but. Ramsey’s direction is unerringly brilliant, elevating You Were Never Really Here well beyond it’s pulpy origins to bracing, almost hallucinogenic heights. Oh, and did I mention it boasts one of Jonny Greenwood’s most adventurous scores to date? If that’s not enough to get it in your Amazon Prime queue (hint hint), then I don’t know what to tell you ...

[killmongerdreams]

dissonance [11]

summary: He was a boy forced to grow up too fast. || hades!bucky x persephone!reader || mythology au

warnings: smut starts straight in the beginning of this (sorry, but [most of] it’s plot  [but it’s also self-indulgent at the same time, sue me.]), we get a James backstory finally!!, mentions of blood, mentions of war, mentions of decapitation, mentions of murder

notes: This is long. Whoops. And dialogue heavy. I will mention this now - I deviate a lot from original mythological backgrounds. I am quite aware of that. But, seeing as it’s an AU and I needed to twist information to fit my plot line, you can either deal with it or not read it. But, for the love of everything that is good in this world, stay the hell out of my ask box with any bullshit for I refuse to deal with it. Thank you. Enjoy reading.

Later that night after the two have settled into her small, comfortable bed, her in a silk gown, him shirtless, her timid nature seems to return full force. Her cheeks heat as James pulls her into his side, tucking her face in the crook of his neck. James leaves her be, mind thoughtful as he absentmindedly skims his hand over her back. The motion soothes her after a while, coaxing her to come out of hiding. If the look on her face is any indication, James would guess she has a few thoughts of her own to voice. 

“What is it, little one?” he asks. 

Y/N shakes her head, instead choosing to capture his lips in a kiss. He obliges with a content sigh, finding her pliant as she rolls to her back, his body slotting between her thighs as if he’s been there a thousand times before. 

James quickly recognizes the tactic for what it is, though, ignoring her annoyed whimper as he pulls away.

“Nice try.” he smiles. “Talk to me, baby.” 

She’s quiet, looking everywhere but at him as she says, “You let me put you on your knees.”

“I did.” he murmurs, smirking a little at the reminder. 

“Why?” 

The question catches him off guard, but there’s no hesitation with his answer.

“I wanted to be good for you.” James reveals. The grin he graces her with is equal parts sinful and beautiful. “I was yours to do with as you wanted.”

“But, you’re a king.” she counters, eyes the slightest bit wide. “You shouldn’t be...submissive.”

“I will do whatever I damn well please, little one.” he says sternly, offering no room for argument. “And if I want to get on my knees for you, then I will. Understood?”

James doesn’t miss the way her eyes glaze over at his display of power, his body heating up, his heart beating faster. 

“Yes, my king.” she whispers. 

He leans down, lips brushing hers ever so slightly. “Is that what you want? Do you want me to dominate you as a king would?”

It’s been forever since he’s been able to do this, to have someone trust him enough to take full control. 

She breathes his name, voice small and needy, and James chuckles, nipping at her earlobe playfully. “Say the word, baby, and I’ll do it. I’ll fucking wreck you.”

“Please.” she begs quietly, and James feels all his resolve break. 

Y/N watches excitedly as the black hue of his eyes she’s come to love returns, obscuring the human blue as he grips her hips firmly. James grinds her body against his, rougher than he’s ever handled her, clothed cock sliding against the silk of her clothes deliciously. 

“We’re going to set some ground rules, baby.” he explains, hips still moving slowly. “Be vocal. If I address you, I expect to be answered immediately.” 

“Yes, my king.”

James draws her hands above her head, wrapping her fingers around the iron bars of the headboard. “You’re not going to touch me.”

Y/N stares at him, aghast, opening her mouth to protest, faltering when James raises an eyebrow. “Yes, my king.” she mutters, sounding very much like a scolded child. 

“Good girl.” James praises, kissing her forehead as reward. She smiles. 

God, he’d do anything for that smile. 

“If something proves to be too much, and you want to stop completely, say the word...” he trails off, looking around the room for a moment. Eyes landing on a vase sitting on the windowsill across the room, he chuckles. “Say the word sunflower.” 

“Yes, my king.” 

“I think that covers the basics, little one. Are you ready?” at her nod, he hums, satisfied. “Good girl. Close your eyes for me.”

Y/N does so obediently, anticipation tingling at her body, the feeling threatening to choke her. 

He hasn’t even touched her yet and she’s already being driven crazy. James can feel her magic permeating the air, the taste of it thick in his mouth, blood and roses. Her defense mechanism at its finest. 

An idea pops into his head. He steps off the bed, feels her powers tenfold, her anxiety rising with it. 

“You need to relax, little one.” he says in an even tone. “Do you trust me?”

She murmurs her assent, breathing deeply. 

“Can you feel me? My power outside yours?” he questions, studying her intently as she nods. “Use it as your anchor, little one. Let me in, let me soothe you.” 

James pushes slightly, attempting to push through the barrier she’s unconsciously created. He smiles as it dissolves, his powers surrounding the two of your completely.  Her breathing evens, body going slack against the mattress. 

“How do you feel?” he asks. 

“Safe.” 

Safe. Surrounded by the darkness he emits. James’ heart constricts at the trust she bestows upon him, the love her heart gives so freely. 

“I’ve noticed something little one,” he trails a finger softly over the thin skin of her ankle, her body jumping slightly, the taste of blood and roses tapping at his tastebuds for a sharp second before settling once more. 

“In situations where you’re -“ he pauses for a second, trying to think of a proper explanation. “ - emotionally compromised, your body either fights mine or takes me over the edge with you. Have you ever noticed that?”

“N-no, my king.” she whispers. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright, my love.” he chuckles. “Except when you force me to come in my pants like a prepubescent human boy.”

Y/N smiles shyly, then, giggling under her breath. 

“Laugh it up now, little one.” James mutters darkly. “Because when I’m forcing orgasm upon orgasm out of that pretty little cunt of yours, you’ll be crying instead.”

Her laugh cuts off into a whimper instead, eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks, and James knows she is dying to open her eyes. 

“You have a dirty mouth, my king.” she tells him, voice airy. 

“Oh, baby, there’s a lot more where that came from.” James licks his lips, humor draining from his voice. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Do you trust me, Y/N?”

She doesn’t miss a beat. “Always.”

“I love you, little one.” James says. “You can open your eyes, now. You’re going to want to watch everything I do to you. ”

Gown pushed right up below her breasts, legs spread as far as they can go, Y/N wails her lover’s name as James presses her hips firmly to the mattress, tonguing at her with the energy of a man possessed. She’s gripping the headboard tight enough to make the metal groan in protest, entire body shaking with the effort of not moving. 

James is well on his way to dragging her third orgasm out of her with just that gifted mouth alone, and so far she’s been so so good for him. It makes a deeply possessive part of him fell satisfied; he's the only one to make her feel like this, to lose herself in ecstasy.

Her hips buck of her own accord as he inches her closer off that ledge, finally breaking her steadfast obedience. James pulls away with a grin that makes her wary, her body trembling even harder. 

“Oh, little one,” he whispers, laughing. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“W-what are you going to do?” she asks, fearfully. 

“Let go of the headboard.” James orders. She does so slowly, fisting the sheets out of nerves. “Turn onto your stomach.”

“James?”

The man in question merely shushes her, running a calloused palm over her ass.   James draws his hand back, bringing it down against her skin. The impact makes her gasp, knees drawing up in an effort to get away from him. James merely grabs her by the ankle to drag her back to him.

“Alright?” he tests the waters, makes sure she’s comfortable. It takes a moment, but she lets him continue, pressing upwards into the palm of his hand. “Eager minx. Ten hits, count them out loud or I start over.”

Y/N braces herself, holding her breath as James draws his hand back. The first slap is firm, not hard enough to actually hurt, but hard enough that she feels it, understands the fact he could truly bring her pain if he so felt like it.

“One.” she counts out. The next two come in quick succession, gaining traction. “Two. Three.”

“Good girl.” he kisses her tail bone, following the gentle gesture with three harsh hits. “Four. Five. Six.”

The next two burn, making her cry out, eyes watering. “S-seven. Eight”

James pauses, massaging her calf. “You know you can stop me, and I will do so without hesitation.”

“I-I’m okay, James.” she looks over her shoulder, shooting him an encouraging smile. “Keep going.”

“If you’re sure.” James follows his words with the hardest spank yet, the feeling making her toes curl. The moan she releases is low, the wanton sound muffled by the pillow she buries her face in.

“Nine.” 

Y/N feels like she’s floating, head stuck in the clouds. James pets her hair, nails scratching gently at her scalp. She practically purrs at the touch.

“One more, little one, and we’re done.” he tells her. “Okay, baby?”

“Yes, my king.” the words are languid, nearly slurred. 

The last leaves his palm hot, a grunt leaving his lips as he delivers the final blow. She shouts the last count, voice hoarse, and James is immediately smother her trembling body with his, chest to her back as he kisses over her shoulder, hands gently massaging her tender ass. 

“Oh, baby, you did amazing.” he praises, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. “Thank you for trusting me. I love you, little one.”

“I love you.” she nudges him. “But you need to get off me, you’re heavy.”

“Sorry, little one.”

She cuddles into his chest, happy and sated.

“Are you going to let me do anything for you?” Y/N asks him after a few moments. She straddles his waist, impish grin as she slowly rolls her hips over the bulge in his pajama pants. His jaw clenches at the feeling, hands clamping down on her waist to put her at a halt. 

“Not yet, little one.” he whispers, strained. “Not yet.”

“Okay.” she pouts a little, but concedes nonetheless.

“Distract me.” James requests.

“Distraction you? From what I want to do?” Y/N asks, watching him nod. “Okay...How do you know Sam?”

James folds his hands behind his head as Y/N waits for him to answer, taking a deep breath. “That’s a long story.”

“And we have nothing but time.”

The god is silent for another long moment, flashes of brotherhood and a war fought flickering in his tortured mind. “We were young, just barely of age, when we first met. The Titans and the younger generation of gods were at odds with each other, on the verge of war.”

“The Titanomachy.” Y/N mutters. She had been young then, too - a young baby deity barely dexterous enough to hold a silver spoon. Her mother fought in that war, somehow came out of it alive. 

“My brothers and I were alongside our fathers, training to become the next generation of elite gods, to eventually take their thrones and rule the realms as we do now.” James continues, eyes distant, far far away from the present. “My youngest sister, Natalia, she wasn’t old enough to fight yet, but she studied her own father anyways, learning the ways of carnage, of aggression, of power. Margaret did much of the same; though, she was much more into the analytical components of war. She could have fought alongside us, but she chose not to.”

I am not like our sister, James, he could remember her saying, voice as serious as ever inside his head. She is cold, calculating. She will either destroy the world or rule it, and I want no part of that. Get away while you still can. She is truly Ares’ daughter, and that guarantees a life of chaos for those that surround her.

“You have sisters?” James nods his answer, sighing. Y/N dares to think he sounds nostalgic.  

“My mother was not afraid of sexual ambiguity.” he explains. “She made it her mission to sleep with as many important gods as she could. She succeeded, I guess - Ares, Poseidon, Hades, even Zeus succumbed to her deviance and seduction.”

“Did you love her, your mother?” Y/N asks. “You’ve never talked about her much. Who was she?”

“I suppose I did love her, somewhat, as do all sons feel for their mothers.” James muses, trying to conjure up an imagine of her. All he gets is bright blue eyes and a mane of long, dark hair, the only thing he remembers of the woman. “She was a goddess, albeit an unimportant one. I’ve been told she was beautiful, and that’s why she bore as many powerful children as she did. I was very young when I taken away to live with my father, so I don’t recall much about her.”

“That’s sad.” Y/N whispers, heart breaking for him.

James merely shrugs, voice flat and emotionless as he says, “She’s dead now, so there’s nothing to reconcile.”

Y/N’s aware of the tangent he’s delved into, the story pitched far away from the topic of his relationship with Sam, but she can’t help but unravel the thread even more, eager to find out everything she can about her enigma of a king. “What happened to her?”

“Natalia killed her, naturally.” 

He remembers her showing up on his doorstep covered in blood - their mother’s blood, dripping from her ivory dress, ever the image of innocence and frailty - grinning. James remembers being angry, holding his own blade to his sibling’s throat as he roared in her face, threatened to take her life in return for her ruthless actions.

He hadn’t seen the woman in ages though he was hurt nonetheless. She tore apart the one thing that defined them all as family, disregarding were all out to kill one another at that point, most of the bonds broken between them - especially concerning James and his brothers.

Y/N watches a fire blaze in the blue of his eyes. “Why?” 

“She accused her of abandoning us.” James explains, jaw set. “Said her children were all monsters because of her.”

“Is she correct? Are you all monsters?” 

James wants to say yes. He wants to say that every single one of them turned out to be nothing more than filth, but, as his heart beats for the woman seated in his lap staring at him with saddened eyes, hurting for him, he can’t help but hesitate. 

“I-I don’t know.” he whispers, voice cracking. He falls silent again, lips pressed into a thin line, and Y/N lets him be, lets him collect his thoughts. “After I heard of her passing, I became a recluse until the war.”

“Where you met Sam.”

“Where I met Sam, yes.” he confirms. “Though he went by his father’s title at the time, seeing as the original was slain by my father years before. A business negotiation turned sour, I’ve heard. Neither I nor Sam know the specifics.”

Y/N gasps, and James nods. “Horrible, I’m aware.”

“How are you two friends, then? If your father killed his?”

“We were on the battlefield, fighting for the future of the divine realm as we know it, when I was struck down, a sword slicing through my shoulder.” 

Searing, excruciating pain bites at James’ memory as Y/N’s eyes fall to the lengthy scar on his left shoulder, starting at the curve before cutting in a straight line through his pectoral, the only mar to his beautiful, otherwise untouched skin.

“Exhausted, delirious, I fell to the ground, and I assume my assailant thought I was dead already, because he did not try to strike me again.” his voice is quiet, thick with an emotion she can’t place. “Honestly, I thought I was dead, too. My father already was. Why should I live on any longer?”

Faced caked with a gritty mixture of mud and the blood of his fallen enemies, he remembers lying there, futilely fighting for a life he should have given up. Across the field, through the sea of dead bodies, he could see his father’s own corpse, head separated from its body - an empire fallen.

“But then Sam saved you.” Y/N guesses, and James actually smiles a little at that. 

“Stubborn bastard wouldn’t let me die.” James rolls his watery eyes. “He grabbed my by the back of my armor, uncaring of my willingness to give up, and dragged my sorry ass off the field and to a healer. Said the only reason he wanted to keep me alive was because he wanted answers.”

“About his father?” Y/N asks.

“Yes.” James answers. “He was highly disappointed to find that I was just as answerless as he. We were both confused boys, fatherless. I was to take on Hades’ legacy, he was to take on Icarus’, and we have no conceivable idea how. We bonded through our misfortune, lifted one another up high enough to achieve a level of success, and then we went our separate ways.”

“Just like that?” 

“Just like that.” James says. “I had a family out for my blood. I had no time for gallantries or friends.”

He was a boy forced to mature too fast, and Y/N feels tears start to well up in her eyes, spilling over like a broken fountain.

“I am the one who should be feeling sad, little one.” James chuckles weakly, pulling her into his chest, kissing her head with a sigh. “Stop crying, please. I cannot bear it when you cry.”

Y/N wipes at her cheeks harshly, shaking her head. “How’d we go from me trying to seduce you to this?”

“I tend to kill the mood.” James says, self-depreciating. “My apologies, little one.”

“I’m the one who asked questions, so I should be apologizing. I didn’t mean to pry.” she kisses his chest. “Forgive me.”

“There’s no need to forgive you. You deserve to know all about me.” he hugs her tighter. “You still want to marry me after hearing that?”

“Only makes me realize how strong of a man you really are, James. I’m not going anywhere.” she promises vehemently. “I love you.”

“I love you.” he echoes. Careful, as so not to jostle her too much, James reaches over to turn off the light sitting on the wooden bedside table. The only light in the room is from the subtle glow of the moon. “I think we’ve had enough talk for the day. Let’s sleep, little one.”

“Don’t let go.”

“Never.”

And with that, they sleep - the king whose life was burned into ashes holding securely onto the queen who was slowly rebuilding him anew, brick by broken brick.

[francesbeau]

Othello - Quote Analysis - William Shakespeare

Started: 30th of April 2021 Finished: 30th of April 2021 

Act One Scene One: 

- Iago talking about Cassio: “great arithmetician/mere prattle without prance” Targets Cassio’s lack of experience 

- Iago talking about Cassio: “A Florentine never damned in a fair wife” Mentions outsider status to disconnect him from the dynamism of Venetian life. Depicts Cassio as a bachelor to create more realism, goes against Cinthios original play.

- Iago: “We cannot all be masters, nor all masters truly be followed” A corruption of the master/servant relationship. Draws upon the tricky servant trope (servus callidus) King James had just been appointed to so this was very topical. 

- Iago: “I am not what I am”, teasingly obscure and creates the question of who really is Iago? Also makes an allusion to 12th night where Viola says “I am not what I am” This showcases how vows about dissemblance can have benign intention. 

- Iago to Brabantio: “look at your house, your daughter and your bags!” asyndetic listing highlights women as secondary importance. 

- “An old black ram is tuping your white ewe” explicate reference to miscegenation. women as an extension of property. Subdued pun to make Brabantio the victim of violation. This sexually suggestive language is because black rams are associated with lust and sexual potency and its horns imply its the reincarnation of the devil. 

- “You’ll have your nephews neigh to you, coursers for cousins, and jennets for germans” Paronomasia is where words nearly sound alike, similar to eye rhyme. Cluster of racial attacks. 

- Brabantio: “thou art a villain” - Iago: “you are a senator”. Dissonance of identity, highlights corrupt higher structures. 

- Roderigo: “tying her beauty, duty and wit in an extravagant and wheeling stranger” 

- Iago: “However, this may gall him with some check” - Subdued equestrian metaphor of a horse being pulled back by reins. 

Act One Scene Two: 

- Iago: “By Janus” Appropriate God to evoke as it is the twofaced God.

- Othello: “Keep up your bright swords” Where Christ, betrayed by Judas, is arrested he order Peter to “put up thy sword into thy sheath” 

Act One Scene Three: 

- Duke: “Valliant Othello” first person to use his name and its the most important man in all of Venice. 

- Othello: “Rude I am in speech, and little blessed in the soft phrase of peace” Actually highly articulated. Spezzatura -  ‘certain nonchalance, so as to conceal and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort’

- Othello: “I won his daughter” - Links to patriarchal norms, Romeo and Juliet there is challenge for Paris to win and “woo” Juliet. 

- Othello: “The anthropophagi and men...” The allusion to the race of the cannibals in the Odyssey called Laestryganes who tried to eat Odysseus. 

- Othello: “she wished heaven had made her such a man” Kind of fickle and would love any man with same fantastical tales. 

- Desdemona: “divided duty” / “I saw Othello’s visage in my mind” Blackness of face is merely a deceptive outward show and his true countenance lies in the mind. 

Othello: “Nor to comply with the heat of young affects” - He is confining his sexual passion due to his stereotypes and has a lack of matched enthusiasm. Separates himself from sexual desire. Could be guilty repression. Freud: Sexual instincts are allied to emotional condition of fear” 

- Duke: “your son-in-law is far more fair than black”

- Iago: “our bodies are gardens to the which our wills are gardeners” - whole soliloquy goes on to examine to argument that if we didn’t have rational minds to counterbalance our emotions our desires would take over. 

- Iago: “these Moors are changeable in their ways” / “Moor is of free and open nature”

- Iago: “when she is sated with his body she will find the errors of her choices” Sexual reference

- Iago: “womb of time.”

- Iago: “twixt my sheet/ done my office” anxiety within marriage links to 2.3 when he calls Othello the “lusty moor” who leapt into his “seat”

- Iago: “Cassio’s a proper man” Acknowledges adversaries advantages. 

Act Two Scene One

- “What from the cape can you discern at sea?” Begins in storm which is symbolic of passions of Cyprus. Starts with the limitations of light and foreshadows metaphorical blindness. 

- “Our great captains, captain” 

- Othello: “oh my souls joy if after every tempest come such calms” / “If i were to die twere now the to e the most happy, for I fear my soul hath her content to absolute” Last time Othello is truly happy 

- Desdemona: “Our loves and comforts should increase even as our days grow”

Act Two Scene Three 

- Othello: “Are we turned Turks?/For Christian shame” Evokes intermittent conflict between European powers and the Ottoman Empire

- Othello to Cassio: “what's the matter, that you unlace your reputation thus.” 

- Iago: “I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear” Link to Hamlet where the King was poisoned by it being poured into his ear

Act Three Scene Three 

- Iago: “Ha, I like not that.” / “Nothing My Lord, or if, I know not what”. Plants seeds of suspicion with mysterious interjection 

- Othello: “Excellent wretch, perdition catch my soul. But i do love thee, and when i love thee not chaos comes again” Oxymoran - doesn't have a grip on emotions. breakdown of cosmos and order as chaos is the undoing of the gods. 

- Iago: “Honest My Lord?” Othello: “Honest? Ay, Honest.” Anadiplosis is the repetition of the last line of previous conversation

- Iago: “My lord you know I Love thee” - John 21;15 “Lord thou knowest I love thee” 

- “Beware my Lord of Jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds upon”

- Othello: “Haply for I am black and have not these soft parts of conversation” - Endemic to Venetian culture are attitudes that Othello cant inculcate. In the shape of Iago the venomous rage of society that are rocked by the elopement play out. 

- “She s gone, I am abused and my relief must be to loathe her” 

- “I had rather be a toad and live upon the vapor of a dungeon than to keep a corner in the thing i love” - This metaphor places emphasis on the embarrassment of cuckoldry. The animalistic imagery is interesting as toads are insignificant and gross which highlight how he feels. Women is the aggressor.

- “I think my wife be honest, and think she is not”

- Iago about a fake dream from Cassio, “I heard him say, ‘Sweet Desdemona let us be wary and hide our love”

- Iago to Othello: “I am your own forever” language of service, however Iago hints at mephisteplion bargain by which Iago has ensnared his soul. 

Act Three Scene Four 

- “There is magic in the web of it”, assumes bizarre shape of perverted trail

Act Four Scene One

- Iago: “to kiss in private” aggressively plants seeds of images of animated sexual congress 

- Othello about himself: “A horned man’s a monster and a beast” Sign of cuckoldry 

- Othello: “My heart has turned to stone” / ‘He Beats his chest’ / “sweeter creature” (like Cassio’s dream) 

- “I’ll chop her into messes” Truculent 

“Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile” - complex conceit, crocodiles generated spontaneously and a proverbial hypocrisy. Plutarch suggests that crocodiles wept when devouring their victims. Crocodile pretends to be in distress to lure victims in. 

Act Four Scene Two

- Othello about Emilia - “a lock and key of villainous secrets”

- Desdemona: “I understand a fury in your words, bot not the words.” 

- Emilia: “she forsook so many noble matches” - links ti act one scene two: she shunned the wealthy curled darlings of our nation

Act Four Scene Three

- The whole song of willow, link to Hamlet as Ophelia fell from a willow tree and drowned after finding out her husband did not love her. 

- Emilia: “if wives do fall” - Post-lapsyrian, eve’s fall from grace. 

- “The ills we do, their ills instruct us so” inverts traditional male leadership role. 

Act Five Scene One 

- ‘Iago wounds Cassio in the leg from behind and exit’ - constant scene controlment. Displays talent for improvisation. 

Act Five Scene Two

- Othello: ‘Think on thy sins’ Desdemona: ‘They are the loves I bear to you’ could be a reference to race but more so an allusion to the sin of living a human more than god. 

- Othello: “A murder which I thought a sacrifice” Zenith of insanity.

- “The sun and the moon and that affrighted globe” Christs crucifixion similar events. Globe theater in terror. 

- “It is the very error of the moon” - Power of the moon can induce madness

- “Base Indian who threw away a pearl” - Matthew 8 Merchant who looses everything trying to obtain a pearl. 

- “Malignant and a turband turk” - symbolically annihilating both Iago and himself. Whole speech is about the salvation of a soul peppered with semantics of Orientalism.

- Lodovico: “this heavy heart with heavy heart relate” Rhyming is emblematic of balance that civilized Venetians are saturated with

[dfroza]

in the beginning of Creation

of beautiful earth as a universal garden of seeds, God made us in His image, as male & female, given the ability to become as “One” body.

there is an eternal aspect of marriage that comes from the Heart of God, even though people in this world don’t always respect its bond. this world holds a broken and severed heart, divorced and at war with its pure genesis.

this is a point that is illuminated in Today’s reading of chapter 10 in the book of Mark:

From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?”

Jesus said, “What did Moses command?”

They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.”

Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”

When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.”

The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

[To Enter God’s Kingdom]

As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”

Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”

He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”

Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”

The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”

That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.

Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”

Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.”

Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”

Back on the road, they set out for Jerusalem. Jesus had a head start on them, and they were following, puzzled and not just a little afraid. He took the Twelve and began again to go over what to expect next. “Listen to me carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Romans, who will mock and spit on him, give him the third degree, and kill him. After three days he will rise alive.”

[The Highest Places of Honor]

James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came up to him. “Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us.”

“What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”

“Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.”

Jesus said, “You have no idea what you’re asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I’m about to be plunged into?”

“Sure,” they said. “Why not?”

Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. There are other arrangements for that.”

When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”

They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”

They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus.

Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.”

In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.

The Book of Mark, Chapter 10 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments with Mark 10 is chapter 25 in the book of Deuteronomy with Moses continuing to give instructions to the Israelites under the strict terms of the old covenant before the grace of the Son was revealed (who came not to abolish but to truly fulfill the law of God) and to set us free from the power of death)

[Deuteronomy 25]

Moses: If two people have a dispute and bring it to court, the judges there will decide the case and declare which one is innocent and which one is guilty. If the judges decide the guilty party should be punished with a beating, the judge will make him lie down and be beaten in front of the judge with the number of strokes appropriate to the evil offense—but it can never be more than 40. This limit is to prevent excessive beatings, which would be publicly degrading.

Don’t muzzle the ox while it is treading out your grain.

When two brothers are living together, sharing family property that hasn’t been divided, if one of them dies leaving a widow without sons, his widow must not be married to a man outside the family. The brother should marry his sister-in-law and try to have children with her in his brother’s name.

Moses: Her firstborn son will be named after the brother who died, so that the first husband’s name will not disappear from Israel and that son will receive his share of the family inheritance. If a man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s widow, she should go to the elders at the city gate and make a formal complaint: “My husband died, and his brother refuses to keep his name alive in Israel. He won’t marry me and give me children!” The elders of his city will send for him and try to persuade him. He may resist and say, “I don’t want to marry her!” In that case, the widow will come up to him, with the elders looking on, and pull one of his sandals off his foot, spit in his face, and then say, “If a man won’t make sure his brother’s family line continues, he deserves this kind of disgrace for not continuing his brother’s house!” From then on, throughout Israel, his family will be known as “the house with the missing sandal,” and they’ll all be disgraced.

If two Israelites are fighting, and one man’s wife comes to help her husband because he’s getting beaten, if she grabs the other man by the genitals, she has disrespected his source of procreative power. Cut her hand off; don’t show any pity!

Don’t keep two different weighing stones in your bag, a heavy one for when you want to weigh out full value and a light one for when you want to try to cheat someone. Don’t keep two different measuring containers in your house, a large one for when you want to measure out full value and a small one for when you want to try to cheat someone. Your weighing stone must be a full and fair weight, and your measuring container must be a full and fair size. That way you will live a long time on the ground the Eternal your God is giving to you, because the Eternal your God is horrified by anyone who is so unjust as to cheat other people in weights or measures.

Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were coming out of Egypt? They found you on the road when you were all worn out, and they attacked those who had fallen behind and were isolated and defenseless. They showed no fear of God. When you’re in a position to punish them for this, when all of your other enemies are defeated and you’re living peacefully in the land that the Eternal your God is giving you to live in, then wipe out every trace of the Amalekites under the sky. Don’t forget!

The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 25 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, july 23 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

[logancreatesworlds]

Like a Mars Bar (J’onn J’onzz x Black!Reader)

(Another JJ x reader story, but this time - she’s a dark-skinned beauty!  Hope you all like it!)

     Damn, working with aliens and superheroes at the DEO was much more difficult than you had originally thought!  Your friend Kara had turned out to be Supergirl (which didn’t surprise you but rather explained why you both looked freakishly alike), you had to get used to your younger brother James being around crime and helping to fight it and most importantly - your boss and crush, the badass Hank Henshaw was actually a damn alien named J’onn J’onzz.  You were lucky enough to woo your way into his good graces, and even luckier to see what he truly looked like.

     He actually was kinda cute in a sort of ethereal, science-y way: tall, muscled, green and he had a unique set of red eyes which you just adored.  He wasn’t half-bad.  His personality was pretty nice too.  When he wasn’t masquerading as Hank Henshaw and giving order to DEO subordinates, you two were spending more and more time together.  He told you simple things at first:  His favorite color, “red - like the Martian sands”, his favorite food, “Oreos - the original ones, not the copies” and even his favorite kinds of movies, “I like sci-fy for some reason.  The human attempt made to understand the deep recesses of science in order to mix it with fiction is fascinating to say the least.”  But you two never made the motion needed to take your flourishing relationship to the next level.  However, that soon changed.

     It was on a hard day that everything became different for you and J’onn.  You were a DEO agent, so you and a few others had been called to wait in a clearing and to meet up with Supergirl later.  Kara had landed in the clearing along with him.  He was in his true form, and he was carrying Alex, but he looked pissed for some reason.  “Okay, I know he got away but we can still catch him if we follow my plan,” you heard Kara say.  Ouch, baddies getting away? J’onn hates that.  You watched J’onn quietly as he silently listened to Supergirl.  His mouth was in a hard line.  Oh yeah, he was pissed.  But damn, he was sexy when he was pissed.  Mm, look at this Martian with his sexy ass...lookin’ like a big, green delicious Mars bar.  I’d like to see how he tastes.”  You quickly looked in another direction when he spared a glance at yours.  When you finally mustered up the courage to look at him, you saw this his attention was once again back on Supergirl like nothing had happened.  You breathed a mental sigh of relief of that at least.  Good thing he wasn’t a mind-reader.

     Later, he, Kara and Alex had caught whichever bad guy who had been dumb enough to plague the city.  Still, everything didn’t feel so resolved for you.  The man who you were interested in still didn’t know that you were...well, interested.  It was poetically cruel that was you wanted was so close, but felt so far, as if blocked by a hard, iron wall.  It sucked even more, for the wall keeping you from your man was no wall at all, but rather - your own fear of being rejected.  Of course, not many could blame you if they knew the truth.  You had had a crush on a this cute white boy back in eleventh grade - Austin was his name.  Handsome, blonde hair, blue eyes, Senior - he was everything a girl could want and did want at the school, and he knew it.  However, unlike the other girls, you were actually dumb enough to confront him about how you felt.  All the romantic movies and magazines that you had went though came back to bite you in the ass when Austin and everyone at lunch laughed you out of the cafeteria.  You went home crying that day.  Jamie, the ever-loving younger brother had offered to kick his ass, as he was pretty big for a freshman, but you declined.  Even after all that he put you through, you still liked Austin and couldn’t bear to see him hurt.  And due to your love, you let him and his friends torment you until graduation.  You still have regrets about skipping prom because of him.  So yeah - you had a fear of rejection.  God, if only you could break it-  

     “Miss (Y/LN), please come into my office.”  You were shaken out of your reverie to see the subject of your romantic stress a few feet away.  “Y-yes...of course Mr. Henshaw.”  You got up and swiftly followed J’onn to his office.  Breathe bitch, stay calm.  Breathe, stay calm.  You kept your eyes down and clenched your shaking hands together.  Keep your eyes down.  Once you were inside, you stilled in front of his desk, though you didn’t sty from taking a spare glance at the office.  No windows.  Well, Martians must like privacy.  “Thank you for coming, (Y/N).”  “Such is the nature of my job J’onn.  I had no choice.”  “As long as I am near, you always have a choice.”  You smiled and J’onn gave you a small grin of his own, “thank you.”  “You are welcome, but that is not what I called you here to discuss,” J’onn said, his face once again turning serious.  “Well...what did you want to talk about?”  “Earlier today,” J’onn spoke, “at the clearing.  You were radiating some thoughts that were of interest to me.”  You eyes widened, “You...can read minds?”  J’onn’s serene red eyes blinked and he answered, “Yes (Y/N)...since my powers came in when I was a little boy.”  Your eyes teared up and you looked to the ground, no longer able to meet his eyes, “J’onn, I am so sorry.  I promise I’ll quit if you-”  Before you could continue, a long green finger hushed your lips, and then the hand that they belonged to gently lifted your face back up to its owner.  J’onn, in all his Martian glory, stood there.  “(Y/N),” he spoke, his voice now more ethereal than ever, “I am not angry or upset.  I am rather overjoyed actually.”

     ...Well damn.  “R-Really?”  J’onn smiled, “Yes.  These past few months, you have grown closer to me.  Still, you seem to forget that I have the utmost pleasure of growing close to you.  I feel an attraction to you for which I have never felt for another woman in a very long time.  Every single time that you walk into the doors of this building, you capture me and my attention, and my am I glad to be your slave.”  Your brown skin was probably bright red by the time he had finished, but alas, the Martian was not done with his tirade.  J’onn slowly turned around and looked around his office, as if admiring it for the hundreth time.  “I love the way you walk, and how your beautiful legs carry you in a glorious physical symphony.  I adore how you talk and laugh, your voice like ringing silver bells on - what is it called? Ah yes, Christmas eve.”  You briefly chuckled at his adorable misstep, and J’onn smiled.  “I revere how you act, so perfect yet so humble.  Every woman on this earth should envy your flawless grace.  In short dear (Y/N), I want you.  I want us.”  “Why would you want me?” You asked.  It was a fair question.  Why would he want you?  “Your perfection is not reason enough?”  “What perfection J’onn?!”  J’onn’s confused frown turned into a look of understanding.  He knew the problem, but he allowed you to speak.

     “I’m hideous, J’onn!  Look at me!  I’m dark, my hair is messy, my eyes are too big, my nose is too big, my stomach is too fat-”  “Enough.” You eyes widened at how angry he sounded, and he looked just as pissed.  “You are to never say those words again, do you understand me?”  You nodded.  “By the gods (Y/N), is that what you truly think of yourself?  Because if so, you are sadly disillusioned.”  You remained silent as J’onn walked closer to you.  “You are the most beautiful woman not only on this planet, but in all the solar systems, galaxies and universes combined.  You eyes are so deep that I could almost swim in them if physical boundaries prevented did not prevent me.  You skin is so brown and beautiful that the sun itself smiles because it is lucky enough to be absorbed by your beautiful melanin.  Your hair?  So black and wild, it as if all the depths of the deep, dark space we live in have taken shape upon your perfect head.  If you need any pep talks for your body, then you more than welcome to come to my apartment tonight.  I will personally show you how much your stunning form deserves to be worshiped.”  Your mouth dropped at what J’onn has just said.  You could feel your eyes tearing up.  J’onn frowned, “Did I offend you?”  “No uh...just the opposite,” you responded, wiping your tears with a sniffle, “So...where do we go from here?”  J’onn stepped as close as he could, it was closer than we had ever been.

     “Let’s start here,” he said.  J’onn gently grabbed your face in his large green hands and smashed his lips to yours.  The moment your lips touched, it felt like someone had taken a thousand fireworks and smushed them to your lips.  It was perfect.  Soon, the kiss grew deeper and before you knew it - you and the man of your dreams were exchanging tongue.  The kiss grew hotter, heated.  J’onn broke from your lips with a happy breath and then pushed you into a soft lounge chair.  Still, you didn’t care much if you were in a chair or in a bed, as the man you had held in very high esteem was unbuttoning your shirt.  In a couple seconds, he had slipped it off of you and tossed it behind him.  You didn’t care though as J’onn leaned over you and proceeded to kiss you some more.  

   Still, you couldn’t catch a break.  Someone opened the door.  “Hey J’onn Alex and I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got another case-”  Kara gasped as J’onn swiftly got off of you, while you covered your black lace bra and hid it from her view.  Kara, being the sweetheart that she was, had the decency to look away and shut here eyes.  “Whoa, sorry to interrupt you two.  Uh J’onn...Alex and I need you.   There’s another case.”  Dammit, you thought.  “No matter, my love.  We shall definitely finish this later.”  “Wait.  You can-”  “Telepathy, darling...I shall explain later.”  J’onn cleared his throat, turning back into Hank Henshaw, “Of course, Kara.  I will be down in a moment.”  Kara, still with closed eyes, gave an awkward thumbs up and closed the door.  You and J’onn sighed in unison.  “Dammit,” you huffed.  J’onn smiled and leaned down, planting a kiss on your lips, “I promise, we will finish later.  Let me go take care of this, and we can meet at my place later.  Take a short break, and be down to join us when you’re ready.  I will let you know if anything changes.”  You nodded and J’onn planted one last kiss on you before walking out of the door.  You sighed in both joy and impatience.  Oh well, you thought, At least I got my Mars Bar.

(A/N: I know, I know - not the best, but I tried dammit! XD Seriously though, please comment or message me so I know how you guys like my work.  If you do, it’ll motivate me to write more!  Thanks for the support!  And feel free to send me requests n’ stuff!)

[stacks-reviews]

New Releases 7/24/27

Happy New Release Day!

In Books --The Backstagers volume 1 by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Rian Sygh “All the world’s a stage...but what happens behind the curtain is pure magic literally! When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he is taken in by the only ones who don’t treat him like a new kid, the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Not only does he gain great, lifetime friends, Jory is also introduced to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain. With the unpredictable twists and turns of the underground world, the Backstagers venture into the unknown, determined to put together the best play their high school has ever seen.”

I love everything about this. I hope it’ll be as good as it sounds. I mean, a magical boy band. Or at least a boy band that will travel to a magical world. What’s not to like.

--Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody The Gomorrah Festival is a traveling carnival of debauchery, catering to the strangest of dreams and desires. Sorina has spent most of her life on the borders of the festival as an illusion-worker, the only one to be born in hundreds of years. She creates illusions that you can see, feel and touch, that even have personalities. Sorina’s creations are like her family even though she knows that they are not truly real. At least until one of them is murdered. Desperate to save her family Sorina will venture into the most sinister corners of the Festival to unravel the horrifying truth.

I started thinking about Cirque de Freak by Darren Shan the moment I read the description. Purely because of a creepy carnival. I’ve never read that series by him but I have read a few books of his series The Demonata. 

I’m really enjoying Sorina’s illusion powers. I like how she can make them touchable. I’m already debating if she might somehow be summoning her ancestors, maybe even pulling people from other dimensions, or just being so creative that she can create almost anything and make it real. Or even unknowingly putting a bit of herself into each creation, giving them life that they may grow and develop on their own. Either way it sounds like it would be pretty good. I’m curious to see what all powers might reside deeper in the carnival. And just what kind of power is able to kill illusions.

--Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju volume 2 by Haruko Kumota Yotaro has been accepted as Yakumo’s apprentice and a member of his household. Taking in this young man forces Yakumo to confront his past and promises that were left unfulfilled. He thinks of his friend and rival, Sukeroku. He remembers growing up in a Japan changing after the war. And of a woman named Miyokichi.

The second volume of the manga that the hit anime of the same name is based on. Although this series is about Yotaro and Konatsu (a woman who would like to perform rakugo but is stopped by her legal guardian; Yakumo, because he believes in the old style that prevents woman from peforming rakugo) learning rakugo and performing. It is also a tale of Yakumo as he confronts his past.

--Fairy Tail volume 61 by Hiro Mashima “The meaning of family. As the most powerful wizards of Fairy Tail face off against the remaining members of The Twelve, their hearts, relationships, and skills will be put to the test. The battle between Erza and Irene reaches an emotional conclusion, Gray shows how far he’s willing to go to save his dearest friends, and the love of a father sparks a shocking revelation from August. As Natsu and Zeref’s showdown approaches, both enemies and friends must ask themselves who their true family is!”

Honestly, I have fallen behind on Fairy Tail. The last volume I read was 54. I’m slowly trying to catch back up. It’s not that I don’t like the series anymore, although I don’t know if I could still call it one of my top current favorites. I had to cut back due to when I left one of my part-time jobs. Although the one I kept had fewer hours, it allowed me to focus on college and my homework more. I don’t really know what is going on currently, except for the fact that it is near the end of the final arc. I want to be all caught up by the time the final volume; 63, comes out. 

--First We Were IV by Alexandra Sirowy “It started for pranks, fun, and forever memories. A secret society - for the four of us. The rules: Never Lie. Never tell. Love each other. We made the pledge and danced under the blood moon on the meteorite in the orchard. In the spot we found the dead girl five years earlier. And discovered the ancient drawings way before that. Nothing could break the four of us apart - I thought. But then, others wanted in. Our seaside town had secrets. History. We wanted revenge. We broke the rules. We lied. We told. We loved each other too much, not enough, and in ways we weren’t supposed to. Our invention ratcheted out of control. What started as a secret society, ended as justice. Revenge. Death. Rebellion.”

The first time I looked this book up, I wasn’t too crazy. Labeled it as a maybe. I don’t know if Goodreads had a different description or if I just liked it more the second time around. It sounds like it could be a pretty good mystery. My guess right now, is that by creating IV they might have gotten the idea from a old group who called themselves the same. And somehow in the process maybe committed some kind of magic ritual that maybe activated some old ghosts from the previous group. I hope it has something to do with an ancient civilization.

--Generation Witch volume 1 by Isaki Uta One percent of the population is made up of witches. Some look up to witches, some envy them. But these abilities can sometimes be more of a curse than a blessing, as any witch knows. Growing up requires a lot of luck and effort for a teenager, so what happens when you throw spirits, magic, and broomsticks into the mix?

I couldn’t really find any information regarding this manga other than the description. It appears to be pretty new. It sounds like a cute coming of age story and it kind of makes me think of Flying Witch; which I have neither seen nor read but I would like to, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. In terms of a young witch trying to learn her craft throughout her day to day life. 

--Strange Practice (paperback) by Vivian Shaw Greta Helsing uses her family’s highly specialized, and highly peculiar, medical practice as a doctor to the undead. Keeping the supernatural community not-alive in London has been the Helsing’s specialty for generations. She treats vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. It’s a quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta’s been groomed into since childhood. Quiet until a group of murderous monks appears, killing human and undead Londoners. It’s up to Greta to use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice and her life.

I’m a fan of seeing supernatural creatures just trying to live their lives. Where not all of them are necessarily evil. Some just want to live. I’m gonna point the blame at Inuyasha on this one cause I think that’s the first place I ever ran across the idea of not all monsters are evil. I think. Plus, I just like seeing the twist of a Helsing helping supernatural creatures instead of hunting them.

In Movies --Gifted A story of a man raising his very intelligent niece after her mother died so that she may live an ordinary life. His mother finds out where they live, believes her granddaughter’s talents are being wasted, and tries to gain custody of her. 

It was a really cute story starring Chris Evans. And Mckenna Grace was adorable as Mary. I loved their characters relationship in the film. It was a very touching movie.

--Ghost in the Shell This entry will contain some spoilers at the end about the end of the movie. You have been warned.

The live action adaptation of the amazing manga, anime film, and anime series. On IMDb the description of the live action version is as follows: “In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals”

Really just putting this up because I’ll be getting it someday to be able to finish my collection. That’s about it. The effects of this movie were very well done. I really appreciated the fact that there were references to each form of this series. I remember seeing scenes that I know were only in the manga, some scenes that were in the original film, some scenes from S.A.C., and some nods to Arise. I had some issues with what they did to the story. I love GitS. The anime is easily one of my top favorites and I have a lot of respect and love towards Major Motoko Kusanagi. I tried my very best to see the movie as its own universe. Easy enough since each form has been its own universe. But there were just some things here and there that I couldn’t get past. Which I could go into all the details but that should probably be on a post more dedicated to it. But I will mention that I was slightly disappointed that she was not shot in the head at the end. In each other version, that happened at least once. And they ruined my OTP. Due to plot, I gathered that the Major is really aged somewhere between 16 and 18. While Batou looks like he’s in his 30′s. I can’t approve of it. They ruined my ship in this version and for that I will never forgive them.

[placetobenation]

Dir: Tom Hooper. 

Cast: Robbie Fairchild, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift. 

With CATS finally being available on digital platforms – I think it only right to discuss it at this time. I remember right before the pandemic, this movie was all people were talking about it and it was not good news. 

It’s not that director Tom Hooper is bad. He is quite good. I loved The King’s Speech with Collin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. It was a remarkable movie filled with heart and charm. Things made sense and it even had great instances of humor. 

I also loved Tom Hooper’s take on the classic Les Miserable with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried. The movie had stirring musical performances, and won over most audiences. The film garnished 7 Oscar nominations including Best Picture. 

So Tom Hooper is not entirely clueless as a Director by any means. His films are usually rock solid with a lot of personality – and sense – until this. 

I don’t know what happened, but somewhere along the way Tom Hooper thought he had a severe problem with CATS. I don’t know who convinced him of this – but it seems like he was up against the wall and was trying to come up with ways to fix it. 

Well fixed it he did not, but make it worse, he did. We all know CATS is grounded in a simple poem by TS Elliot. He just mentions the type of cats that are in this town in England, and Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber set music to it, and here we are. The show has won Tony Awards here in America and Laurence Olivier Awards over in England. So clearly it must have been doing something right. 

After 18 years, and over 7,000 performances, I guess Tom Hooper thought it needed a change. I mean, why leave a classic alone if you can re-write it and make it your own. 

So Tom Hooper casted celebrities for this production, probably mistake number one. CATS is not strong on story, it is strong in dance and in music. One can almost call it a modern ballet of sorts. Well guess what, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Judi Dench, James Corden, Rebel Wilson and Jennifer Hudson are not professional dancers. So that puts the film at a disadvantage right away. 

Turns out they all can sing, well, good enough anyway, for this production – but dancers and graceful movers, they are not. I think the big difference between this flop and the success of Les Miserable is that Le Mis is built like a movie with a story and strong characters and the backdrop of war and love won and lost. 

CATS is just about cats. That’s it. It’s a dance, even the main plot point is called The Jellicle Ball. CATS is about personal movement, dance, interpretation. Move like a cat, act like a cat, dance with grace like a cat and sing your song. That actually is the storyline – they all have to perform for Old Deuteronomy and get judged by him/her as to who gets to go to the Heavyside Layer – which is like Heaven and get reincarnated. 

Old Deuteronomy was an old man for 20 years of the production, but Hooper made him Judi Dench. No big deal – except you have Ian McKellen playing Gus The Theater Cat, right beside her and you’re thinking – I think those two should have switched roles.

Also when you see Rebel Wilson, you cringe. Her jokes do not work at all, and the same goes for James Corden who is just having too much fun to care about anything. Taylor Swift sings one of the good songs, but who cares – this is not The Voice or American Idol. We need dancers, not celebrity singers.

The big song from CATS is Memories – and it is sung by Grizabella. Now here’s another huge mistake. Grizabella is an old cat, a female cat, a cat well past her prime with a shabby coat that could not shine again no matter how much you brushed it. Director Tom Hooper chose Jennifer Hudson for this role. Jennifer not only is way too young to play a washed up cat, she has no pain in her eyes, no age, no regret, but she also can’t dance. So that’s two things she can’t bring to the role, but we all know she can sing very well. Again, for this, it’s not enough. 

Now let’s talk story – in CATS, there is none. Like I said it’s just a bunch of cats singing songs about themselves. That didn’t sit right with Hooper I guess. He wrote in some stuff that makes no sense, but no one has every accused him of being a writer. 

One of the cats, Macavity, played by Idris Elba, somehow attains magical powers. Now in the play – he is just your average mischievous cat who causes trouble and disappears. Well now he is a cat who can transport himself anywhere in the world and bring other cats along with him. Why? We don’t know. How? We don’t know. 

Macavity then decides to go ahead and kidnap every cat auditioning for the Heavyside Layer and chain them up at a dock on the Thames River. This way, he thinks, he’ll be the only cat left to choose!! 

So cats start to go missing – something brand new to this production, and are literally chained up at a dock on the Thames River. Now Magical Mr. Mistoffelees, who is really supposed to have magic – doesn’t. So when the other cats ask him to magically bring back the hostages, it is a surprise and a revelation the he is able to do it. 

Oh and the most ridiculous thing in the film, and there are quite a few, is Rebel Wilson simply unzipping her fur, to get out of the chains. Who knew?!? Cats have zippers!! 

The sets here are truly wonderful and poetic, the costumes look amazing on the cast. I bet those are two things the theatre production wish they had. 

The problems though, are with the wires in the dance acts, and the size of the cats. Sometimes the cats look the correct size – other times they look no bigger than a mouse. The stair case scene is the most ridiculous. The cast looks lost on this huge staircase as if cats never climbed stairs before. So the film has some practical issues, but even worse are the wire issues. 

CATS is known for it’s dancing and it’s gracefulness, but Director Hooper decided to use wires in his dance numbers and it makes every single dancer look clumsy and stupid. The jumping, the floating across the floor, the high jumps, the ridiculous jumps – all of it, you can tell they were wire stunts and it looked extremely unnatural and off-putting. 

The dance is the strongest suit for a project like CATS and the wire stunts ruins all of it. Every single bit. So you have no great dancers, no great dance numbers, wonderful celebrities who can sing and a weird story that makes no sense. 

This movie would have been magnificent if they let a choreographer direct it and stuck with the original story, but I’m afraid Tom Hooper wanted more, overreached, and as talented as he is, was just not the right guy. 

[mrmichaelchadler]

Natural Woman: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin

The world lost actual royalty on Thursday, August 16th, 2018, when the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, passed away at age 76. Our own Odie Henderson already paid tribute to her in his eloquent obituary, but we wanted to open the floor to a few more thoughts from our team, including Chaz Ebert, Nell Minow, Brian Tallerico, Omer Mozzafar, B. J. Bethel, Steve Erickson, Peter Sobczynski and Matt Fagerholm. Words can’t really do her justice, but we will try.

CHAZ EBERT

ARETHA FRANKLIN: NATURAL WOMAN

Ms Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul, was the singular musical influence in my life. Not the single, as in only, but the most important. I have great admiration for many singers such as Sara Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Esther Phillips, Lena Horne, Whitney Houston, June Anderson, Dianna Ross, Adele, Dionne Warwick, and Barbara Streisand but Aretha’s singing helped me to discover the music of the heartstrings. Whether she was crooning "Natural Woman," "Dr Feelgood," "Giving Him Something He Can Feel," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Brand New Me," "This Girl's In Love With You," "Chain of Fools,"  “Nessun Dorma” or “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” her brand of soul seeped deep into my psyche, taking me through various experiences of love, as she was never timid about letting you know whether she was deliriously in love or woefully in pain, or on some platform in between the two.

There is a certain kind of down-home blues called “gut bucket” blues, not only because you feel it in your gut with each strum of the guitar but because it sounds like it is wrenched from the guts of the singer, from his or her firsthand experience with no money for rent and the baby needs shoes, and your love done got up and gone. Aretha’s songs came from her gut. There was no artifice. Her soulful moans were a direct translation whether you were wondering about love, falling in love, discovering sex, nursing a broken heart or telling a man to give you some Respect. She was that natural woman, who struggled with her weight, and her clothes but never with her affection for family and friends. When she performed professionally she sometimes demanded to be paid in cash and was known for carrying it around in her purse within her eyesight on stage. But that was her way of being assertive, for standing her ground and making sure she didn’t end up penniless like a lot of the entertainers who were taken advantage of. Whether in love or in life, her songs came from deep emotions and a myriad of deep experiences.   

But she was also a multi-talented original, so her songs also came from her heart and soul, beginning with the gospel songs she sang in her father Reverend C. L. Franklin’s church in Detroit.  Her rendition of “Amazing Grace,” brings me to tears each time. And the miracle is how well she seamlessly blended the gospel and the secular, finding the divinity in each.  She took this blend of gospel and secular on the road with Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. to help with the struggle for civil rights. She didn’t back down from confrontation. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” became a clarion call both for the civil rights movement and the women’s liberation movement.

I loved Aretha and what she stood for and the news of her death leaves me heartbroken. On the few occasions when Roger and I ran into her at events, I was surprised to find out that she could be shy. Or so she told me. Maybe that was part of her need for privacy; part of her Diva shield. She would get us alone and kick off her shoes, and she became playful and warm and funny. She could give as good as she got, and she loved teasing and catching up on the latest goings-on. It is so hard to say goodbye to someone who feels like they have been a part of your life for so long, even if you know them mainly through their music. I am just “saying a little prayer for her” and thanking her for all of the deeply soulful heart connections she engendered. And I am sending out the most heartfelt condolences to her family. Heaven has a new Queen.

BRIAN TALLERICO

When I was a teenager in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, I worked in a book store called Metro News Center (it was mostly magazines and newspapers, but also had a healthy supply of new books). I can still remember the first time Aretha Franklin walked through the front door. There was no mistaking who it was. She wasn’t the kind of face you didn’t place. It was as if actual royalty had entered the building. A hush fell over the whole store that felt almost supernatural, as if the world made way for her wherever she went. When I think of the very concept of a celebrity being “larger than life,” I think of that encounter—the Queen of Soul wandering the aisles in a book store and the world stopping to watch her do it. It was unforgettable—although I’d pay a lot of money to remember what books she bought.

The world didn’t just lose a generational musical talent, it lost that increasingly rare degree of celebrity and superstar that can truly justify the title Queen.

OMER MOZAFFAR

She was that older sister who knocked down walls with the sheer will of her personality and the power of her voice.

NELL MINOW

I won’t try to express the greatness of Aretha Franklin with superlatives.  Even the most extravagant would not do her justice. I will just say that beyond that voice, her magnificent instrument, the match of any musical genre or mood, beyond the inerrant musicianship that could take a melody, twist it, stretch it, toss it to the moon and back again without losing a brilliantly shaped note, was her grace as a person and a performer. When she demanded respect, when she told you to think, when she sang, “Mary, Don’t You Weep,” when she stepped in at the last minute to substitute for the foremost tenor of the world, Luciano Pavarotti, to sing his signature aria, Nessun Dorma, everyone who was lucky enough to hear her understood that her real greatness came from the honesty of a true natural woman.

B.J. BETHEL

Aretha Franklin's title of "Queen of Soul" was more than befitting the greatest singer America ever produced. She defended her reign in numerous feuds with other singers and celebrities. But one wonders if she took the title so personal because she was a Queen without a King.

Sam Cooke was more than inspiration for Franklin. The two met when she was 12 and he was in his early 20s.

Cooke died in 1964 after being shot by the manager of a hotel, an incident that still hasn't been wholly investigated and one he family - 50 years later - still wants re-opened.

Cooke was 33 years old when he died but was already dubbed the "King of Soul" for a string of songs and hits that may never be repeated, and a voice that expressed a joy and inspiration that was quite opposite of the hard life he lived.

"A Wonderful World," "Saturday Night," "Twistin' the Night Away," "Chain Gang." were a few of his hits, songs that were all staples of pop and soul music. His talent was equaled only by Franklin.

On Franklin's hit album "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You," she covered two of Cooke's songs. "Good Times," and his hit "A Change Is Gonna Come" as the final track on a record that began with "Respect." Pitchfork named the record one of the 10 best of the ‘60s, Rolling Stone had it in a list of top 100 records of all time. Cooke's inspiration was all over it.

What the two could have done if they had both been blowing up the charts at the same time has always been a question hanging in my imagination.

STEVE ERICKSON

When I went out for breakfast this morning at a Manhattan cafe, the radio was tuned to a station playing '80s and '90s R&B and hip-hop. The DJ spoke in between songs about Aretha Franklin's death today and her immense importance in American culture, but at least while I was there the station couldn't be bothered to play any of her actual music. But the artists they did play - Mary J. Blige (one of her most obvious descendants), Anita Baker, even a male singer like Prince - would have sounded much different without the bravery and swagger of her late '60s and early '70s music. "Respect" is just the beginning. Albums like SOUL '69, SPIRIT IN THE DARK and YOUNG, GIFTED & BLACK offer plenty of deep cuts, and a stylistic range that includes rock, jazz, blues and gospel, although she usually just gets summed up as a soul singer. The kind of female African-American rebellion summed up by "Respect" isn't exactly absent from our culture, but it says something about our times that the attitude and struggle represented by her best music and public persona still seem very contemporary.

PETER SOBCZYNSKI

As was probably the case for a lot of people who share my age and general background, my first real exposure to the majesty of Aretha Franklin came from the silver screen. For my ninth birthday, my family went to go see “The Blues Brothers,” a film that I had been champing at the bit after having seen its production virtually take over the Chicago area the previous summer. During the first section, our heroes are jumping bridges, getting blown up, driving through shopping malls, getting smacked by nuns and getting redeemed by the power of James Brown and for a movie-mad kid like me, every frame of it was a delight. Then Jake and Elwood decide to step into a restaurant on the famed Maxwell Street to grab some lunch and, hopefully, their old guitar player and saxophonist. What they run into is a force of nature that not even the combined efforts of all the top visual effects artists in Hollywood could ever hope to equal—a pissed-off Aretha Franklin laying down the law to her husband, the guitarist, via a rendition of “Think,” the 1968 song that she co-wrote with her real life then-husband Ted White. Her performance was volcanic—a show-stopper in the best possible sense—and for the three minutes and change that she is singing, the film essentially shifts in tone from goofy musical comedy to grand opera. Even people who didn’t like the film as a whole—and such miserable creatures do exist—were blown away by that scene and many critics pointed out that one flaw in the film is that when Jake and Elwood leave with their former bandmates, they inexplicably neglected to bring her along as well.

As a result of that movie, I began looking into the R&B/soul legends who populated the soundtrack and whose careers were given a welcome boost as a result of their association with the film, Franklin chief among them. I will admit that there are other people who could better articulate the power of her voice and how it not only revolutionized the music world but proved to be a force of strength in the battles for civil rights and women’s rights. I am not even going to attempt to do that for fear of inadvertently sounding like a character out of a lesser Nick Hornby novel. I will, say, however, that she was an artist who well and truly gave her all with every performance. She could take a dumb song (I’m looking at you, “Freeway of Love”) and usually invest it with far more passion and energy than it deserved so that even the throwaway filler tracks had more life to them than the best efforts of most of her contemporaries. When she had the chance to work on better material—(“You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” to “Think” (which she would eventually perform in “what would be one of the few highlights in the otherwise dire “Blues Brothers 2000”) to “Nessun Dorma,” the aria from Puccini’s “Turandot” that she famously performed during the 1998 Grammy Awards for millions of viewers, literally at the last minute, after original performer Placido Domingo fell ill—the results were simply exhilarating. She may be gone now in the literal sense but thanks to her musical legacy, the power and presence that she demonstrated every time she stepped up to a microphone will never be diminished.

MATT FAGERHOLM

Some people have you at "hello." Aretha Franklin had me at "Think." Her performance of that iconic tune in "The Blues Brothers" was such an electrifying and hilarious showstopper that it made me a lifelong fan. I received a six-CD boxed set of her greatest hits for Christmas that I listened to throughout my childhood, amazed by the versatility of her genius. Three years ago, she made a surprise appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors, where she paid tribute to Carole King by bringing down the house with "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." President Obama wept, and I did too. Thank you, Aretha, for your limitless inspiration.

from All Content https://ift.tt/2OJBDVc

[michaellozano171]

Love

Bible Study Love luv ( אהב , 'āhēbh , אהבה , 'ahăbhāh , noun; φιλέω , philéō , ἀγαπάω , agapáō , verb; ἀγάπη , agápē , noun): Love to both God and man is fundamental to true religion, whether as expressed in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Jesus Himself declared that all the law and the prophets hang upon love ( Matthew 22:40; Mark 12:28-34 ). Paul, in his matchless ode on love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ), makes it the greatest of the graces of the Christian life - greater than speaking with tongues, or the gift of prophecy, or the possession of a faith of superior excellence; for without love all these gifts and graces, desirable and useful as they are in themselves, are as nothing, certainly of no permanent value in the sight of God. Not that either Jesus or Paul underestimates the faith from which all the graces proceed, for this grace is recognized as fundamental in all God's dealings with man and man's dealings with God (John 6:28 f; Hebrews 11:6 ); but both alike count that faith as but idle and worthless belief that does not manifest itself in love to both God and man. As love is the highest expression of God and His relation to mankind, so it must be the highest expression of man's relation to his Maker and to his fellow-man. I. Definition. While the Hebrew and Greek words for "love" have various shades and intensities of meaning, they may be summed up in some such definition as this: Love, whether used of God or man, is an earnest and anxious desire for and an active and beneficent interest ins the well-being of the one loved. Different degrees and manifestations of this affection are recognized in the Scriptures according to the circumstances and relations of life, e.g. the expression of love as between husband and wife, parent and child, brethren according to the flesh, and according to grace; between friend and enemy, and, finally, between God and man. It must not be overlooked, however, that the fundamental idea of love as expressed in the definition of it is never absent in any one of these relations of life, even though the manifestation thereof may differ according to the circumstances and relations. Christ's interview with the apostle Peter on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:15-18 ) sets before us in a most beautiful way the different shades of meaning as found in the New Testament words φιλέω , philéō , and ἀγαπάω , agapáō . In the question of Christ, "Lovest thou me more than these?" the Greek verb ἀαπᾶς , agapás , denotes the highest, most perfect kind of love (Latin, diligere ), implying a clear determination of will and judgment, and belonging particularly to the sphere of Divine revelation. In his answer Peter substitutes the word φιλῶ , philṓ , which means the natural human affection, with its strong feeling, or sentiment, and is never used in Scripture language to designate man's love to God. While the answer of Peter, then, claims only an inferior kind of love, as compared to the one contained in Christ's question, he nevertheless is confident of possessing at least such love for his Lord. II. The Love of God. First in the consideration of the subject of "love" comes the love of God - H e who is love, and from whom all love is derived. The love of God is that part of His nature - indeed His whole nature, for "God is love" - which leads Him to express Himself in terms of endearment toward His creatures, and actively to manifest that interest and affection in acts of loving care and self-sacrifice in behalf of the objects of His love. God is "love" (1 John 4:8 , 1 John 4:16 ) just as truly as He is "light" (1 John 1:5 ), "truth" (1 John 1:6 ), and "spirit" (John 4:24 ). Spirit and light are expressions of His essential nature; love is the expression of His personality corresponding to His nature. God not merely loves, but is love; it is His very nature, and He imparts this nature to be the sphere in which His children dwell, for "he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him" (1 John 4:16 ). Christianity is the only religion that sets forth the Supreme Being as Love. In heathen religions He is set forth as an angry being and in constant need of appeasing. 1. Objects of God's Love: The object of God's love is first and foremost His own Son, Jesus Christ ( Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; Luke 20:13; John 17:24 ). The Son shares the love of the Father in a unique sense; He is "my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth" (Isaiah 42:1 ). There exists an eternal affection between the Son and the Father - the Son is the original and eternal object of the Father's love (John 17:24 ). If God's love is eternal it must have an eternal object, hence, Christ is an eternal being. God loves the believer in His Son with a special love. Those who are united by faith and love to Jesus Christ are, in a different sense from those who are not thus united, the special objects of God's love. Said Jesus, thou "lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me" ( John 17:23 ). Christ is referring to the fact that, just as the disciples had received the same treatment from the world that He had received, so they had received of the Father the same love that He Himself had received. They were not on the outskirts of God's love, but in the very center of it. "For the father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me" (John 16:27 ). Here phileō is used for love, indicating the fatherly affection of God for the believer in Christ, His Son. This is love in a more intense form than that spoken of for the world (John 3:16 ). God loves the world ( John 3:16; compare 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9 ). This is a wonderful truth when we realize what a world this is - a world of sin and corruption. This was a startling truth for Nicodemus to learn, who conceived of God as loving only the Jewish nation. To him, in his narrow exclusiveism, the announcement of the fact that God loved the whole world of men was startling. God loves the world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall. Yet it is this world, "weak," "ungodly," "without strength," "sinners" (Romans 5:6-8 ), "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1 the King James Version), and unrighteous, that God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son in order to redeem it. The genesis of man's salvation lies in the love and mercy of God ( Ephesians 2:4 f). But love is more than mercy or compassion; it is active and identifies itself with its object. The love of the heavenly Father over the return of His wandering children is beautifully set forth in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15). Nor should the fact be overlooked that God loves not only the whole world, but each individual in it; it is a special as well as a general love ( John 3:16 , "whosoever"; Galatians 2:20 , "loved me, and gave himself up for me"). 2. Manifestations of God's Love: God's love is manifested by providing for the physical, mental, moral and spiritual needs of His people (Isaiah 48:14 , Isaiah 48:20 , Isaiah 48:21; Isaiah 62:9-12; Isaiah 63:3 , Isaiah 63:12 ). In these Scriptures God is seen manifesting His power in behalf His people in the time of their wilderness journeying and their captivity. He led them, fed and clothed them, guided them and protected them from all their enemies. His love was again shown in feeling with His people, their sorrows and afflictions (Isaiah 63:9 ); He suffered in their affliction, their interests were His; He was not their adversary but their friend, even though it might have seemed to them as if He either had brought on them their suffering or did not care about it. Nor did He ever forget them for a moment during all their trials. They thought He did; they said, "God hath forgotten us," "He hath forgotten to be gracious"; but no; a mother might forget her child that she should not have compassion on it, but God would never forget His people. How could He? Had He not graven them upon the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:15 f)? Rather than His love being absent in the chastisement of His people, the chastisement itself was often a proof of the presence of the Divine love, "for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" ( Hebrews 12:6-11 ). Loving reproof and chastisement are necessary oftentimes for growth in holiness and righteousness. Our redemption from sin is to be attributed to God's wondrous love; "Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back" (Isaiah 38:17; compare Psalms 50:21; Psalms 90:8 ). Ephesians 2:4 f sets forth in a wonderful way how our entire salvation springs forth from _ the mercy and love of God; "But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ," etc. It is because of the love of the Father that we are granted a place in the heavenly kingdom ( Ephesians 2:6-8 ). But the supreme manifestation of the love of God, as set forth in the Scripture, is that expressed in the gift of His only-begotten Son to die for the sins of the world (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; 1 John 4:9 f), and through whom the sinful and sinning but repentant sons of men are taken into the family of God, and receive the adoption of sons ( 1 John 3:1 f; Galatians 4:4-6 ). From this wonderful love of God in Christ Jesus nothing in heaven or earth or hell, created or uncreated or to be created, shall be able to separate us (Romans 8:37 f). III. The Love of Man. 1. Source of Man's Love: Whatever love there is in man, whether it be toward God or toward his fellowman, has its source in God - "Love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:7 f); "We love, because he first loved us" ( 1 John 4:19 ). Trench, in speaking of agapē , says it is a word born within the bosom of revealed religion. Heathen writers do not use it at all, their nearest approach to it being philanthropı́a or philadelphia - the love betweeen those of the same blood. Love in the heart of man is the offspring of the love of God. Only the regenerated heart can truly love as God loves; to this higher form of love the unregenerate can lay no claim (1 John 4:7 , 1 John 4:19 , 1 John 4:21; 1 John 2:7-11; 1 John 3:10; 1 John 4:11 f). The regenerate man is able to see his fellow-man as God sees him, value him as God values him, not so much because of what he is by reason of his sin and unloveliness, but because of what, through Christ, he may become; he sees man's intrinsic worth and possibility in Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ). This love is also created in the heart of man by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5 ), and is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22 ). It is also stimulated by the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, more than anyone else, manifested to the world the spirit and nature of true love (John 13:34; John 15:12; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 John 4:9 f). 2. Objects of Man's Love: God must be the first and supreme object of man's love; He must be loved with all the heart, mind, soul and strength (Matthew 22:37 f; Mark 12:29-34 ). In this last passage the exhortation to supreme love to God is connected with the doctrine of the unity of God (Deuteronomy 6:4 f) - inasmuch as the Divine Being is one and indivisible, so must our love to Him be undivided. Our love to God is shown in the keeping of His commandments ( Exodus 20:6; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 1:6 ). Love is here set forth as more than a mere affection or sentiment; it is something that manifests itself, not only in obedience to known Divine commands, but also in a protecting and defense of them, and a seeking to know more and more of the will of God in order to express love for God in further obedience (compare Deuteronomy 10:12 ). Those who love God will hate evil and all forms of worldliness, as expressed in the avoidance of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Psalms 97:10; 1 John 2:15-17 ). Whatever there may be in his surroundings that would draw the soul away from God and righteousness, that the child of God will avoid. Christ, being God, also claims the first place in our affections. He is to be chosen before father or mother, parent, or child, brother or sister, or friend (Matthew 10:35-38; Luke 14:26 ). The word "hate" in these passages does not mean to hate in the sense in which we use the word today. It is used in the sense in which Jacob is said to have "hated" Leah (Genesis 29:31 ), that is, he loved her less than Rachel; "He loved also Rachel more than Leah" (Genesis 29:30 ). To love Christ supremely is the test of true discipleship (Luke 14:26 ), and is an unfailing mark of the elect (1 Peter 1:8 ). We prove that we are really God's children by thus loving His Son (John 8:42 ). Absence of such love means, finally, eternal separation (1 Corinthians 16:22 ). Man must love his fellow-man also. Love for the brotherhood is a natural consequence of the love of the fatherhood; for "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother" (1 John 3:10 ). For a man to say "I love God" and yet hate his fellowman is to brand himself as "a liar" (1 John 4:20 ); "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen" (1 John 4:20 ); he that loveth God will love his brother also (1 John 4:21 ). The degree in which we are to love our fellow-man is "as thyself" (Matthew 22:39 ), according to the strict observance of law. Christ set before His followers a much higher example than that, however. According to the teaching of Jesus we are to supersede this standard: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34 ). The exhibition of love of this character toward our fellow-man is the badge of true discipleship. It may be called the sum total of our duty toward our fellow-man, for "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law"; "for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8 , Romans 13:10 ). The qualities which should characterize the love which we are to manifest toward our fellow-men are beautifully set forth in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 . It is patient and without envy; it is not proud or self-elated, neither does it behave discourteously; it does not cherish evil, but keeps good account of the good; it rejoices not at the downfall of an enemy or competitor, but gladly hails his success; it is hopeful, trustful and forbearing - for such there is no law, for they need none; they have fulfilled the law. Nor should it be overlooked that our Lord commanded His children to love their enemies, those who spoke evil of them, and despitefully used them (Matthew 5:43-48 ). They were not to render evil for evil, but contrariwise, blessing. The love of the disciple of Christ must manifest itself in supplying the necessities, not of our friends only (1 John 3:16-18 ), but also of our enemies (Romans 12:20 f). Our love should be "without hypocrisy" (Romans 12:9 ); there should be no pretense about it; it should not be a thing of mere word or tongue, but a real experience manifesting itself in deed and truth (1 John 3:18 ). True love will find its expression in service to man: "Through love be servants one to another" (Galatians 5:13 ). What more wonderful illustration can be found of ministering love than that set forth by our Lord in the ministry of foot-washing as found in Jn 13? Love bears the infirmities of the weak, does not please itself, but seeks the welfare of others (Romans 15:1-3; Philippians 2:21; Galatians 6:2; 1 Corinthians 10:24 ); it surrenders things which may be innocent in themselves but which nevertheless may become a stumbling-block to others (Romans 14:15 , Romans 14:21 ); it gladly forgives injuries (Ephesians 4:32 ), and gives the place of honor to another (Romans 12:10 ). What, then, is more vital than to possess such love? It is the fulfillment of the royal law (James 2:8 ), and is to be put above everything else (Colossians 3:14 ); it is the binder that holds all the other graces of the Christian life in place (Colossians 3:14 ); by the possession of such love we know that we have passed from death unto life (1 John 3:14 ), and it is the supreme test of our abiding in God and God in us (1 John 4:12 , 1 John 4:16 ).

[rusticrevivals]

preface:  I know this week’s blog was supposed to be about the seed tables and the planting in our basement.  Richard has the tables ready to go, but due to the massive cold snap (minus 20 all this week again!) we haven’t been able to get the earth out of some of the bigger planters that we were planning to mix in with the potting soil downstairs, and also the seeds haven’t arrived yet. So- hopefully next week?  Besides, I haven’t done an Artist in the Attic feature in a long while!

    The farmhouse  at Blue Belldon Farm is full of artwork because we all love it.  My collection of pottery, Mom’s and her aunt’s weavings, and mostly, paintings, etchings and sketches with deep sentimental meaning to at least one of us. Richard himself was immersed in art in his younger years, and so quite a bit of his own early work graces our walls (as well of that of his fathers’).

Richard’s sketch of his German grandfather hangs in a montage on our bedroom wall, and two oil paintings he did of his time in rural Saskatchewan hang downstairs in his office:

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His artistic talents were passed on to his youngest son, Nigel, who has honed them into a lucrative profession as a rather well-known tattoo and portrait artist in Toronto.  Richard is proud to announce that Nigel is booked a year in advance, and has even had commissions from folk as far away as England and Japan.  I especially love the romance (not often evoked by Nigel, believe me!) of the first one, and the amazing reality of the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton one.

  Artistic talent may be often inherited or at least somewhat naturally instinctive,  but art APPRECIATION should be cultivated by those who truly adore it.  My love of art really began with my Grade 5 art teacher, who was then Miss McBeath. She was a neat ‘hippi’ type of self-confident young woman with long hair to her waist and wearing long peasant skirts (which I still prefer wearing myself to this day) with a slightly sarcastic and quick wit (which I’d seemed to have been born with but which was, shall we say, NOT encouraged around my house!) and with a talent for passing on her passion of all things artistic, creative, and most important to me – INDIVIDUAL.   It didn’t matter HOW good you were, she said, as long as you tried and you loved what you were trying…  I also found out about her that she, like me, had been a tomboy who struggled with her weight, and we also bonded over the fact that I did NOT find it amusing that my class had to give up art to go and take a semester of Home Ec., as it was then called.  (Ironic, then that so much of this blog is dedicated to recipes and kitchen how-tos!)

The following year Jane married my Grade 6 social studies teacher, Peter Wright, and we found more in common – they drove the exact same V.W. van as my parents, Peter and my Dad were obsessive tennis players/followers, and both Wrights accepted me as a strong-willed tomboy with a sarcastic sense of humour and respectfully called me by my requested nick-name, “Chip” (which few others were wont to do). Our families have since been life-long friends.

Originally, Jane was more a textile artist and found joy in the creation of pottery, batik, knitting, quilting, rug hooking and woodworking. She definitely was one of the last, true “hippis”, in my opinion, and could very well have settled into a live of self-sufficiency as we are trying to do here, with her many talents.  In fact, she and Peter DID take their 3 children and live in the French mountains for a year of self-exploration!

However, this amazing woman has, in recent years, found her medium/niche in watercolour, and, as  former president of the bi-lingual “Artistes Hudson Artists”, a group of more than 80 talented artists in the artist colony of Hudson, Quebec, she has also publicly defended,  in various media, ART and the right to individualism.  From one of her articles:

“Why should you buy original art? A good question, when you can buy pleasing, inexpensive, mass-produced things for your walls. The answer is that all art is a form of self-expression and communicates the artist’s message. How you interpret that message is intensely personal and therefore unique. If a piece of art “speaks to you” in some way, it will give you a jolt of delight every time you look at it or touch it. Original art should always start a conversation whether it is with yourself or someone else; conversations teach you things and enrich your life. Artists are compelled to produce art; buying original art produced in your community supports local artists and by extension the local economy.”

We have several favourites of Jane’s at Blue Belldon Farm, all originals, because that’s all Jane does – including even her beautiful cards!

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I LOVE the way the sun streams through the trees in that first one, which is framed on our living room bookshelves (you may have to click on each to blow them up to see all detail).  And the last one looks very much like our huge vegetable garden, with its mix of flowers in it to attract pollen-spreaders!

  But the one which I think looks the most like a scene from Blue Belldon Farm (which is on Jane’s website:  http://www.janewright.ca/ ) is this one:

I can just imagine standing at the side of the barn looking out to the back fields.  Love it!

One of my favourite quotes from Jane reminds me very much of this farm, too:

 “The use of colour and texture to express my awe and wonder at the beauty around me  fills me with great joy. Spending time on the shores of Lake Huron and following my grandfather around as a child as he cared lovingly for his animals, orchard and gardens instilled in me a profound respect for the order, beauty, cruelty and power of the natural world and those that inhabit it. “

Here are some more of Jane’s landscapes that illustrate the above:

  Jane even painted an original coaster for each person who attended their eldest son’s (my god-son) wedding a few years ago.  Although I couldn’t make the wedding in Hawaii, Jane was good enough to give me this souvenir, which also sits on our bookshelves. A really original idea, if any of you have some artistic talent and a family wedding coming up~!

    I find it amusing that the ‘yellow room’, upstairs in Mom’s suite, (where we think poor Ida had all 5 of her children who were the first ones born here) holds one of my worst-ever paintings (circa Grade 9, playing  abstract with acrylics)  on the wall, but right across from it is a gorgeous watercolour still life of Jane’s!

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  The Wrights helped us very much all three years of the running the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-fashioned Market Mercantile, not just because they are supportive of friends, but because they both love to promote the local arts as much as possible.  Here’s a candid shot I love by Yvonne Parsons Photography (Artist in the Attic #1) of Mom, in pioneer costume courtesy of Joan Eagle,  and Jane wearing one of Mom’s woven shawls:

As an extension of Jane’s connection with the CCC&OMM show, I also asked her to offer her cards in our Rural Creators’ Collective shop in Carlisle.  Here are a few of the displays I made with these ALL ECO-FRIENDLY, RURAL-CELEBRATORY artisans.

  Jane’s card is directly above in the bottom left, with other cards by photographer Yvonne Parsons, and lino-cut artist L’immaginaria’ Lisa Martini-Dunk as well as native works by Roni Walker of Metis Caravan, a rag plate mat by Ragged Revivals, an artisan original doll by Teena Muiko’s Fanciful Dolls and a few of my own, Rustic Revivals’ pieces as well.

Here is a close-up of a different display I loved in the shop:

In the above, Jane’s stunning sunset card is in the crate, and is surrounded by a quilt and business-card holders by Miriam Bauman’s MiniMade, intaglio and lino-cut prints by the above-named L’immaginaria, a framed crocheted doilie by Roni Walker’s Rumpel’s Wheel, a chickadee watercolour by Marla, a recycled map by Dillies Dahlias, and a few items in the forefront, as well as a rag doll on top of the crate by my own Rustic Revivals.  I loved having Jane’s cards in our shop, and they are unique as, as I mentioned previously, each one is a unique original.  You can still purchase one of Jane’s originals by contacting her through her website: http://www.janewright.ca/contact.html

In the same yellow room in Mom’s upstairs suite is also a small framed card by another watercolour artist and friend of the family, Marg Patterson, from Tillsonburg, whom I’ll be featuring in another Artist in the Attic posting down the road.   She also does LOVELY work, and donates her proceeds to the Alzheimers Society! Mom has this one normally on the window ledge in that room, actually facing out to our own Birch Grove.

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And thus you have it – the Blue Belldon crowd LOVE their art-work. Other than these artists we consider family, our walls our also ‘littered’ with art-work from our travels around the world, with representations of some of the places we’ve loved best. Mom has carvings from Africa and Slovenia, I have paintings of my log cabin and stone cottage from Montana and Scotland, there are many water colours of the Bronte’s West Yorkshire, where Richard and I both have many happy memories, and I have several antique ‘horse’ prints as well as two large ones of James Lumbers’- one from his ghostly series, “City Limits” (a rural piece with the skyscrapers, so sadly but truly,  invading in the far distance)

and another of his – a native girl studying from a text book, which will always remind me of my time teaching on the rez.  He’s a Canadian, as is of course the nature-realist Robert Bateman, with whom my grandmother taught for a time in Burlington, Ontario. We have a few of his smaller prints on the wall downstairs, and Mom has a large one of his kingfisher (bought for Grandma, originally) above her couch upstairs.

As well as the above kingfisher of Bateman’s, Mom has quite a few of her own mother’s china-painting hanging on her walls.  Grandma was another family artist that had great talent in all subject matter, but especially enjoyed doing florals.  One of my favourites, however, is the platter, hanging above Mom’s ‘stove’, that depicts the Hawkins family farm, where her mother went as a young bride.

Yup, we ruralites sure appreciate our artists, and the memories their works evoke in us!  I hope you have the same throughout your own home, and that you’re not, as Jane suggests above, buying ‘pleasing, inexpensive, mass-produced’  Ikea or Wal-mart ka-ka (you’ll note Jane’s quote stopped before this last bit).

If you fill your home with art that ‘speaks to you’, it will, as Jane says:

         give you a jolt of delight every time you look at it or touch it

And Amen to THAT!

    Artist in the Attic # 4: Jane Wright and… preface:  I know this week's blog was supposed to be about the seed tables and the planting in our basement.