#derek craven would never

[fated-mates]

Happy Derek Craven Day!

[mermaidsirennikita]

really looking for romance novelists to utilize The Bilsoning for good and go "you know who WOULDN'T let his partner go nine years and a shared child's worth of relationship without an orgasm--"

[triviareads]

Historical Romance Heroes Who Have Wronged Me (And I Therefore Hold Petty Grudges Against Them)

Disclaimer: None of these men are *bad* characters or poorly written or *problematic* (tbh some of them could stand to be more problematic). It's just... I expected better from them.

Monty from Duke of Debauchery by Scarlett Scott: The pettiest of my grudges, the Duke of Montrose earned my ire because, and solely because he asked Hattie to sit on his face. For reasons (including lack of sobriety?), this did not happen immediately, BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED IN THIS ENTIRE GODDAMN BOOK. It's like Chekov's facesitting, right? If someone in a book offers, it has to happen at some point and quite frankly, I felt deprived.

Adam Garrity from Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway: A hella shady moneylender with criminal beginnings, this man was so promising. He literally snapped his fingers and 2 henchmen showed up to guard him and the heroine Gabby. He then proceeded to privately beat up men who'd made fun of Gabby and demand that they keep her dance card full, except for the waltzes because THOSE WERE HIS. Even the fact that he had once-a-week sex with his wife wasn't offputting because he was deeply repressing himself and didn't want to be an ANIMAL with his wife. But THEN he got amnesia and turned into a simp and basically, all the dastardliness went out the window. :(

Harry Rutledge from Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas: Another man who I thought would be worse, but didn't follow through on the dastardly promise. Like, come on. This man orchestrates Poppy being jilted so he can marry her, and also designs weapons for the British government so they can be used god-knows-where. But then after his wedding night..... like, what happened? Where did all the dastardliness go? Rotted away in the wilds of Hampshire, I suppose.

Duncan Kirkwood from Prince of Persuasion by Scarlett Scott: This gambling hell owner doesn't even deserve the name Derek Craven lite but the sobriquet stuck (thanks @jeanvanjer). This man committed a multitude of sins but I'll name the two main ones, namely, he had a voyeur peephole thing and he was in proximity of the heroine but did NOTHING?!?! Clay Madden he is not. AND, apparently he has some kinda sex dungeon (complete with crops and whips and whatnot) that he shows the heroine but nothing in that room is ever used?? Not even fuzzy handcuffs or something. Like, what even is the point of this man. Come on.

Harry Kent from The Duke Identity by Grace Callaway: Harry Kent is the Matthew Swift of the Callaway-verse, if that makes sense. The difference between him and Matthew Swift, however, is that I didn't have super high expectations of Matthew from the moment he was introduced in Kleypas's Scandal in Spring. HARRY, however, was touted as a man who not only enjoyed blowing things up in multiple books preceding his own, but was also a scholar (with glasses!) and also JACKED. But then his book came around and the most entertaining thing about it was Tessa, the crime princess/ferret lover heroine. But nevertheless Grace persists in multiple books after his own in describing how Harry looks like a swole Clark Kent like that's meant to do something for me anymore.

[starry-sky-stuff]

Sebastian St Vincent, Marcus Marsden, Derek Craven

Husband: Marcus. He's super wealthy and would treat his wife with respect, if a lot of formality. And I'd totally be okay with the kind of super respectable marriage he initially envisions even with the once a week sex. Because I'd be rich and have status, he'd be discreet with his affairs and I could have my own. It would be a practical arrangement but it would suit me fine.

One night stand: Sebastian. I mean, canonically he's a total slut and you just know he'd be really good. You might hate yourself the next money because he's a shitty person, but it'd be worth it. Maybe I could have an affair with him while being married to Marcus, since Sebastian clearly doesn't have a problem with going after his best friend's love interest (assuming he never gets with Evie and goes through character development). Also, he's poor unlike Marcus and I wouldn't want to marry him as an heiress because I would not trust him to not squander my money.

Best friend: Derek could be a fun best friend, if very emotionally closed off. If I could I'd probably have a one night stand with both Sebastian and Derek.

[daisytachi]

Thing is I think Sidney always love/hate billy because I think their 2 Billy’s in sidneys eyes the billy she fell in love with and he will always be her first everything and the monster who killed her mother, friends and tried kill her, and find out he also cheated on her she appeared indifferent because he was the past and she is married and has kids now so after everything she knows about billy that little in comparison but it must hurt a little bit to learn he had interest in other people and even more of his betrayal

Aah for that, i will say anything because to me, scream 5 is a bad movie and i don't count it canon. It's not in his pathology to cheat. I mean, how many time we hear the characters saying he was too perfect or that he loved his perfect image? He is this kind of psycho who will have a simple life, who will look nice and stuff but who will never risk to break this perfect life he built. It's like a way to hide his true nature for him.

So to me, again, it's only up to me and i understand if people love the movie and if they see this new story as canon, it's just uncredited the OG characters as they were etablished in the trilogy. Also, if really Billy was a cheater, Craven would had etablished it in Scream 3 with all the revelations and in Scream 4 too. Actually, if we look at it with ironic eyes, Craven was saying nice guys beside Derek were cheaters. I mean, listen how Jill talked about her ex boyfriend to Sid when she shot him. Look how was Hank Loomis in Scream 1. He seems nice..until we read the Gale's investigation over Sunshine Industry. Hollywood has now this frakkin obsession to connect their new females characters with etablished villains and it just doesn't sound right in my opinion but it's an other topic.

I can see Stu cheating on Tatum because his pathology let me think he was very touchy as a person. He was flirting, hugging everyone, stuff like that. + it's clear to me, again it's only up to me, he was dating Tatum to piss off Casey but it didn't work. Billy was an introvert and like a cat as a psycho. Cheating would had risk to frak up his goal.

And also, marrying Sid to Kincaid was pure fanservice to me. It was insulting her actually. The guy had an all file on her, not on the others victims. He refused to talk with Neal and only wanted to talk to Sid. Even his partner mocked his obsession with her. And again, in Scream 4, she didn't mention it. She never showed any romantic interest for him. I wish they would had marry her to an unknown husband who was far away of her tragedy, someone who works in a theater or something and let Kincaid being a true friend to Sid instead. But well...

Okay okay, i repeat it. I understand people loving Scream 5... but i don't count it as canon, i just can't. But as a fan of Skeet, of course i reblogged the gifs where he appeared. But the movie disappointed me a lot. If you love it, i'm okay with it and i will never force my opinion on you. Never!! Again, enjoy what you love is my mojo now.

I saw a lot of people here who love Scream 5 and i imagine they will be happy to talk about it with you.

I only want to talk about the trilogy. I'm old school.

[inky-duchess]

Things Writers can learn from Scream

The Scream Franchise though it does have its flaws is actually one of my favourite film sagas. Wes Craven's features have taught teenagers around the world how to avoid slaughter from a masked fiend but as writers what can we learn from the master of horror himself?

Being Meta

Meta is the termed coined for when a particular work takes an opportunity to comment on its genre. Scream is a whole film that spends its entire run poking fun at the horror genre itself. The characters lampshade clichés (Randy has this role over the main trilogy), insult their foils in similar works (Sidney roasting all other final girls as big breasted bimbos for example) and the whole work is unafraid to really poke fun at itself. The comments on the genre, characters and story itself are refreshing but meta references are like salt, too much spoils any dish. Though the concept of Scream is a meta commentary on the horror genre as a whole, the films know when to quit. There is no point beating the audience over the head with commentary. If your story is a journey, any meta reference is a treat of some McDonald's. If you as a writer, chooses to comment on the genre you're currently writing or want to make comment on real world issues, there is nobody stopping you but coose your battles.

Genre Rules

So Scream runs on a very simple formula. Each film follow a series of rules, lampshading that very horror film/ trilogy + reboot does indeed follow formulas. For example- Rules to succesfully survive a horror movie: Never have sex (virgins usually survive these situations). Never drink or do drugs. You will nearly always die if you say "I'll be right back", "Hello?" or "Who's there?". Sequels- The body count (or volume of action) is always bigger. The death scenes (plot points) are always much more elaborate. Never assume the Killer/villain is defeated. The final chapter of a trilogy- The Killer (antagonist) will be more difficult to defeat. Anyone can die (the stakes will go up). The past will bite you in the ass (the past will catch up with a character or prove to be the undoing of the antagonist). Remakes- Don't fuck with the original. As writers, we have to face the truth- all genres have rules and expectations. Don't clock yourself for being unoriginal if your WIP falls into a category. But that doesn't mean we are constrain. You have rules in the genre but that doesn't mean you can't bend them. Sidney has sex in the first film, Randy drinks at the party, Gale says "I'll be back", even Joel the camera guy lampshading that diverse characters don't often make it through to the climax. The audience expects them to die and they are spared, which is a refreshing turn of events.

Red Herring

Scream is also a whodunit at heart. Ghostface is a persona taken on by many antagonists over the four films. Most of the films keep up the suspense by teasing characters as the possible killer. Red herrings is a literary trick devised to mislead the audience and sometimes characters from deducing the truth too easily. In the first film, we are given more than our fair share of red herrings. The most masterful red herring is Billy Loomis. The film makes a hard go of planting the idea that he is the killer: a phone falls out of his pocket after Ghostface has chased Sidney around the house, a tendency appear when Ghostface has suddenly vanished from a crime scene, and acts so creepy, that the audience assumes he isn't actually the killer and the writers are trying to distract us. It all comes to a head when Ghostface stabs him during the final bloodbath right after Sidney plants one last seed of doubt in our heads. While Sidney runs around trying not to die, the audience and no doubt Sidney, feels bad for doubting Billy. But in a twist, he has faked his death and is one of two killers. Multiple characters over the franchise are used as red herrings: the overzealous blade happy Principal Himbry, Dewey who is nearly always absent when Ghostface calls, Derek who is a red Herring by default because we naturally suspect the boyfriend after Billy, Kincaid's knowledge of horror and his popping up odd times, Deputy Judy for her creepy behavior and knowledge of the prior crimes, Billy-Loomis-expy Trevor in Scream 4. Make the audience look left while you hit them from the right. 

Pov trick Shots

So I've spoken about how much I love multiple POVs and all the tricks you can play with them. And Scream 2 provides the best example. All throughout the film, reporters gather about our characters trying to get interviews. Gale and Cotton are both approached by Debbie Salt, a seemingly nondescript background character who is likely there to get killed for entertainment value. Then comes the climax and she strides into view carrying a gun. The audience and Fake don't understand at first but Sidney sure does and she would, as Debbie Salt is Mrs. Loomis. Sid could recognise Mrs Loomis despite her lost weight (Gale only clicks after the fact) but Sidney never meets Mrs Loomis until the end of the film.  Had she met her before or stumbled across her, the film would be over in seconds most likely.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is when the events of a story are lampshades before they happen. Scream is one of the top works that does this well. On the topic of Mrs Loomis, she is foreshadowed so heavily that it almost is laughable when you rewatch it: Randy says that the killer could be somebody other than a white male citing Mrs Vorhees as his prime example (Mrs Loomis is the first Ghostface's mom), Randy is then rather savagely slain in a frenzied attack in broad daylight after badmouthing Billy and then she even foreshadows her own identity by claiming before other reporters that the new Ghostface could be from Woodsboro. In Scream 3, Randy's sister - who we didn't know existed- suddenly shows up with all the answers foreshadowing the reveal that Roman is Sidney's half brother and holds the answers to why all the killings happened. In Scream, Randy jokingly tells Stu that he'll see him in the kitchen with a knife after flaunting the 'I'll be right back' rule - and Stu ends up there, wielding a knife.

Characters

The thing with franchises like this, is that they often bring in new characters to surround the main character as they go through their travails. In the first Scream, Sidney has Tatum, Stu, Billy and Randy as friends. We see them interact with Sidney and other characters, they have personalities and their deaths actually impact us. Each of these characters shine on their own though Tatum is perhaps the flattest of the first group of friends but her rapport with Sidney and Dewey saves her and makes her death impactful. The background characters of Scream 2, we're introduced to Hallie, Derek and Mikey. Mikey did not have enough screen time for the audience to attach themselves to, he's merely as Randy puts it "the creepy film student". Hallie can only be seen around Sidney and does little except support Sidney. Derek does venture out of his supporting role, with having a goal (winning Sidney's trust), having a personality (his humour with his song) and being seen without Sidney (when the frat kidnap him). In Scream 4, almost every supporting character is ridiculously clichéd. You have the douchey guy (Trevor), the nerd (Robbie/Charlie), the edgy cool girl (Kirby), the pretty one (Olivia). The only one who makes any sort of impact is Kirby for showing us some personality and her death is actually hurtful. If you're going to introduce new characters to a story, they cannot be statuesque. They are people too. They need drive, personalities, lives outside the MC's life, goals of their own and should be seen acting as independent entities if they are to be taken seriously as characters.

[littlereyofsunlight]

Okay I have to get something off my chest here:

This book, Lisa Kleypas’s Dreaming of You (published 1994), is supposed to have one of the most swoon-worthy alpha heroes in historical romance. I’ve heard Derek Craven praised on no less than four different romancelandia podcasts, Twitter is somehow always bringing the conversation back around to him, and there are buttons proclaiming “Derek Craven would never” but I’m not sure what that’s supposed to refer to.

It certainly isn’t “Derek Craven would never repeatedly ignore his heroine Sara saying ‘stop’ or trying to otherwise slow his sexual advances.” Cause he does that.

Listen, I know 1994 is long before affirmative consent really became a thing, but it was definitely the height of “no means no” AND YET. The reader is often in Sara’s head while Derek blatantly steamrolls ahead despite her flinching or protesting, and it was really not sexy.

I don’t get it, Romancelandia, I really, really don’t.

[all-the-kissing-books]

Hi! ^-^/ congratulations on your followers! I’m short, dark hair and eyes, big eyes... a bit curvy i guess? 🙈 I prefer historical And my favorite trope is shy heroine / -idk how to call it bc english is not my main language but yknow lisa kleypas’ Derek Craven or St Vincent? So... like that- Thank you very much for doing this... just the idea of this is spectacular to me. Your blog is amazing btw! :D

[Thank you so mcuh! St. Vincent is my favorite Kleypas hero, except for maybe West, if he ever gets his own book.] 

The Viscount St. Albans had lost a bet and now, of all things, he was honor-bound to waltz with a wallflower. He didn’t have much honor left these days, but considering that the bet had been for a considerable sum that he was not currently in possession of, he had to pay up.

She was the youngest sister and this was her third Season and her family was desperate to see her married off. The hope was that one dance with him would pique the interest of the young gentlemen of the ton and she would not end this Season firmly on the shelf. Her older brother was paunchy and had dark hair growing out of his ears. His expectations for the man’s younger sister had not been high.

She surpassed his every expectation and in the best possible.

She was small, but the column of her pale pink gown made her seem taller than she actually was. And the soft fabric clung to her body in all the right places, accentuating tantalizing curves. Large, dark eyes, made even larger by her uncertainty, watched him as he took her hand and bowed before her.

“My lady, may I have the pleasure of waltzing with you this evening?”

“I beg your pardon?” she squeaked.   

He smiled up at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Don’t tell me your dance card is already full.”

“It’s not, it’s just that-” She paused and cast her gaze about the room, the motion almost panicked. “You’ve never even looked at me before.”

“I see you now and I cannot resist,” he said smoothly. “Please say you’ll dance with me, and say it soon so that I might stand up again.”

“Oh!” She jumped a little. “Yes, I’ll dance the waltz with you, but you have to tell me how much the bet was for.”

He straightened, towering over her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She would have rolled her eyes, but she was too well bred to do so. “You are not the first, nor will you be the last. It must have been a formidable sum. We attended eleven balls together last Season alone and you didn’t so much as look my way.”

He frowned. “That can’t be right.”

“It is,” she informed him. “Would you like my first waltz or my second? They’re both available.”

“Both,” he said, taking the dance card from her wrist and claiming both waltzes. “It seems I need to make up for an oversight in my past judgement.”

[charmingyourheart]

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

Rating: ❤❤❤1/2

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: 1 January 1994

Synopsis: In the shelter of her country cottage, Sara Fielding puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentlewoman out of her safe haven—and into Derek Craven's dangerous world. A handsome, tough and tenacious Cockney, he rose from poverty to become lord of London's most exclusive gambling house—a struggle that has left Derek Craven fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow Sara Fielding into his world—with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper "mouse" can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress—and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion...and the promise of love.

Dreaming of You is the second novel in Lisa Kleypas’ Gamblers of Craven’s series but can be read as a standalone. I’ve always loved historical romances where the hero has made his own successes and, in my opinion, no one does that better than Lisa Kleypas and this one is another unforgettable read.

This is a sentimental favourite for many of Kleypas’s fans and it’s easy to see why. It’s dramatic, romantic, touching, and at times heart wrenching. It’s a story that focuses on two average people who have done extraordinary things and you want their success.

Author Sara Fielding, a relatively sheltered country woman, goes to London to observe the inner workings of the underground gaming halls for her latest novel. Becoming a novelist in order to help her aging parents live comfortably, she has found success with her novel Mathilda. Whip smart, capable, and understanding, she is one of my favourite Kleypas heroines.

Derek Craven, is the owner of the most famous gaming hall in London, and as such he is one of the most infamous and notorious men in London. A cynical, cockney son of a prostitute, he grew up on the streets of London, learning to make his way in the rookeries by any means necessary, he eventually amasses enough money in order to start his own gaming club. His past is more than a little sordid, this future looking even more so, but there is something very endearing about him that keeps you wanting to see him succeed. He’s a real diamond in the rough. When you first meet Derek in Then Came You, he isn’t anything more than a side character whose intentions are questionable at best. In this, he is fully rounded, and completely loveable.

“I didn't want to give you the one last part of myself that I couldn't take back. And then you were gone... And I realized it was already yours. It had been since the beginning. Except that I hadn't told you. It drove me mad, the thought that you would never know.” 

The differences between Derek and Sara are like night and day, yet, they are somehow perfect for each other. Their relationship is intense, sweet, and romantic. Though they both have very human vices and they both have to ask themselves what is best for them.

While I preferred, Then Came You, this is still a wonderful story about two normal people who do extraordinary things and fall in love. However, like many of Kleypas’s older books, they seem very soap operaish. This one is particular is full of side characters that seem like caricatures and the villain in this seems very over the top without any real motivation. Story deficiencies aside this is story that is engaging and interesting with a pace that moves fast yet we still get to enjoy the tension between the characters.

For fans of historical romance, this is one to put on the list. A delightful read with intriguing characters. 

[oelfinessend]

For all that you have thought

Time to dump my fic drafts here! 

Or, where Loki is an actual god and I explore the incomprehensiveness of the concept and differences in biology. Unbeta-ed and really, is very raw. 

Loki moves in his prison like a creature unknown, born in all the worlds and none, created among the stars with the sole purpose of being confusing. The guards try to not look at their former commander and thus miss the way he sometimes flinches and cocks his head and turns slightly to look somewhere past glittering walls.

The tickle is annoying at best, but mostly aggravating; Loki can’t pinpoint its source or origins, his mind constantly distracted by that same non-corporeal itch. Some days it’s almost gone and some he is ready to break something, not at all unlike a mindless brute, which is the only reason Loki keeps himself in control.

After one particularly intense bout of distraction he arrives to the conclusion that it is Odin who allows this - not the great punishment, but a mediocre, annoying distraction, that will, unfortunately yet unerringly, lead Loki’s vast mind into ruin. So he grits his teeth and focuses in it, trying as the process might be, catches the illusive thread and smiles as he finally, finally pinpoints it; it has been centuries since they were banned from Midgard, and even then, during his last stay there had never been a plethora of those who would call Loki their own.

But those who would, followed him always.

Loki smiles, inhales and pulls back.

For a lesser being, an ignorant As, or flighty Ljosalfr it would be impossible to right themselves and become the master of the summons, but Loki has been delving deep into knowledge lost and vaults forgotten, he has taught himself what Bor decided to bury forever under the bones and ashes of svartalfar, who had skirted on the edge since their suns were young.

Loki twists himself among the calling threads of rude, invading seidr, tugs at them gently and finally as soon as the oppressive presence of Hlidskjalf is no more on his back, Loki spreads his own will and might and is finally free.

He manifests a splaying shadow among the ruined, blood-soaked stones. Here, the ancient rituals are still carried in the very ground underneath his bare feet. At first Loki thinks that it’s a peculiar coincidence that the new blood awoke the old and he was called, but he cannot recall that place of worship, and he has never liked when all finesse and knowledge of proper calling was cast aside in favour of massive sacrifices.

There are three runes of his, even if arranged improperly, carved with unsure but strong hand in the altar; they are the ones that ensure that Loki hears the pleas, and old victims of this place only helped the prayers to reach him through the thick magicks of Asgard. They, and Odin’s own dismissal; Loki was released from Asgard’s numbers, cast from it’s seidr’s protective shroud and thus became immune to All-Father’s ban of influencing mortals.

Loki’s laugh is everything dark and triumphant as he makes himself visible above the stone. He is not a deity in this moment - so much more, fed by stolen worship-power and his own joy, and the disbelief and elation his summoners feel, the despair and anguish their victims fall into, it all is directed at him, in him, and Loki drinks it all, formless and bright in his blackness, like a sky of stars or nocturnal waters.

The summoner who crawls towards him, Loki knows, is babbling something, but even so drunk on power he is not mindless and so he turns his head - a nebula of singing movement - to the girl spread out on the hard stones.

  why her he wants to know and so his question is heard. The child is nude, and thin and hungry. Loki wished her mind was calm and so she sleeps, and sees the pink skies of Alfheimr shine with predawn.

  she is frail, small and lacking in knowledge Loki’s musings is more of a presence in mind than a voice, a sound wave.

  what is a higher being to do with such a gift and how to crown such a thought

Loki whispers on his many terrible legs across the blood-remembering stones and symbols calling for gods he knows not, recalls not and cares for not.

Eight mortals was given to him so far - five more are awaiting him still; but Loki has no need for blood, no desire for power, no lust for idle madmen’s worship.

He sighs - the water flows to sky from springs nearby and the altar turns to dust, the girl, still sleeping, covered with a blanket made of his will.

  children are but promises of future Loki finally deigns to hum, turning the ground he reclines on to glass, and the one who waited to put a knife to frail mortal skin just turns into nothing.

Among the frenzied, crazed thoughts bombarding him there is one of clarity; vicious and pointed, there is satisfaction, dark victory and even darker gratefulness Loki feels turned onto him, onto his shapeless, many-faceted being, That’s better.

Many burning, blackless eyes turn onto the man called Jake and Loki becomes Jake for as much as a frail and little mortal mind can allow; and so Jake becomes Loki, for as much as he can bear to witness the form not fit to shape itself on mortal, corporeal planes of Earth.

Jake is a simple man, an accountant who likes his job enough, loves his husband very much and their girls even more. Him and Mike have been planning this trip for almost two years and the twins were ecstatic, and he doesn’t want to die, having heard now every scream those motherfuckers wrought out of other people in their group; but Jake also is grateful it was him who got to ride in the second bus, and not Mike, because poor Isa is only a year and a half older than his girls, and he would have probably gone insane already if either of them was here.

He wishes every last one of those motherfuckers dead, surely but slowly, excruciatingly dead, for every scream they wrought out of poor Ann and Sarah - they were eighty, for fuck’s sake - and sweet little Rose (she was five, five, at five Emma was playing pranks at Sophie and driving both Mike and Jake up the walls) and her poor lab, slightly crazy Derek, Carl, that strange chick who had five names, so Jake didn’t address her and called That Chick in his head, Paul and Tom, unfortunate heirs to a frankly mediocre fortune.

But Isa is sleeping and smiling in her sleep and something has just swallowed the raving lunatic up or maybe disintegrated him, Jake doesn’t care; he wants them gone and to be finally at peace.

what peace is there while you still live The Voice again is in his head, knocking out thoughts and making room for Itself. Jake’s brain can keep up with what that mind part of him is perceiving - a shape among the roads paved with comets, a mind cradling his own and shaping the very air to make a room for Itself. The Voice is filling his body now, a herald of the Mind, which Jake is helpless to push against, but he is not going to - he is bared, so he can take in return.

He knows -

There was a man, a woman, someone, long time ago for them of everchanging Earth, who caught the glimpse of the Mind, like that, and accepted, fully, the knowledge of Its existence and presence, agreed to be the latch and burden.

A balance between living the life for themselves and being devoted to something you have to let go to fully grasp is the only sort of prayer Loki takes, covets, a greedy being, the benefactor of the scholars of Asgard.

Among the dirtied and craven shouts of blood-spillers, Jake’s thought is clear and aimed right at him, at Loki, so Loki will bow so, turn to him who has freed himself to see as much as was allowed; as such will Jake belong to Loki, now; his sight was claimed, his freedom, settled.

And that is fine, Jake knows, if fall, then why not onto the stars?

The flow of mangled seidr ends as soon as the last of madmen is crushed under Loki’s will; as such, he is no longer torn apart by their expectations of him, fear of him and greed for him, his own unwillingness to take a useless corporeal form, or which one to choose. The girl is sleeping still, the blanket turned into leaves, three mortals have become senseless somewhen after his arrival and only his Jake still stands and watches, somewhat detachedly, as Loki allows his form to settle into one he is most used to, then shapes the matter around him into clothing, nondescript but suited for him nonetheless. He may be disowned, he is not lacking in pride.

Thin trickle of awareness is still present - will be until the end of the mortal’s short life, Loki already knows - and it gives him warmth as nothing else.

“What, are you, like, my- my god, or something?” Jake stutters, watches him, pale and drawn, unsure.

“I am Loki, first, last and always.” Loki simply answers and that seems to settle the mortal.

They have a long way to go - there is already a restlessness rising in Jake’s chest, a desire to know what comes next, and as much as Loki can relate, he is displeased, because he laid claim and all questions not to him but about him have become redundant.

No matter, he shifts, yawning, into a canine-like shape and trods away from humans, sniffing at the air and spreading his seidr wide to catch a glimpse of a creature he can mirror.

In a few minutes, there is a howl, ringing through Venezuelan forests; in a few hours, a member of searching party glimpses some animal running from what appers a mutilated human arm, another four hours later, Jake is ushered into a shock blanket as he stares, unblinking, at the black and gold snake resting on the glass of the helicopter, seemingly not bothering the pilot. It opens its mouth, showing two rows of serrated but human-looking teeth, sniggers and twists, turning birdlike as it dissolves into goldish mist.

[fated-mates]

[mermaidsirennikita]

Watch Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022) and then Read...

I absolutely loved Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022). I think it was a triumph of the female gaze, Emma Corrin being the Period Piece Pinch Hitter we all need in a post-Keira world, and fucking in the woods.

To be clear, the book is not a romance. It does not end unhappily (more like "to be continued", without any intention of a continuation and clarification) but it's not a romance. The movie, I would argue... is pretty close to being a romance, or just a romance outright. Joely Richardson looks at the camera and goes "this is a love story", and by God, who am I to question Joely Richardson (who also was Lady Chatterley once). It hits many of the classic notes of a historical romance novel--hardcore fucking and immediately having an existential crisis after, "my god, how could this constant unprotected sex I'm having result in a PREGNANCY???", a douchey rich guy who wants to publish his stupid novella.

After watching it, I wanted to go through my rolodex of books and throw up some recommendations for what to read after watching this movie and getting a bit. Interested.

I tried to focus on a) interclass dynamics or b) illicit affairs. Ideally both, but it's more about the vibe than the readalike nature.

The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt. In many ways, a Lady Chatterley vibe without the annoying husband and *with* a murder mystery. Our heroine is a wealthy heiress who travels to an estate she recently inherited on her own, employing an experience steward to help her with the business side of things. And with the business side of things. Elizabeth Hoyt writes some of the best sex in the game, and there's a lot of great class conflict in this one.

Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath. A Lady Chatterley setup but with less class conflict and more *secrets*. The Duke of Ainsley, genteel and well-mannered, still feels real bad for that time he got into a carriage accident with his best friend, which resulted in said friend's permanent impotency. Friend asks Ainsley to pay him back by fucking his wife, Jayne, in order to ensure that she has the baby she's always wanted. Jayne is like "say what now", because she does in fact hold the accident against Ainsley, and Ainsley is all "I COULD NEVER--but if you're like... insisting..." because of course, he has always carried a torch for Jayne. A month of hot, angsty, "don't kiss me on the mouth" cottage sex ensues, and the emotional fallout for these idiots is MAGNIFICENT.

The Countess by Sophie Jordan. Not out yet, but put this one on your TBR because there is certainly a married lady discovering her sexuality in the arms of another man (wealthy, but of a different social class) around these parts. Out 3/28/23.

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath. For the "this coarse man is lighting my ladylike fires" vibe. Our heroine is a recently widowed duchess with a young son, who comes to find out that--what the fuck--her husband left the guardianship of their child to a man she doesn't even fucking know. The hero grew up on the streets and has risen to become a successful club owner, but is still very much lower class. They move in together, and incredible sexual tension and heightened emotions ensue. TW: discussion of childhood sexual abuse.

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. This might seem a bit left field at first, but I shall recommend it because a) there is a huge emphasis on class in this novel. Sara is not necessarily a hugely upper class lady, but she is a genteel lady, and Derek Craven's awareness of their social differences and his roughness against her softness is a huge part of their conflict in the first half of the book. B) sexual awakening is very emphasized in Sara's journey. C) Sara does have a boring fucking fiance who's like "Sara, it's okay if we aren't that into each other sexually" while Sara, having just gotten her titties sucked at a party, is like "UHHHHHH NO THAT IS NOT OKAY". D) Much like Oliver Mellors, Derek Craven suffers from "is very smart but sometimes we don't know what he's saying" syndrome.

Duchess by Day, Mistress by Night by Stacy Reid. Our heroine is another widowed duchess with a young son--but this time, she's on the hunt for the governess that ditched in a flash. She hires the coarse, lower class but nonetheless successful fixer in town to help her... And his price ends up being a bit more carnal than monetary. VERY illicit affairs dot mp3.

Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt. No class difference here, but we do have a lot of illicit sneaking around when our heroine begins sleeping with her betrothed's roguish brother--who might just fuck the rigid rule following sensibility right out of her.

Her Night with the Duke by Diana Quincy. A widow has a one night stand with a handsome stranger, only to discover that he's courting her stepdaughter. It's messy, it's angsty, it's hot, and I do believe there are some outdoor activities.

[triviareads]

I don't think Ivo and Evie's mom were so bad together, but of course, I like my red flags lol

I do would like to read or see how that went off

It's a very compelling story to me; Would it have worked out in the long run? who knows. it's certainly romantic but someone (I wanna say St. Vincent) points out that Ivo never really had a steady temperament the way Derek Craven did so you can't really imagine a union similar to Derek and Sara's who also have a somewhat comparable class difference, and Derek also runs a club.

But that's the tragedy of it all right? Evie's mom ended up dying in childbirth so we never know if it would work out, but I tear up every time I read Ivo's deathbed scene where he tells Evie he's going to meet her mom in heaven.

[jb75]

The Wax Factory Coming Soon!

The Wax Factory is my 6th upcoming novel. It is the first of a three-part series. It is a Gothic horror and Urban Gothic horror novel. After over a year and a half of writing, 3 months of beta reading and revising the book is complete. It is currently being edited and I am in the process of getting some people who may be interested in it. So what is The Wax Factory about? Is it something you think you may enjoy? Well here is a little bit about The Wax Factory:

Synopsis: Would you enter a creepy thought to be abandoned factory without knowing what awaits you on the other side? All Dmitri Townsend wanted was the perfect college project. When he and his girlfriend Melina hear about the Wax Factory it sounds and looks ideal, but is everything as it seems?  It was once the pride and joy of Ghyslain Vandaldrake, the visionary who was Edison, Dr. Frankenstein, and Lovecraft if they had wax fetishes. He sculpted wax for people in the mid to late 1800s but saw his dreams shattered by unforeseen circumstances. Gustav Vandaldrake dreams of reopening the factory that his great-grandfather was forced to sell. However dark sinister forces are at work in the Wax factory and the deeper Dmitri and Melina explore, the stranger things become. Can Gustav reclaim the glory that forced his great-grandfather to never be heard from again? Will this be the college project to die for? Perfect for fans of horror and urban gothic, do you dare to step foot in “The Wax Factory?”

Who is the book for?: Fans of Horror, Gore, Gothic, Urban Gothic, Ghosts & The Paranormal, and the Supernatural

Setting: The fictional town of Craven Hollow, New York. It takes place in an old factory which has recently become occupied again to be turned into a factory once more. 

Characters: Dmitri Townsend(Main Character), Melina Saffron(Dmitri’s Girlfriend), Derek Redmond(Dmitri’s Best Friend), Tasha Moats(Melina’s Best Friend), Gustav Vandaldrake(Curator and host of The Wax Factory)

When does the book take place?: Present time along with two flashbacks from 1888

Are you interested in a tour of The Wax Factory? If the answer is yes feel free to check out more on the book at the following spots and be sure to get a copy when it comes out soon!

Book Trailer

Soundtrack

#TheWaxFactory on Twitter

The Wax Factory Board on Pinterest

[mastcomm]

In the Met Opera’s ‘Agrippina,’ the Roman Empire Never Ended

What if the Roman Empire — with all its decadence, corruption and power-grabbing rulers left unchecked by an oddly docile Senate — never really ended?

That was the conceit that the Scottish director David McVicar used two decades ago, when he first staged Handel’s “Agrippina,” a black comedy about a mother’s Machiavellian machinations to make her son, Nero, the emperor of Rome, and set it in the present day.

Fast-forward 20 years, and Mr. McVicar is remounting the production at the Metropolitan Opera, which is staging “Agrippina” on Feb. 6 for the first time in its history as a star vehicle for the mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. And he is discovering that conditions in 2020 may be more conducive to his vision than was the present day circa 2000.

“Of course, the political world is, if anything, even crazier, and in some ways closer to the brutal politics of ancient Rome, than it actually was 20 years ago,” Mr. McVicar said in an interview, citing the United States, Britain and Brazil, among so many convulsing countries.

When his “Agrippina” premiered in 2000 in Brussels, its first critics wrote that its power-suited cast called to mind politicians like Margaret Thatcher and Bill and Hillary Clinton, and television shows like “Dynasty.” Its Trump-era return suggests a different set of rulers — and programs like “House of Cards,” “Succession” and “Veep.” Its timeliness will be palpable at a moment when the classicist Mary Beard has written of how frequently she is asked “Which Roman emperor is Donald Trump most like?” and Edward J. Watts’s 2018 book “Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell Into Tyranny,” is dissected for clues about the fate of representative democracy in the United States.

Ms. DiDonato, who sings the title role in “Agrippina,” said in an interview that parts of the opera felt as if they had come off the nightly news. “David, of course, had the instinct that this was a very modern piece,” she said. “And I think it amplifies the genius of the piece, and his production, that it’s even more compelling, and even more modern, in 2020.”

Some of the super-contemporary connections will be in the eye of the beholder: Much of Mr. McVicar’s original staging has remained the same for the Met’s staging, which will be conducted by Harry Bicket and also features the mezzo Kate Lindsey as Nerone (Nero, in Handel’s Italian), the countertenor Iestyn Davies as the army commander Ottone and the soprano Brenda Rae, in her Met debut, as Poppea.

But this “Agrippina” has inevitably taken on new meanings as the world changed around it. Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, addressed the elephant in the room during a recent talk about the opera at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, an event held as the impeachment trial of President Trump unfolded in Washington.

“‘Agrippina’ is a dark comedy about the corrupt leaders of ancient Rome, who lie and manipulate in their quest to stay in power,’’ Mr. Gelb said.

The audience dissolved into knowing laughter.

“I should say that we’re grateful to the White House for making ‘Agrippina’ feel more immediate,” Mr. Gelb said. “We like to think of the impeachment trial as a co-promotion for our new production.”

It is difficult to look at the centerpiece of the opera’s set — a golden staircase leading to a golden throne — without thinking of the escalator in the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, and the descent that ushered in the current political era.

Then there is the whole golf thing.

At a recent rehearsal in the basement of the Met, the bass Matthew Rose, playing the Emperor Claudius — yes, the title character of Robert Graves’s “I, Claudius,” whom Derek Jacobi played with a memorable stutter on television — began one scene by thwacking golf balls. The cap he wore was black, not red, and did not say anything about making Rome great again, but the sequence couldn’t help but conjure a certain American president who spends a great deal of his time on the links.

“We did that 20 years ago; that joke’s never gone away,” Mr. McVicar said of the golfing bit. “But it’s become particularly pungent right now.”

None of this is new for “Agrippina,” which has been about much more than ancient Rome since it was first staged in Venice in 1709.

“Even in the early 18th century, the piece was being used as a very thinly disguised satire on the state of Venetian politics,” Mr. Bicket, the conductor, said in an interview after leading a rehearsal from the harpsichord. “None of this changes: the way people lie to get into power, and lie even more to stay in power. How they use sex as a weapon. These are eternal truths. On it goes.”

Although “Agrippina” is set to become one of the oldest works in the Met’s repertory, Mr. McVicar said it never occurred to him to do such a modern-feeling piece in togas. His Roman Empire features homeless people pushing shopping carts; TV reporters; a lively bar scene; and a deranged Nero, consuming positively imperial amounts of cocaine.

Of course, it is not just politics that have changed over the past 20 years, but also fashion, technology and social mores. Keeping the production from turning into a period piece — albeit a very recent period — required some changes. The costumes had to be redesigned to reflect rising hemlines and modern-fitting suits; the hairstyles rethought; and technology introduced.

“We have a bar scene, and originally, in Brussels, everyone was sitting around talking to each other,” Mr. McVicar said. “This year, everyone’s either on their device or on their phone, ignoring each other.”

There have been more substantive changes, too. A scene in which Claudius chases his love interest, Poppea, was rethought to reflect the sensibilities of the post-#MeToo world. “It was too dark,” Mr. McVicar said. “It’s not funny any more: this nubile young girl being chased around an apartment by this elderly, very powerful man.”

So he tweaked the staging while trying to keep the mood comic by placing the emphasis on Claudius’s ridiculousness. Poppea’s characterization has evolved as well: “She now has to be much more assertive,” Mr. McVicar said. “Much more her own woman, and much less of the sex kitten that she was originally 20 years ago.”

The revival of mainstream interest in Handel and other early operas over the past 50 years or so has been one of the joys of the music world. But bringing these Baroque works to the enormous Met, which was designed — and supersized — for later operas, can be a challenge. The company did not stage a Handel opera until 1984, when it mounted “Rinaldo.”

Mr. McVicar said it was vital to keep the energy up for Handel to connect in a house the size of the Met; he had a big success when the Met staged his Bollywood-inflected production of “Giulio Cesare” in 2013. And Mr. Davies, the countertenor, questioned the idea that Handel works demand a special kind of intimacy.

“Your version of what you think is intimate is very different from what somebody in the 18th century would have thought intimate,” he said in an interview in the Met’s cafeteria after a recent rehearsal. “When they went to hear the ‘Messiah,’ and they heard the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, or they heard bits of ‘Saul’ with all those trombones, that is the loudest music they’d ever heard. There’s nothing intimate about that. That is shocking, and Handel was out to shock.”

“Agrippina” tells a story that unfolded in Rome nearly 2,000 years ago. It has been 311 years since the opera had its premiere, sending up the politicians of his day, and 20 years since Mr. McVicar created his production, which satirized a whole new age.

Now the story is being told once again, a darkly comic power grab that ends with Agrippina’s exultant final line that she can die happy now that she has ensured that Nero will rise to the throne — quite the punch line, given that he would go on to have her killed.

The suggestion is that the world has always been a bit craven, and a bit crazy.

“This, for me, is the genius of what I think opera can do better than anything, but what art is meant to do,” Ms. DiDonato said. “How many times do we have to be knocked over the head with history, with the facts that are right before us? As a society, we still don’t get it. We still don’t get it. So we’ll keep telling the stories until we get it.”

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[celticnoise]

One of the things that bothers me most about the EBT era, apart from the number of people who tell us we should “just let it go” is that I know too much of the history. I know what was going on peripheral to the financial disaster that hit Rangers and Scottish football in 2012.

I knew what was happening in the wider world, and how the pieces fit together.

In 2008, the banking crisis hit the UK like a sledgehammer. At the height of it, Gordon Brown and his government nationalised a bunch of UK banking institutions. One of the biggest was HBOS, otherwise known as Halifax Bank of Scotland.

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They had been Murray’s bankers, and Rangers’, for years.

They were the bank that almost closed us for a paltry £7 million. They allowed Murray’s club to run up debts which, at one point, were ten times larger than that. And they did so at a time when they knew Murray’s entire corporate structure was built on debt. Debt owed to them.

Bank of Scotland was loaning a lot of money to people who didn’t have it to pay back.

When Lloyds bought the bank, in a deal done in days, brokered by Gordon Brown himself, they had no idea what they were taking on. They had no idea about a hole in the balance sheet courtesy of a guy called Cummings and another called Masterton.

The hole was so big that Lloyds – the old Black Horse, one of the safest institutions in the Square Mile – had to go to the government for help. They were nationalised. Every bit of Murray’s debt, everything Cummings and Masterton had wrought, ended up being swallowed up by the public purse.

The tax payer ate the whole pill.

See, it’s not enough that Rangers cheated in the end, that they used a tax fraud to avoid paying their dues, that we basically got screwed by a company that was ripping off the public purse … that wasn’t even the half of it. All those years of Murray lording it over us, of “every fiver”, of their nine in a row, the suffering of that period … we paid for it all.

We might as well have taken our cash down to the nearest S&M club and spent it on some real suffering.

We might even have enjoyed some of it.

Every time I hear someone tell me to move on, I wonder “do you they just not know what I do?

Do they just not care?”

And when broadcast journalists, those of the national broadcaster, are telling me that we should forgive and forget and actually twisting what I know to be the truth to let off the people responsible, then I want to break things.

It’s adding insult to injury.

Because we’re paying for that too.

As if we haven’t already paid enough, we have to listen to the likes of Kenny McIntyre and Tom English and Chick Young and Darryl Broadfoot tell us Rangers were the real victims … and all the while it’s us who are writing the cheques for them to do so.

What’s worse is when they roll out guys like Alex Rae and Steve Thompson – EBT recipients both, tax fraudsters who ought never to have got jobs with the broadcaster because of it – to tell us how paranoid we are. It’s a bit like being mugged and calling the police only for you to you find that when the cops show up that one of them is the guy who did it.

Kenny McIntyre does a show on there now. It is so slanted and pro-Sevco it has driven people who usually listen to the radio into the arms of Clyde instead. Can you think of anything worse than having to seek refuge in the wit and wisdom of Derek Johnstone?

McIntyre has made his show into a pro-Sevco vehicle by allowing people like Ian McCall to get away with slagging another club’s player and their valuation of him. Tell me this; do you believe Neil Lennon would have been allowed to go on that show and tell Dundee that their valuation of alleged Celtic target Jack Hendry was ridiculous?

Do you believe the media, as a whole, would have let Lennon away with that?

The BBC is supposed to be neutral and objective.

They are neither.

Take Celtic’s call for an SFA inquiry; one of the guys they frequently have on the show now is Darryl Broadfoot, a notorious Sevconite and the former press officer for the Association. He now runs a PR firm, one that doubtless has an SFA contract or one connected to it.

Anyone who expects Broadfoot to suddenly say that the SFA have been concealing stuff and that they should launch an investigation into their own behaviour is insane. In having him on there, the BBC is actively colluding in the worst sort of cover-up.

Some fear that a recent interview with Vince Lunny was setting up the next scam; the SFA dropping the investigation raised by the Resolution 12 guys. Whether it was or not, don’t rely on the BBC pushing on that door too hard. Broadfoot and his ilk are courting them – or being courted by them – for a reason, and that reasons is not to our benefit.

McIntyre is a dreadful anchor. Even when he’s attempting to be “balanced” he forgets the crucial thing; impartial and balanced are two different things. Impartiality is focussed on the facts, and on holding people to account. The problem with those who push a so-called “balanced” agenda is that they give the same weight of opinion to someone spouting half-witted nonsense as to the person on the other side who is in full possession of the truth.

This is what the BBC has become now, an organisation that puts serious people on the same panel as cartoon goons like Nigel Farage and then wonders aloud how the lunatic fringe were able to drive the debate over Brexit.

I remember when the tax case verdict first went against HMRC.

The BBC could have done a proper show on that, a real examination of the issues. Instead they got sports writers who knew the sum total of nil about corporate law into the studio and sat them beside the smirking clown Chris Graham, who offered not one moment of actual insight.

Standards have slipped even further since then. Jim Spence left, probably because he could no longer stomach the craven cowardice that has swamped the place. His own insights, which are highlighted on Twitter and elsewhere, are often brilliant and sharp; he is a loss to the broadcast profession, as it has few genuine leading lights left in Scotland.

One of the few is Mark Daly, who I retain enormous respect for in spite of his ridiculous piece on Dermott Desmond. A guy with his skill-set should be doing real news. He has too much to offer in the field of investigative journalism to be kicking his heels on such nonsense.

BBC Scotland’s problem is that it has reduced itself to pandering. Pandering to the whims of the powerful. Its sport department has been neutered and lobotomised. It is dreadful to listen to them discuss fluff when there are serious issues to examine.

But what comes across most clearly these days is the way they’ve allowed themselves to be used. Used by the governing bodies to conceal inconvenient truths and deprive fans real information about what’s happening in the game, and used by one club to the detriment of all others.

Hey, I know all about Sevco’s ability to generate news.

If they were run better, more professionally, I would need to write more boring pieces about team selections and transfer rumours.

But I am not spoon fed by these Peepul. I don’t get told what to write or how I should write it. I would be offended if someone presented me with a press release and asked me to regurgitate it and I don’t know why so-called media professionals aren’t.

The BBC has become a joke, and as we fund it I guess the joke is on us, and the only way to beat it is to ignore it, to reduce their listening figures to a level consummate with their professionalism. Which is to say next to nothing.

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