#debonair digest

[wyrtig]

good day, reaper!

[charlettebffxiv]

Prompt #29 Debonair

Clean-up is such a process, especially when you spend most of your sun elbow deep in soil, compost and whatever Maxim’s Gelmorran sapling secrets. It was truly an incredible discovery for Charlette, just how much like gum sap can be when it’s found purchase in your hair. To find out how dirt really does love to stay beneath your nails, after a long morning packing it in there one planting at a time. Yes, she was serious about her personal maintenance, but the workload triples every time she steps into that Greenhouse. It’s a good thing then, that there are few things she enjoyed more than ‘straightening-up’. Anyone that has plucked an annoying stone from the sole of their shoe can understand, just a little, the satisfaction there is in taking something blemished, and polishing it to a shine Especially when that thing is you. Even moreso, when that thing is your hopelessly slovenly friend.

“Hold this, and hold still while you do.” She’s stern with him, but you really had to be considering how poor Maxim’s posture could be when he’s protesting. She had him seated in front of her dresser, it was half the size of her sister’s to accommodate a bigger reading desk, but it was enough. He had his back to the mirror, and Charlette was facing him. She had shoved several of her tools into his hand, the rest sprawled on the side of her bed next to her. It kept his often too busy hands in one place while she worked. And what a piece of work he was. “Ow! Stop plucking so hard!” His brow creased, the skin reddening where Charlette had just plucked several hairs “Then stop trying to hold onto your stray-brows so much.” And she plucked another with a swift yank. The same way she plucked her own, immaculate eyebrows. She could tell he’d never done this before, by how overgrown they were and how intolerant he was of the process. “Tsk, I’m not holding onto them, they don’t want to leave me. I’m an addiction after all.” Considering how much Charlette was enjoying his beautification, he might have a slight point. “Roll up the ego Maxim, you have squeaked and squealed far too many times to have one by now.” He pulled his shoulders up, and took the chance to quickly nod between another pluck. “Ow! That’s true, and yet, I still think I’m the best.” Charlette snorted, and wrenched the last wandering follicle away. “The best indeed. I have not heard someone reach such a high pitch since A’nidreah tried to teach us her tribe’s whistle-speak.” She freed one of his hands, taking the pair of scissors from it and pulling at his long fringe. He took the opportunity to rub at his brow and wince. “You nearly skinned my face Charlette, what did you expect? You know I’m a screamer.” Maxim had very soft hair, the almost white-blonde colour of it giving his unkempt mane a richness to it, like it was spun from pure gold. “Hmh, do not admit that to Chloe. She will use it liberally, and cruelly against you.” She snipped, cautiously, taking away only split ends for now, but it was much too long to leave like this. “Think so? I mean, if she enjoys it, isn’t that a good thing?” Charlette leaned back just far enough to look him in the face. “No, no it is not. Gods, have some dignity boy, are you trying to get her attention or be the plaything she swats at like a cat? You know they get bored quickly with their toys, yes?” Maxim pouted at her, it made his lips look even more full. Dare she say kissable? “Yes, do that as much as possible. Chloe is an utter sap for pretty boys, and once we get you cleaned up, you will be the prettiest boy in the Village.” Snip, snip, snip. More hair fell away. Each series of strands that Charlette cut drew a concerned dart from his eyes. He looked up at her, wide-eyed and with a simpering tone said “Really? Oh, it’s my dream come true! When do I get to try on the dress and shoes? I want to feel like the Sultana on her wedding night!” Charlette combed his hair, only the very points of his bangs hanging down to the corners of his eyes. The perfect length to frame his deep-green stare, and long enough to hang and sway, but with a few ilms to twirl around a venturous finger. “Gods I am good at this.” She let him turn to the mirror. He brushed a hand through his neat, recently washed locks “What did you do? I don’t see a difference…” She hit him atop the head with the handle of the scissors. Charlette’s father, Algernon Bellamy, was a tailor by profession. Which, of course, meant he had plenty of suits for Maxim to choose from. Once Maxim had been properly groomed, so as not to look like the mud-digging Botanist that he was, they had gone to the Bellamy Patriarch for help in getting him properly dressed. The tall Duskwight stared down at the shorter Wildwood, tapping a finger to his lip. “He is a little burly for an elezen is he not?” Charlette nodded, Maxim pulling his shoulders up and crossing his arms. “Botanist, axe swinging, scythe wielding, log carrying. Can’t really avoid it.” Algernon waved a hand, puffed out a sigh and turned to the collection he had pulled out. Hanging from a long rack were several suits, all of them beautifully tailored to fit a tall, lithe man. Algernon did not deal in bright colours and garish schemes, there were no white, pink, or otherwise suits here. Greys, dark blues, deep blacks were his domain, he called it the Gelmorran suite. However, he did pull one of the brighter ones from the rack, and held it against Maxim. A shade or two darker than sapphire blue, but enough that it would stand out against a sea of navy, Maxim’s pale skin and hair stood out brighter for it. “It makes him look like a bobble-headed mammet.” Back it went, Charlette’s cackle following it, Maxim’s coming only a little after. Another suit, a darker colour. Midnight blue, but with an almost purple suggestion to it. “Ah, I like this one.” Charlette smoothed it over his chest, the shirt beneath was a steel-grey, the waistcoat a slightly brighter colour to the rest. Algernon nodded, and pressed it into Maxim’s grip. “My daughters rarely allow themselves to agree on anything, Maxim. But I am confident that, in this one, they will find common ground. If one likes it, the other should too. Try it on, let us see.” and he spun Maxim around and shoved him toward the little changing booth at the back of his studio. Maxim took his time changing and Algernon had to go in, twice, to help him with buttons and cuffs. But, once he emerged it was well worth the wait, or so Charlette thought. Maxim cut such a clear figure, the suit pulling against his shape, but adding the little debonair edge to his silhouette. The jacket smoothed his broad, for an elezen, shoulders and the waistcoat emphasized the flat of his chest and stomach. A thing you did not often see, with the baggy clothing the man favoured most suns. She raised her hands, clapped quickly along with her father who was doing the same but much more politely and with far more restraint. Maxim bowed low, his shirt popping loose from where he had half-tucked it into his trousers. “Thank you, thank you. And for the next part of our act, the Bellamy’s will turn me into an actual opo-opo in a suit.” Algernon smiled, but Charlette was up and walking around Maxim. “You look almost perfect, but there is one, very important thing I need to check first.” She reached-up, pulled his jacket from his shoulders and grabbed one arm. “Ah, c’mon Charlette! It took me ages to get that buttoned up.” she had undone his cuff, and started to roll up his sleeves. “Shut up, you will thank me later.” Once both were up, she stepped back “Cross your arms for me.” Maxim hesitated, she smacked him on the shoulder, and he complied. “Ah, there we go. Perfect.” “I don’t understand.” Maxim looked to Algernon, who shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “The arms are the most important part, Maxim. Make sure you do this at some point during the evening. Chloe likes your arms.” And Maxim blushed, almost beet-red. Charlette had never seen him do that before. Maxim was combed, cleaned, clothed and just about as ready as they could get him. Though, as per usual, the calmest person throughout the entire process was Maxim himself. The man never seemed to lose his nerve, unless his hair was being cut. “No butterflies in your stomach?” She asked him. “Nope, I’m pretty sure they’ve digested by now, but I might swallow another handful so that I get that nice, fluttering sensation when you hit me again. It’s like shaking a jar full of the things! Good fun.” She hit him, and he shivered and let out a dramatic groan. “Where is Chloe, the sooner she takes you off my hands the better.” Maxim gasped, hand on heart, looking offended in a way a person who is never offended pretends. “And here I thought we were having a moment! So cruel, no wonder you’re the least popular Bellamy.” She hit him again. It was just at that moment that the door to the Bellamy home opened, and Chloe came striding into the room. “Hey Charlette. Hello dad.” She kissed Charlette on the top of her head, her father on the cheek, then rounded on the Wildwood seated between them. “Maxim! You look good, best get going or we will be late!” and she grabbed him by the wrist and all but dragged him out of the house. It was over in a handful of seconds, she had barely even looked at him. Charlette and her father exchanged glances. “That boy is doomed.”

[lovelyirony]

99 with WinterIron?

I fell in love with you, not them. 

The first time that Bucky sees Tony, it’s when they’re back from Wakanda. Bucky already misses the farm animals and teasing, light jokes Shuri always had for him. The ride back home was tense: they knew they were headed back to the compound. They were told that it was the safest place for people like “them.” (Bucky groaned when Steve vehemently asked what “them” meant. The nice UN lady had to politely explain how they came to be international criminals. Damn.)

Bucky is surprised that he gets his own room, away from Steve. He thought that he would be, for a lack of a better term, stuck with him. 

The problem, to put it simply, is this: Bucky knows who he used to be. A suave, debonair jerk kid from Brooklyn who wasn’t always suave and debonair, but Steve loved him like a brother anyway. That jerk kid died when he fell off a train and got taken by Hydra. 

Steve isn’t so patient with things. He’s always been hot-headed. Got that from Sarah, believe it or not. Steve wants Bucky to remember things as they used to be, not as they are. Sure, he knows that he took Janie Seymour on a date, but Janie is most likely dead now or so old she won’t recognize Bucky Barnes. 

“As if anyone could forget you,” Steve teases. 

Bucky wishes they would. Because he’s never lived up to expectations, not even then. He isn’t sure he really wants to. Expectations really are an awful thing to have for someone--something--like him. 

He avoids people. He doesn’t want to be a burden on Tony Stark, who is doing so much for them. Things have slowly begun to mend--Bucky warned Steve to be civil to Tony, because it’s what he deserves. 

“Bucky, you remember what happened.” 

“Yeah, I do. I also know both you and I don’t hold back in a fight, and he didn’t come back looking pretty as a picture. So what’s your point?” 

Things get better after that. But Bucky still doesn’t go see the team during visiting hours. Too much guilt. Mostly over the fact that he’s stealing Bruce’s blood oranges and not telling him and that he killed Tony’s parents. 

Usually, he’s the only one in the green room. Everyone else congregates in the kitchen to commiserate over shitty dreams and even worse nightmares. Bucky will have no part in that, mostly because he has this inferiority complex where he never feels like he’ll be enough or that he deserves friends. (His therapist tells him he’s being stupid, but whatever.) 

Tony is a curious one. Bucky has to admit it, even if he doesn’t really see him or talk with him. 

He’s silent, but quick with a joke. He keeps everyone at reach, but not much closer. Bucky knows why. Knows it in the way Natasha says something expecting to get a snarky reply and gets something that’s close, but not on the nose. When Clint mentions something that they used to do, wants to know if Tony wants to do it again. 

“Maybe another time,” Tony says weakly, grabbing an apple. “Got a lot of work to do, but maybe next week?” (Read as: never gonna happen.) 

He’s still polite, still laughs. Talks with Bruce and Thor about science shit and pokes fun at their fledgling relationship. He’s polite enough to ask about how Bucky is doing, even though he’s pretty sure he doesn’t really care. (Pretty sure, remember that.) 

It isn’t until Bucky goes to the green room to avoid sleep that he sees Tony. 

“Thought no one came in here,” Tony says. He has a soda can with him. 

“I don’t wanna be any trouble,” Bucky says. “I’ll leave--” 

“Nah, I need to talk with you anyway,” Tony responds. “Don’t think that I’m mad or anything. Well, a little bit.” 

“I would be concerned if you weren’t mad.” Tony laughs. 

“I forgot to tell you the history.” Bucky looks confused. “Let me tell you all about Howard and distance, darling...” 

Bucky learns a lot. A.) They have various references to pop culture, and Bucky is notably surprised when Tony picks up on some of the more obscure references. 

B.) Tony has known that Bucky is a tech nerd (thank god Steve told some things about him that weren’t just about his habits) and he’s been invited to check out some of the old armors that are now retired. 

The mechanic shop is amazing. It’s all tools and kitschy decorations that Tony says Pepper picked out, but Bucky knows that people lie, and Tony’s really bad at it. 

The old armors are still miles ahead of anything Bucky’s seen in the last fifty odd years. Well, mostly. There are some shoulder mounts they adapted and some of the same aiming tech, but it’s still breathtaking. He remembers reading those sci-fi pulp novels, the ones that had fantastical technology that could never hope to be real. 

“Got some inspiration from those, used to be a fan,” Tony says. “Ugh, we’ve been working for forever. I’m hungry. Wanna go grab some fruit? I bet Natasha twenty bucks that you’ve never tasted a kiwi.” 

He hadn’t. They’re insanely good. Better than anything he’s ever had, and Natasha groans as she slaps a twenty on the table. 

“I hate when you’re right, Tony.” 

“But you love me when I’m wrong,” Tony coos, putting the bill in his pocket. “Besides, you’ve won other bets.” 

“True,” Natasha says. “But the bank isn’t open today, and I need cash.” 

“Sucks,” Tony responds, grinning. “Barnes, babe, you want some coffee?” 

Tony loves pet names. He calls Bucky every name under the sun. Baby, babydoll, sunshine, snowflake, darling, babe, sugar, and everything else under the moon. 

Bucky has pet names that he uses. They’re all in Russian--of course they are, why wouldn’t they be? He has anxiety about this...crush--and so it’s balanced. Kind of. 

They’re at a dance. That is when this happens. Bucky is dressed suave and debonair and he got a really good hot dog for lunch, the kind that wreaks havoc on your digestion system. He’s feeling a little bit confident, and he’s been dancing all night. He remembers the steps and everything! 

The problem is this: he’s dancing with Tony, and he says something about the handsome way Tony looks, and it...

He runs. Tony does, not Bucky. Although he wishes he did, because now it’s awkward and people are staring and he can’t exactly go to the bar and get a drink regularly. 

So he walks. Bucky walks, and isn’t that the stupidest thing ever? He’s hanging his head, and he can almost hear the “dude, that was the Winter Soldier and now he’s that? Sad.” 

He finds Tony by a trellis of roses. It’s a pretty picture, even with the blue face. Picasso’s blue period, then. 

“Did I step on your toes?” Bucky asks. Tony startles, trying to smile. 

“Just, um...” He runs his hand. “Shit, I’m shit at lying. You know that. I’m kind of...I like you. An amount that qualifies as an anomaly. And you...god you deserve so much better.” 

Bucky laughs. He can’t help it. 

“Oh Jesus, I know our therapists talked about raising self-esteem, but god I can’t believe you just said that.” 

“How so?” 

“Because I’m worse than you? I’ve...I remember things. How to do things that you shouldn’t know how to do and I--it’s you that deserves better.” 

“No, you deserve someone who can--well. You deserve better. Someone in there.” 

“I fell in love with you, not them,” Bucky says. “Because they don’t know how to take apart and put together an armor, they don’t know how I like my coffee--” 

“An obscene amount of sugar and creamer. Doesn’t even taste like coffee.” 

“Yeah, the way it’s supposed to be if you aren’t a heathen,” Bucky shoots back, grinning. “Point still stands. You’re the one that I love, if you don’t mind me being so bold about it. I think you know that, even if you don’t...even if it’s too something. But I love you for everything, and I’m hopin’ you’ll have me.” 

“I will,” Tony says. He tackles Bucky into a hug. “God, will I.” 

The team doesn’t notice much of a difference. They were already pretty touchy, although the sitting-so-close-they-might-as-well-only-have-one-chair is pretty new. It just means Clint gets more teasing ammo when they’re gross. 

“I thought Bruce and Thor would be more touchy,” Natasha mutters as she sees Tony dip into Bucky’s breakfast plate with a kiss and a snatch of waffle fries. “God knows how much Thor loves his boyfriend.” 

“Soon to be fiance,” Thor murmurs into her ear, grinning. “You wanna help me pick the ring?” 

“What was that, honey?” Bruce calls across the table. 

“They’re talkin’ war strategy!” Bucky calls out, winking at Thor. “Bruce, I meant to ask you today if you wouldn’t mind doing a puzzle with me...” 

It’s nice. 

[btgalaxy]

Estrella - BTS fantasy!au

➳ pairing: jin x reader, jimin x reader

➳ genre: fantasy!au, fluff, angst, slight smut

➳ word count: 3.5k

previous / next / masterlist

Chapter 2

           Back in the Great Hall of the palace, the Queen awaits, adorned in a new gown than the one you witnessed less than an hour ago. She believes a new occasion, time, event, anything is reason enough to change her attire. She wouldn’t dare be witnessed in the same garb by someone more than twice, other than her family, of course, and she wouldn’t dare keep a dress without significant importance; she couldn’t risk her reputation like that.

“Come along, Y/N. You’ve no time to be tardy,” she quips, as you hold the silky cream front of your dress in your hands, raising it slightly to allow your feet to move quicker.

The Queen snaps her fingers hastily to Nova as she examines you, stood humbly with a group of servers, “Nova fix this.” She gesticulates towards your now slightly dull looking make-up, with a few strands of hair loose from your pin up.

“Have you forgotten all those lessons on etiquette?” Your mother sighs, brushing away the dust accumulated on your gown from Apollo’s talons. No, no you haven’t. So many gruelling hours spent tied to a chair and being analysed on everything from your focal point to the direction your feet face underneath the table. The Queen accepts nothing less than perfection, and unfortunately for her you weren’t even close. It’s a surprise after so many years under agonising scrutiny you’re still sane, and still manage to befoul the ‘proper way’ of acting.

“Sorry, mother,” you mumble, closing your eyes for Nova as she pats on some more powder in a rapid manner. She’s far less gentle than this morning, each pat blowing excess pulvilio into the locks of your hair, now pinned back again, and you feel a tad guilty she’s having to rush to restore what should’ve been maintained perfectly. Sometimes you wish you could be that beautiful, mannerly princess your mother so earnestly desires, such so you can often hear her praying some nights that you’d simply digest her instruction and, even if only in the company of the public, you’d adopt a far more fitting demeanour for someone of your status. But unfortunately, you aren’t what she wants you to be, nor will you ever become that.

Nova steps back, scanning you with those observant eyes she’s mastered over her many years working at the palace. She bows her head to the Queen, “Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Nova. Return to the servant reception,” your mother dismisses, admiring for herself Nova’s swift handiwork.

As Nova retreats to her place, she sends you a fleeting glance of worry, of motherly care that you receive solely from her. If this were her choice, she wouldn’t have you marrying a man you’ve never met before. She’d allow you to be with Jimin, to spend your days with someone you love by your own accord and certainly not under your mother’s influence. She’d want to you to be happy, and to live a life that you are in control of. Maybe in another lifetime.

Your father’s favourite Commanding General catches your eye as he passes Nova scurrying away, headily approaching you and your parents with the medals littered across his chest rattling with every stride. He’s not as intimidating as you’d expect from a typical army-man. He’s got kind eyes and a gentle touch, which is perhaps why your father likes him. The King has never been particularly rough nor intimidating, instead he seeks power and respect in tolerance and benignity, although it’s too often undermined by the harsher ideals of your mother to discipline and rule the Kingdom.

“Your Majesty, is all ready?” General Dumont inquires, hands clasped respectfully behind his back as he speaks with the King, politely bowing his head.

He smiles back, satisfied, “I believe so General. Open the gates.”

The King and Queen stand dutifully next to one another at the centre of the room, you just to their left and slightly in front. Your mother has her hand placed delicately on your father’s forearm, symbolising their unity and showcasing a durable front; a highly thought out stance from the monarchy’s many advisors. Your father’s most treasured senator choreographed this subtle tableau; thus it’s employed frequently. To you, however, it symbolises nothing but the lies and the control.

You swallow back the fear as the huge, iron gates click ominously, then slowly begin to push forwards, out onto the front patio wreathing the façade of the palace. You suck in your lower lip between your teeth as the doors open wider, revealing a lone man stood patiently on the other side.

You’re aware of his handsomeness even at this distance, enough so you momentarily glance away, feeling intimidated by such a presence, but as you turn back to look at him, you are helpless to admiring his features. The gentle declivity of his jaw delving into a sloped chin, and the way his rotund lips protrude slightly below the curved tip of his nose. His hair has been immaculately tailored by what you expect to be a whole corps of stylists to sweep across his forehead and drape over to swipe parts of his eyelashes, accentuating the flickering hazel eyes beneath. All accompanied by a pristine suit clinging to the width of his shoulders and diving downwards to the leather belt harbouring a blade that reaches the middle of his thigh. You swallow again.

The man steps forward as the gates open fully, finally revealing his advisors and guards and arrays of other workers, dutifully employed to care for their prince. He has an irrefutable confidence emanated from even the way he walks; chin up, chest forward, a hand placed carefully on the scabbard attached to his belt. He defines everything a prince should do, and everything your mother yearns for. No wonder she’s been so keen to marry you off like this.

He nears you with an indecipherable smile lingering on his lips, poking at his cheeks to form plush roses beneath his eyes, “Your Majesty.” He bows low to the King, with deep reverence implied.

He turns to face your mother, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,”

He takes one of her frail hands in his, bringing it cautiously up to his lips, “You’re a masterpiece; Lyra is lucky to be ruled by such a beauty.” He presses a chaste kiss to the knuckles, before releasing her hand as she blushes, turning to face you, stood as a somewhat blank onlooker.

“Your Highness,” he greets, reaching to take your hand with even greater delicacy than your mother. As his skin grazes yours, you feel the reality wash through you and you’re hastily awoken from your trance and brought to see the verity of the man in front of you, your future husband.

You bow your head slightly as he softly puckers his lips to the back of your hand, “It’s an honour.” You smile respectfully, embracing his handsomeness with open arms. At least he doesn’t resemble one of those fat nobles that drink execrable amounts of port at charity events you host at the palace. And at least he’s not old; your cousin Delia recently married a man just over a whole twenty five years older than her- you couldn’t even imagine the discomfort and mortification that would bring about for someone only just turned twenty years of age.

“Prince Seokjin of Orion. Next in line to the Orion throne, ruler of East Estrella, King Titan the First,” General Dumont introduces the prince with profound admiration riddled in his tone, thundering across the room so everyone is to know of prince Jin’s unparalleled power. You nearly want to hurl at the thought.

“Prince Seokjin,” your mother begins, “I-“

“Please, call me Jin,” he swiftly interrupts, beaming at her with a dashing smile only a prince could muster up, and she’s abashedly blushing instantaneously.

“Oh, yes, of course, Jin,” she stammers over her words, and you can tell she already loathes the idea. She thrives off of the titles and the status, and such colloquialisms are beneath her. Unless instructed so by a debonair prince. “It’s a delight to meet you face to face- I’ve only heard of such charm from fellow nobles, and they didn’t do you justice. You’re incredibly handsome, the perfect candidate for our beautiful daughter.”

“Beautiful indeed,” he responds, looking you over with glazed eyes, and you feel yourself inadvertently retreat slightly.

She reaches over and places a hand on the back of your bare shoulder blade, slightly pinching the skin to prompt you forwards again to ‘properly’ greet the guest, “I too have heard much about you.”

He perks up as you speak, tilting his head slightly, “All good things, I presume?”

You wish. “You’ve a bachelor reputation.”

“Y/N,” your mother hisses from beside you, your father’s eyes bulging in shock.

“It’s alright, Your Highness,” Jin soothes, holding a comforting hand out to her, “I am well aware some people may assume such things of me; as a young prince with many followers I was bound to collide with a bit of hearsay and certain speculations, but I can assure you none of it is true. I’ve been waiting for my fiancée to come of age, to finally unite our nations under a pure matrimony.”

You submit to the aching need to clench your fists to quell the comments biting at your tongue. Pure. Pure matrimony. If it were pure, it wouldn’t be inked in the writing of potent philosophers in ancient books that the Five Kingdoms of Estrella were to stay rigidly separate, never to indulge one man the power of two Kingdoms to thus oust rulers of the rest. It’s not what Andromeda intended, and you’re unyielding to those that believe they are above her pre-eminent instruction.

“Such a gentleman,” your mother sighs in contentment at his patently calculated response, “I’m anticipating getting to know you better, and welcoming you into the family.”

Jin smacks together his plump lips before returning her smile, “I feel the same way.”

They disgust you. Why isn’t your father saying anything? At least he must see past this abysmal pretence that imbecile prince is adopting? One glance over at him and you can tell he’s mesmerised by Jin’s charm, flooding out of him in waves. You must admit, he is convincing, but you’re convinced his appearance and articulation is a guise steered by the division of advisors that accompany him wherever he may go. You’re certain of it.

Your mother quickly reignites some polite small talk, “Would you care for a tour of the grounds? We’ve the most splendid lake at the end of the gardens- my husband and I cherish a beautiful garden.”

You could almost scoff at her incredulousness. You’re near positive she’s never stepped foot in those gardens; claims she’s a dire sufferer of hay fever, but you know better. She just hates the mud, the dirt, the wildlife, the scorching sun to tarnish her porcelain skin. It’s baffling that she’d even consider giving Jin a tour of her least favourite area of the palace grounds and-

“Y/N offered to escort you. She loves the outdoors, and she said she’d love to share that with you,” your mother divulges, interrupting your stream of thought and making your stomach flip, eyes widening in refusal to yield to her scheming.

“She did?” Jin glances at you, eyes glistening with amusement at your poorly hidden panic, “I kindly accept such an offer. I’d be foolish not to.”  

“I actually don’t feel particularly well,” you cut in, adamant you won’t indulge your mother’s fantasies, “Perhaps General Dumont would care to take the prince-“

“Y/N, don’t go back on your words now.” The words you never said, “You wanted to show him where you grew up.”

All eyes are trained on you as you run your tongue over your dry lips, chapped after your laboured breathing of dread to the thought of having to be alone with Jin already. You can’t even imagine what you’ll be like on your wedding night. You exhale slowly, deliberately, fluttering your eyes shut with a mumbled agreement.

Outside is still warm from the dawn, and the sun sits wantonly behind a thick layer of trees as you stroll outside, your dress trailing behind you and Jin’s eyes focused solely on the back of your head. You swear you can feel his piercing gaze like a knife. Although, you’d rather this than have him beside you, brushing his hand over yours till his fingers begin to interlock with your own. That would be far too satisfactory for your mother, and you aren’t going to subvert your own independence by doing so.

He follows you all the way down to the lake, where you’re somewhat fretful he’ll see Apollo- she is a highly desirable creature, one you’re sure Jin would love to claim as a gift for Orion-, but thankfully she stays tucked away in her house in the treetops. You pass her burrow swiftly, only glancing up to see a fleeting blaze of crimson wings before snapping your gaze back down to the rippling blue water of the lake, maintaining your composure as you approach the glistening bay.

“You have a beautiful home, Y/N,” Jin remarks from behind you, eyes glazing over the landscape. You hum in response, not yet ready to give him the gratification of a spoken word answer. The two of you continue at the same pace, yourself a few feet ahead of him.

“I know you didn’t offer to give me a tour, but I, personally, am glad the Queen impelled you to,” he remarks from behind you, “I think it’s important for us to spend some time together alone before we wed.”

Why do those words sound even more sickening coming from his mouth? It’s silent for a few more moments.

“I brought you a present from Orion. A Rose Quartz necklace. Handcrafted by our castle’s lapidary,” he boasts, “You know we’ve the most skilled craftsmen in Estrella. They’re remarkable.”

You can see the reflection of the morning sun lighting up the lake, illuminating the heat wave across the surface to blur where the water meets the sky, but you’re distracted by the sound of Jin’s laugh from behind you. When you turn to glance at him, his eyebrows are raised, looking quite amused with you.

You frown, tilting your head ever so slightly,”What?”

“You’re ignoring me,” he accuses, smirking.

“I am not ignoring you,” you object- you were, ignoring him, but it’s not right that he should voice that-, “I simply felt the view was far-”

“No, you felt as though you didn’t want to talk to me. Because you’re ignoring me.”

You sigh, exasperated, “Well, can you blame me?”

You let out another long breath, feet speeding up to take you closer towards the lake. You believe perhaps it may bring you a little consolation among such turbulent times. Who knew marriage could incite such anger in you.

Jin paces behind you, “I know you aren’t in full agreement with this engagement.”

“Full agreement?!” You snap back round, stopping him in his tracks, your anger suddenly bursting out of you in waves, “I don’t understand how you could possibly even consider something as preposterous as this marriage. A political marriage. Haven’t you ever thought you should marry for love?”

“Y/N, commoners marry for love. Royals marry for political alliances,” he responds, calmly. He sounds like your mother. God, could you really marry someone as brainwashed as he? Spoken like a true royal.

“Have you no heart?” You spit, angrily.

His expression darkens, “Your Highness, we are to be wed, but I will not tolerate disrespect. The least you can do is conserve propriety-”

“There’s nothing proper about a blasphemous marriage.”

“Blasphemous?” He laughs, shocked, “What the Devil do you mean blasphemous?”

Your nostrils flare at his blatant ignorance, “I mean the history of Estrella. The goddess Andromeda? Are you not familiar with the works of our greatest historians? Sir Reihmeir Hellford-”

“A drunkard.”

You grit your teeth, “Searlus Narsk the Third-”

“Schizophrenic.”

“Han Xin of the Boussis-”

“A pathological liar.”

“How would you know that?”

“I studied the Boussis Dynasty extensively. He was renowned for his attention-seeking deception. He also loved a fairytale.”

Fairytale. You hate that word. You feel so connected to Andromeda’s story; how could anyone demean it in such a way? You spin on your heel and march towards the lake once again, the fury bubbling inside of you.

“You won’t jump in, will you?” Jin remarks, jokingly. You’re fairly tempted though.

You think of Jimin as you reach the edge of the water. He must be inside preparing lunch, unaware of the torture you’re enduring in the company of this man. It’s nearly intolerable. What must he be thinking of this situation? If it weren’t for the even the smallest possibility of seeing Jimin’s face again you may actually be inclined to jump. But you wouldn’t do that to him.

Jin is suddenly in front of you, reaching out to touch the flesh of your wrist, but you fling your arm back before he is able to feel you.

“I do not wish to be touched,” you instruct, lips pursed and eyes looking down at the floor. You can see the reflection of your face in his polished black shoes, far too close for comfort.

“Y/N, I do not comply with folklore. And neither should you. The Great War was a terrible tragedy, but I cannot believe that it was induced by anything other than human greed and mortality. I’m sorry you’re unhappy to be marrying me, but nothing can, or will, change that. I’m trying to make the best of a situation out of our hands, so let us continue in silence,” he offers his suit clad arm to you, “Your Highness?”

You’re apprehensive. You glance at his tan face fleetingly, then at his offered arm. You suppose you’d rather hold his arm and walk silently than have to continue arguing with him.

After a soundless wander around the expanse of the lake and through the flowerbeds, you find yourself back indoors and faced with a sudden flurry of excitement.

“Y/N, Prince Seokjin,” the Queen calls, beaming like a sun with a smile spread from ear to ear, “We’ve the most wonderful news.” She gestures to your father who follows closely behind, dismissing the group of servers gathered around him.

Your father grins as he approaches, “I’ve just informed the nobles. We are to celebrate the arrival of your engagement with a party-”

“A ball!” The Queen interrupts, specifically addressing Jin, “Of course to introduce my handsome new son-in-law to Lyra’s aristocracy. Only the most valuable Lords and Ladies will be in attendance. Nothing less for my most treasured family.” She places a hand on the side of Jin’s face, appreciating his features with a gratuitous look.

“A party would be wonderful,” Jin smiles politely in response, slowly manoeuvring his hand to sit on your lower back and looking at you, “I’d love to boast my beautiful betrothed.”

“You two will be the most beautiful couple in Estrella. You’ll draw the envy of all the other kingdoms,” your mother praises, enviously admiring you both.

You shuffle Jin’s hand off of your back, gently lowering your head, “If you don’t mind, mother, the events of the day have left me quite run down. I’ll retire to my room, please.”

The Queen immediately grimaces, “Y/N, it’s your first dinner with Prince Seokjin; do not dishonour your-”

“Your Majesty,” Seokjin interrupts, “Our first meeting has left me too feeling a little weathered, perhaps from the ride over. I’m we sure we would both agree a long night’s sleep would do everyone a great satisfaction. May we resume tomorrow morning?” You look at him curiously.

“Uh- yes, yes of course,” your mother stammers, uncharacteristically, “I apologise I did not-”

“No need for apologies, Your Majesty. I’ll escort Y/N to her room,” he smiles softly, putting his hand back again on your waist and slowly guiding you away, leaving both your parents to busy themselves again with the party planners.

You don’t speak a word to him as you walk up to your quarters together. He silently nods you goodbye when you reach the heavy oak door, and you slip into the room with soundless haste.

Your back hits the wood of the door and you slip down to the floor, lulling your head between your knees as you begin to sob.

previous / next / masterlist

[graphicpolicy]

Preview: Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #296

Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #296 preview. Archie tries to coach Moose on romance, and Midge is sure to be in for a surprise at her boyfriend’s new debonair ways! #comics

ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #296

Script: Bill Golliher Art: Jeff Shultz, Bob Smith, Jack Morelli, Glenn Whitmore Cover: Bill Golliher, Jim Amash, Rosario “Tito” Peña On Sale Date: 2/6 192-page, full color comic $6.99 U.S.

NEW CLASSIC-STYLE LEAD STORY: “Love Those L.I.P.S.!” Archie tries to coach Moose on romance, and Midge is sure to be in for a surprise at her boyfriend’s new debonair ways!

[jamesginortonblog]

What are you thinking about James? TV domination in 2018?

Psycho, crime-fighting vicar, Russian prince and now mobster with James Bond pretensions. But all James Norton wants to speak about is Britain in crisis. Interview: Adrian Lobb

The Big Issue, December 27, 2017

James Norton is grinning widely as he welcomes The Big Issue into his dressing room at London’s Donmar Warehouse theatre, where he’s starring in a new play, Belleville. A copy of our Christmas issue is propped up against his mirror. “I have so much respect and love for it. The fact that you have put little Martin Wellstead’s drawing on the cover? It is just joyous, a wonderful thing,” he beams. “This epitomises what London should be, a city of inclusivism and openness.” 

The 32-year-old made his name playing psychopathic Tommy in Happy Valley, a crime-fighting vicar in Grantchester and a troubled romantic lead in War and Peace, the next step to propel him to international attention is new BBC One thriller, McMafia. A truly international production, filming took place around the world: in Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Zagreb, Moscow, Prague, Mumbai, Split, London and Qatar, putting to good use co-funding from America’s AMC network. The story, told over eight parts, could scarcely be more timely - a tale of global corruption highlighting the way organised crime has moved into the boardroom. “I want the show to be a catalyst for a conversation that really needs to happen,” says Norton. “When you do a show that is feeding off the zeitgeist, you usually feel like you are chasing it. You are trying to create a piece of art that somehow explores, investigates or interrogates the current story. “But we were on set and had Russian actors improvising scenes about corruption at the state level with the FSB and Putin-at the same time, stories about Trump and Putin and collusion between the White House and the Kremlin were breaking. “It was weird, it felt like the zeitgeist was chasing us, that our show was becoming more topical as we went. And it became, as a result, more and more important. Since we finished filming, we had the Panama Papers, corrupt Icelandprime ministers, the money-laundering trail leading to Putin. Now there is Paradise Papers and the huge scale of tax evasion they reveal. It’s insane, it’s in the news every day if you want to find it.” Norton plays the expensively educated son of Russian mafia parents who has grown up in London and rejected the corruption that paid for his schooling and his family’s lavish lifestyle. Instead, he works in the city and is a darling of the ethical finance community. His first appearance, dashing and debonair in an immaculate suit, sets the mind wandering towards another famous James. And that’s before he’s seen emerging from the sea in a swimsuit... So, can we ask the Bond question? "The Bond question? Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says, with boyish glee. “I knew McMafia was going to fuel that fire for sure. I did tell them when I was doing it that there is no way you are going to film me in a tuxedo and not going to get that question flying around. “It is such an iconic role and it is so important in this country. There are not many people you will find who don’t care about Bond. So to even be mentioned in the same conversation is kind of mad and kind of magical. It really is very cool and very flattering and a bit bizarre and surreal.” That’s not a no, then. Although he says any speculation is just that. And he wants Daniel Craig to do a few more, as he’s a fan. For now, his latest alter ego’s gradual, initially reluctant slide into dodgy dealings is the spark at the centre of this fiery series. “Walter White [from Breaking Bad] is a good comparison. Michael Corleone in The Godfather is another example. His story is one where he goes deeper and darker.” Where most mob films and television shows have been highly localised, McMafia inhabits a bigger world than Sopranos, Gomorrah or Narcos. “The whole idea of McMafia is a reference to McDonald’s, the ultimate archetype of globalisation - what we want to do is show that the mafia no longer fight and do business on the street, they do it in the boardroom. “Since all of the globalisation, and in the multicommunicative age we live in, the cartels talk to the Russian mob, which talk to corrupt hedge-fund managers in London, which talk to Washington.” According to Misha Glenny - whose book investigating global corruption and gangs gives the show its title - all roads on this journey through global underworld lead to London. “It can’t help make your blood boil,” Norton says. “We are told this is an inclusive city. And we pride ourselves on openness and multiculturalism. And I do see that. A lot. I love London for that reason. I love its inclusivity, it is a wonderful place to live whether you are a man or woman, gay, straight, from any country in the world. “But there is this deep hypocrisy. London has very few assets in terms of resources, but we have incredible service-provider acumen. So all money and deals, most of it comes through this city. And we have very, very lax rules. People in the City are able to take the piss because the government are not putting the safeguards in place to prevent corruption. As a country we are on the verge of potentially becoming a tax haven if we are not careful with what is going on with Brexit.” The B-word is causing the star sleepless nights and sorrowful mornings. “My heart breaks every morning,” he says, dramatically. “I get a Brexit update and like alot of people I am slightly addicted, in a perverse way, to following this story. I digest everything. “I feel like, as an actor, if you have a little bit of a voice you have a responsibility to use that voice. To a point. But every time I tweet about that, I get people who are really angry, ‘just stick to your fucking job, you are not a politician.’ I disagree. “But I also think the point is always going to be more valuable if it is made through the work. Right now I am really pleased and keen to use McMafia to talk about corruption and the need for transparency. It is important to try to work in a politically, socially conscious way. So maybe I need to do a job about Brexit - because my heart is broken, if I’m honest, about what is happening in this country. It feels like we are spiralling out of control and no one is willing to put the brakes on.” In the past, Norton’s politicking has been strictly local, supporting a campaign to rebuild Peckham Lido, 30 years after it fell into disrepair. But, he says, McMafia has broadened his political horizons. “I have been talking to the NGO Global Witness, who are responsible for investigating big mining companies and governments. We have been talking about how we can use this show to start conversations about corruption. It is quite an unsexy thing to talk about. But that’s how they get away with it. It is a world and language that so few people speak, the language that the bankers and the City and hedge fund managers speak - you and I don’t know what the fuck most bonds are. So I think it is important to attach personal accounts to these things.” This is where, Norton feels, drama can trump investigative reporting. “I feel like it is very important right now. This sense of injustice is being fuelled, and people want to see what it looks like. What McMafia tells us is that there is a cost,” he continues. “So you have the minority with the yacht and the fast cars and the parties, but at the same time you have women being trafficked, drug addicts in Mumbai fecilitating the one up the food chain... we were very keen to make sure we didn’t just tell the story of corruption” Norton must get back into his New York accent for Belleville. There is just time to explain exactly why global corruption should enrage everyone. “If you are a normal person working and paying taxes, the fact is that there a tiny, tiny number of people making an absurd amount of money at your expense. They are finding loopholes and essentially engaging in a huge level of corruption,” he says. “Homelessness has gone up 134 per cent, and I would love to know how many properties are empty or unused. The fact that there isn’t enough money in this country to pull that person off the street is because people at the top aren’t paying their tax. It can’t help but make your blood boil at the deep, deep injustice and sadness. It is such a warped and sad situation to find ourselves in, and such a stain on what should be a really wonderful place to live.”

[wyrtig]

[princeescaluswords]

Killer Obsession

So I was directed to a great article (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/white-male-serial-killer-obsession-problem) about how Hollywood romanticizes and profits off of our rather creepy obsession with darkness.   I came across this gem in that story.

QUOTE:  We are continually fed this idea that white male serial killers are charming, debonair characters — that they're just misunderstood, incomprehensibly complex people who also happen to have a strange proclivity for the dark and macabre. And while there's nothing wrong with being curious about what drove them to commit acts of this nature, that curiosity becomes an issue when movie or TV producers opt to completely gloss over the lives of the victims in favor of an easily digestible "outsider" narrative. When we focus so much on the murderer — their neuroses, their troubled pasts — we ignore the fact that the victims of these crimes were also people. By romanticizing the men who committed these crimes, we end up forgetting the victims were actual people who were so much more than some of many body parts found in Dahmer's closet.

After I read the article, I poured myself a celebratory drink.  “It’s not just me!”  Because there is no greater example of this obsession than Teen Wolf show’s and Teen Wolf fandom’s fascination with turning Peter Hale into the ‘hero’ of the story or at least a ‘hero’ on the same levels of other characters.   With one or two sentence changes, I could make the above paragraph completely about him.

For those of you who scream “fiction =/= reality” from the rooftops, answer me this – why are there more biographical films about Jeffrey Dahmer than there are about Hugh Thompson Jr. or Katherine Johnson put together?   The choices you make in pursuing fiction have consequences.

Because the only way you can place Peter Hale on the level of any of the other characters in Teen Wolf is if you ignore his victims.  Let’s just table the discussion on whether revenge is morally acceptable – let’s eliminate Kate, Garrison Myers, Unger, Reddick, and the video-store clerk from the discussion, because Peter had plenty of other victims we can talk about.

We can talk about Nurse Jennifer, whose body he shoved into a car trunk like so much useless baggage (which he joked about) after she was instrumental in helping him get his revenge.   We can talk about the school janitor who he killed for being in the way and then used his body as a prop.    We can talk about Adrian Harris, who was moments from being killed because he had the nerve to get drunk into a bar and talk to a pretty woman.    The show never talks about the nurse or the janitor again; the fandom pretends that they don’t exist and that Harris ‘deserved it’ for not being a nice person.

Or we can talk about how the fandom talks about Scott McCall, criticizing him for holding a grudge (even though he doesn’t actually hold a grudge in the show) because it shows that he is ungrateful for the ‘gifts’ of the asthma cure and the werewolf powers, which should more than make up for the multiple murder attempts, the mind control, the manipulation, and the extortion.   It reminds me of nothing more of people trying to justify imperialism by saying ‘look at all the things that colonization brought!’  

Or we can talk about how the show treats Lydia Martin, who was savaged, used, and gaslighted.  Of course, Peter though she was strong enough to survive with only a “few years of profoundly disturbing nightmares.”  The show resolves this situation with the briefest of confrontations (undermined by a poor music selection) and pointless witty banter in the penultimate episode.    Fandom has a better track record than the show, at least acknowledging that what Peter did to Lydia deserves more than a laugh track.

Of course, he was ‘ill’ in Season 1, which doesn’t stop anyone from celebrating him, because the only answer is ‘when did he get better?’   It wasn’t in Season 3a where he manipulated everyone to regain power.  It wasn’t in Season 4 where he worked with the person who killed his family in Season 1 in order to kill a child for his own greed.   It wasn’t in Season 6, when he spent the time drawing a perfect spiral of revenge on the floor of his cell (super healthy!). Teen Vogue’s article is spot on.  

It’s good that at least someone with a voice and reach is addressing Hollywood’s enabling of fan’s unhealthy fascination with deranged killers.  

[aion-rsa]

How the Passion of Hannibal Lecter Inspired a New Opera About Dante

https://ift.tt/3bhl7s6

When you hear the name Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a few things spring to mind—and none of them are likely to involve Italian poet Dante Alighieri or opera. Of course there’s good reason for this, with Lecter’s exotic cooking ingredients superseding his gentler affectations. But even so, when author Thomas Harris first imagined how the character might move in the wild for the novel Hannibal, it was with baroque glee he unleashed the doctor in Florence: Italy’s Renaissance city and Dante’s medieval stomping grounds.

Director Ridley Scott similarly understood that secret recipe. His film version of Hannibal relishes every Italian colonnade Anthony Hopkins walks under, or the way the shadow of the statue of David casts darkness on its star’s face, often as he stands in the same spot where men were hanged or immolated centuries ago. In its better moments, Scott’s movie savors that this is a story about a devil who covets the divine; it delights in playing like an opera.

Hence for the picture’s best sequence, the filmmakers commissioned a new “mini-opera,” one that would for the first time put music to verses that Dante wrote more than 700 years ago. And in the decades since the movie’s release, those fleeting  minutes of music have blossomed into a real, full-fledged opera about to have its world premiere. Once again the doctor’s distinct tastes and influences appear singular within the realm of movie monsters.

“He is a character that’s so exaggerated and extreme, I’m not sure if a person like Hannibal Lecter really could exist,” composer Patrick Cassidy says when we chat over Zoom, nearly 20 years to the day after Hannibal’s release. “He’s a great figure for drama because he is all of these extremes.”

Cassidy should know. Once a young Irish composer who was a relatively new member of Hans Zimmer’s large Remote Control Productions film scoring company, Cassidy’s sumptuous Italian aria “Vide Cor Meum” elevated Lecter’s Italian sojourn on screen, and placed its composer on the path to eventually becoming a Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Star of Italy). That’s all the more remarkable since Cassidy didn’t even speak Italian when he first set a Dante sonnet to music.

Looking back now, Cassidy remarks, “I was working with Hans Zimmer at the time, who was the composer on the movie. He works on a lot of projects simultaneously and he knew my strength was choral music… They needed an aria and they were shooting the scene in two weeks. So I was in the right place at the right time.”

The sudden impetus for needing an original aria in the movie seems to hail from Scott. In Harris’ novel, a similar scene occurs when Dr. Lecter attends the performance of a real symphony written in the 19th century, but for the movie Scott, Zimmer, and producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis wanted something original: an aria based on a Dante poem which Hannibal repeats several times throughout the book and film. Written in 1283 when Dante was just 18, the poet’s first sonnet in La Vita Nuova is a paean to Beatrice, the woman he loved. Within its verse, the sonnet includes the following:

Joyfully Amor seemed to me to hold

my heart in his hand, and held in his arms

my lady wrapped in a cloth sleeping.

Then he woke her, and that burning heart

he fed to her reverently, she fearing,

Afterwards he went not to be seen weeping.

– Dante’s First Sonnet

Says Cassidy, “[The aria] had to be based on the first sonnet in La Vita Nuova because that sonnet has a metaphor about eating the heart. But of course Hannibal might have taken that in a literal sense.” Indeed, on both the page and screen, storytellers wanted Hannibal to pivot around the uneasy idea of the debonair cannibal giving his heart to Clarice Starling. After all, “Vide Cor Meum” is Latin for “Look into My Heart.”

Cassidy, however, had little time to digest these finer details when the opportunity to write the aria arose. Relatively new to Hollywood after being in Los Angeles only a year—and succeeding as a choral composer in his native Ireland with Children of Lir, the first major symphonic work in the Irish language—he was primarily tasked with working on library music at Zimmer’s company when the assignment came down: They needed “a good aria” ASAP.

“There was no room for anything to go wrong in a sense,” Cassidy says. “Ridley was already in Florence shooting the movie, but Ridley’s editor Pietro Scalia came into my studio and he brought in lots of CDs of Italian arias, being Italian himself.” This proved particularly useful because while the composer speaks Italian today, he needed to rely on Scalia’s ear while putting Dante’s words to music then.

Cassidy adds, “Ridley also sent me some sketches, which are very fantastic sketches of what the opera would look like. Of course then there was also Dante’s poem. So we started from that, and I think Pietro came back two days later and while I didn’t have the full aria written, I had a nice thematic kind of sense at that stage.”

By his own account, Cassidy estimates he wrote the full aria in under a week.

As a piece of choral composition, “Vide Cor Meum” is transcendently beautiful. Reliant on choral harmonies and luscious strings, the piece more than recites fragments of Dante; it taps into a sense of revelry and underlying melancholy—bringing out the inherent musicality in Dante’s lamentations. This is crucial to both the sonnet and the music’s effect, since the original verse was written in a style of poetry later dubbed by Dante to be the “dolce stil novo” (sweet new style) due to its idealization of Beatrice. This level of worshipfulness was significant for the author since the woman he adored died at the age of 25, four years before La Vita Nuova was released in 1294, complete with new prose around the sonnets in which Dante grapples with her death.

“Vide Cor Meum” brings those aspects out so hauntingly that it’s demanded greater attention ever since its inception. Even back in 2000, the piece was originally only meant to exist in its one minute of screen time; yet it was expanded to two and a half minutes at the request of Scott and the De Laurentiis’ after they heard that minute of music. And once the film was complete, Cassidy was then asked to turn it into a full aria of more than four minutes, or “mini-opera,” on the soundtrack.

Says Cassidy, “Everybody loved the aria instantly, and it was kind of immediate, really, for all the people involved, including Martha and Dino. Ridley especially loved it, and they were all thinking, ‘Maybe you should write a full opera?’ But then nobody knew what the opera should be about.” Editor Scalia did offer an amusing suggestion: write a full-length Italian opera about Hannibal Lecter.

It’s probably for the best that the Hannibal the Cannibal opera never happened, and as the years passed, everyone, including Cassidy, moved onto other projects. Still, the legacy of “Vide Cor Meum” continued to grow. In 2007, listeners of the UK’s Classic FM ranked the Hannibal score in the top 100 film soundtracks of all time (likely in large part due to “Vide Cor Meum”), and the piece has appeared in numerous other places, including another Ridley Scott film, Kingdom of Heaven.

“I loved it in that movie,” Cassidy says, “I thought that was an incredible scene. In many respects I even nearly prefer it in that movie than I do Hannibal.” And as the aria endured, so too did the persistent idea of expanding on it… and on Dante.

In 2010, producer Dino De Laurentiis passed away. While Cassidy had lost touch with the De Laurentiis family over the years, they obviously left a mark on each other, with Cassidy’s career rising after “Vide Cor Meum,” and Dino accepting his Irving G. Thalberg award from the Academy in 2001 to an orchestration of the aria—a development Cassidy suspects Dino’s wife had a hand in.

“Martha loves the piece, so I think she probably organized that,” Cassidy says. “When Dino passed away, I went to the funeral and I was going to pay my condolences to Martha, and there were rows and rows of people around her. But she saw me in the back and she said, ‘Hey, Patrick where’s Dino’s opera?!’”

It’s visibly a sweet memory for Cassidy, even as he recalls he didn’t tell Martha at the time he’d already begun work on expanding what was originally just a two-minute composition into an opera, one with a specific subject matter: Dante Alighieri.

Cassidy says, “Maybe two or three years later, I called her into my studio to give her a presentation of what I’d done on the opera and she loved it, and she wanted to be the producer immediately.” He was also able to show why the opera could only ever be about Dante, the medieval writer who similarly electrified the imaginations of Thomas Harris and his most famous fictional character.

“I think Dante was transitioning out of the Middle Ages into the Renaissance,” Cassidy says about the poet. “Especially in La Vita Nuova, the poetry is in the troubadour tradition of the idea of chivalric love. So it’s kind of a foreign idea to us. When we think of love [it’s] not as an idealization, but just a passion in a sense… for him [love] was quite religious, and he often associates Beatrice with the Virgin Mary.” That sense of an almost deification of love—Amor is a godlike character in La Vita Nuova—also gave Cassidy the space to build a story out of Dante’s life, as opposed to just adapting his most famous and macabre work, La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy).

“I realized the mistake would have been to do an opera about La Divinia Comedia where you had the Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradisio,” says Cassidy. “What I did instead was [make] the opening scene in the opera be the first meeting of Beatrice and Dante when they’re both 12 years of age. And then the opera finishes when Dante, at the end of Paradisio, meets Beatrice again in the heavenly paradise, which is the Garden of Eden. So that was the core of the story, it’s a love story of Dante in pursuit of Beatrice.”

It’s a shrewd choice since many forget that at the end of La Vita Nuova, Dante concludes by saying he will write an epic poem unlike any other, and it will be dedicated to Beatrice. Nearly 30 years later, and about 12 months before Dante’s own death in 1321, The Divine Comedy was published with its most famous passages about Dante descending down through the nine circles of Hell. However, it also features Dante ascending to the heavens where he finds Beatrice as his guide to Paradise. When these elements are combined, you have the stuff of opera.

“The second act is Inferno,” Cassidy says, “And at the beginning [of the act], Dante meets Virgil, and Virgil explains that he has been sent by Beatrice to guide him through the underworld.” In the pits of Hell, “Vide Cor Meum” will even have a reprise. While the aria appears much as it did in Hannibal during the first act of Cassidy’s opera, it’s then sung a second time in act two when a siren in the Inferno attempts to seduce Dante, and Beatrice’s angelic voice intercedes.

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It’s an ambitious concept, and one Cassidy has been working toward on and off for six years. The composer’s Dante was supposed to have its world premiere later this year in Verona—in time for the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death in 1321. Unfortunately, like many other plans since 2020, whether Dante meets that anniversary is currently up in the air.

“We were hoping to premiere it in the anniversary year,” Cassidy says, “but I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Fortunately, the Irish composer can stay busy. With Dante finished, Cassidy is already working on his second opera, this one with the added challenge of being in English: King Arthur.

“After writing a whole opera in Italian, [you realize] it’s the best language for music. I mean, you really can’t go wrong because it just sounds so beautiful… writing a new opera in English, it’s more difficult. It’s more difficult to make work.” Although as with Dante, King Arthur provides Cassidy with the chance to explore medieval classics, specifically Sir Thomas Malory’s famed 15th century tellings of the King Arthur legend.

Cassidy also recently released a new recording of “Vide Cor Meum” on Apple Music and Spotify, one of two pieces he now has in “A-List Classical” on Apple after another of his works, “The Proclamation,” gained international attention when it was used by President Joe Biden during his Presidential Inauguration Mass. But Cassidy does remain hopeful that Dante will still have its day this year, in Verona or otherwise.

“I would hope that even if we don’t get a full production that we will get something done on Dante this year, because it is an anniversary,” Cassidy says.

Whenever it does debut, Dante and its most famous aria will have come a long way from their origins in a horror movie. But in a certain sense, one imagines Dr. Lecter would approve.

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from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2ZlXtW7

[phoenixculpa]

Paradise

The serpent and the

Rat shared paradise

Before Satan tempted

Eve, they would eat

Berries, and cuddle in the

Low lush, and sometimes,

Snake would take Rat atop

The trees, which is when it

Happened, “My goddess,

You know everything,” Eve

Pauses, flattered by such

Debonair in holyland, “Me?,”

“To whom else could I speak,

But to the beautiful, undervalued Eve?,”

She feels her cheeks heat up,

Ignorant to what is about to come,

Satan looks around, the coast is

Clear, the snake starts to slither,

And the rat is bewildered, her

Little hand on the apple that

Satan grabs, but the snake wraps

His tail around her before she loses balance

“Take a bite, empress, have this garden,

For you know it best,” come to think of it,

Eve has never seen a man this handsome,

And he acknowledges her, unlike her dense

Adam, she inches toward the fruit, while

The charmer licks his lips, she watches

His tongue, but instead of the apple,

She grabs him—in alarm, he juts back,

Apple slipping from his hand, the snake

Lunges, the rat falls, in the tangles of

Eve’s hair, as the apple is bitten, by the

Snake, how sweet! He wants more,

Devouring the rat in one gulp, as Eve falls

Into Satan’s arms, the devil smirks, “Did

God reject you too?,” Eve blinks, eyes

Glimmering as she pulls away, “What do

You mean?,” the snake around her ankles,

Bulging with its best friend, as Eve digests

Her lowly position, “So you understand,”

She whispers, again embracing the angel

Fallen, his arms tightly around her waist,

But he isn’t finished, as loved as she feels,

He pulls back, caressing her chin, elating

Eve beyond redemption, she cannot help

But to kiss him, passionately, for this

Is all she ever wanted, that could never

Be given, by her skybound, dogma of

A man, and Satan tongues her in

Response, biting her lips hard, he

Tastes like a thrill, and the snake

Advances around their necks, bringing

Them closer, as the grass spontaneously

Lights on fire, the bulge of the rat, pressing

Into her windpipe, she tries to breathe,

But Satan ravishes her, groping

His paradise regained! Affronted

With a bruised neck, Eve gasps, as

She feels the rat give one last breath,

Passing out herself, Satan listens

To her thud with pleasure, dusting his

Hands off, with Adam in the distance,

Eden’s sunset glowers, hellbent

[comixhunt]

Archie Comics Double Digest #296 (2019)

BRAND NEW LEAD STORY: "Love Those L.I.P.S.!" Archie tries to coach Moose on romance, and Midge is sure to be in for a surprise at her boyfriend's new debonair ways! Read the full article

[dndrandom]

Here are the lists, though a warning that this is 1088 items listed:

Race:

Human

Elf

Dwarf

Gnome

Orc

Dragonborn

Tiefling (Demon Descendent)

Avian (Bird Person)

Centaur

Drow (Dark Elf)

Satyr (Goat People)

Myconid (Mushroom People)

Ent (Tree People)

Lamia (Snake People)

Minotaur

Mer

Warforged

Anubid

Half-Orc

Half-Elf

Owlfolk

Half-Dwarf

Blood Elf

Half-Angel

Shadowborn

Troll

Ogre

Lizardfolk

Fae

Dark Elf

Goblin

Class:

Warrior

Knight

Cavalier

Berserker

Pugilist

Shield-Bearer

Weapon Master

Dragoon

Sentinel

Fencer

Soldier

Samurai

Martial Artist

Monk

Dragon Knight

Dark Knight

Archer

Corsair

Beast Rider

Ronin

Warlord

Herald

Inquisitor

Blade-Singer

Paladin

Marksman

Duelist

Marauder

Raider

Adventurer

Strategist

Diplomat

Templar

Spellsword

Death Knight

Battlemage

Bandit

Gunslinger

Assassin

Ranger

Ninja

Merchant

Bard

Dancer

Arcane Archer

Red Mage

Blue Mage

Cleric

Battle Priest

Cutpurse

Scout

Hunter

Explorer

Beastmaster

Horizon Walker

Strider

Loremaster

Enchanter

Summoner

Psion

Elementalist

Necromancer

Druid

Acolyte

Highwayman

Ballistician

Spy

Poisoner

Trap Master

Dark Delver

Gambler

Mentalist

Tinkerer

Technomancer

Animist

Geomancer

Dreamwalker

Channeler

Sage

Theurge

Warlock

Thief

Infiltrator

Catburglar

Philanderer

Stalker

Chameleon

Trickster

Magician

Shadowmancer

Alchemist

Binder

Conjurer

Illusionlist

Shaman

Seer

Arcanist

Witch

Sorcerer

Wizard

Height:

Shortest

Short

Average

Tall

Tallest

Weight:

Lightest

Light

Average

Heavy

Heaviest

Build:

Scrawniest

Scrawny

Average

Buff

Buffest 

Skin Overtone (Melanin / Metal / Feathers / Etc):

Darkest

Dark

Tan

Light

Lightest

Albinic

Melanistic

Skin Undertone:

Blue Tones

Red Tones

Yellow Tones

Alignment:

Lawful Good

Lawful Neutral

Lawful Evil

Neutral Good

True Neutral

Neutral Evil

Chaotic Good

Chaotic Neutral

Chaotic Evil

Hair / Accents:

Black

Brown

Grey

Blonde

White

Blue

Red

Green 

Hair Type:

Longest Straight

Long Straight

Medium Straight

Short Straight

Shortest Straight

Longest Wavy

Long Wavy

Medium Wavy

Short Wavy

Shortest Wavy

Longest Curly

Long Curly

Medium Curly

Short Curly

Shortest Curly 

Character Trait 1:

Active

Adaptable

Admirable

Adventurous

Agreeable

Alert

Allocentric

Amiable

Anticipative

Appreciative

Articulate

Aspiring

Athletic

Attractive

Balanced

Benevolent

Brilliant

Calm

Capable

Captivating

Caring

Challenging

Charismatic

Charming

Cheerful

Clean

Clear-headed

Clever

Colorful

Companionly

Compassionate

Conciliatory

Confident

Conscientious

Considerate

Contemplative

Cooperative

Courageous

Courteous

Creative

Cultured

Curious

Daring

Debonair

Decent

Decisive

Dedicated

Deep

Dignified

Directed

Disciplined

Discreet

Dramatic

Dutiful

Dynamic

Earnest

Ebullient

Educated

Efficient

Elegant

Eloquent

Empathetic

Energetic

Enthusiastic

Esthetic

Exciting

Extraordinary

Fair

Faithful

Farsighted

Felicific

Firm

Flexible

Focused

Forceful

Forgiving

Forthright

Freethinking

Friendly

Fun-loving

Gallant

Generous

Gentle

Genuine

Good-natured

Gracious

Hardworking

Healthy

Hearty

Helpful

Heroic

High-minded

Honest

Honorable

Humble

Humorous

Idealistic

Imaginative

Impressive

Incisive

Incorruptible

Independent

Individualistic

Innovative

Inoffensive

Insightful

Insouciant

Intelligent

Intuitive

Invulnerable

Kind

Knowledge

Leaderly

Leisurely

Liberal

Logical

Lovable

Loyal

Lyrical

Magnanimous

Many-sided

Mature

Methodical

Meticulous

Moderate

Modest

Multi-leveled

Neat

Nonauthoritarian

Objective

Observant

Open

Optimistic

Orderly

Organized

Original

Painstaking

Passionate

Patient

Patriotic

Peaceful

Perceptive

Perfectionist

Personable

Persuasive

Planful

Playful

Polished

Popular

Practical

Precise

Principled

Profound

Protean

Protective

Providential

Prudent

Punctual

Purposeful

Rational

Realistic

Reflective

Relaxed

Reliable

Resourceful

Respectful

Responsible

Responsive

Reverential

Romantic

Rustic

Sage

Scholarly

Scrupulous

Secure

Selfless

Self-critical

Self-defacing

Self-denying

Self-reliant

Self-sufficient

Sensitive

Sentimental

Seraphic

Serious

Sharing

Shrewd

Simple

Skillful

Sober

Sociable

Solid

Sophisticated

Spontaneous

Sporting

Stable

Steadfast

Steady

Stoic

Strong

Studious

Suave

Subtle

Sweet

Sympathetic

Systematic

Tasteful

Teacherly

Thorough

Tidy

Tolerant

Tractable

Trusting

Uncomplaining

Understanding

Undogmatic

Unfoolable

Upright

Urbane

Venturesome

Vivacious

Warm

Well-bred

Well-read

Well-rounded

Winning

Wise

Witty

Youthful 

Character Trait 2:

Abrasive

Abrupt

Agonizing

Aimless

Airy

Aloof

Amoral

Angry

Anxious

Apathetic

Arbitrary

Argumentative

Arrogant

Artificial

Asocial

Assertive

Astigmatic

Barbaric

Bewildered

Bizarre

Bland

Blunt

Boisterous

Brittle

Brutal

Calculating

Callous

Cantankerous

Careless

Cautious

Charmless

Childish

Clumsy

Coarse

Cold

Complacent

Complaintive

Compulsive

Conceited

Condemnatory

Conformist

Confused

Contemptible

Conventional

Cowardly

Crafty

Crass

Critical

Crude

Cruel

Cynical

Decadent

Deceitful

Delicate

Demanding

Dependent

Desperate

Destructive

Devious

Difficult

Dirty

Disconcerting

Discontented

Discouraging

Discourteous

Dishonest

Disloyal

Disobedient

Disorderly

Disorganized

Disputatious

Disrespectful

Disruptive

Dissolute

Dissonant

Distractible

Disturbing

Dogmatic

Domineering

Dull

Easily Discouraged

Egocentric

Enervated

Envious

Erratic

Escapist

Excitable

Expedient

Extravagant

Extreme

Faithless

False

Fanatical

Fanciful

Fatalistic

Fawning

Fearful

Fickle

Fiery

Fixed

Foolish

Forgetful

Fraudulent

Frightening

Frivolous

Gloomy

Graceless

Grand

Greedy

Grim

Gullible

Hateful

Haughty

Hedonistic

Hesitant

Hidebound

High-handed

Hostile

Ignorant

Imitative

Impatient

Impractical

Imprudent

Impulsive

Inconsiderate

Incurious

Indecisive

Indulgent

Inert

Inhibited

Insecure

Insensitive

Insincere

Insulting

Intolerant

Irascible

Irrational

Irresponsible

Irritable

Lazy

Libidinous

Loquacious

Malicious

Mannered

Mannerless

Mawkish

Mealymouthed

Mechanical

Meddlesome

Melancholic

Meretricious

Messy

Miserable

Misguided

Mistaken

Money-minded

Moody

Morbid

Muddle-headed

Naive

Narcissistic

Narrow-minded

Natty

Negativistic

Neglectful

Nihilistic

Obnoxious

Obsessive

Obvious

Odd

Offhand

One-dimensional

One-sided

Opinionated

Opportunistic

Outrageous

Overimaginative

Paranoid

Passive

Pedantic

Perverse

Petty

Pharissical

Phlegmatic

Plodding

Pompous

Possessive

Power-hungry

Prejudiced

Presumptuous

Pretentious

Prim

Procrastinating

Profligate

Provocative

Pugnacious

Puritanical

Quirky

Reactionary

Reactive

Regimental

Regretful

Repentant

Repressed

Resentful

Ridiculous

Rigid

Ritualistic

Rowdy

Ruined

Sadistic

Sanctimonious

Scheming

Scornful

Secretive

Sedentary

Selfish

Self-indulgent

Shallow

Shortsighted

Shy

Silly

Single-minded

Sloppy

Slow

Sly

Small-thinking

Softheaded

Sordid

Steely

Stiff

Strong-willed

Stupid

Submissive

Superficial

Superstitious

Suspicious

Tactless

Tasteless

Tense

Thoughtless

Timid

Transparent

Treacherous

Trendy

Troublesome

Unappreciative

Uncaring

Uncharitable

Unconvincing

Uncooperative

Uncreative

Uncritical

Unctuous

Undisciplined

Unfriendly

Ungrateful

Unhealthy

Unimaginative

Unimpressive

Unpolished

Unprincipled

Unrealistic

Unreflective

Unreliable

Unrestrained

Unself-critical

Unstable

Vacuous

Vague

Venal

Vindictive

Vulnerable

Weak

Weak-willed

Willful

Wishful

Zany 

Character Trait 3:

Absentminded

Aggressive

Ambitious

Amusing

Artful

Authoritarian

Big-thinking

Breezy

Businesslike

Busy

Casual

Cerebral

Chummy

Circumspect

Competitive

Complex

Confidential

Conservative

Contradictory

Cute

Deceptive

Determined

Dominating

Dreamy

Driving

Droll

Dry

Earthy

Emotional

Enigmatic

Experimental

Familial

Folksy

Formal

Freewheeling

Frugal

Glamorous

Guileless

High-spirited

Huried

Hypnotic

Impassive

Impersonal

Impressionable

Intense

Invisible

Irreligious

Irreverent

Maternal

Mellow

Modern

Moralistic

Mystical

Neutral

Noncommittal

Noncompetitive

Obedient

Old-fashioned

Ordinary

Outspoken

Paternalistic

Physical

Placid

Political

Predictable

Preoccupied

Private

Progressive

Proud

Pure

Questioning

Quiet

Religious

Reserved

Restrained

Retiring

Sarcastic

Self-conscious

Sensual

Skeptical

Smooth

Soft

Solemn

Solitary

Stern

Stoid

Strict

Stubborn

Stylish

Subjective

Surprising

Soft

Tough

Unaggressive

Unambitious

Unceremonious

Unchanging

Undemanding

Unfathomable

Unhurried

Uninhibited

Unpatriotic

Unpredictable

Unsentimental

Whimsical

Gender:

Woman

Man

Nonbinary

Genderless 

Expression:

Masculine

Androgynous

Feminine

Sexuality:

Straight

Gay / Lesbian

Bi

Pan

None

Unspecified 

Eye Colour:

Brown

Hazel

Blue

Green

Red

Amber

Golden

Purple 

Basic Disorders / Diseases*:

Cancer

Cardiovascular Disorder

Connective Tissue Disease

Digestive Disorder

Endocrine Disorder

Hematological Disorder

Immune System Disorder

Musculoskeletal Disorder

Respiratory Disorder

Skin Disorder 

Complex Disorders / Diseases*:

Arthritis

Asthma

Anencephaly

Anophthalmia | Microphthalmia

Anotia | Microtia

Cleft Lip | Cleft Palate

Congenital Heart Defects

Craniosynostosis

Diaphragmatic Hernia

Down Syndrome

Encephalocele

Esophageal Atresia

Gastroschisis

Hypospadias

Microcephaly

Omphalocele

Spina Bifida

Upper and Lower Limb Reduction 

Bladder Cancer

Breast Cancer

Cervical Cancer

Colon Cancer

Endrometrial Cancer

Gallbladder Cancer

Gynecologic Cancer

Head | Neck Cancer

Kidney Cancer

Leukemia

Liver Cancer

Lung Cancer

Lymphoma

Melanoma

Myeloma

Oropharyngeal Cancer

Ovarian Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Rectal Cancer

Skin Cancer

Thyroid Cancer

Uterine Cancer

Vaginal Cancer

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes

Epilepsy

Fetal Alchohol Syndrom

Alchohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder

Alchohol Related Birth Defects

Heart Disease

HIV

AIDS

HPV

Chronic Kidney Disease

Meningitis

MRSA

MERS 

Physical Disabilities:

Cerebral Palsy

Spina Bifida

Poliomyelitis

Stroke

Head Injury

Spinal Cord Injury

Visual Impairment

Hearing Loss

Blindness

Deafness

Mute

Chronic Illness 

Mental Disabilities / Disorders:

Acute Stress Disorder

Adjustment Disorder

Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

Adult Antisocial Behavior

Agoraphobia

Alcohol Dependence

Alcoholic Hallucinosis

Avoidant / Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

Alzheimer's Disease

Amnestic Disorder

Amphetamine Dependence

Anorexia Nervosa

Anterograde Amnesia

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Autism

Autophagia

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Atelophobia

Asperger Syndrome

Barbiturate Dependence

Benzodiazepine Dependence

Bereavement

Bibliomania

Binge Eating Disorder

Bipolar I Disorder

Bipolar II Disorder

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Borderline Intellectual Functioning

Borderline Personality Disorder

Brief Psychotic Disorder

Bulimia Nervosa

Caffeine-Induced Anxiety Disorder

Caffeine-Induced Sleep Disorder

Cannabis Dependence

Catatonic

Catatonic Schizophrenia

Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder

Claustrophobia

Cocaine Dependence

Cognitive Disorder

Communication Disorder

Conduct Disorder

Cotard Delusion

Cyclothymia

Delirium Tremens

Depersonalization Disorder

Derealization

Dermatillomania

Desynchronosis

Developmental Coordination Disorder

Diogenes Syndrome

Dispareunia

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Dyspraxia

Dyslexia

Dysphoria

EDNOS

Ekbom's Syndrome (Delusional Parasitosis)

Encopresis

Epilepsy

Enuresis

Erotomania

Factitious Disorder

Fregoli Delusion

Ganser Syndrome

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

General Adaptation Syndrome

Hallucinogen-related Disorder

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Huntington's Disease

Hypochondriasis

Hysteria

Insomnia

Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Kleptomania

Korsakoff's Syndrome

Lacunar Amnesia

Major Depressive Disorder

Maladaptive Daydreaming

Malingering

Manic Episode

Mathematics Disorder

Melancholia

Minor Depressive Disorder

Misophonia

Mood Disorder

Munchausen's Syndrome

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcolepsy

Neurocysticercosis

Neurodevelopmental Disorder

Nicotine Withdrawal

Night Eating Syndrome

Nightmare Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)

Oneirophrenia

Opioid Dependence

Opioid-related Disorder

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Orthorexia (ON)

Pain Disorder

Panic Disorder

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Parasomnia

Parkinson's Disease

Pathological Gambling

Persecutory Delusion

Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)

Phencyclidine (Or Phencyclidine-Like)-Related Disorder

Phobic Disorder

Pica (Disorder)

Psychosis

Phonological Disorder

Polysubstance-related Disorder

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Primary Hypersomnia

Primary Insomnia

Pseudologia Fantastica

Psychogenic Amnesia

Psychotic Disorder

Pyromania

Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy or Early Childhood

Recurrent Brief Depression

Relational Disorder

Residual Schizophrenia

Retrograde Amnesia

Rumination Syndrome

Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizophrenia

Schizophreniform Disorder

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Sedative-, Hypnotic-, or Anxiolytic-Related Disorder

Selective Mutism

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Shared Psychotic Disorder

Sleep Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Sleep terror Disorder

Sleepwalking Disorder

Sleep Paralysis

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Phobia

Somatization Disorder

Somatoform Disorder

Specific Phobia

Stereotypic Movement Disorder

Stockholm Syndrome

Stuttering

Substance-Related Disorder

Tardive Dyskinesia

Transient Global Amnesia

Transient Tic Disorder

Trichotillomania 

Amputations:

Left Leg

Left Arm

Left Eye

Right Leg

Right Arm

Right Eye

Right Ear

Left Ear

Left Foot

Right Foot

Left Hand

Right Hand 

Other Diseases:

Viral Pnemonia

Vampirism

Typhus Fever

Typhoid Fever

Syphilis

Scabies

Tuberculosis

Plague

Mycetoma

Meningitis

Melioidosis

Measels

Malaria

Lycanthropy

Influenza

Herpes

Hepatitis

Epidemic Typhus 

*Basic as in less specific, Complex as in more specific. **These may not be perfectly categorized or labelled, I'm going off of the CDC website mostly. If you want to roll multiple times, feel free-- if you want to only use some of them, feel free. If any of these need to be removed, relabelled, or recategorized, please message me privately.

[krishnaprasad-blog]

The outstanding artist and caricaturist Bailangadi Prabhakar Rao, known popularly by his pen name “Rao Bail“, passed away in Bangalore on Wednesday at age 81, but if you pored through Bangalore’s newspapers today, you would be hard-pressed to find a decent obituary beyond the mandatory two paras with a stamp size pic.

Not very surprising at all, given the state of the media but Rao Bail at his peak was an imposing figure, whose work—cartoons, illustrations, woodcuts, collages—adorned the pages of Shankar’s Weekly, The Illustrated Weekly of India, The Times of India, The Daily, Debonair and Reader’s Digest—besides Sudha and Mayura in Kannada.

Long years ago, the poet, short story writer and lyricist Jayant Kaikini profiled Rao Bail for the Ugadi special issue of Sudha when the artist was living in Dharwad. The pages of the article are in the photo mosaic (above), made available by the author.

Kaikini wrote:

“Rao Bail looked like a sufi saint who had lost his way, like an out-of-work Bengali scientist., like a character who had stepped out of his own comic strip.

“He was born in Kasargod, grew up in Udupi-Kundapur, obtained a science degree in Bangalore, and moved to Bombay in the 1960s with dreams of graduating out of the JJ School of Art.

“Eventually it was from JJ School of Applied Arts that Rao Bail obtained a diploma where Amol Palekar was a compatriot.

“For a while it seemed as if painting on footpaths and in local trains was going to be his life, but Rao Bail managed to eke out a living, doing mimicry shows with friends Kishore Padubidri and Shankar Shibadkar.

“In the late 1960s, he held solo shows at Jahangir Art Gallery. Club Creatures, in which he sketched the vacuity of the wealthy, established him as one of the preeminent caricaturists of the time.

“A young assistant cameraman at the time, who would soon become a well known director, would often drop in at Rao Bail’s bachelor pad to shoot pictures. ‘Tum tho famous ho, yaar; nobody knows Govind Nihalani‘.”

  Rao Bail (centre) in happier times with Jayant Kaikini (right) and the acclaimed film director, Soori. 

‘Rao Bail, tum tho famous ho yaar; nobody knows Govind Nihalani’ The outstanding artist and caricaturist Bailangadi Prabhakar Rao, known popularly by his pen name "

[sommeliercourses]

Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For July 16, 2018

I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

2016 Jermann Pinot Grigio (Venezia Giulia): Behold the thinking wine-lover’s Pinot Grigio, replete with, well, almost everything that’s lacking in most domestic US PGs… $25 B+

2015 Inama Carmenere Piu (Veneto Rosso): For when only something different – and something with accessible sophistication – will do. $20 B+

NV Cleto Chiarli Brut de Noir Rose Lambrusco (Emilia-Romagna): That time when cherries had a killer party, and they invited more cherries, and then even more cherries showed up. $15 B

2017 Andreola ‘Mas de Fer’ Rive di Soligo (Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore): The melodies are slightly sweet, and the main chorus is mellifluously harmonious. $25 B+

2016 Pieropan Soave Classico (Veneto): Soaaaaveeee gettin’ its sexaaaaahhhhh swerrrrrveeeeehhhh onnnnnnn… $20 B+

2015 Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz (McLaren Vale): This is a long road, in a good way, and one where the path is lined with dried herb and ripe plummy goodness. $75 A-

2015 Montes Alpha Carmenere (Colchagua Valley): Castles will be stormed, no prisoners will be taken, and all larders will be raided. $25 B+

2017 Left Coast Cellars The Orchards Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley): In these orchards, everything is peachy – both literally, and figuratively – keen. $19 B+

2015 Miro Cellars Ponzo Vineyard old Vines Reserve Zinfandel (Russian River Valley): They’re on to something special here, folks; just bring your penchant for intensity, spiciness, and juiciness. $35 A-

2012 Petroni Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley): That debonair formal attire suits this one right on down to the T. $75 A-

Grab The 1WineDude.com Tasting Guide and start getting more out of every glass of wine today!

Shop Wine Products at Amazon.com

Copyright © 2016. Originally at Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For July 16, 2018 from 1WineDude.com – for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! Source: http://www.1winedude.com/wine-reviews-weekly-mini-round-up-for-july-16-2018/

from Linda Johnson https://meself84.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/wine-reviews-weekly-mini-round-up-for-july-16-2018/

[wyrtig]

bro invented flight

[static-pouring]

Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For July 16, 2018

I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

2016 Jermann Pinot Grigio (Venezia Giulia): Behold the thinking wine-lover’s Pinot Grigio, replete with, well, almost everything that’s lacking in most domestic US PGs… $25 B+

2015 Inama Carmenere Piu (Veneto Rosso): For when only something different – and something with accessible sophistication – will do. $20 B+

NV Cleto Chiarli Brut de Noir Rose Lambrusco (Emilia-Romagna): That time when cherries had a killer party, and they invited more cherries, and then even more cherries showed up. $15 B

2017 Andreola ‘Mas de Fer’ Rive di Soligo (Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore): The melodies are slightly sweet, and the main chorus is mellifluously harmonious. $25 B+

2016 Pieropan Soave Classico (Veneto): Soaaaaveeee gettin’ its sexaaaaahhhhh swerrrrrveeeeehhhh onnnnnnn… $20 B+

2015 Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz (McLaren Vale): This is a long road, in a good way, and one where the path is lined with dried herb and ripe plummy goodness. $75 A-

2015 Montes Alpha Carmenere (Colchagua Valley): Castles will be stormed, no prisoners will be taken, and all larders will be raided. $25 B+

2017 Left Coast Cellars The Orchards Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley): In these orchards, everything is peachy – both literally, and figuratively – keen. $19 B+

2015 Miro Cellars Ponzo Vineyard old Vines Reserve Zinfandel (Russian River Valley): They’re on to something special here, folks; just bring your penchant for intensity, spiciness, and juiciness. $35 A-

2012 Petroni Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley): That debonair formal attire suits this one right on down to the T. $75 A-

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Copyright © 2016. Originally at Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For July 16, 2018 from 1WineDude.com - for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! Source: http://www.1winedude.com/wine-reviews-weekly-mini-round-up-for-july-16-2018/