#so my mother is a mix media artist and i FORCED her to set up a stall which i kinda sorta regret now because of this thing that happened

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

so i never said this to anyone and bottling this up is exhausting so i'm just gonna vomit it here. PLEASE SENSITIZE CHILDREN TO ART.

[unmaskedagain]

Made me Do (Queen of Mean)

I decided to do a quick follow up fic to the Queen of Mean AU. I’m leaning towards a ship. Can you guess what it is by the end?

Marinette smiled amicably at passing staff as her makeup was done. The sun was bright and shinning. The park with its slopping hills and the beautiful green grass was picturesque. Half of it was cut off from the public. The shoot would last a majority of the morning and a bit into the after.

The head makeup artist cooed over her bluebell eyes and raved about her beautiful “exotic” features; which nearly made Marinette sneer. Oh the things she put up with.

           But she had to. Time for childish naivety was over. She needed her name out there. She an “in”.

           And while she never wanted to be model, never desired the spotlight, never wanted more than to be a fashion designer and for clothes to leave the world in awe, never wanted more than to be nice and good and to live her dreams just as she dreamed them… Marinette understood…

           The world wasn’t kind. It was a tilted stage. Everyone played their own little games to get ahead. So Marinette was forced to play a role she never wanted.

Model.

Actress.

Trendsetter.

Ice princess.

           Still once a day, since Marinette had begun her reign, did Mari have to tell that little voice in her pipe down? The voice that sounded like the old her. The old, nice, kind Marinette who loved everyone and the thought the best of everyone. And the New Marinette would doubt herself, wonder if she was fraud, a sellout. But then she remembered that the old Marinette never realized just how wrong she was until it was too late.

           Until her friends turned their back on her. Until her life’s work, her prized sketchbook was ripped up and left for her to pick up the pieces like what remained of her heart. She was a fool. And the only good thing that ever came out of that experience was she gotten to learn who her real friends were. Learned out to really stand up for herself, damn the rest of the world.

           In a way, she was almost wanted to thank Lila. Lila had been her initiation into the real world. Her manipulative little games were the perfect crimes. The way no one ever seen her laugh when she lied. The way she swore up and down that it was Marinette with the metaphorical smoking gun; it was Marinette’s fault. It was cruel. And Marinette didn’t like her for it. She disliked herself more for falling into the traps Lila set.

           No! That Marinette would’ve never survived the real world. It’s why she had to go away. Marinette got smarter, hotter when she let Chloe show her how to use her beauty like a sword. And she did it fast, just in the knick of time because her parents had been considering transferring her.

           The old Marinette had to die, and the new Marinette rose up from the dead with a thirst for blood and a list of names; Lila’s was underlined in red. Every day, she checked it to remind herself just why she was doing what she was.

           When Lila’s mother came to school, with the principle storming up behind her, red-faced and steaming mad, all the students in the Cafeteria could only watch as the Italian lady roared at her daughter. Screamed about how all the lies had come back to bite her family in the ass; after all ambassadors had no business traveling to exotic places, with celebrities, on their country’s dime when they should be working.

           Marinette could only smirk as another confirmation of Lila’s lies was made public. All she could think of while it was happening was: Look what you made me do.

           Yes, Marinette had used her connections (Chloe. She asked Chloe to get her Dad to ask the right questions) to get the right info into Italy’s embassy’s ears about what their ambassador was up to.

Chloe made a nasty remark about how easily stupid people are led, that her class overheard from over at their table.  (Yes, their table. No matter how hard they tried. Marinette refused to go back to friendly terms with her classmates. Though she was polite to Kitty Section’s band members. Luka was her friend. And no matter, how hard she hinted that he’d thrive as solo artist; Luka was loyal.)

           It had taken days Lila’s mom to fix the mess and her bosses still eyed her suspiciously weeks later. She also made it clear that Lila was be attending summer school for her missed attendance and that they weren’t moving. Which meant that Lila wasn’t going to escape the mess she was in anytime soon. Which of course led to her being Akumatized… again. No matter, Ladybug took great pleasure in showing her a thing or two. In a way the old Marinette never would.

Marinette straighten her back and raised her chin as a onlookers started appearing behind the security gates. They pointed at her and waved excitedly. Marinette waved back.

The new Marinette understood why the spotlight was needed, why her face had to grace the covers of magazines, why blowing up on Instagram and twitter was the best thing that could happen to her.

Slowly but surely the world was whispering her name louder and louder as the days, week, and months, drew on. Paris, however, was all but screaming it.

Her face was on billboards. She was in perfume and make-up commercials for some well-known brands. She had gotten small, very small, roles on enough hit Paris shows to have people start recognizing her. It wasn’t long before all of France knew who Marinette Dupain-Cheng was… but that was mostly because of her, rather overzealous, fans.

Her slowly rising fanbase was equalizing her to a hurricane. Unexpected and potentially earthshattering; cold and severe, blowing them all out of their seats. Basically the opposite the resident walking ball of Sunshine that was Adrien Agreste.

           The media called it a friendly rivalry between competing designers.

Gabriel Agreste’s Sun.

Audrey Bourgeois’s Storm.

           The Sunshine child Vs The Storm Princess.

Audrey loved it. Loved the idea so much that she created an entire shoot for the cover of Teen Vogue; a cover that Adrien Agreste was supposed to have already booked.

The dress Marinette was wearing wasn’t her design. (And that killed her only a little). It was Audrey Bourgeois’. And it was an off-shoulder, hi-low hem dress. It was mix of purples, blacks, and blues. She had on a studded, leather jacket with knee high leather boots. A very Rocker princess look, complete with a sliver tiara on her head. The opposite of anything Adrien Agreste would ever be seen in.

Speaking of who. Adrien and what looked to be in the entire class was having another picnic. It wasn’t a surprise they were there. Sabrina has snitched to Chloe had Adrien had learned of the photoshoot from his father and wanted to “coincidently” catch Marinette outside of school. Maybe remind Marinette when she was still their every day Ladybug. The only surprising thing about the entire situation was the Sabrina was still firmly in Chloe’s back pocket; loyal to the end.

Chloe was getting her pictures done first. The entire photo shoot a deadly nature theme. She was a tornado. Her dress, very Coachella worthy, as was flowy and loose; a mix of greys, whites, and silvers. There were fans all around her blowing at worrying speeds. But Chloe didn’t bat an eye. She modeled like she was born for it. Marinette could only wonder why, with a daughter as gorgeous as Chloe, Audrey never considered making her a model. But people make stupid mistakes.

Marinette, for example, for every crushing on Adrien.

There was no longing left in her for the blond or Alya, who kept blatantly staring her way. Or for any of her other used to be friends.

That desire had died months ago. Back then she had been willing to do just about anything to be let back; to get a key back into kingdom. Her! When she was the one who starting bringing their little clique together back when most of them never even talked to each other. Marinette got them to be friends. No! She got them to be best friends; build what might one day be lifelong friendships to tell their kids about, that people would be envious of. And what happened?

They painted her as a villain, kicked her out and locked the door behind her.

“Might I ask how you know them?” A voice asked from next to her.

           Marinette shifted in her seat to eye the handsome, regal, blond, grey-eyed boy next to her, getting his own make-up done. He wore a suit of an icy blue and white., and an expression on his face that could’ve chilled out global warming. There was a dark silver crown on his head. She raised an eyebrow at him, “Ice King, right?” A blizzard.

“Felix,” He corrected. “And you are the Storm Princess?” There’s was no mocking in his tone, just curiosity.

           Of course Marinette knew who he was. Felix Culpa. A model that had been making waves longer than Marinette and Adrien. His mother, a close friend of Audrey, had built a fashion empire that he would inherit. His mother was Adrien’s aunt. Emilie’s older sister.

“Marinette,” She offered. “They are schoolmates of mine.”

“But not friends.” It wasn’t a question.

“Not anymore.”

Marinette had moved on and so did the rest of the world. Now drama in class was now a daily thing. Over the last few weeks Marinette had be subtly wreaking havoc in her class. A comment thrown here or there to start an agreement. Letting Chloe casually mention the amazing things they did that week. Or who they met. And if the people they met happened to be the idols of quite a number of her star struck classmates… Well nothing could be done about that.

It was Karma.

“Do they know that?”

“They should,” Marinette answered easily. They weren’t her friends anymore. They never would be again.

Maybe, Marinette got what she deserved for being too trusting. But they’ll get theirs too. Ladyblog was burning to cinders but somehow hanging on by a thread; apparently Lila becoming a well-known Liar in Paris made people not want to blame a poor little teen girl for falling into the web of lies.

“Does he know that?” Felix asked. “My dear cousin Adrien hasn’t taken his eyes off of you. Old boyfriend?”

           Marinette barked out a laugh. “I don’t know if I should be offended or not?”

           Felix leaned towards Marinette, a smirk on his face. “Offended, definitely. I don’t think I could think of a better insult for a princess.”

           She giggled. After that the two fell into an easy conversation. Each talking about their hobbies and everyday annoyances. Eventually, Marinette admitted to once having a crush on Adrien… before she grew a brain and saw that he was... Well, she had struggled to put it nicely.

“Spineless,” Felix, luckily offered. “I know. Believe me. The oaf is way too passive for anyone’s own good.”

“There!” The makeup artists announced looking them both over. “All done.” And within seconds, her team was packed up to move on his a lovely Hispanic girl dressed to be a volcanic eruption.

           It was moments later that they each were called to their own shoots. Marinette and Felix walked side by side, like royalty. Marinette ignored the waves and calls from her classmates and tried to steel down her nerves. No matter how many times she stepped in front on the camera she could never stop the butterflies in her stomach from happening.

“Everyone gets nervous.” Felix suddenly said. “Before a big shoot, I still get a nauseous feeling.”

“What do you do?”

“I remind myself just who I am,” He answered. “I suggest you do the same. They call me the Ice Prince, for a reason.  They call you a storm, be the storm.”

           Marinette nodded firmly and steeled herself. Her blue eyes narrowed and a frosty look appeared on her face.

           The photographer loved it.

“You’re beautiful, princess.” Zara, the photographer, yelled. “Your rage is screaming off you. More. I need more.”

           Rage was easy. All she had to do was cast a look at Alya and the rest.

“Oh the lightening in your eyes is stunning.”

           Marinette twirled. Her dress blew in the harsh wind of the fans.

“There’s no calm after this Storm.”

“Beautiful and deadly,” Zara commented. “You. Are. The. Storm.”

           Felix finished his shoot first and came over to hers. He stood behind Zara, next to the computer monitors. It took a lot of Marinette’s willpower not to keep glancing at him. He surveyed the since passively, not a hint of emotion on his face.

“Marinette come over here!” Zara called to where she stood next to computer monitors.

           Marinette glided over and her mouth dropped at the images on the screen. That was her? No, that couldn’t be her. The girl on the scream was angry and wild; a force of nature. She was…

“Beautiful,” Felix said. “Absolutely stunning.”

           Marinette snorted, very un-ladylike. “You’re one to talk.” She motioned to his pictures. “I’ve never seen anyone look so majestic.” So handsome.

           Felix raised an eyebrow. “Imagine how we’d look together.”

“YES!”

           Wait, did that come out of her mouth. Tikki, please tell me that didn’t come out of my mouth, Marinette silently begged.

           Luckily it didn’t. It was Zara. The redhead practically jumped up and down. “A clash of natures. It’s amazing. It’s beautiful. We’re shooting it!”

           And they did. At first Felix and Marinette seemingly danced around each other. Then they danced with each other. It took everything Marinette had not to turn bright red when Felix put one hand in her’s and the other on the small of her back.

“Look at each other like the other is the best thing you ever saw.”

“That won’t be too hard,” Felix whispered.

           Marinettte’s eye bulged and let out a small gasp. And then a hiss of rage. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Oh hell yes!” Wait what? “Hashtag IceStorm.” Chloe catcalled.

“Ugh,” Felix groaned as they changed poses. Now they were only, just barely holding hands. As they glared together as the world; daring it to not to tremble before them. It was their last shot. “Bourgeois. Adrien’s only friend. The always available playmate of my childhood. I thought I escaped.”

“Hey, that’s my best friend you’re groaning about,” Marinette glared up at him. (And damn his height!) “And I have you know she’s one of Adrien’s most tolerable friends.”

           Felix paled. “The most tolerable? What are other soulless harpies that drag you down to the underworld?”

“You’ll wish.”

           Felix nodded. “I certainly will. I’m to join Adrien’s class on Monday. Though from what you told me, I should be on the lookout for traits and nasty liars who lie.”

           Marinette blushed. She had complained a bit to him.

           Zara called it quits. And Chloe joined the two as they walked back to the dressing rooms. When they separated, Chloe pointed out, “Finally. I wondered when you two lovebird would stop holdings hands.”

           They blushed when they realized that yes, they had in fact held hands the entire way there. Chloe cackled as they rushed into the trailers.

“You’re evil,” Marinette hissed at Chloe when the door shut behind her.

“Yes but you love that about me.”

“Not when you use it against me.” Marinette grumbled.

           After they changed, Marinette and Chloe walked out of the trailer giggling over new crushes. Felix was waiting for them which just made Chloe burst into laughter. He was dressed in a black button down shirt with grey slacks and a grey tie.

           Marinette would get that girl back.

“And what are you lovely ladies up to this evening?” Felix asked, ignoring Chloe’s snickers.

“We’re going ice skating with two friends of ours: Luka and Kagami,” Marinette answered. “You should join us.”

           Felix agreed and the three walked passed the security gates into the park. They had been in the park less than a minuete before… it happened.

           A Frisbee landed in front of them.

“Sorry about that,” Alya said as she jogged up to them. Adrien and Nino trailing behind her. The class had forgiven Adrien quicker than Marinette thought they would. “Marinette, gurl, I didn’t know you were hear.”

“Bullshit,” Chloe snorted.

“We were just leaving,” Marinette chimed.

“Wait,” Adrien said. “Why don’t you stay? We’re having a picnic.”

“Can’t. Plans.” Chloe answered coolly.

           Alya glared. “We weren’t inviting you.” She turned pleading eyes to Marinette. “I really need to talk to you. I need help. The Ladyblog needs help. I was wondering if you could set up an interview with Ladybug again. Like last time.”

           The two girls froze and just looked at the reporter, stunned. Was Alya serious? Was she insane?

           White-hot rage rushed over Marinette. HOW. DARE. SHE?

“Is that appropriate?” Felix asked suddenly. “Are you two friends?”

“No,” Marinette quickly snapped. “We’re not friends. And it’s appropriate. Ladybug made it clear she doesn’t work want to work with you.”

“More like she hates tabloids,” Chloe crossed her arms and glared fiercly at the three.

           Alya stiffened indignantly. “The Ladyblog is not a tabloid,” She shrieked. “Its serious journalism. And Ladybug trusts you Marinette, she’ll listen.”

“Ah the blog that news discredited.” Felix added.

“Dude, it was a misunderstanding.” Nino said.

“Due to the lack of fact checking,”

           Adrien step to his cousin. “You don’t know. You weren’t there.”

“You are correct,” Felix admitted. “However, I did make sure double check my resources. I wanted to confirm just what type of class I was enrolling into. So I researched. Anyone could do it.”

           Marinette looked Alya up and down. “Well, not just anyone, I suppose.”  Alysa flushed. “Ladybug said I was bias because of my past friendship with you. She won’t listen to me again. Yes Ladybug trusts me almost as much as she doesn’t trust you.”

           Hurt filled Alya’s eyes.

Yeah, Marinette wanted to say, look what you made me do.

[souvercine]

hey y’all ! i’m jia and i’m super excited for opening; i have two super clingy cats in case any of you ever need a visual pick-me-up, i’m a uni student in canada and a big skincare and dark chocolate junkie, more than likely gonna be typing replies while indulging in either jsyk !

tried to keep it short since i’m a rambly bitch, but xan’s basic stats and a proper wc page will be up soon as i just got home from grocery shopping and we open in an hour as of typing this, the theme as a whole will get a refresh eventually and i’ll be posting a little tracklist for her playlist later ! and if tumblr ims are as much of a nuisance for you as they can be for me, you can add me on d*scord at genuinely sick of this shit#2030 if you’d like to plot ! anyways, without further ado:

( samantha logan , cis female , she/her, twenty-four ) omg ! i was walking yonge street downtown , and you’ll never guess who i saw . xanthe lowe ! i just saw a post about them on sixsecrets ! i think it said something like “ when they go high, she goes lowe ! xan spotted leaving a gala with her former friend’s ex, after last week’s reportedly tense exchange between the girls ” . isn’t that wild ? i guess it makes sense through , since they’re apparently merciless and imperious . but i’ve heard they’re also conspicuous and astute ! i’ll just stick to giving them the benefit of the doubt . i mean , it’s not like i know them personally — they’re a famous socialite ! you know , i’ve actually heard rumors that redacted , but they’re just rumors … i think . i dunno . if you happen to run into them , tell them i’m their biggest fan !

tw: drug mention

when i tell you that i have so many muse posts i’m holding back on for this bitch —

which, btw, will all slowly see the light of day soon enough bc god knows i can’t articulate my muses’ personalities as well as i’d like so that shit makes up for it fdgslk

her parents’ eldest child together, xanthe’s also the oldest out of her and her siblings

also, never call her xanthe. friend or otherwise, don’t take the risk dklgsjdlk

grew up with a silver spoon, her dad being a wall street giant and her mother being an entrepreneur with a love for art ( so much so that her two partners after separating from xan’s dad were artists themselves sdlkgj )

thus she split her time between toronto and manhattan even before her parents’ divorce, she merely spent more time jetting back and forth for special occasions and vacations compared to when her parents were still together

mind you, she was probably still in the single digits when that became a new normal for the brat

basically could’ve been a main character on gossip girl with her reckless antics and partying as a teenager…. and now, even sgdlkf

drk how to elaborate on that, aside from stressing that from her teen years onward she’s presented her own take of a rich bitch, and is a socialite/fashion week regular type if i were to describe where she stands rn

i think a good mix of references would be nicky hilton meets the delevingne sisters meets blair waldorf and sabrina pemberton’s lovechild

she attended an ivy league at the behest of her father so he had at least one child who could take a senior position in his company simply to keep it in the family

.. before he realized what a Mistake™ it would be to put that responsibility on xan and now has her slightly older cousin as a backup instead GDSLFJKS but nonetheless !

isn’t the most studious person, but she somehow wound up graduating with a major in communications and a marketing minor

she reasoned that, with her reputation in the gta and nyc, she’d need the bit of knowledge in how to clean up her messes. even if she wasn’t the one who had that responsibility

though.. the entire time has been spent sleeping with some of her rich friends, drinking and smoking pot, with the occasional hit of whatever clean enough drug that one of her friends had on them

as of now, she’s pissing off her neighbours with her house parties wherever she might be at a given time, staying in the good graces of the media as a budding, fun yet classy heiress — despite doing dumb shit the second she’s inside of a gala or club

uhhh ik i had something else to add but a quick break for dinner messed that up, rip LKGFSJD

personality and shit

her little blurb on my indie is: refined party girl still set in her ways with her future left uncompromised; detached and pretentious, she soaks up the attention that continues to roll in

which. we’ve basically been over already lkdfsg but still

if i were to use a label to describe her, she’d be the sovereign

she’s messy as hell, but puts on the façade of a poised woman who has some fun because she knows it bodes well

she’s not a complete dick per se, but she can be snide and boastful

big superiority complex, independent and lives lavishly with reckless abandon

probably jets back and forth between nyc and the gta as it’s her version of normal, so ig she hates the environment if it means not having things go her way !

non-committal as all hell and will abandon girl code if she drops you fgkljfs

.. fr, she’ll fuck an ex-friend’s ex if she technically saw them first, so being spiteful and resolving some past attraction ?? right up her alley !

hence the choice of headline gdfslkj

keeps her true inner circle small, but gets off on attention and likes to stay cordial with some people, so she’s got quite a few friends all the same

she’ll fight tooth and nail to protect her image and won’t hesitate to throw anyone under the bus to do so/in retaliation if they screw her over

which happens to mean that her family is to be protected as well. fuck with any of her sisters ?? you’re done ! try to call out one of her brothers on twitter ? she’ll quote it with a single clown emoji as a warning

there really isn’t much to expand on tbh, though i will say that her emboldened nature and need for a good time however she can get it comes out more than her uglier side ( except her vanity. that’ll never go away ksfdg )

some quick plot ideas

a childhood friend or two that she made in either of her main hubs or through events she attended when she was young, whether they’re still friends or not for x reasons can be discussed of course

could carry over into a trio type of thing depending on where she stands with either of them, or they’re a different couple of pals she’s made in the last few years

enemies are always fun ! probably rooted in a competitive streak more than anything else but i’m all ears for a more complex reason

ex-hookup(s), current hookup(s), throw it all at me klgfjd

a hateship/ewb would be fun with her too, oh my god sfdgklj

it should go without saying that they are all relatively wealthy or well-connected kids here, but that doesn’t mean that someone who’s using her for their fifteen seconds of fame, or just to get some perks out of their friendship, is necessarily a write-off — not that she cares too much about fake friends, face value hype and knowing they need her more than she needs them gives her too much satisfaction fkskgls

an ex-something, open to anyone. either someone her parents forced on her to straighten her out that she wound up liking…. after a good period of her telling them to fuck off sdglk or someone she’d been seeing for a while at her own accord. would’ve ended the same way: with her calling it off because she didn’t want to settle down, not even for a relationship ( and perhaps bc she’s scared of commitment with her cracked family dynamic that’s been a thing since age two, but that’s another story jsdfkg )

[alexsfictionaddiction]

12 of the best feel-good books

I think we could all do with a pick-me-up right now. We’ve been in some level of isolation for over a month and we’re perhaps being forced to accept a new normal. However, we’re still seeing frightening and tragic headlines all day every day (ration your news time, if you’re not doing so already), so of course, fear and hopelessness is going to set in. If you’re not used to spending time alone, loneliness is also a huge possibility but we know that books are a great source of solace in times like this. 

Maybe you want to do your own research and discover how far into the realms of science-fiction we’ve got. For you, I have compiled a list of the best books that pandemic fiction has to offer but if you’re looking for something more light-hearted, I’ve got the perfect tonic. Whether you need a laugh, to be comforted or to simply remember what life used to be like, here are some books that will help you escape the current face of reality. Above all, remember that it’s perfectly natural for your mental health to be suffering at the moment. Do whatever you can to look after yourself and stay safe.

1. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Remember when you could just move in with a stranger without worrying about keeping two metres apart at all times? Tiffy and Leon share a flat and even a bed but due to entirely opposite work schedules, they manage to not even meet for months after Tiffy moves in, only communicating via texts and notes left on the fridge. But Tiffy’s controlling ex-boyfriend and Leon’s innocent prisoner brother ignite a connection that is fuelled by basic human kindness and a touch of romantic attraction, of course! This quirky rom-com has been a bestseller for over a year now and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a celebration of love, friendship and the unexpected happiness that can come from taking calculated risks. Beth O’Leary’s second novel The Switch has also just been released, so there has never been a better time to read her debut!

2. Wonder by R. J. Palacio

A beautiful story of empathy, kindness and acceptance, Wonder has fast become one of the most popular and widely read contemporary middle-grade novels. Auggie Pullman was born with a facial deformity and he’s attending mainstream school for the first time but of course, kids can be staggeringly cruel to those who are different. Wonder kickstarted a global kindness campaign and spawned a film adaptation, which is one of the best and most faithful I’ve ever seen. It has already given so much to the world and I know you’ll get a lot of joy out of it too.

3. The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Of course, not all sci-fi is doom and gloom. This is the first instalment in Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series and it’s laugh-out-loud funny. It follows a misfit crew of space travellers and their wonderful smile-inducing relationships. Celebrating the coming together of a variety of races, sexualities and personalities, it features a lot of loveable memorable characters who begin to read like dear loyal friends. If you’re looking for quirky, light-hearted sci-fi in a similar vein to Star Trek and Firefly, you’d be wise to start here.

4. Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Arthur Less is a struggling writer about to turn 50 and the love of his life is engaged to someone else. To say that he’s not feeling too hot right now would be an understatement but he has been invited to a range of literary events around the world, so he does the logical thing and accepts them all. We can’t travel right now but with Arthur, you’ll visit Paris, Berlin, southern India, the Moroccan desert and Japan. You’ll also go on a journey of self-acceptance, learn how to love the life that you have and appreciate the time you have left. 

5. Hot Mess by Lucy Vine

It’s rare that a book makes me guffaw out loud in public but Hot Mess did exactly that, when I read it a couple of years ago. Ellie is a single woman who hates her office job and is absolutely nowhere near having her life together. However, she does have some great friends and a lovely relationship with her dad Alan, whose drafts of a romance novel are truly side-splittingly hilarious. We see Ellie through terrible dates, trauma confrontation and a quest for true happiness that is hugely satisfying. It has been described as a modern-day Bridget Jones but I found it much more relatable and actually quite a lot funnier!

6. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

It’s the first in a trilogy of novels that explore the trials and tribulations of finding romance when you’re genetics professor Don Tillman. Don likes facts, logic and reason and he applies all of these things to his latest endeavour, The Wife Project. He knows exactly the kind of woman he wants to marry but then he meets Rosie, who ticks none of his boxes and he’s forced to accept that perhaps true love doesn’t always follow the rules. Don and Rosie’s relationship is such a heartwarming, mutually beneficial one that will make you laugh and leave you with a big bag of warm fuzzy feels. 

7. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

There is a huge chance that you will have read The Hobbit but what better time to revisit a funny, charming favourite? Re-embark on the quest to retrieve Smaug’s treasure, take back the Lonely Mountain and make a plethora of fantastic friends along the way. As well as relating to Bilbo’s personal growth throughout the novel, I think the idea of facing epic threat and mortal peril in unknown environments and yet still returning safely home to a quiet comfortable life is the reassurance we need that this too shall pass. Of course, it will also be an intoxicating nostalgia trip, so there’s really no reason to not pick it up again!

8. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

I read this over the Valentine’s Day period and was so enchanted by it. Gavin is a top baseball player for the Nashville Legends and he has recently discovered that he has never given his wife Thea a genuine orgasm and it’s threatening the relationship. So he does the logical thing and turns to his team mates, who actually double as a secret romance book club. They suggest taking a leaf out of a smutty Regency paperback to save his marriage -what could possibly go wrong? Funny, heart-warming and touching, it’s a great choice if you’re looking for a rom-com with a difference.

9. My Pear-Shaped Life by Carmel Harrington

If you’ve spent a lot of self-isolation being wholly unproductive and perhaps not looking after yourself too well, you may be feeling that you’re simply not good enough. Especially if your social media is full of happy healthy people doing just about EVERYTHING. Meet Greta, a struggling actress who is used to playing the role of the funny, overweight girl in all areas of her life. That’s ok as long as she laughs with everyone else, right? But things have been pretty rough lately and it’s only when she hits rock bottom that she begins to realise that maybe things need to go a little bit pear-shaped sometimes. With joy and despair in equal measure, this new novel, populated with an array of wonderful characters, will teach you that true happiness comes from simply being you.

10. A Boy Made Of Blocks by Keith Stuart 

Eight-year-old Sam is autistic and struggles to make sense of the world. His dad Alex has also lost himself somewhere along the way and needs to change. Minecraft offers a place where father and son can rediscover their bond and put the family back together, block by block. I reviewed this incredibly moving, uplifting story when it was first released a few years ago. It’s actually inspired by Keith Stuart’s real-life experiences, which I think give it an extra dollop of heart-warmth! 

11. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

The entire focus of this fantastically written YA novel is on embracing your own personal uniqueness and on not being afraid to let it out. Michael is a mixed-race gay teen who has grappled with his identity for his entire life. On arriving at university, the idea of becoming a drag artist causes everything to begin to slot into place. Told in verse, The Black Flamingo will show you how your boldest brightest colours can shine through the darkest of times. Highlighting the power of words and challenging all forms of homophobia, whether it be external or internal, this is a book that I’m sure will become a staple of LGBT+ literature in years to come. As for now, it will simply inspire you to live your very best life, regardless of who tries to prevent it.

12. Reasons To Be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe

As the title may suggest, there is plenty to smile about in Reasons To Be Cheerful. It’s chiefly a coming-of-age novel about a young woman called Lizzie living in 1970s Leicestershire. She has just got a job as an assistant to a work-shy, racist dentist who is desperate to join the freemasons. Navigating this new position alongside a relationship with her alcoholic writer mother, a boyfriend who doesn’t seem terribly interested in her and a few unlikely friends, Lizzie’s life makes for some pretty amusing anecdotes. Whether it’s the simple retro setting or small cast of eccentric caricatures, there is something quite other-worldly yet familiar about it. There is a lot of detail that is relevant to the period it’s set in, including the blatant social prejudices that were so rife at the time. I am too young to have experienced 1970s Britain but it certainly feels authentic to what I know. I have no doubt that those that were there will get even more enjoyment and nostalgia from Lizzie’s life than I did. 

[rogue-taxidermy-of-sarina-brewer]

FLASHBACK FRIDAY~

Without question, the most significant event of the last decade came to me in the form of a radio show in 2017. To the surprise of everyone participating in the show, a PETA spokesperson issued a statement sanctioning the use of humanely acquired dead animals for the purpose of art. 

  It was an episode of The Current on CBC radio, hosted by the acclaimed radio and television journalist Anna Maria Tremonti. The show was about the genre of rogue taxidermy art and how the genre spurred the current taxidermy revival. The show featured several interviews with people associated with rogue taxidermy. As co-founder of the genre and the subsequent artistic movement, I was among the interviewees. The genre was the brainchild of co-founder Scott Bibus, co-founder Robert Marbury, and myself. In 2004 we coined the term “rogue taxidermy” and formed an online artist collective based on our respective styles of sculpture. We then began recruiting artists working in a similar vein to join our collective and unite under the moniker of rogue taxidermy. The definition of rogue taxidermy that we set forth is: “A genre of pop-surrealist art characterized by mixed media sculptures containing conventional taxidermy-related materials that are used in an unconventional manner”. The genre encompasses a variety of materials and doesn’t always involve animal parts, it can be entirely synthetic. However, the foundation of our collective was a doctrine that mandated animals could not be killed for the sake of art and all members of the group were required to adhere to this directive. Ultimately our efforts led to the collective spearheading an international artistic movement centered around our ideology and our aesthetic. It became known as the Rogue Taxidermy art movement. Predictably, PETA denounced it.

  Prior to forming our collective I had a long history of using animal remains in my art. And a long history of receiving pushback. I began incorporating animal parts into my art in the early 1990’s while earning my BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Because of my love for animals, the philosophy underlying my work dictated that I only use animals that died of natural causes and roadkill. Out of respect for Mother Nature my mantra in the studio was “waste not, want not” because nothing that was once living should ever be taken for granted. So when I sat down with my fellow co-founders, Scott Bibus and Robert Marbury, to write up a charter for membership to our collective I clearly needed those precepts to be included. We wove them into the philosophical framework of the genre and this code of ethics was explicitly laid out on our collective’s website, just as it had been laid out on my own personal website for many years prior to forming the collective. My ethical practices had always been front and center on my personal website in the form of my artist statement and biography. My site conveyed the special bond I had with animals during my formative years and how the intimate relationships I had with them shaped my art. It explained how my work was an homage to the animal. How turning an animal’s body into a piece of art was the purest form of veneration; a type of veneration akin to the bejeweled remains of saints enshrined in Medieval Churches, or to the Victorian practice of creating mourning art out of the hair and teeth of deceased loved ones. I talked about my work being deeply rooted in a personal belief system that could be traced back to my childhood; a belief system that occupied the same place in my psyche that formal religion occupied in other people’s psyche. My work was a form of zoolatry.

  But none of that mattered to my sanctimonious haters. I was persecuted for my belief system for years. The lambasting often came from hypocrites who experienced no moral dilemma when eating or wearing a cow, yet they had a problem with me utilizing roadkill. It was the early 1990's and using an animal’s body in art was taboo. Animal activists throwing red paint onto the fur coats of celebrities and fashion runways was at the height of its popularity during this era. I was the victim of bullying for nearly 20 years in the form of endless hate mail, death threats, and being slandered in literature by prominent animal rights authors. The attacks generally had one of two themes; my art was disrespectful, and/or I needed to give the animals a proper burial. Apparently all animals are Christian LOL…. FTR, burying the dead would be sacrilege in many cultures… But I digress. I never lashed out at my critics. Instead, I spent endless hours of my life responding to their misdirected hate with courteous email responses that reiterated the principles behind my work. I attempted to initiate conversations about tolerance by gently reminding them it was not their place to impose their standards, customs, and beliefs on other people (or onto a dead animal...) The concept of reverence is contingent upon intent and context. No one has the right to decide how someone else is allowed to venerate something. Nor does anyone have the right to force their aesthetics on someone else simply because something doesn’t appeal to their tastes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This (uphill) battle continued for years.

So fast forward to 2017... Never in my wildest fantasies did I think I would someday be sitting in a radio broadcasting booth where the sound bite following my interview would be a PETA representative speaking these words: 

“[When discussing rogue taxidermy] The most important thing is to look at how the animal died. If the animal died naturally or in an accident, then PETA doesn’t have a problem with preserving their carcass. . .” 

  The moment was surreal. Our mission finally resonated with the largest animal rights group in the world. And in that moment, this became a landmark radio broadcast. It was testament to the merit of our core values. Those of us who fought on the front lines took flak for decades as we carved out our niche. In doing so, we laid a path for others to follow. And many did. Via strength in numbers, and sheer perseverance, dialogue developed that began engaging the mainstream. Dialogue about human/animal relationships. About how humans process death. About the concept of reverence. And about making space for practices outside those of the dominant culture. The radio show was an achievement of a lifetime for me. Appeasing PETA was never a goal, and that’s not the achievement. (I have probably taken issue with as many of their activities over the years as they have taken with mine.) The fact that they acknowledged our mission represented a higher accomplishment – it was an indicator that the movement’s ideology had influenced mainstream sensibilities. As an artist who has had to defend her work and her character for her entire life, it was incredibly validating in that regard. PETA’s statement was vindication of the tenets I had been actively championing for a quarter of a century. 

  The "no kill" ethics platform of the Rogue Taxidermy art movement is a first-of-a-kind. Prior to the inception of the genre of Rogue Taxidermy art, never before in history had taxidermy been associated with the humane sourcing of animals. Conversely, taxidermy had been associated with the killing of animals. This stigma created a seemingly insurmountable hurdle for the movement. Historically, all groundbreaking cultural movements were considered deviant and radical at their inception. Encountering resistance is part of the birth of any movement that calls into question long-standing traditions and moral standards. But challenging established societal norms is how horizons are broadened and new concepts are assimilated. It's the fundamental basis of how culture evolves.

Clearly the statement issued by PETA is in no way saying all art created within the genre of Rogue Taxidermy is acceptable to them. Not everyone working under the umbrella of Rogue Taxidermy adheres to the genre’s cornerstone values. There is no lack of people exploiting the genre’s popularity to line their own pockets. I regularly see the catchphrase “ethically-sourced” thrown around in situations where that descriptor is a real stretch. Of course there are gray areas, and of course there is room for interpretation on both sides of the fence. However, PETA’s statement was inarguably a milestone; one that was reached after an arduous journey of baby steps. To the artists working within the genre who are purists, and as such practice true humane-sourcing of their animals; hats off to every single one of you. #You’veComeALongWayBaby

__________________________________________________

I encourage you to replace your daily podcast time slot with this radio broadcast. It’s worth every second of the 20-minute time investment, especially the last half  – You absolutely don’t want to miss the extremely insightful interview with author, lecturer, and researcher Joanna Ebstein, founder of the Morbid Anatomy Museum. The segment also features the immensely talented Beth Beverly who was a fellow member of the rogue taxidermy artist collective.

  Click here to listen to the show ~

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Unabridged history of the art movement https://www.sarina-brewer.com/introduction.html

My biography & artist statement https://www.sarina-brewer.com/taxidermy-sculpture-artist-sarina-brewer.html    

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[thatonebrobo]

Beyoncé life story

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (/biːˈjɒnseɪ/ bee-YON-say; born September 4, 1981)[4] is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

During Destiny's Child's hiatus, Beyoncé made her theatrical film debut with a role in the US box-office number-one Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and recorded her first solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It also featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2006, she released her second solo album, B'Day, which contained the US number-one single "Irreplaceable", as well as the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar". Beyoncé continued her acting career with starring roles in The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and her portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010. It spawned the UK number-one single "If I Were a Boy" and the US number-one single "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)".

After splitting from her manager and father Mathew Knowles in 2010, Beyoncé released 4 (2011), which was influenced by 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul. Beyoncé received widespread critical acclaim for her albums, Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016); the latter became the world's best-selling album of 2016. She became the first and only music act in Billboard 200 chart history to debut at number one with their first six solo studio albums.[5] In 2018, she released Everything Is Love, a collaborative album with her husband, Jay-Z, as the Carters.

Beyoncé is one of the word's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide.[6] Her success during the 2000s was recognized with the Recording Industry Association of America's Top Certified Artist of the Decade, as well as Billboard magazine's Top Radio Songs Artist and the Top Female Artist of the Decade.[7][8] Beyoncé is the most nominated woman in the Grammy Award's history, with a total of 24 wins.[9] She is also the most awarded artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, with 24 wins, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.[10][11] In 2014, she became the highest-paid black musician in history and was listed among Time's 100 most influential people in the world for a second year in a row.[12] Forbes ranked her as the most powerful female in entertainment on their 2015 and 2017 lists. She occupied the sixth place for Time's Person of the Year in 2016,[13] and in 2020, was named one of the 100 women who defined the last century by the same publication.[14]

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas, to Celestine "Tina" Knowles (née Beyincé), a hairdresser and salon owner, and Mathew Knowles, a Xerox sales manager.[15] Beyoncé's name is a tribute to her mother's maiden name.[16] Beyoncé's younger sister Solange is also a singer and a former backup dancer for Destiny's Child. Solange and Beyoncé are the first sisters to have both had No. 1 albums.[17] Mathew is African American, and Tina is of Louisiana Creole descent (African, Native American, and French).[16][18][19] Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.[18] Beyoncé attended St. Mary's Montessori School in Houston, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, able to hit the high-pitched notes.[20] Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15/16-year-olds.[21][22] In fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform with the school's choir.[23] She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts[24] and later Alief Elsik High School.[16][25] Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.[26]

When Beyoncé was eight, she and childhood friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while at an audition for an all-girl entertainment group.[27] They were placed into a group called Girl's Tyme with three other girls, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston.[28] After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good.[29][30] In 1995 Beyoncé's father resigned from his job to manage the group.[31] The move reduced Beyoncé's family's income by half, and her parents were forced to move into separated apartments.[16] Mathew cut the original line-up to four and the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups.[27] The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be cut by the company.[16] This put further strain on the family, and Beyoncé's parents separated. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, the Knowles family reunited, and shortly after, the group got a contract with Columbia Records.

The group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996, based upon a passage in the Book of Isaiah.[32] In 1997, Destiny's Child released their major label debut song "Killing Time" on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black.[30] The following year, the group released their self-titled debut album,[29] scoring their first major hit "No, No, No". The album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, with moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, and Best R&B/Soul Single for "No, No, No". The group released their Multi-Platinum second album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as "Bills, Bills, Bills", the group's first number-one single, "Jumpin' Jumpin'" and "Say My Name", which became their most successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.[27] The Writing's on the Wall sold more than eight million copies worldwide.[29] During this time, Beyoncé recorded a duet with Marc Nelson, an original member of Boyz II Men, on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack to the 1999 film, The Best Man.[33]

LeToya Luckett and Roberson became unhappy with Mathew's managing of the band and eventually were replaced by Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams.[27] Beyoncé experienced depression following the split with Luckett and Roberson after being publicly blamed by the media, critics, and blogs for its cause.[34] Her long-standing boyfriend left her at this time.[35] The depression was so severe it lasted for a couple of years, during which she occasionally kept herself in her bedroom for days and refused to eat anything.[36] Beyoncé stated that she struggled to speak about her depression because Destiny's Child had just won their first Grammy Award, and she feared no one would take her seriously.[37] Beyoncé would later speak of her mother as the person who helped her fight it.[36] Franklin was then dismissed, leaving just Beyoncé, Rowland, and Williams.[38]

The remaining band members recorded "Independent Women Part I", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. It became their best-charting single, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for eleven consecutive weeks.[27] In early 2001, while Destiny's Child was completing their third album, Beyoncé landed a major role in the MTV made-for-television film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring alongside American actor Mekhi Phifer. Set in Philadelphia, the film is a modern interpretation of the 19th-century opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet.[39] When the third album Survivor was released in May 2001, Luckett and Roberson filed a lawsuit claiming that the songs were aimed at them.[27] The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 663,000 copies sold.[40] The album spawned other number-one hits, "Bootylicious" and the title track, "Survivor", the latter of which earned the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[41] After releasing their holiday album 8 Days of Christmas in October 2001, the group announced a hiatus to further pursue solo careers.[27]

In July 2002, Beyoncé made her theatrical film debut, playing Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film Austin Powers in Goldmember,[42] which spent its first weekend atop the US box office and grossed $73 million.[43] Beyoncé released "Work It Out" as the lead single from its soundtrack album which entered the top ten in the UK, Norway, and Belgium.[44] In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the musical comedy The Fighting Temptations as Lilly, a single mother with whom Gooding's character falls in love.[45] The film received mixed reviews from critics but grossed $30 million in the U.S.[46][47] Beyoncé released "Fighting Temptation" as the lead single from the film's soundtrack album, with Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free which was also used to promote the film.[48] Another of Beyoncé's contributions to the soundtrack, "Summertime", fared better on the US charts.Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.[51] Her first solo album Dangerously in Love was released on June 24, 2003, after Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland had released their solo efforts.[52] The album sold 317,000 copies in its first week, debuted atop the Billboard 200,[53] and has since sold 11 million copies worldwide.[54] The album's lead single, "Crazy in Love", featuring Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist in the US.[55] The single "Baby Boy" also reached number one,[50] and singles, "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", both reached the top-five.[56] The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards; Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross. During the ceremony, she performed with Prince.[57]

In November 2003, she embarked on the Dangerously in Love Tour in Europe and later toured alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys for the Verizon Ladies First Tour in North America.[58] On February 1, 2004, Beyoncé performed the American national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII, at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.[59] After the release of Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over tracks. However, this was put on hold so she could concentrate on recording Destiny Fulfilled, the final studio album by Destiny's Child.[60] Released on November 15, 2004, in the US[61] and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200,[62][63] Destiny Fulfilled included the singles "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier", which reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[64] Destiny's Child embarked on a worldwide concert tour, Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It sponsored by McDonald's Corporation,[65] and performed hits such as "No, No, No", "Survivor", "Say My Name", "Independent Women" and "Lose My Breath". In addition to renditions of the group's recorded material, they also performed songs from each singer's solo careers, most notably numbers from Dangerously in Love. and during the last stop of their European tour, in Barcelona on June 11, 2005, Rowland announced that Destiny's Child would disband following the North American leg of the tour.[66] The group released their first compilation album Number 1's on October 25, 2005, in the US[67] and accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.[68] The group has sold 60 million records worldwide.[69][70]

Beyoncé's second solo album B'Day was released on September 4, 2006, in the US, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday.[71] It sold 541,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the United States.[72] The album's lead single "Déjà Vu", featuring Jay-Z, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[56] The second international single "Irreplaceable" was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.[56][73] B'Day also produced three other singles; "Ring the Alarm",[74] "Get Me Bodied",[75] and "Green Light" (released in the United Kingdom only).[76]

At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards (2007), B'Day was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Ring the Alarm" and Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration"for "Déjà Vu"; the Freemasons club mix of "Déjà Vu" without the rap was put forward in the Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category. B'Day won the award for Best Contemporary R&B Album.[77] The following year, B'Day received two nominations – for Record of the Year for "Irreplaceable" and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Beautiful Liar" (with Shakira), also receiving a nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Pictures, Television or Other Visual Media for her appearance on Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture (2006).[78]

Her first acting role of 2006 was in the comedy film The Pink Panther starring opposite Steve Martin,[79] grossing $158.8 million at the box office worldwide.[80] Her second film Dreamgirls, the film version of the 1981 Broadway musical[81] loosely based on The Supremes, received acclaim from critics and grossed $154 million internationally.[82][83][84] In it, she starred opposite Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy playing a pop singer based on Diana Ross.[85] To promote the film, Beyoncé released "Listen" as the lead single from the soundtrack album.[86] In April 2007, Beyoncé embarked on The Beyoncé Experience, her first worldwide concert tour, visiting 97 venues[87] and grossed over $24 million.[note 1] Beyoncé conducted pre-concert food donation drives during six major stops in conjunction with her pastor at St. John's and America's Second Harvest. At the same time, B'Day was re-released with five additional songs, including her duet with Shakira "Beautiful Liar".

On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z.[90] She publicly revealed their marriage in a video montage at the listening party for her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce, in Manhattan's Sony Club on October 22, 2008.[91]I Am... Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008, in the United States.[92] The album formally introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce, conceived during the making of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love". It was met with generally mediocre reviews from critics,[93] but sold 482,000 copies in its first week, debuting atop the Billboard 200, and giving Beyoncé her third consecutive number-one album in the US.[94] The album featured the number-one song "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"[95] and the top-five songs "If I Were a Boy" and "Halo".[56][96] Achieving the accomplishment of becoming her longest-running Hot 100 single in her career,[97] "Halo"'s success in the US helped Beyoncé attain more top-ten singles on the list than any other woman during the 2000s.[98] It also included the successful "Sweet Dreams",[99] and singles "Diva", "Ego", "Broken-Hearted Girl" and "Video Phone". The music video for "Single Ladies" has been parodied and imitated around the world, spawning the "first major dance craze" of the Internet age according to the Toronto Star.[100] The video has won several awards, including Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards,[101] the 2009 Scottish MOBO Awards,[102] and the 2009 BET Awards.[103] At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was nominated for nine awards, ultimately winning three including Video of the Year.[104] Its failure to win the Best Female Video category, which went to American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me", led to Kanye West interrupting the ceremony and Beyoncé improvising a re-presentation of Swift's award during her own acceptance speech.[104] In March 2009, Beyoncé embarked on the I Am... World Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour, consisting of 108 shows, grossing $119.5 million.[105]

Beyoncé further expanded her acting career, starring as blues singer Etta James in the 2008 musical biopic Cadillac Records. Her performance in the film received praise from critics,[106] and she garnered several nominations for her portrayal of James, including a Satellite Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress.[107][108] Beyoncé donated her entire salary from the film to Phoenix House, an organization of rehabilitation centers for heroin addicts around the country.[109] On January 20, 2009, Beyoncé performed James' "At Last" at First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama's first inaugural ball.[110] Beyoncé starred opposite Ali Larter and Idris Elba in the thriller, Obsessed. She played Sharon Charles, a mother and wife whose family is threatened by her husband's stalker. Although the film received negative reviews from critics,[111] the movie did well at the US box office, grossing $68 million—$60 million more than Cadillac Records[112]—on a budget of $20 million.[113] The fight scene finale between Sharon and the character played by Ali Larter also won the 2010 MTV Movie Award for Best Fight.[114]

At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Beyoncé received ten nominations, including Album of the Year for I Am... Sasha Fierce, Record of the Year for "Halo", and Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", among others.[115] She tied with Lauryn Hill for most Grammy nominations in a single year by a female artist.[116] Beyoncé went on to win six of those nominations, breaking a record she previously tied in 2004 for the most Grammy awards won in a single night by a female artist with six. In 2010, Beyoncé was featured on Lady Gaga's single "Telephone" and appeared in its music video.[117][118] The song topped the US Pop Songs chart, becoming the sixth number-one for both Beyoncé and Gaga, tying them with Mariah Carey for most number-ones since the Nielsen Top 40 airplay chart launched in 1992.[119] "Telephone" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.[120]

Beyoncé announced a hiatus from her music career in January 2010, heeding her mother's advice, "to live life, to be inspired by things again".[121][122] During the break she and her father parted ways as business partners.[123][124] Beyoncé's musical break lasted nine months and saw her visit multiple European cities, the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, Australia, English music festivals and various museums and ballet performances.

On June 26, 2011, she became the first solo female artist to headline the main Pyramid stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in over twenty years.[126][127] Her fourth studio album 4 was released two days later in the US.[128] 4 sold 310,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, giving Beyoncé her fourth consecutive number-one album in the US. The album was preceded by two of its singles "Run the World (Girls)" and "Best Thing I Never Had".[56][117][129] The fourth single "Love on Top" spent seven consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest peak from the album.[130] 4 also produced four other singles; "Party", "Countdown", "I Care" and "End of Time". "Eat, Play, Love", a cover story written by Beyoncé for Essence that detailed her 2010 career break, won her a writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.[131] In late 2011, she took the stage at New York's Roseland Ballroom for four nights of special performances:[132] the 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé concerts saw the performance of her 4 album to a standing room only.[132] On August 1, 2011, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped 1 million copies to retail stores.[133] By December 2015, it reached sales of 1.5 million copies in the US.[134] The album reached one billion Spotify streams on February 5, 2018, making Beyoncé the first female artist to have three of their albums surpass one billion streams on the platform.[135]

On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.[136] Five months later, she performed for four nights at Revel Atlantic City's Ovation Hall to celebrate the resort's opening, her first performances since giving birth to Blue Ivy.[137][138]

In January 2013, Destiny's Child released Love Songs, a compilation album of the romance-themed songs from their previous albums and a newly recorded track, "Nuclear".[139] Beyoncé performed the American national anthem singing along with a pre-recorded track at President Obama's second inauguration in Washington, D.C.[140][141] The following month, Beyoncé performed at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.[142] The performance stands as the second most tweeted about moment in history at 268,000 tweets per minute.[143] At the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Beyoncé won for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Love on Top".[144] Her feature-length documentary film, Life Is But a Dream, first aired on HBO on February 16, 2013.[145] The film was co-directed by Beyoncé herself.

Beyoncé embarked on The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour on April 15 in Belgrade, Serbia; the tour included 132 dates that ran through to March 2014. It became the most successful tour of her career and one of the most successful tours of all time.[147] In May, Beyoncé's cover of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" with André 3000 on The Great Gatsby soundtrack was released.[148] Beyoncé voiced Queen Tara in the 3D CGI animated film, Epic, released by 20th Century Fox on May 24,[149] and recorded an original song for the film, "Rise Up", co-written with Sia.[150]

On December 13, 2013, Beyoncé unexpectedly released her eponymous fifth studio album on the iTunes Store without any prior announcement or promotion. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, giving Beyoncé her fifth consecutive number-one album in the US.[151] This made her the first woman in the chart's history to have her first five studio albums debut at number one.[152] Beyoncé received critical acclaim[153] and commercial success, selling one million digital copies worldwide in six days;[154] Musically an electro-R&B album, it concerns darker themes previously unexplored in her work, such as "bulimia, postnatal depression [and] the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood".[155] The single "Drunk in Love", featuring Jay-Z, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[156]

In April 2014, after much speculation,[157] Beyoncé and Jay-Z officially announced their On the Run Tour. It served as the couple's first co-headlining stadium tour together.[158] On August 24, 2014, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Beyoncé also won home three competitive awards: Best Video with a Social Message and Best Cinematography for "Pretty Hurts", as well as best collaboration for "Drunk in Love".[159] In November, Forbes reported that Beyoncé was the top-earning woman in music for the second year in a row—earning $115 million in the year, more than double her earnings in 2013.[160] Beyoncé was reissued with new material in three forms: as an extended play, a box set, as well as a full platinum edition. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), in the last 19 days of 2013, the album sold 2.3 million units worldwide, becoming the tenth best-selling album of 2013.[161] The album also went on to become the twentieth best-selling album of 2014.[162] As of November 2014, Beyoncé has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and has generated over 1 billion streams, as of March 2015.[163]

At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015, Beyoncé was nominated for six awards, ultimately winning three: Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "Drunk in Love", and Best Surround Sound Album for Beyoncé.[9][164] She was nominated for Album of the Year, but the award went to Beck for his album Morning Phase.

On February 6, 2016, Beyoncé released "Formation" and its accompanying music video exclusively on the music streaming platform Tidal; the song was made available to download for free.[166] She performed "Formation" live for the first time during the NFL Super Bowl 50 halftime show. The appearance was considered controversial as it appeared to reference the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party and the NFL forbids political statements in its performances.[167][168][169] Immediately following the performance, Beyoncé announced The Formation World Tour, which highlighted stops in both North America, and Europe.[170][171] It ended on October 7, with Beyoncé bringing out her husband Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Serena Williams for the last show.[172] The tour went on to win Tour of the Year at the 44th American Music Awards.[173]

On April 16, 2016, Beyoncé released a teaser clip for a project called Lemonade. It turned out to be a one-hour film which aired on HBO exactly a week later; a corresponding album with the same title was released on the same day exclusively on Tidal.[174] Lemonade debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Beyoncé the first act in Billboard history to have their first six studio albums debut atop the chart; she broke a record previously tied with DMX in 2013.[175] With all 12 tracks of Lemonade debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Beyoncé also became the first female act to chart 12 or more songs at the same time.[176] Additionally, Lemonade was streamed 115 million times through Tidal, setting a record for the most-streamed album in a single week by a female artist in history.[177] It was 2016's third highest-selling album in the US with 1.554 million copies sold in that time period within the country[178] as well as the best-selling album worldwide with global sales of 2.5 million throughout the year.[179] In June 2019, Lemonade was certified 3× Platinum, having sold up to 3 million album-equivalent units in the United States alone.

Lemonade became her most critically acclaimed work to date, receiving universal acclaim according to Metacritic, a website collecting reviews from professional music critics.[181] Several music publications included the album among the best of 2016, including Rolling Stone, which listed Lemonade at number one.[182] The album's visuals were nominated in 11 categories at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, the most ever received by Beyoncé in a single year, and went on to win 8 awards, including Video of the Year for "Formation".[183][184] The eight wins made Beyoncé the most awarded artist in the history of the VMAs (24), surpassing Madonna (20).[185] Beyoncé occupied the sixth place for Time magazine's 2016 Person of the Year.[186]

In January 2017, it was announced that Beyoncé would headline the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. This would make Beyoncé only the second female headliner of the festival since it was founded in 1999.[187] It was later announced on February 23, 2017 that Beyoncé would no longer be able to perform at the festival due to doctor's concerns regarding her pregnancy. The festival owners announced that she will instead headline the 2018 festival.[188] Upon the announcement of Beyoncé's departure from the festival lineup, ticket prices dropped by 12%.[189]

At the 59th Grammy Awards in February 2017, Lemonade led the nominations with nine, including Album, Record, and Song of the Year for Lemonade and "Formation" respectively.[190] and ultimately won two, Best Urban Contemporary Album for Lemonade and Best Music Video for "Formation".[191] Adele, upon winning her Grammy for Album of the Year, stated Lemonade was monumental and more deserving.[192]

On June 13, 2017, Beyoncé gave birth to twins Rumi and Sir Carter at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[193] In September 2017, Beyoncé collaborated with J Balvin and Willy William, to release a remix of the song "Mi Gente". Beyoncé donated all proceeds from the song to hurricane charities for those affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in Texas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean Islands.[194]

On November 10, Eminem released "Walk on Water" featuring Beyoncé as the lead single from his album Revival. On November 30, Ed Sheeran announced that Beyoncé would feature on the remix to his song "Perfect".[195] "Perfect Duet" was released on December 1, 2017. The song reached number-one in the United States, becoming Beyoncé's sixth song of her solo career to do so.[196]

2018–present: Everything Is Love and The Lion King On January 4, 2018, the music video of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's 4:44 collaboration, "Family Feud" was released.[197] It was directed by Ava DuVernay. On March 1, 2018, DJ Khaled released "Top Off" as the first single from his forthcoming album Father of Asahd featuring Beyoncé, husband Jay-Z, and Future.[198] On March 5, 2018, a joint tour with Knowles' husband Jay-Z, was leaked on Facebook.[199] Information about the tour was later taken down. The couple announced the joint tour officially as On the Run II Tour on March 12[200] and simultaneously released a trailer for the tour on YouTube.[201] On March 20, 2018, the couple traveled to Jamaica to film a music video directed by Melina Matsoukas.[202]

On April 14, 2018, Beyoncé played the first of two weekends as the headlining act of the Coachella Music Festival. Her performance of April 14, attended by 125,000 festival-goers, was immediately praised, with multiple media outlets describing it as historic. The performance became the most-tweeted about performance of weekend one, as well as the most-watched live Coachella performance and the most-watched live performance on YouTube of all time. The show paid tribute to black culture, specifically historically black colleges and universities and featured a live band with over 100 dancers. Destiny's Child also reunited during the show.

On June 6, 2018, Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z kicked-off the On the Run II Tour in Cardiff, United Kingdom. Ten days later, at their final London performance, the pair unveiled Everything Is Love, their joint studio album, credited under the name The Carters, and initially available exclusively on Tidal. The pair also released the video for the album's lead single, "Apeshit", on Beyoncé's official YouTube channel.[205][206] Everything Is Love received generally positive reviews,[207] and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with 123,000 album-equivalent units, of which 70,000 were pure album sales.[208]

On December 2, 2018, Beyoncé alongside Jay-Z headlined the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 which was held at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.[209] Their 2-hour performance had concepts similar to the On the Run II Tour and Beyoncé was praised for her outfits, which paid tribute to Africa's diversity.[210]

On April 17, 2019, Beyoncé alongside media-service provider Netflix, premiered the 137-minute documentary and concert film Homecoming, mainly regarding Beyoncé's historic 2018 Coachella performances.[211][212] The film was accompanied by the live album Homecoming: The Live Album.[213] It was later reported that Beyoncé and Netflix had signed a $60 million deal to produce three different projects, one of which is Homecoming.[214] Homecoming received six nominations at the 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.[215]

Beyoncé starred in the voice over role of Nala in the remake The Lion King, which was released on July 19, 2019.[216] In March 2017, director Jon Favreau stated that Beyoncé was his top choice for the role, and that the studio and himself would be willing to do whatever it took to accommodate her busy schedule.[217] On November 1, 2017, her role was confirmed in an official announcement.[218][219] Beyoncé is featured on the film's soundtrack, released on July 11, 2019, with a remake of the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" alongside Donald Glover, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, which was originally composed by Elton John.[220] Additionally, an original song from the film by Beyoncé, "Spirit", was released as the lead single from both the soundtrack and The Lion King: The Gift – an album released alongside the film, produced and curated by Beyoncé.[221][222] Beyoncé called The Lion King: The Gift a "sonic cinema." She also stated that the album is influenced by everything from R&B, pop, hip hop and Afro Beat.[221] The songs were additionally produced by African producers, which Beyoncé said was because "authenticity and heart were important to [her]," since the film is set in Africa.[221]

During an interview for the Wall Street Journal, Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, revealed that the singer had borrowed some of her art pieces for a new project already in development.[223]

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyonc%c3%a9

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Yet Another Feminist Movie Test

The people of the internet (myself included) have a lot of fun playing around with the “Bechdel Test” – a simple formula created by lesbian comic artist Alison Bechdel to determine whether a film is worth seeing. This test asks the following three questions:

Are there at least two named female characters in the film?

Do they have a conversation with each other?

And is that conversation about something other than a man?

The Bechdel Test does a good job of illustrating several significant problems in mass media – the lack of named female characters, and the extremely limited range of plots, lifestyles, and character types that these female characters are given. It’s good for pointing out trends that fail to represent the diverse lives of women, and which specifically fail to appeal to lesbians and other wlw (women who like women).

But this little “test” on its own does not actually determine whether an individual film is “feminist.” It’s only three questions, after all.

Since the Bechdel Test took off in internet circles, many netizens have come up with their own media tests inspired by Bechdel’s comic. You can read about a lot of them here, but here are some of my favorites:

The Mako Mori Test: Is there at least one female character, who gets her own narrative arc, which is not about supporting a man’s story?

The Ellen Willis Test: Would this story’s depiction of these two characters still work if the genders of the characters were flipped?

The Topside Test: Does this film have more than one transgender character, who know each other, and who talk to each other about something other than a transition-related procedure?

Deggans’ Rule: Are there at least two people of color in this film, and is the film’s narrative not about race?

The Sexy Lamp Test: If you replaced the female character with a “sexy” lamp, would nothing change about the film?

Today I am adding my own test to the mix. Let’s call it the Want Test.

The Want Test is based on one question: Does what the named female character want matter to the plot?

Of course, this requires that there be a named female character in the movie. I’m taking that as a given. Most films do have one of those, these days. However, this test does not allow a filmmaker to simply point at the presence of a named female character and say that their work is done. This question asks about the relevance of this named female character. Does what she want actually matter to her world? If the answer is yes, give the film a checkmark. If the answer is no, give it a minus sign.

Note that she doesn’t necessarily need to get what she wants, but the movie world around her should react as though her wanting it means something. Villains have desires that drive plots, certainly, but that doesn’t mean that they should succeed. Additionally, many protagonists begin a movie believing that they want one thing and act upon that desire, but along the way figure out that something else is better for them. These stories are all important and I don’t want to bog this test down with the requirement that these characters get what they want, because getting what you want is not always a good thing.

Musicals tend to pass this test pretty easily, especially Disney Princess movie musicals. Cinderella of Cinderella wants to go to the ball – that matters to the plot. Tiana of The Princess and the Frog wants to open a restaurant – that matters to the plot. A main feature of a musical is the “I Want” song – the scene early on where the heroine has a solo about what she wants, setting up the plot of the story. Movies with an “I Want” song consistently get their checkmark from this test.

But this is me we’re talking about, and I’m not going to leave it this simple, now am I? Let’s add some more plusses and minuses to the test.

The titular character of Snow White gets two “I Want” songs (“I’m Wishing” and “Someday My Prince Will Come”). She wants to find love – and she gets it, too. She also spends a lot of time bossing the dwarves out of their slovenliness, for no apparent reason other than that she wants to. That’s enough for a checkmark.

But Snow White is not the only named female character whose wants matter to the plot. The Evil Queen (and yeah, I’m counting that as a name, because it’s how she’s consistently referred to in Disney media) wants to be the fairest of them all, and that want drives her to try to kill Snow White multiple times, launching the entire plot in the first place. If more than one named female characters have wants that drive the plot, then the film gets a check-plus.

However, Snow White does not do as well under this test as it possibly could. Snow and the Queen’s wants directly conflict with each other; they are enemies. Ultimately, for the story to conclude, what one of them wants needs to matter less than what the other woman wants. And that’s not ideal.

Let’s take a look instead at Frozen. Here we have two named female characters, Anna and Elsa, whose wants absolutely matter to the plot. Anna wants to connect with her sister and save Arendelle from the eternal winter, while Elsa wants to protect her sister (and save Arendelle from the eternal winter, but that’s secondary). Ultimately their wants converge, and they help each other get what they want, living happily ever after. If the named female characters help each other get what they want instead of fight against each other, then the film is upped to a check-double-plus.

Now here’s the disappointing side of this test. Sometimes a named female character wants something, and her wants matter – but her wants directly contrast with the wants of a male character. Perhaps she’s the villain who has locked the male character in a dungeon. Perhaps she’s a prospective love interest who doesn’t want to fall for the male character. In this case, while the female’s character’s wants matter, they only matter insofar as the male character is trying to change what she wants or to make sure she does not get what she wants. These films may depict a woman as having desires, but her desires are not actually important – they are an obstacle.

In Toy Story 2, Jessie wants Woody to come with her to the museum in Japan. Woody doesn’t want to go. The viewer does not want him to go. Her wants certainly matter to the world – Jessie’s backstory is arguably the saddest sequence in all of Pixar history, and she nearly sways Woody to her side – but her wants are an obstacle. The film’s triumphant moment is when Woody gets her to change what she wants and come be Andy’s toy instead. As a result, this film gets a check-minus. It passes – but not in a very positive way.

That got pretty wordy. Here is the tl;dr version of the Want Test:

Does what the named female character want matter to the plot?

Yes – checkmark

Yes, AND this is true of multiple named female characters – check-plus

AND these characters help each other get what they want – check-double-plus

Yes, BUT her wants are an obstacle to a male character’s goal – check-minus

No – minus

Now let’s look at some other movies and see how they fare against the Want Test:

Tangled – check-plus. It’s a musical movie with an “I Want” song, and Rapunzel’s desire to see the lanterns sure as heck matters. So does Mother Gothel’s desire to keep Rapunzel prisoner and stay young forever. They’re opponents, so it doesn’t get a double-plus, but it’s still an excellent film.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl – check! Elizabeth Swann is a force to be reckoned with, and the world around her recognizes it right from the start. Alas, she is the only one of her kind. There are other named female characters here, but what they want (to slap Jack) is only ever played for laughs.

Toy Story 1 – minus. Bo exists, but she might as well be a sexy lamp (which, you know, she is). Toy Story 4, on the other hand, earns a check-double-plus in the end. As I’ve written before, that film is entirely about a man learning to put his wants second to what the women around him want. Because of this, Toy Story 4 might even deserve a check-triple-plus.

The Social Network – check-minus. Barely. The film begins with Erica Albright getting fed up with fictional-Mark-Zuckerburg’s assholery and dumping him, which implies that she wants to be treated better. The film gets a check because this want is what sets off the entire plot, and Mark spends the rest of the film trying to impress her in one way or another, but since her wants are one hundred percent in opposition to Mark’s wants, it’s a check-minus.

Mad Max: Fury Road – check-double-plus, easily. This film is a group of women’s journey towards freedom. They don’t all make it there, but the fact that they want it and strive for it literally changes the world.

Ocean’s 8 – check-double-plus. If you need to ask why, then we didn’t watch the same film.

Up – check-plus! Surprised? The female presence in this film isn’t obvious at first glance. But there are two named female characters – Ellie and Kevin (yes, the bird counts, this is a world with sentient animals). While Ellie spends all but the first five minutes of the film deceased, the want that she establishes in those first five minutes – to travel with Carl to Paradise Falls – drives literally everything that Carl does in the film. Kevin just wants to live her life as a mama bird, feeding and protecting her babies, and those wants do matter, in sharp contrast to the wants of the villainous Charles Muntz.

Moana – double-check-plus! Moana, Grandma Tala, and Te Fiti’s wants all align. I can’t remember Moana’s mother’s name ever being said in the film itself (according to the credits her name is Sina), but she has a key moment early on of helping Moana get what she wants, even though that means giving up some of what Sina herself wants, and that’s noteworthy too.

Now here’s where the fun continues: you could also replace “female character” with a different minority! Does what the named Asian-American character want matter to the plot? Does what the named disabled character want matter to the plot? Does what the named transgender character want matter to the plot? So you’ve “inserted diversity” into your film – but what are you doing with it? It’s not enough for us to just be there. We need to matter, as people with desires and agency. We need to matter in films, because we matter in reality. And we haven’t mattered for long enough.

Let’s have a conversation! What other films pass - or fail! - the Want Test? What media tests do you like to apply to the films you watch? Reblog, reply, or retweet with your thoughts!

[dweemeister]

Joker (2019)

On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot and nearly killed United States President Ronald Reagan, wounded a police officer and Secret Service agent, and permanently disabled Press Secretary James Brady (whose death in 2014 was ruled a homicide from the gunshot wound thirty-three years prior). Found not guilty due to insanity, Hinckley obsessed over Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) while planning his actions. Like Taxi Driver’s protagonist Travis Bickle, Hinckley plotted to assassinate a famous politician. Besotted with Jodie Foster (who starred in Taxi Driver) and disappointed by not attracting her attention after stalking her, Hinckley planned the assassination attempt to impress the actress.

Hinckley and Taxi Driver were both on my mind when watching Todd Phillips’ Joker. Not only do they share thematic connective tissue and similar color palettes, but both films have been plagued by discourse about whether they will inspire someone to commit horrific violence – I respect Taxi Driver as one of the best films released in the 1970s, but it is not something I could rewatch easily. Filmmakers, indeed, should have a sense of social responsibility in their creations. Joker, as a character study first and foremost, paints its politics in broad strokes – preferring to submerge, as character studies should, the audience into the mindset of its protagonist. Joker invites the audience to empathize with a tortured soul who, failed by the state and refusing to hold himself responsible for his worst actions, consciously moves beyond redemption. That point, where the Joker is beyond redemption, is found where Batman fans know him best: murdering only to see if that murder is funny. Whether he reaches that point within the bounds of this film is up for debate.

It is 1981 in Gotham City. The city belches with urban malaise. A garbage collectors’ strike roils the city; socioeconomic inequality is rife; “Super Rats” plague the streets; the municipal services are overwhelmed. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a clown-for-hire living and caring for his aging mother, Penny (Frances Conroy). Money is sparse and one of the few joys Arthur and Penny have is Murray Franklin’s (Robert De Niro in a role not far removed from his turn in 1983′s The King of Comedy) primetime talk show. Arthur suffers from random paroxysms of laughter (a real-life affliction known as emotional incontinence, among other names) that, at the very least, invites disdainful looks from strangers who then avoid him. Arthur is seeking help for his depression and other unspoken problems, but Gotham’s social services are soon defunded by the city government and various other events force him to his breaking point.

Also featured in this film are Arthur’s hallway neighbor Sophie (Zazie Beetz) and cameos from Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), a young Bruce Wayne (Dante Pereira-Olson), and Alfred Pennyworth (Douglas Hodge).

The film does not glorify any of its hideous violence, but those who are not critical consumers of media will interpret this film how they will. Nevertheless, Joker is less on the side of its protagonist than the likes of Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange (1971) and will likely result in a similar reverence once this film has exited theaters. Within the film’s confines, there is nothing surprising about any of its violence; how the violence happens is shocking in its immediacy and realistic ferocity. It is contextualized as being the inevitable result of a sociopolitical system that cares not for the downtrodden, the mentally ill – to reiterate, Phillips is painting with broad political strokes. Arthur, who keeps on seeking professional help and ways to quell his silent rage, is attempting to stay his destructive behaviors long after his first homicide (as the film does not glorify violence, it also does not target those with mental illness; it directs its ire towards those without sympathy for the mentally ill). Those efforts are stymied by factors beyond his control – an almost-plot twist to shock even ardent Batman fans, the idolization of an unnamed clown who has executed three members or accomplices of Gotham’s elite.

It is here that Joker separates itself from the social cynicism and post-Vietnam War disillusionment and of Taxi Driver; it is here that Philipps’ film becomes just as much a reflection of the era it was released in and the nation of its origin as Scarface (1932 original with Paul Muni), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), and The Dark Knight (2008) once did. Those films respectively capitalized on fears of Italian and Irish mafias making urban centers their criminal playgrounds, countercultural diehards claiming free-wheeling Jazz Age outlaws as their own, and a vast surveillance state crafted to declare war on terrorism. For Joker, the societal diagnosis by Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver (2010′s The Fighter) is double-sided, damning those with and without power. The film decries individuals and groups who deify charismatic or compelling figures claiming their actions and/or rhetoric to be indicative of the common person’s interests. These revered figures incorporate grievance into their persona, weaponizing the language of victimhood not only to bring attention and (justifiably or unjustifiably) force change on a problem, but to absolve themselves of their personal sins. They are, dare it be written, populists. Beware those who invoke “the people” to vindicate their crusades.

Arthur Fleck, as an underemployed clown, does not ask for the attention of the masses. He wishes, “to bring laughter and joy to the world,” yet finds fulfillment in making a handful of children’s hospital patients smile. During Arthur’s first appearance as Joker, he assumes the accidental and public mantle that has set Gotham aflame – legitimizing the homicides he has committed and the public’s brutalization of authority figures by playing victim. He is consumed in self-pity; his words become a simplistic screed. Notice how appealing his words are, how rapidly rhetorical animosity precludes political violence. In Joker’s darkest sequence, the protagonist will destroy the last remnants of Arthur Fleck and become the popular icon of violent upheaval rarely seen in any of his depictions in DC Comics. This is Joker at its most dangerous, if only because of how violence – whether in oppression or in resistance – is as integral to the United States as political compromise.

We hear these beats of populism elsewhere, too, mixed with capitalist can-do. It is present in Thomas Wayne’s television appearance announcing his candidacy for Mayor of Gotham City – “I alone can fix it,” this man of wealth implies. This is a departure from otherwise sympathetic depictions of Bruce Wayne’s father over the decades in Batman comic books. As a plot development, it (along with the “almost-plot twist”) seems unnecessary if only to ground Joker in the Batman mythos. Contrast this to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where ill-intentioned, humorless capitalists operating within the military-industrial complex are repelled by the wisecracking “good” capitalists within that same system (see: Tony Stark). Murray Franklin, as a talk show host, concocts a scheme to bolster his ratings by humiliating someone in a worse life station – no background checks needed, let alone any semblance of attempting to understand his subject. Thus, Gotham is subject to personality- and grievance-based politics wrung through the corporate avarice of Network (1976). Joker may not have to space to critique capitalism in its entirety – it is a character study, after all – but the entire apple barrel seems spoiled here.

The least controversial element of Joker is Joaquin Phoenix’s magnificent lead performance. Phoenix has made a living playing men whose lives contend with inner turmoil and unsympathetic worlds. His work in The Master (2012) remains has career-defining role, but as Arthur Fleck and as Joker – through the pained laughter spells, his bodily contortions with his ribcage jutting from his frame, and a brooding nature tempered by an initial gentleness – this will be the role that crosses artistic and popular boundaries that segregate filmmaking. Phoenix may now be defined by this role, as Cesar Romero (a solid contract actor for 20th Century Fox despite being typecast as a Latin lover) and the late Heath Ledger (whose work in The Dark Knight overshadows the rest of his filmography) have been.

Director Todd Phillips, best known for The Hangover series, does an excellent job making Gotham City a character. So often consigned to be the faceless and unfortunate city wracked by domestic terrorism from curiously-named villains, never in a film has Gotham seemed like a place with its own history and haunts. The scenes on mass transit alone sell the city. Phillips’ indulgence for slow-motion (with cinematographer Lawrence Sher’s fawning camerawork) during dance sequences and almost constant dollying can be irritating. One montage between Arthur Fleck and Sophie – specifically, when he enters her apartment, confirming how unreliable a narrator he is – displays a lack of trust in the audience to make their own inferences.

Icelandic cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has crafted a score for her second film for a major American studio. Guðnadóttir’s career has been defined by an unpleasant mix of bass strings, percussion, and synth, droning repetitively, lacking the emotional catharsis that the films she has worked on are striving for. Her work on Joker is an improvement, but this is as difficult a listen as Joker is to watch. The score is almost entirely texture, not melody – melody is for those older films with sugary sentiment and Hollywood endings that do not reflect life’s ugliness, we are increasingly told. Outside of those with an ear for experimental classical music or instrumental music that groans amelodic passages rather than combining lyrical voices, this music has almost no life outside of the movie. Finally, Guðnadóttir’s style fits the film she has scored for.

As a psychological character piece, the only way that Joker could have secured a wide theatrical release in 2019 would be to tie it to bankable comic book lore. Even as Phillips pitched the idea, Joker faced stiff resistance from Warner Bros. executives – including former chairman Kevin Tsujihara and Greg Silverman – who still had the 2012 massacre in Aurora, Colorado on their minds (that tragedy took place during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises). Warner Bros. noting how poorly Zack Snyder’s vision of DC Comics adaptations was faring, needed to extricate itself from Snyder’s adolescent approach.

In the months before Joker’s release and even within the film, Warner Bros. has embraced its past. Of all of Hollywood’s major studios, Warners always seems to be the most conscious and celebratory of its history*. During the 1930s, Warner Bros. became known for the darker content of its films (its rivals MGM, Paramount, and Fox preferred spectacle, maximizing production values, and prestige pictures). The studio became the spiritual home of the gangster film and hardboiled dramas that pushed the boundaries of violence in American cinema – but not for the sake of depicting violence. Even in their musicals (a genre stereotyped as pure escapism), Warner Bros. layered progressive social commentary amid economic depression. Joker – though its own commentary could be more focused and succinct – inherits the legacy of The Public Enemy (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), and its numerous Warner Bros. ancestors.

How curious that a drama with origins from superhero comic books has been little praised for not following the assembly line production methods of numerous films from similar source material. Cinephiles fret, correctly, that movie theaters are becoming a home to superheroes/villains and explicitly-for-children animated features to the exclusion of everything else. The mid-budget character piece is endangered; certain genres have vanished from theater marquees. Joker, to some consternation, has it both ways. It is an excellent, arguably irresponsible, work to be seen with wary eyes.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

* Okay, okay you classic film buffs who have already recognized Joker’s references. Modern Times (1936) and Shall We Dance (1937) are from United Artists and RKO, respectively. But both films have long been part of Warners’ library by acquisition.

[bbclesmis]

Lily Collins on overshadowing dad Phil, beating anorexia and starring in the BBC's Les Misérables

As one of the defining voices of the 1980s and a man who remains one of the world’s bestselling artists, it would have been easy for Collins to overshadow his multitalented daughter’s success. Certainly, when I first interviewed Lily five years ago for the romcom Love, Rosie, she was still being defined not just by her famous father, but the Audrey Hepburn-esque looks that had won her modelling contracts as a teenager living in LA.

Since we last saw each other, Lily has redefined herself on her own terms. And when UK audiences are treated to her nuanced, poignant portrayal of Cosette’s desperate mother, Fantine, in the lavish new six-part BBC adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, they won’t see Phil Collins’s daughter but a remarkable British-born talent at the top of her game.

‘I had a few friends in the musical version, and I was so keen to play this part in what’s a very different adaptation,’ says Lily of the role that won Anne Hathaway an Oscar – a role she begged producers to be allowed to audition for, so desperate was she to be involved.

That the director, Tom Shankland, had decided against his being a musical adaptation meant the all-star cast – including Dominic West as Jean Valjean, David Oyelowo as Javert and Olivia Colman as Madame Thénardier – were able to return to Hugo’s original characters, she says. ‘And getting to work through the whole arc of Fantine’s life was incredible. Although in fact the death scene was filmed on day two,’ she adds with a side smile. ‘So it was a case of, “Hi, nice to meet you – I’m about to die”.’

Crushed and betrayed by a pitiless society that demands the most from those to whom it gives the least, Fantine’s character is emblematic of so much. During the six-month shoot in Belgium and northern France, Lily found filming in minus-13C Brussels gruelling (‘I grew up in England, so I should know about cold – but this was something else’), but says it helped put her in the right state of mind.

‘My lips started to go blue and I began to shake. Even in my breaks I wouldn’t keep my jacket on for too long because I had to be at a level of discomfort that I hadn’t experienced before.’ And when a degraded and desperate Fantine is dragged through the snow wearing minimal clothing, ‘I was able to let go and be that vulnerable. It’s those parts that are the most fulfilling: that’s when you can see what you’re made of.’

Lily’s early roles were hardly inconsequential. She starred alongside Sandra Bullock in the Oscar-winning 2009 film The Blind Side, and with Julia Roberts in Mirror Mirror in 2012. But it wasn’t until 2013 with her portrayal of Clary Fray in the film adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s bestselling cult fantasy series The Mortal Instruments that Lily seemed to come into her own.

There was a concerted move towards tragic, multi-layered heroines like heartbroken Cecilia Brady in Amazon Prime’s The Last Tycoon in 2016, and recovering anorexic Ellen in Marti Noxon’s To the Bone the following year, and I wonder whether it was the writing of her startlingly honest 2017 memoir, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, that marked the start of Lily’s real evolution.

Five years ago a sweet, wholesome and reticent young woman in dungarees and Dr Martens boots had assured me that prudence had ‘always been my natural feeling’. And yet, outing herself as someone real and flawed in her memoir – someone who had suffered from a debilitating eating disorder as well as self-confidence and relationship issues – was anything but prudent. ‘Writing the book helped me let go of things I was holding on to emotionally,’ Lily says. ‘And in order to take on the baggage of the characters that I wanted to play I had to let go of my own.’

That she chose to play a recovering anorexic in To the Bone the same year she’d detailed her own illness in such detail – the diet-pill and laxative addiction, the bingeing and purging that started at the age of 16 and went on into her 20s – could be seen as brave, foolhardy or both. But her parents (Lily’s mum is American socialite Jill Tavelman) didn’t try to stop her, she says. ‘In fact, they were more like, “Wow, you’re writing a book!” And it turned out to be a form of therapy,’ she insists.

‘Luckily, we shot To the Bone in LA, I worked with a nutritionist to prepare for the part responsibly, and my mum was on set with me, so it was a way for me to harness something that had truly controlled my life for such a long time. Being able to turn the tables and really have control was amazing. Finally I could say to myself: “I am living my life and this is not going to be a part of my story from now on.” I’ll be 30 in March and I’m so glad that I dealt with these things in my 20s, because now I can get excited about what’s to come.’

As part of her research she went to an Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous group, and an LA clinic for eating disorders, ‘where they gave me a lot of the factual information to understand the basics of the disorder’. Does she feel her illness is firmly behind her now – or is it important to remain vigilant? ‘Well it’s never going to be erased because it’s part of who you are, but it doesn’t define how I live my life daily any more,’ she says. ‘When I was going through it, I couldn’t imagine there being a day when I didn’t think about it. So really it’s about seeing myself as a priority.’

She’s in no doubt that doing To the Bone and Unfiltered in the same year was worth it in terms of getting the message out there. ‘We’re all flawed,’ she shrugs. ‘Giving a loud voice to a subject that people are often very ashamed of really inspired me to pour myself into characters that have something to say.’

Her accent may be pure La-La Land, but Lily’s got British steel, our madcap sense of humour – and a love of Topshop. And when she lands at Heathrow and drives out into the country towards her father’s Surrey home, ‘That’s when I feel most myself,’ she says. And yet only-child Lily was just five when her mother moved them back to California, where she was from, and away from the very public fallout of her and Collins’s divorce.

It was the musician’s second marital break-up and the press feasted on every acrimonious detail of the split, from the fax her father reportedly sent Tavelman terminating their 10-year marriage (he denied it) to the reported £17 million he was forced to pay out. But although Lily admits in her book that there was ‘anger’ towards her father and a ‘terrible disconnect’ between them in the subsequent period – Collins went on to marry Swiss translator Orianne Cevey, 20 years his junior, in 1999, whom he later divorced and remarried – she is now very close to the 67-year-old and her four half-siblings. Two of them, Simon and Joely (whose mother is Collins’s first wife, Andrea Bertorelli) live in Canada, and two, Nicholas and Matthew (sons of Orianne), in Geneva, but the family all assembled in London for their father’s 60th birthday.

Lily remembers the advice Phil gave her when she started out: ‘For every positive review you read you’ll probably find two negative ones, so if you’re proud of something, don’t let anyone take that away.

‘And it’s true that being proud of the work matters more than anything,’ she says, adding that growing up immersed in the industry allowed her to ‘see the pros and the cons of it all and really understand what happens when you decide you’re going to be in the public eye. Because of that I feel like I already have this armour built in, which I can use at any moment.’

The armour went on when I asked about her ex-boyfriend, actor Jamie Campbell Bower, and an alleged fling with Zac Efron five years ago – and she’s not about to tell me who she’s dating now. But as well as her book, Instagram – on which Lily has almost 12 million followers – has opened her up in other ways. ‘I used to be quite anti social media,’ she says. ‘But after the book I found that this hugely supportive community was forming around the world.’ Anyone who assumed that the gorgeous LA actress whose circle of friends includes the actors Eddie Redmayne, Jaime Winstone and Sam Claflin couldn’t connect with ordinary people, ‘I wanted to prove wrong,’ she says.

Instagram has also proved to be a great platform for Lily to showcase her love of fashion and photography. The Dr Martens are now long gone and today she loves mixing up pieces by Givenchy, Miu Miu and Chanel with vintage brands and high-street finds. ‘In Brussels there were so many amazing vintage shops,’ she says. ‘I found some incredible old adidas and Fila jackets. But I’m constantly changing when it comes to fashion.’

Many of these experiments have been exhaustively covered by the fashion bloggers who dissect paparazzi pictures of Lily out and about in LA, where she lives – ‘which can be frustrating when I’m just going to the gym’, but is an inevitable part of any coverage involving red carpets.

Asked whether she minds the ‘Who are you wearing?’ question that many A-listers have railed against post #AskHerMore, she deliberates for a moment. ‘Well, I like to give credit where credit’s due, and if I’m wearing something a designer has created, they deserve the credit. One hopes there’s going to be more than one question – and if it is just the one, I’d rather be asked what I’m doing there.’

To see how quickly her industry has changed since #MeToo went viral just over a year ago has been fascinating, she says. ‘And I feel very fortunate that the films I’ve been in have always involved very strong independent women – whether it’s Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock,Julianne Moore, Annette Bening or Jennifer Connelly: they all took me under their wing.’

Watching #MeToo filter down into other industries has been one of the most wondrous things about it, she enthuses. ‘But whereas this year has been about trying to level the playing field, I keep hoping that one day we won’t have to start conversations with, “Well, it’s great because she’s a woman…”’

In her next big screen role, Lily will star as Edith Tolkien – the wife and muse of Lord of the Rings creator JRR Tolkien – opposite Nicholas Hoult in Dome Karukoski’s biopic, Tolkien. ‘And what an amazing experience to shoot in Liverpool with someone like Nicholas, and be able to play a character that really inspired a series of stories I grew up loving.’ But prior to that, and also due out next year – she filmed Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, in which she plays the long-term girlfriend of mass-murderer Ted Bundy, Elizabeth Kloepfer – with whom she spent time.

‘The preparation to that – and meeting Elizabeth and her daughter – was so unsettling that I kept being woken up by all these images,’ she says. ‘And I had tried not to read the harshest and most visceral information out there because in truth my character didn’t know anything, and the story is from her perspective. But it’s such a fascinating story – and in the end storytelling is what connects us all.’

Les Misérables begins on 30 December at 9pm on BBC One (x)

[redsoapbox]

28 BANDS / WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TIPS FOR THE TOP?

 18 months ago, in an attempt to nudge the redsoapbox blog outside of its comfort zone, I spent many a long hour trawling the internet in search of up and coming artists with the potential to make an impact on pop culture. 28 bands (click the archive link to find the original article) featured acts from the blog’s base here in Wales, from many other parts of the U.K. as well as musicians from America, Canada, France, Sweden, New Zealand and Finland. All manner of genres were included - from country, soul and easy listening to indie-noir, psych-funk and art-punk. Some artists were easier to identify than others - Liz Brasher, for example, seemed an obvious star in the making, while others, such as Turku’s Those Forgotten Tapes, had yet to play even a single gig!  

So, how have they all fared? Well, as might be expected, it’s something of a mixed bag. There have been successes - one artist appeared in an Academy Award-winning musical, another in a long-running BBC soap, national album prizes have been won and summer support slots with Dylan and Neil Young secured. There have been dispiriting failures too  - one or two bands have barely gigged, some have remained unsigned (though in many cases they continue to self-release sublime music) and one group folded straight after an excellent debut album.

Taking the artists in the original order in which they were featured, here’s an update on progress made -

Hand Habits

Meg Duffy released sophomore album Placeholder in January 2019 to widespread critical acclaim. Pitchfork said it best, describing the album as a ‘bucolic mix of pleasing melody, soft guitars and gentle vocals’.

Boy Azooga

It’s been a massive year for the Cardiff combo. Storming singles “Face Behind Her Cigarette” and “Loner Boogie” secured the band a spot on the cult show Later... With Jools Holland and a record deal with Heavenly followed. The band’s debut album (One) (Two) (Kung Fu) won the 2018 Welsh Music Prize (for which I was a juror) and the group has recently been confirmed as support for Bob Dylan and Neil Young gigs later in the summer. I interviewed frontman Davie Newington for New Sound Wales last year  http://www.newsoundwales.com/interviews/boy-azooga-interview-by-kevin-mcgrath/

Liz Brasher

As mentioned in the intro, North Carolina’s Liz Brasher seemed an obvious choice in the ‘next big thing’ stakes. In 28 bands, I predicted a ‘tidal wave of hype’ would greet the release of her debut album. I wasn’t kidding, either, with  PopMatters declaring Painted Image to be evidence that Brasher is ‘one of the next thundering and commanding voices of soul music’.

Liz Brasher live

Family Jools

A run of exceptional tunes through 2016 - 2018 including “Get Off”, “Fallacy” and “Don’t Know” was supposed to lead to a debut album by the end of last year. The departure of Jack Hawkins (guitar) was the first outward sign that the project was in danger of veering off the rails and there is no sign at present of that elusive album. Another fine single “She’s a Mother” surfaced a few months back and exactly five hours ago they band have announced a forthcoming single by the name of “California Sun”. I’m still a true believer, though. You can find my interview with the band via the archive link. 

There is a Family Jools gig available here https://bndrmusic.io/

Sarah Munro

Sarah released a fine sophomore album Angel Road in June last year and, somewhat bizarrely, turned up busking outside a hospital in the long-running BBC soap Holby City which aired in February.  

Armstrong

The fact that I became somewhat smitten with Armstrong last year will be no secret to readers of this blog. That this fellow Welshman’s incredible music had hitherto escaped me boggled the mind somewhat. Discovering timeless albums like “Under Blue Skies” and “Songs About The Weather” gave me one hell of a kick. In an interview I conducted with Julian Pitt (the sole member of Armstrong) for Wales Arts Review in April last year, the singer/songwriter was excited about a planned re-release of Under Blue Skies (with a whopping 8 extra tracks!) and his continuing work on a brand new album Happy Graffiti. Anyone who read the interview closely, though, might have been a little worried about how long those projects might take to come to fruition. Happily, I can confirm that the sterling efforts of The Beautiful Music and Country Mile Records have borne fruit, with Under Blue Skies available to order from the following links

http://thebeautifulmusic.com/

http://www.countrymile.org/Releases/Armstrong/armstrong.html

You can read the interview here -

https://www.walesartsreview.org/interview-armstrong/

Keeva

While the much-hoped-for album has yet to materialise, there was a richly tender EP Four Sad Songs and a Ballad to cling on to in the meantime. Keeping my fingers firmly crossed that an album is just around the corner.

The Salient Braves

Aside from a single track,“Slob,” released last July, all seems deathly quite. I assume the Braves continue ‘pissing into the indie wind’ as their twitter profile proudly boasts!  Until we hear anything new then, we’ll just have to resort to re-playing the majestic Delusions of Grandeur over and over again. Believe me, that’s no hardship!

https://thesalientbraves.bandcamp.com/

Estrons

Local favourites with a fantastic live reputation, Estrons released a corking debut album You Say I’m Too Much, I say You’re Not Enough to huge approval and then promptly split. They made their mark though, 2015 single “Make a Man” should be on anyone’s shortlist for best song of the twenty-tens.

Thou Swell

Absolutely fell in love with the demo version of “What’s Your Name” that appeared on Soundcloud in December 17. There was a smattering of London gigs in the first half of 2018 and the promise of a live EP, but everything has gone worryingly quiet since.

https://soundcloud.com/user-911275129

The Regrets

Seattle’s pristine purveyors of jangle pop released a new EP, Endless Desire, which featured five frothy tracks including the rather marvellous “Under a Sideways Moon”. 

 https://wearetheregrets.bandcamp.com/album/endless-desire

Head Noise

Mitch Tennant’s electro art-punks continue to battle Welsh music establishment indifference. A sequence of intriguing EP’s has been met with stunned silence. Hopefully, a debut album, due before the year's end, will finally break down some of these artificial barriers. As Mitch himself often says, ‘D.I.Y or Die, Baby!’. 

Head Noise

You can read my interview with Mitch here

 https://www.walesartsreview.org/interview-head-noise/

Jade Jackson

Jackson’s sophomore album Wilderness earned across-the-board critical acclaim on its release last month with American Songwriter complimenting the singers ‘tenacious honey-and-grits voice’. Opinion former’s No Depression called it the same way, highlighting Jackson’s ‘warm, confident vocal delivery’.

QTY

The band seem to have disappeared from all thing social media!  Still, we’ll always have the eponymous debut album!

HOTEL LUX

Hotel Lux’s latest single, the stunning “English Disease”, had more than a dab of Robert Lloyd about it. If Hotel Lux can measure up to theNightingales, then you won’t hear me complaining. Set to play Cardiff’s Swn Festival in October, where I can get a closer look at them. 

Hotel Lux  

Cozy Slippers

Seattle’s three-piece Cozy Slippers released a cracking EP Postcards last April and are set to follow up with a new single “A Million Pieces” for German independent label Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten on the ninth of August. The band has also confirmed that plans for a U.K. tour are in the pipeline.

https://cozyslippers.bandcamp.com/album/postcards

Common Holly

The band is about to launch it's Back From the Dead’ tour later this month, taking in Toronto and Winnipeg along the way before hopping across the border to support Mauno on their short American sojourn.

BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD

An enforced name change saw Cardiff outfit Buzzard triple their moniker in an unfortunate start to Tom Rees’ campaign for superstardom. Rees aims pretty high, recently telling N.M.E. that the combo’s single “Late Night City” made him cry in a way that only “Wichita Lineman” ever had before. Fresh from playing the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury, the band are set to release a new single “Love Forever” later this month. Mark them down as potential world-beaters!

Nervous Dater

The band is currently opening for Los Campesinos! on their ‘Save America Tour’. If you haven’t invested in their spiky Don’t be a Stranger album, then why the hell not? 

The Greek Theatre

As recounted in the original 28 bands blog, Swedish duo Sven Froberg and Fredrik Perrson wrote an entire series of albums and then decided on a date for their break up all within weeks of their formation in 2009. So far, the Greek Theatre masterplan has yielded two sublime albums Lost at Sea (2013) and Broken Circle (2017). I have struggled in vain to discover when the next record is slated for release, all to no avail. We can only assume that their surreal plan is still in force and that a third album is on the way! 

oblong  

Andrew Clement, Hwys Grav and Rob Daniel should apply to join the magic circle forthwith. The Llanelli post-punk band’s trick of conjuring up two feisty, furious and humorous albums Brilliant...Gwd (2017) and  Hollulluog (2019) in double-quick time deserve the respect of their musical peers.

https://oblong1.bandcamp.com/

The Glad Machine

Nothing to report here, save for the release of a Christmas single “Days Gone By” and, wait a mo, a brand new single released this very day (5th of July). Just going to take a listen.......be back soon!  Okay, the song is called “Virginia” and sits pretty neatly alongside the material from their debut album - file under thumping, melodic American rock.

Illuminati Hotties

The Hotties’ terrific debut album Kiss Yr Frenemies, the sound of which is described as “tenderpunk” by the group’s sole permanent member Sarah Tudzin, was rapturously received by the music press.��Pitchfork, in particular, was persuaded, claiming that “every emotional abrasion and pang of longing on Kiss Yr Frenemies is conveyed with just the right mix of sadness and acerbity”.

Somehow

Erwan Pepiot’s tantalising description of the Somehow sound - ‘halfway between Joy Division and Belle and Sebastian’ should grab the attention of even the most jaded pop music consumer. The duo’s brand new single “Shut Your Eyes and See” certainly lives up to the billing. A new album, Low Tide, will be released on October the 25th.

Somehow

Crystal Furs

Having released a new album, Pseudosweet, in January, the band seems to have successfully overcome the departure of lead vocalist Amanda Hand (now fronting electro-pop combo Big Heaven). 

Jetstream Pony

A rip-roaring EP, Self-Destruct Reality, captured the group on top form. A new song “Mitte” has just been demoed and is a forerunner for an album release later on in the year. 

Sandra’s Wedding

The band’s debut album, Northern Powerhouse, is a certifiable classic of indie-pop. An album for the ages! How to follow that? - with a corking EP Good Morning, Bad Blood which builds the anticipation for a much-anticipated sophomore album.

Marlon Williams

William’s sophomore album Make Way for Love racked up three New Zealand music awards, but perhaps the most surprising development among the 28 bands featured here was Marlon’s role in Bradley Cooper’s Oscar-winning remake of A Star is Born.

Those Forgotten Tapes

I’ve left the most disappointing news until last. Sadly, Those Forgotten Tapes have put their rock ‘n’ roll project on indefinite hold. When I interviewed the Finish combo shortly after blogging 28 Bands, the group was in the midst of recording a debut album and there was a real air of optimism around. Following the interview, I kept in touch with Jari Oisalo, the driving force behind TFT, but as time went by without any word of an album it became clear that something had gone awry. Without breaking any confidences, there have been health issues which contributed in large part to the dissolution of the group. Jari intends to remix the four recorded TFT tracks (which you can hear below) and has hopes that a TFT album will see the light of day at some point.

In the meantime, Jari has recorded an album Tahtijuttuja as Salainen avaruusohjelma (Secret Space Program), there is a link below to their track “Buffalo” as well as resuming work on a shoegaze album under the moniker Tyynyt. You can listen to their track Pusuudelleen, reviewed positively in the N.M.E back in the day, below.

https://soundcloud.com/thoseforgottentapes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd91VstQyWk

https://soundcloud.com/solinarecords/tyynyt-pusuudelleen

A number of the acts featured here are reviewed/interviewed in Pop Hack, my debut collection available now via Amazon Kindle and are included in my Spotify Pop Hack playlist (see the archive link for details) while I have also created a brand new 28 bands’ Spotify playlist which can be can be accessed here -

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5tKzsqVHGTQZzZVUDkxlGd?si=F1G7ZFTRTI2SXJ1uBOo_gg)

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND May 17, 2019  - JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3, A DOG’S JOURNEY, THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR

Well, the summer is grinding along at a rather slow pace. Granted, it’s only the third or fourth official weekend, depending on when you started counting, and if you live in New York City, it doesn’t really feel like summer at all, but as has been the case since starting my beat at The Beat, I hope people will be reading this for the limited releases and repertory stuff, which I try to make fairly comprehensive and complete.

Normally, I wouldn’t be too impressed with Lionsgate’s decision to release Keanu Reeves’ JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM in the summer, but surprise, surprise, I actually liked this one. A LOT! I already reviewed the movie for The Beat, a review which you can read here, but I do think that most of the people who liked the first movie will like this one, too, as it adds the likes of Halle Berry, Asia Kate Dillon  (Orange is the New Black) and Mark Dacascos to flesh out the mythology while sending John Wick on the run as he’s excommunicated from the assassin’s guild.

I don’t have as much an opinion about the doggie sequel A DOG’S JOURNEY (Universal). I mean, I like dogs just fine, but I never got around to seeing A Dog’s Purpose, and I’m not sure I can follow this movie’s high-concept premise without having seen it. Apparently, a dog dies and then keeps coming back as another dog in order to protect Dennis Quaid’s daughter… no, I don’t get how that works either, but I’ll probably never see this.

The other movie I’ve seen which opens Friday is Ry Russo-Young’s THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR (Warner Bros./MGM), based on the novel by Nicola Yoon, starring Yara Shahidi (black-ish,grown-ish) and Charles Melton from Riverdale. If you know me at all, then you can probably guess that I’ve never seen those shows, but I have seen Russo-Young’s other films, and she’s a director that’s definitely grown on me as she’s taken on YA adaptations. I’m not going to write a full review of this one (due to time constraints and illness) but I was generally mixed on it. I thought the two young actors were fantastic, and this was a perfectly nice romantic film that generally used its New York locations well, but there were definitely parts where I was just bored and not that into the story. It’s a shame, because I usually buy into the whole fate and destiny thing, especially when it come to romance, but this one just gets silly at times.

You can find out what I think of the above film’s box office prospects over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

This is a very busy week for limited releases with a lot of things coming out of the woodwork at the last minute… and honestly, most of what I’ve seen is just okay, at best.

Jack O’Connell plays Cameron Todd Willingham in Ed Zwick’s TRIAL BY FIRE (Roadside Attractions), based on the true story of the Texas man accused of murdering his three young daughters via arson in 1991. He spent 12 years on Death Row before his case found its way to writer Elizabeth Gilbert, played by Laura Dern, who tries to negate the evidence against Willingham. I wanted to like this movie more than I did, because it is an interesting story with a decent script written by Oscar winner Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious), based on an article by New Yorker writer David Grann (apparently all of his articles become movies, so he has a good agent, huh?). The movie is generally okay, mainly due to the fantastic rounded performance by O’Connell but it’s also quite long-winded and didn’t need to be over two hours to get its point across.

Joanna Hogg’s autobiographical British indie THE SOUVENIR (A24) stars Honor Swinton Byrne (yes, that’s Tilda’s daughter) as film school student Julie who encounters and gets involved with a gregarious and opinionated older man named named Anthony (Tom Burke) who turns out to be a heroin junkie who effectively sabotages the film she’s trying to get made. While I can generally understand what Hogg was trying to do with this movie, I found it very long and drawn-out, and I was even more shocked to learn that this was meant to be the first of a two-part movie, but no, I won’t bother with Part 2 even if it does star Robert Pattinson, probably as another dick who tries to derail Julie’s career, cause that’s what men do.

The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra returns to India for the romantic drama PHOTOGRAPH (Amazon) about Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a man from a poor village who takes a picture of student named Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) and sends it to his grandma, saying it’s his new girlfriend, so she’ll get off his back about marrying. Rafi sends his grandma a picture of Miloni, but then has to convince Miloni to play along and meet his grandmother when she comes to Mumbai. As the two spend more time getting to know each other, a romance begins. It’s a nice movie, maybe not quite as great as The Lunchbox, but a nice date night movie for sure.

Opening at the Metrograph, which is in the midst of a Ryusuke Hamaguchi retrospective, is the Japanese filmmaker’s most recent film ASAKO I AND II (Grasshopper Films), based on the novel by Tomoka Shibasaki. It begins with a romance between a shy girl from (Asako, played by Erika Karata) who falls for a young man named Baku (Masahiro Higashide), who suddenly vanishes on her. She ends up moving to Tokyo and meeting another man named Ryohei, who is Baku’s spitting image – maybe because he’s also played by Higashide. A relationship develops between them until Asako learns what happened to Baku. This is definitely a strange but mostly satisfying romance story that would be a great date night double feature of Photograph.

From Sweden comes Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja’s sci-fi thriller ANIARA (Magnet Releasing), which takes place on the title spaceship which is taking the three-week journey to Mars full of thousands of passengers when it’s knocked off course. The problem is that it might take years to get back on course, which immediately throws everyone on board into a panic. At the center of it is Emelie Jonsson’s woman who runs a “Mima chamber” where people can go to relax, a chamber that gets increasingly more busy until it breaks down and then things just get completely crazy.  If you wondered what Passengersmight have been like if Gaspar Noe directed it then Aniarais the movie for you, but I did like Jonsson’s character arc as she ends up starting a relationship with a woman officer on the ship and where that story goes.

Karen Gillan stars in Collin Schiffli’s ALL CREATURES HERE BELOW (Samuel Goldwyn), which is written by and co-stars David Dastmalchian from Ant-Manand other films. It deals with a couple living in poverty, forcing him to break the law, as they set off to find refuge in Kansas City. I haven’t seen it but it sounds interesting with that casting.

Shirley Jackson’s 1962 mystery novel WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE (Brainstorm Media)is adapted by filmmaker Stacie Passon with an all-star cast including Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Sebastian Stan and Crispin Glover. Farmiga plays Merricat who lives with her sister Constance (Daddario) and uncle (Glover), the only survivors of a poisonic that killed the rest of their family five years earlier. When their cousin Charles (Stan) arrives, asking about the family’s finances, it begins a battle for control as tragedy looms.

Now playingat the Film Forum is The Third Wife (Film Movement), Ash Mayfair’s Vietnamese drama set in the 19th Century about a 14-year-old named May, who becomes the third wife of a much older man. With a mostly female cast and crew, the film has drawn comparisons to Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern and some of the flashbacks in The Joy Luck Club (which I recently rewatched and cried my eyes out, but don’t tell anyone).

Then opening Friday at the Film Forum is Andrey Paunov’s documentary Walking on Water (Kino Lorber), about artist Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude, who had built some of the most amazing large-scale installations including the famous “The Gates” in Central Park and their most recent project “The Floating Piers” over Lake Iseo in Italy. The movie will open in L.A. and San Fran next Friday, May 24.

Johnny Depp stars in Wayne Roberts’ The Professor (Saban Films), a movie that seems to be getting dumped into theaters after a DirecTV release. Depp plays Richard, a college lecturer who discovers he has six months to live so he turns into a party animal, much to the shock of his wife (Rosemarie DeWitt) and chancellor (Ron Livingston). Also costarring Zoey Deutch, it opens in select cities.

Kevin and Michael Goetz’s A Violent Separation (Screen Media) stars Brenton Thwaites as Norman Young, deputy of a midwstern town who is forced to arrest his older brother Ray (Ben Robson) for murder. Things get more difficult when Norman gets involved with the victim’s younger sister (Alycia Debnam-Carey). It opens at New York’s Cinema Village and a few other theaters as well as On Demand.

Now playing at the Roxy Cinema in New York is Matt Hinton’s doc Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury (Abramorama) about the small-town band Luxury, whose career almost ended in a wreck, but who continue to make records even as three members become priests.

Another music-related doc out this week is the Cordero Brothers thriller Room 37 - The Mysterious Death of Johnny Thunders (Cleopatra Entertainment), which as you might guess from the title is about famed rocker Johnny Thunders (Leo Ramsay) and how his trip to New Orleans to get his life together turned deadly.

This week’s Bollywood offering is Aki Ali’s De De Pyaar De, starring Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Rakul Preet Singh in a London-based love triangle.

Opening in New York this Friday, then in L.A. May 24 and VOD June 21 is Eddie Alcazar’s Perfect  (Breaker Films), exec. produced by Steven Soderbergh, which stars Garrett Wareing as a troubled young man sent to a clinic by his mother (Abbie Cornish) to help with his dark visions.

Next up is Rachel Carey’s Ask for Jane  (Level Film) starring Cait Cortelyou in a timely movie set in Chicago 1969 where abortion is punishable by prison and two women try to find a doctor to help a pregnant student at the University of Chicago has tried to kill herself. The two women end up forming the Jane Collective, an organization that helps women get safe abortions.

Asa Butterfield, Finn Cole, Hermione Corfield, Michael Sheen, Margot Robbie, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg star in Crispian Mills’ horror-comedy Slaughterhouse Rulez set in a British boarding school where monsters have been unleashed from a sinkhole. The movie was a hit in England but is barely getting a release in the States even with that amazing cast.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Not much of note on Netflix except Kate Melville’s rom-com Good Sam, a movie about a reporter who is trying to find a stranger who is leaving bags of money all around New York City.

I probably haven’t been paying enough attention to the streaming service MUBU, but in honor of the Cannes Film Festival that started this week, the service is doing a “Cannes Takeover” which includes Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park, Crisi Piu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Alejandro Innaritu’s Amores Perrosand other films that broke out of the French film festival.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Sci-fi author Samuel R. Delaney will be at the Metrograph for Delaneymania, a collection of films selected by him including This Island Earth (1955), Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal  (1957), Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus  (1950), as well as Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil: Director’s Cut  (1958). The series will also include Fred Barney Taylor’s doc about Delany called The Polymath and more. Playtime: Family Matinees is also getting involved into Delanwymania with screenings of The Boy with the Green Hair (1948) on Saturday and Sunday morning. Also this weekend is the firstMetrograph Book Fair of the year with lots of rare and vintage books and magazines on sale.This week’s Late Nites at Metrographincludes screenings of Michael Mann’s Thief  (1981) and more screenings of Gasar Noé’sClimax, which seems to be Metrograph’s new go-to movie. (Sorry, Carol!)

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Weds and Thursday seems double features of Elaine May’s Mikey & Nicky  (1976), starring Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, and Between the Lines (1977), while Friday and Saturday’s double feature is Martha Coolidge’s 1983 film Valley Girl (with Coolidge and special guests on Saturday!) and Sofia Coppola’s 1999 debut The Virgin Suicides.  The Sunday/Monday double feature is two from Dorothy Arzner, Merrily We Go To Hell (1932) and First Comes Courage(1943).Friday’s midnight is Tarantino and Rodriguez’s 2007 anthology Grindhouse, while Saturday at midnight, you have another chance to watch The Love Witch from 2016.  The weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is Agnieszka Holland’s 1993 film The Secret Garden  (which is being remade next year). On Monday afternoon, there’s a screening of Josie and the Pussycats… no, I’m not sure why either.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Sadly, the Trilogies series ends Thursday, but the Film Forum will screen a 4k restoration of Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad (1961), and this weekend’s Film Forum Jr.offering is Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands  (1990), starring Johnny Depp. Dan Streible is back with his eclectic of shorts called More Orphans of New York.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

On Friday, you can catch a “New York Sleaze Triple Feature” (yes, in L.A.) with Fulci’s The New York Ripper (1982),Nightmares in a Damaged Brain  (1981) and Abel Ferrar’s The Driller Killer  (1979). The Cassavetes & Scorsese: Love is Strangeseries continues on Saturday with Goodfellas and Husbands, plus the 1965 film The 10th Victim is showing as part of the Art Directors Guild Film Society Series on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Spanish filmmaker Ivan Zulueta (who died ten years ago) gets a tribute with a screening of 1979’s Arrebato.

AERO  (LA):

This week, the Aero begins the Passion of Pier Paolo Pasolini series (probably in conjunction with Abel Ferrara’s film, which finally gets a theatrical release) with a series of double features: Solo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) and Pigsty (1969) on Thursday, The Decameron  (1970) and Oedipus Rex (1967) on Friday, The Canterbury Tales (1971) and Teorema (1968) on Saturday, and Arabian Nights (1974)and Medea (1969) on Sunday. On Monday, they’ll screen a rare 35mm print of Pasonlini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew(1964). Since I really enjoyed Ferrara’s new film starring Willem Dafoe, I’m bummed I missed the Metrograph’s retrospective of Pasolini last year, but this is a good chance to see this prolific Italian filmmaker’s often-controversial work.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Another great series begins at the Quad this weekend with Fighting Mad: German Genre Films from the Margins, based around Dominik Graf’s two-part documentary A Journey Through German Film. Graf programmed the series with Olaf Müller, who presents a few of the screenings. It’s a pretty rich series with no films that I personally have had a chance to see – I have a couple screeners to watch – but there are sure to be a few gems in there if you have time to see some of the 17 movies.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: ParentalGuidance  will screen Roman Polanski’s horror classicRosemary’s Baby (1968) and James Cameron’s Aliens (again). Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad screens Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1962 film Mamma Roma, while Late Night Favorites: Spring shows the Coens’ Fargo, David Fincher’s Fight Club and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Black 90s: A Turning Point in American Cinema continues this weekend with Waiting to Exhale, The Five Heartbeats, Fear of a Black Hat, House Party, a 20thAnniversary screening of The Best Man and a lot more. It’s a really good series with a lot of movies worth checking out.

MOMA (NYC):

Abel Ferrara: Unrated continues with 1986’s Crime Story on Wednesday, 1993’s Dangerous Game on Thursday, Welcome to New York  (2014) on Sunday and Piazza Vittorio (2017) and 4:44 Last Day on Earth  (2011) on Sunday. The series will continue through May 31. MOMA is also doing a Jean-Claude Carriereseries, honoring the amazing prolific work of the French screenwriter, including Louis Malle’s Milou en Mai  (1964), Milos Forman’s Taking Off (1971) and many more, which will be screened between now and June 16.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

A new addition! The theater in the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca is showing Joanna Hogg’s earlier film Archipelego (2010), as well as Sally Potter’s 1992 film Orlando in 35mm!

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

On Saturday, MOMI is doing a Filmmaker Memorial for John Singleton, put together by The Black Filmmaker Foundation and the Black Film Critics Circle with BFCC President Michael Sargent and other critics discussing Singleton’s work. Otherwise, MOMI is finishing up Panorama Europe.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This week’s midnight movie on Friday is the Japanese horror filmHouse (Hausu) from 1977.

That’s it for this week. Next week, we get Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin, starring Will Smith; Olivia Wilde’s hilarious Book Smart and the James Gunn-produced Brightburn. Oh, yeah, and it’s Memorial Day weekend!

[simplyoriginalcharacters]

Esben Teodor Svanevagt

Hi team! I love what you’re doing, and how kind and patient you are about it! Thank you for your time. Apart from a general review of Esben, please help me find any contradictions in his characterization, as well as obvious clichés. SETTING

Esben is part of an ensemble cast, in a story set in contemporary Sweden where witchcraft as known from traditional European fairy tales is real. The story centres on a police task force focussed on zoomorphism curses (people turned into animals). APPEARANCE Esben is a Swede, of medium height, pale-skinned and soft rather than muscular, with unremarkable, outgrown brown hair. His long face is dominated by a strong nose and greyish-blue eyes framed by dark, horn-rimmed glasses. He does not look his age, strangers usually put him around 20 (all of 17 on an off day) when in reality he is pushing 30. All of that is overshadowed by his missing left arm and the white swan’s wing he has instead. The transition at the shoulder is uneven, misshapen feathers growing out of puckered human skin. His remaining hand is soft, nails maintained by a manicurist. His voice is deep and low and he speaks very quietly - people tend to whisper around him. He has a bittersweet smile that almost makes his plain face handsome. He usually folds the wing tightly along his body but he only hides it under jackets (a cape if he’s feeling fancy) when he goes out among strangers. He wears primarily dark colours, blues and browns. At home he just rips the sleeves off shirts, at work he wears professionally altered button-downs (he can do them one-handed) and shoes without laces. PERSONALITY & SOCIAL INTERACTIONS Esben is sharply intelligent but very self-absorbed. He deals better with facts than feelings and he hates explaining himself. He works best alone. Spending his formative years as a swan has severely impacted his ability to relate to people. Despite his quiet, gentle demeanour his factual statements often come across as aloof and uncaring. Nevertheless, he is fascinated by humans in the abstract. He likes processing human data, finding patterns, and he is well read about psychology and criminal profiling. A lot of his time is spent in front of a computer, he has an easier time dealing with people this way. His sense of humour has been warped by memes. It is difficult to get to know him personally. Due to his experiences, he values safety and privacy. His self-defence mechanism is to disengage and withdraw, rather than argue. If pushed beyond the limit he gets angry fast; the only warning he gives is a hissing sound his human vocal chords aren’t quite equipped to produce. In a fight he is surprisingly vicious. He will flap his wing when startled but he hates that response and will be flustered afterwards. He abhors manipulation, violations of trust and sensationalism. He has a special hatred for reporters. DAY-TO-DAY LIFE JOB:  Esben is the computer expert on the task force. He provides online research, fact checking and follow-up on alibis, as well as some minor hacking. He also maintains and monitors a community platform where victims of zoomorphism curses and their families can exchange information and support. Due to his abrupt manner and his recognisability (more in the Backstory section), the leader of the task force rarely takes him out into the field unless his specific experiences can help. When he does get dragged out on a case he is very soft-spoken and distanced. He looks around their homes but only reluctantly into people’s faces. Still, he finds kindness when he needs it most. His tenaciousness and his affinity for technology make him good at his job. He’s a night owl, he likes to ghost through the station at the most ungodly hours, compiling that or following up on this, commenting on the forum. He works for the police because he has expensive tastes, very specific talents, and he likes the combination of seclusion and a steady social life his desk job at the station affords. HOME: He lives on the first floor of a beautiful old city house, with sky high ceilings and designer appliances (or empty spaces where designer pieces are to come - he does not like compromise). He invests a lot of money and care in his home. He shares the apartment with a colleague (see Relationships) and they manage to coexist in a surprisingly healthy symbiosis, as long as he never enters Nils’ room to see the cheap IKEA furniture. HOBBIES: He loves music, he listens mostly through headphones, at work and at home. He likes the classics, Hayden and Beethoven, but also glam rock and weird remixes and electro-swing. He very much identifies himself via his music taste. He does a little mixing (not very well though). He goes to the Kungliga Operan when they show one of the dramatic operas he likes (never Lohengrin). A migratory instinct is still buried deep in his subconscious, to unwind he stays at a family cabin at a secluded lake and watches wild swans. He rather misses flying, he reads poetry instead. It helps him deal with feelings he lacks the words for. BACKSTORY He is the younger son of an Olympia-winning cross-country skiier and his first wife, also an athlete, both darlings of the tabloids at their time. His mother died in a motorbike crash. In time, his father fell in love again, with a beautiful, much younger woman, the daughter of a witch. Jealous of the reminders of her lover’s first marriage, and tired of the children’s attempt to sabotage the relationship, she cursed the boys into swans. Only Elva, young enough not the remember her mother, escaped. But Elva remembered her brothers. Elva wanted them back. She sacrificed two years of her life never laughing, never speaking, weaving shirts out of graveyard nettles, and when the swans came back in spring, she succeeded in breaking the curse – his brother’s completely, his only partially. Zoomorphic curses are rare enough, and their family was high-profile enough, to make the news, kicking off a media circus during his first summer as a teenager. Painful live interviews full of invasive questions, demeaning photographs and some very disturbing ‘fan’ encounters brought on a lot of shame and blame and anger and ultimately broke the family apart. Esben withdrew from humanity for a while, after. He dug himself deeply into a virtual reality that could not hurt him, and after a prolonged affiliation with the Arga Unga Hackare, he came back up with a barely legal set of skills. That knowledge was the reason he got a job with the police. RELATIONSHIPS FAMILY: He has broken off contact with his father and his brother. His sister, Elva, still tries. Their relationship is strained, she needs his absolution and he does not know how to give it, he is still far from reconciled with his wing. FRIENDS: Esben’s closest friend is Nils, the only person who answered his ad for a flatmate. Their experiences are similar enough (Nils was a frog for a while) to create a real bond. Nils made him regain his curiosity about the outside world, he drags him out of his head and his comfort zone, and he calls him out when he’s being stupid or self-destructive. His relationship with the rest of the squad builds over the course of the story. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: He is in a relationship with an online person with whom he communicates exclusively in poetry and song lyrics. He has never seen this person, nor does he wish to. They are an artist, he thinks. Their user pic is The Last Unicorn. He feels unprepared for the complication of another human being.

Hi there, thanks for the kind words! I'll be handling Esben's critique. I just wanted to let you know before we start that I really like the way this is laid out - all the information is very clear separated, and the headings make it really easy to find exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for that!

Esben's description is really well-done. I like that it has enough details that I can get a pretty clear image of him in my head, without making a list out of them. I also really like the additional information about how he dresses and how he manages his appearance with only one hand - particularly the detail about the manicurist, as it suggests to me that Esben is a person who cares about his appearance and likes to be neat and tidy.

Similarly, his personality comes across clearly. I can see Esben sitting at a computer, perhaps with a mug of a hot drink, smiling wryly at something someone posted on a message board. Perhaps it's a meme; perhaps someone is simply being wrong on the internet. I can also get a very clear picture of how Esben would react in a variety of situations - anger, embarrassment. You bring it across very well! If I have one small criticism here, it is that I don't see a lot of specific information about what makes Esben happy. Does he get a thrill out of solving a puzzle? Does he deal with stress by taking long, hot showers? Has he got a garden of succulents? I don't know, but you've covered some of his more neutral and negative emotions and reactions so well that it seems odd that you haven't covered the positives as clearly.

I understand everything about Esben's work life except one line: what do you mean when you say that "he finds kindness when he needs it most"? Do you mean that he finds it in himself to be kind when others are struggling, despite his difficulties in dealing with others, or that when he's struggling others are kind to him? I suspect it's the first, but the sentence itself is somewhat unclear, so you might want to take another look at it. After reading about his home life, I am a little interested in how much he must be getting paid to afford his "expensive tastes" and "designer appliances". I'm not certain how much computer experts in police stations are normally paid for their work or what sorts of lifestyles that affords them, but it's a minor detail if anything. As long as you can sell it to your readers, you can do anything you like in a fictional world! Esben's hobbies are overall sort of what I expected to read, with a nice surprise in his musical tastes. I like to be surprised, so that works for me. I also like the detail that he listens to music primarily through his headphones, as it matches really well with the information about how private he is! This all knits in very nicely with what we know of Esben's personality.

I'll be honest: I love fairy tales. They're one of my most favorite things in the world. The backstory you've written here is why I took on this profile in the first place - it's true to the feel of the original, but very updated and modern, with contemporary consequences and problems. I like the focus on how his ordeal affected Esben, and I like that you've included what happened to his family, how he coped, and where he developed his skills and why. This is really well-done and I'm quite enamored of it, actually. It makes me want to pick this book up and read it right now! I would like more details here about how Esben coped with the loss of his mother, and the expectations he must have had for his stepmother initially. Grief affects everyone differently, and we don't see the effects of it here, but we probably should. Additionally, a young child with a parent who remarries may have a lot of conflicting feelings about the event, such as happiness that their parent is happy, resentment that this new person is taking over a role perceived as belonging to the deceased parent, reluctance to bond in case this step-parent is also lost, hope for a peaceful home life in the future, etc. You don't need to cover this in depth, but you should at least have some ideas, and try to work them into Esben's existing story and personality so that they make sense for him.

The details you've given here about Esben's relationship with his family members as a whole and his sister specifically make sense, but what I'm missing here is any information about Esben's brother. Does he resent that his brother's curse was fully lifted, does he miss the bond they used to share, does he have any regrets? Does his brother ever try to contact him? And whatever happened to the relationship between his father and stepmother; did they break up after the curse came about, or are they still together, or something else? A lot of drama was alluded to and not written out here, possibly because it isn't relevant to the story you're writing right now, but familiarizing yourself with it can only add more flavor to Esben's reactions to and interactions with others. It's like putting a bay leaf in soup stock: you're not going to eat it, but it still affects the flavor of the final dish.

I like the details you've given here about the relationship he has with Nils, although I wonder if the things you're listing are things Esben appreciates about him or just ways in which their relationship is expressed. On the other hand, it probably isn't necessary to say too much more than this. You could add more information if you wanted to, but if it's going to be covered pretty thoroughly in your story anyway, you might want to leave it be.

As for Esben's relationship status, I'm intrigued and a little confused, but mostly intrigued. This section reminds me a little of what poets used to call "courtly love" - a supposedly "pure" type of love for another person that made itself visible in acts of devotion and tokens of affection, not in physical expression or connection. I think it's understandable given Esben's past that he's conflicted about it, but I also think it's admirable that he's reaching out despite those feelings. Very interesting, and something I would love to see explored in more depth.

So, as for your questions, I'm afraid my answers will be unhelpful. I don't see any obvious cliches here, first of all; there were a few places where I read something and thought "of course this is how it is", but in the sense that a detail made sense for the character, not because it was something that I found cliche. I don't see any really glaring contradictions in his characterization, either - I cannot tell you enough how well you've assembled this character. Every piece of information fits together to form a very cohesive, very interesting, and well-rounded person. Esben is complex in the way that real people are complex, and I think that can be a very tricky thing to pull off sometimes, so I absolutely want you to know how much I admire that in this profile.

I can't think of anything here that absolutely requires revision on your part, but I hope that some of my suggestions and questions have at least given you something to think about. If you do choose to make any revisions and you'd like me to take another look, I would be positively delighted. Likewise, should you have any other characters you'd like me to take a look at, I'm sure I would enjoy them just as much. When you finish this story, let me know - I want to read it! Good luck with your writing!

-Kyo

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Keeper of the Grove (Part 19)

Weiss blinked. “You're going to what?”

“Kill you!” Ruby repeated. “If there's anything that's going to stop your dad from attacking the Valley anymore, it's going to be that.”

Weiss nodded, before she gripped Eluna to her chest, stared blankly off into the distance, and reminisced about the series of bad decisions that had led to this point.

The most immediate that came to mind was her spontaneously telling her father that she wanted to join his newest venture: an expedition into the Viridian Valley. Like her maternal grandfather and his father-in-law, Nicholas Schnee, he wanted to find a new wellspring of mana to tap, ones similar to if not even greater than the gigantic concentrations of energy that rested under the Nexus, Valentino, Lumania, Zeal, or Solaris—possibly even the unprecedented titan that powered Candela.

“Uh, Weiss?” Ruby asked, before she waved her hand before her unseeing eyes.

She didn't know what it was that set her off about his droning on about all the failed expeditions, the rumours of the Keeper being responsible for it and thousands of other incidents, the new incredible advances in technology that made possible to thrive in a barren hellhole like the one surrounding both Candela and the Valley itself, but the moment she blurted out that she wanted to be a part of the scouting team, personally overseeing the operations like her grandfather before her, she never once thought of taking it back.

Now, she really wished that her father had vetoed that plan as he usually did.

With no response, Ruby turned to Penny. <What's wrong with her?> she asked in Actaeon.

<I believe she's experiencing what humans call 'thinking about where they went wrong.'> Penny replied.

<Why? What happened?> Ruby asked.

Perhaps it was how she reacted to Winter's leaving for the Avalonian Armed Forces six years ago. She should have sympathized more with her decision, understood she would have done the same thing if she could, not held it up as a massive betrayal, put a wedge between them until just before she was selected for Queensguard training, and become so surly, cold, and hostile to everyone, “projecting” her anger and hurt as du Pont had said.

She was eleven, yes, and it was a confusing time for her with puberty and all these new, confusing feelings and new responsibilities thrust upon her by society just because her age was now in the double digits, and the fact that her mother was long dead, that she had few close friends, and that her father was a hands-off parent (at best) certainly didn't help, but she probably should have done like Winter had, when she was twelve, had been old enough to fully understand their mother's death:

Grow the fuck up.

<It's probably when you said you were going to murder her,> Penny replied.

Ruby's eyes widened, her ears pulled back in alarm. <What?! I said I was going to 'fake her death' not 'put her to death!' Isn't that what I said in Nivian?>

Penny shook her head.

<But it's the same word…!> Ruby whined.

<It is, but humans add additional words to clarify that it's going to be a faked killing, not a real one.>

Or maybe it stretched even further back, to the one point in life she could clearly, confidently point to as the moment her already less than ideal life went to a constant, ever accelerating downhill slide leading to this moment: the day they got the call from the emergency response teams in Sekhmet, that their mother and her unborn child had succumbed to the plague ravaging the desert, that they couldn't even receive their bodies as they were needed to figure out how the hell they were going to stop the new disease from ravaging the rest of Avalon, and their ashes would likely be mixed with the masses of other dead.

Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn't have agreed with her father, and especially Winter's question, the tie-breaker to her decision to start giving away her beloved collection of plushies, the one thing that reminded them of their mother after her father had every portrait and image of her put into storage or hidden away where he'd never have to be reminded of who they'd lost, what died with them.

On the bright side of things, she'd be meeting her again soon, if the Aether really was real. Winter would probably join them soon enough, though she wasn't looking forward to meeting their father again, even if the Stewards always emphasized that they would be a completely different type of being upon reaching it, “stripped away of all that which divided us, our boundless desires and prejudices, the mortal things we clung to so desperately in life.”

Ruby sighed. <This is why I hate Nivian...> she muttered before she turned to Weiss, still zoned out. “Weiss? Weiiisss…?” she snapped her fingers in front of her face.

Blake turned to Ruby. <May I?>

Ruby sighed. <Go ahead...>

Blake stepped up, and slapped Weiss across the cheek.

Smack!

Weiss reeled from the strike, a new bright red print glowing on her skin. “Ow! Just kill me and get it over with, why don't you?!”

Blake sighed. <Believe me, princess, I would if I could.>

Weiss glared at her. “I don't know what you just said, but I know I didn't like it.”

Blake narrowed her eyes. <Feeling's mutual.>

“Okay!” Ruby cried as she stepped between them. “Blake: calm down! Weiss: what I said earlier didn't come out right!”

“Oh, so you're going to torture me instead, is that it?” Weiss spat.

Ruby frowned. “It's--”

“Ruby actually meant to say that we were going to fake your death,” Penny interrupted. “I believe the confusion came from the fact that Actaeon has very specific variations on the word 'kill'—that of killing an opponent; killing prey; killing predator; killing the enemy's morale or desire to fight; or in this particular case, faking a killing, for purposes of demoralization or manipulation.”

Weiss blinked, letting the realization sink in for a moment. “Can we all agree that, from now on, anything anyone tries to say to me in Nivian goes through Penny first?”

Blake and Ruby nodded.

Penny beamed. “I will try my best to make sure that no more misunderstandings will occur!”

“Good,” Weiss said as she headed out to the exit. “Now let's go make my ransom video! And let's be clear that I'm writing the script—the last thing I want my father to think is that this is all a terrible prank!”

Almost as long as people had been speculating and theorizing about what could be found in the Viridian Valley, they had been dreaming and fantasizing about what they would make of it, the grand cities they would build, the new lives they would lead in a place like nothing that had ever been seen in all of Avalon.

There was no shortage of artistic interpretations and depictions in all manner of fiction throughout the years: grand castles and cities built out of the blackened rock surrounding the area; elaborate wooden mansions dotting the trees and the vibrant vegetation, dirt roads thriving with flowers and herbs, animals left to roam and roost wherever they pleased; sometimes even a modern city like Candela or Lumania, glass skyscrapers, neosteel infrastructure, paved roads and carefully controlled and cultivated patches of nature amidst all the artificial construction, the ultimate symbolism of mankind's domination and control over the surroundings their ancestors were slaves to for so long.

They were all wrong, if only because no human had ever attempted anything like what the Fae had done.

The Bastion was the trees, the mountains, and the vegetation—their homes, infrastructure, and even their transportation built in their hollowed out cores, resting on top of them as foundations, or grown in such specific, intentional patterns and directions, it couldn't have gotten that way by itself. Weiss felt her attention dragged every which way as they walked through the streets of the city—or rather, its many hanging bridges, the giant walkways carved out of even bigger branches, the tunnels and pathways going into and around the rocks and mountains.

She saw Fae in specially made robes and protective gear tending over saplings, fungus, and even living creatures, magic flowing from their hands as they tended to their wards, guiding and accelerating their growth into their desired shapes, grafting and inducing features and details they wouldn't have in the wild.

Water poured out from the faces of rocks and mountains, being piped in by pulsing vines to their crop planters and their homes, spraying out from fountains and intricately carved statues and memorials, adding beauty to the surroundings and a place for citizens of all ages to play and enjoy themselves.

Fae of every shape and size going about their days, tending to all manner of weird and strange animals, giving packages to birds and sending them off, leading their lumbering pack-beasts through the walkways, training ferocious looking predators to attack certain target dummies and not others; going about the various stores and workshops trading, working, or just chatting with one another; strolling about enjoying the scenery, if they weren't immersed in their own version of tablets and comm-crystals, looking not unlike the citizens of Candela when they blogged, caught up on each other on social media, and enjoyed funny holos of cats.

And all the while, Weiss couldn't help but notice the sheer number of eyes looking back at her, the heads doing double takes, the people stopping to take pictures of her before sending it to others.

She didn't understand a word of what they were saying, but regardless of language barriers, you could always tell when everyone was talking about you.

The various “Watchers” posted almost everywhere were particularly wary of her, their eyes trained on her, their weapons at the ready, and their animals heeled, if only for the moment. Some of them were only pulling back just hard enough on their attack wolves' leashes to keep them from getting away, not slashing their paws at the air, barking and slavering at Weiss with their powerful jaws full of massive fangs, their fur bristling and crackling with what looked like electricity.

Ruby, Blake, and Penny surrounded her in a triangle, casting glares and barking warnings at others to stay back.

“I'm not very popular here, am I?” Weiss muttered under her breath.

“Your father's expeditions into the Valley have caused very serious disruption to the peace we usually enjoy here, causing a significant amount of panic, unease, and diversion of time, resources, and labour that would have otherwise gone to different projects,” Penny explained. “And this is not even going into all the casualties.”

Weiss blinked, feeling the pit of her stomach drop. “… Ah. Right.”

Weiss feet were aching by the time they finally made it to the tallest, biggest tree in the very center of the Bastion; she realized she really should have thought of packing at least a pair of bedroom slippers, because apparently the Fae were not fans of footwear of any sort, just straps around part of their feet, or bands of leather, metal, and bone strapped to their toes or heels, obviously meant for combat.

The inside of the “Tree of Life” was not unlike a tower, its circular floors built with giant open ring in the center to let you stare up, marvel at how massive the structure was, see the thick canopy at the very top, the sunlight peeking through the leaves.

“How tall is this tree…?” Weiss asked, dumbstruck.

“Pretty fucking tall,” an unknown, ominous voice said.

Weiss turned, and found herself staring into the face of her nightmares, the terror that haunted the dreams of Avalonians for centuries, like the bastard child of of a rat, a deer, and a wolf, with glowing red eyes that pierced into your soul.

The physical manifestation of fear itself waved. <Hey Ruby.>

<Uncle Qrow!> Ruby cheered, before she pounced and hugged him.

[womenofcolor15]

Another Perspective On BLACK LIVES MATTER: Robert De Niro, Tika Sumpter On Raising Biracial Children + Tia Mowry Reflects On Her Black Mother Being Treated Differently

Biracial celebs and celebs with biracial children are speaking out with a unique perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd. More inside…

If you didn’t know, Robert De Niro is a father to six biracial children. And he recently got real about raising them in America and the impact it has had on him as white father.

All of the 76-year-old actor’s kids are grown except one – who all from three previous relationships. He shares daughter Drena, 48, and son Raphael, 44, with his ex-wife, Diahnne Abbott. He also has sons Julian, 24, and Aaron, 24, with his ex, Toukie Smith, and son Elliot, 22, and daughter Helen, 8, with his ex-wife, Grace Hightower.

As the nation reacts to the killing of George Floyd, hard – but necessary - conversations are being brought up about race and white supremacy.

The Irishman star recently appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” where he talked about what it’s like raising biracial children as a white father.

“My children are all half black and I don’t have … even me, I take certain things for granted,” he said. “When people say that they tell their kids, ‘Keep your hands [up] when you’re stopped by any cops, keep your hands on the steering wheel, don’t make a sudden move, don’t put your hands below, don’t do this,’ you understand that. That’s scary. That has to change.”

De Niro pointed out that all cops aren’t bad, but if someone is hurting another human being “for no reason other than self defense or the defense of other people around shouldn't be doing that job."

The award winning actor touched on how people were willing to protest amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

"We had all the protests and everything going on, rightfully so, people are so angry that they did not care. They said, 'I'm going out anyway,'" he said. "I think a lot of people did wear masks, it seems that way. But that's how angry everybody was."

Peep his appearance below:

De Niro made these comments has protests have swept the nation in response to the killing of George Floyd. People are hitting the streets to demand justice for people who were made victim of police brutality and racial injustice.

As for relationships...

"Mixed-ish" star Tika Sumpter has a message for people in interracial relationships, like herself, amid these trying times. She's engaged to white actor Nicholas James after they met on the set of Tyler Perry's "The Have & The Have Nots" in 2016. They are parents to their almost 4-year-old daughter, Ella.

          View this post on Instagram

                  My lover, my best friend. You make me a better human. Love you to life. #happyvalentinesday @nickjames138

A post shared by Tika Sumpter (@tikasumpter) on Feb 14, 2020 at 7:39pm PST

  "Dear Black interracial couples with a significant other who is white (raises hand), we DO NOT need to protect them," Tika tweeted. "I promise, they will be A. OK. They need to continue to fight for us. If they get offended when you talk about racists. You have a bigger problem on your hands."

Dear Black interracial couples with a significant other who is white (raises hand), we DO NOT need to protect them. I promise, they will be A. OK. They need to continue to fight for us. If they get offended when you talk about racists. You have a bigger problem on your hands.

— Tika Sumpter (@iamtikasumpter) June 5, 2020

That's a word.

Tika has been vocal about being a black woman in an interracial relationship. Most recently, she launched a new project to spark candid conversations about race. She co-founded a motherhood platform called Sugaberry with her friend Thai Randolph, who is a media executive.

Tika shared a conversation she had with her 4-year-old daughter about the killing of George Floyd. It went like this:

My talk w/ my 3.5 year old about equality was hopeful. We’re going to a children’s protest. Me: George said “I can’t breath”. Ella: I said that! I went to the hospital. Why didn’t anyone help him? Me:That’s why we’re marching. What do you want your sign to say? Ella: I love you.

— Tika Sumpter (@iamtikasumpter) June 11, 2020

  Also...

        View this post on Instagram

                  #tbt This is a photo of my beautiful mother. Growing up #biracial, mom is black and dad is white, it was very clear to me seeing the #privilege that my dad had as opposed to my #mother. Some examples, during our #sistersister days when traveling for work we would often fly first class. There were several times my mother was asked if she was in the right seat. Another incident that stood out for me was when we were buying our first home as a family. My mother walked in the house model with us asking for a brochure. A person had said the houses were sold out. My dad walked in and it was a different story. My #goal is to see #change. This year has been a tough year. Several tears have been shed. However, a friend told me these tears will not be wasted. The #love and #support around the world has kept me going. A #change is gonna come.

A post shared by TiaMowry (@tiamowry) on Jun 4, 2020 at 6:24am PDT

  Actress Tia Mowry-Hardrict took to Instagram recently to share what life was like growing up with a black mother and a white father. She said she learned early on about the privilege her father possessed that her mother didn't. Read her moving message above.

  For some good news...

  I am launching this to give funds, resources, and a platform to black creators. Looking for black creators who want to enrich the world with their work. #BLACKCREATORSFUND pic.twitter.com/Yph9cHhIVm

— h (@halsey) June 11, 2020

  Singer-songwriter Halsey is launching a Black Creators Funding Initiative in support of Black artists, Black photographers, Black makeup artists, Black writers, Black poets, and more.  This comes after she revealed she now acknowledges her privilege of being a "white passing" biracial woman who is not susceptible to race-based mistreatment from society or police.

im white passing. it’s not my place to say “we”. it’s my place to help. i am in pain for my family, but nobody is gonna kill me based on my skin color. I’ve always been proud of who I am but it’d be an absolute disservice to say “we” when I’m not susceptible to the same violence. https://t.co/2p6RVJixwl

— h (@halsey) June 3, 2020

    The 25-year-old "You Should Be Sad" singer announced the initiative on social media, encouraging fans to tag their favorite Black creators on Instagram and Twitter with #BLACKCREATORSFUN. "I am launching this to give funds, resources, and a platform to Black creators," she tweeted. "Looking for Black creators who want to enrich the world with their work."

  hello! Please don’t forget I’ll be lurking #BLACKCREATORSFUND all week https://t.co/j7pocdIe7q

— h (@halsey) June 12, 2020

          View this post on Instagram

                  I am launching this to give funds, resources, and a platform to black creators. Looking for black creators who want to enrich the world with their work. Use #BLACKCREATORSFUND & tag your favorite black creators in the comments

A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey) on Jun 11, 2020 at 3:15pm PDT

          View this post on Instagram

                  It’s become very clear to me that some of you need to see what I’ve seen. Please swipe through this. These pictures and videos don’t even scratch the surface. It’s easy from the comfort of your home to watch looting and rioting on television and condone the violent measures being taken by forces. But what you don’t see is innocent peaceful protestors being shot at and tear gassed and physically assaulted relentlessly. You think it’s not happening, it’s only the “thugs” and the “riots”, right? The police are keeping you safe right? You’re wrong. This is happening everywhere. And innocent people exercising their rights to speech and assembly are facing violence and abuse of power. With all of our medical professionals being CONSUMED and EXHAUSTED with Covid, there is little to no medical attention available. I have first hand treated men women and children who have been shot in the chest, the face, the back. Some will lose vision some have lost fingers. I have been covered in innocent blood. My father is a black man. My mother is an EMT. This week I had to put those two associations together in ways that have horrified me. This is NOT a virtue signaling post. But I HAVE to show you what I am witnessing with my own eyes. With Trump’s decision today to enforce the mobilization of armed forces on our own citizens, this has escalated beyond your privilege and comfort to not care. Please care. We are begging you to care. This is war on Americans. This is everyone’s problem. Everyone’s. #BLACKLIVESMATTER

A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey) on Jun 1, 2020 at 4:47pm PDT

  Nice move in a very trying situation.

        View this post on Instagram

                  just want to take a minute to say how proud I am of my little brother @sevianfrangipane for finding his voice and being out protesting every single day. keep your family close right now if you’re lucky enough to have them to rely on. if you are NON-BLACK and: married to a black person, the parent of a black child, or the child of a black parent, or any other interfamilial relationship with a black person, then this is a time to let them talk when they feel like talking. listen and listen with love. Don’t assume they aren’t upset because they haven’t expressed issues or traumas in the past. A lot of repressed feelings and memories may be uncovered right now. Receive it with grace empathy and promise to learn or change where need be. With Love. @paytonselzer

A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey) on Jun 8, 2020 at 9:45pm PDT

  Photos: Tinseltown/Ga Gullner/Shutterstock.com

  [Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/06/12/biracials-black-lives-matter-robert-de-niro-tika-sumpter-speak-out-about-raising-biracial

[kuwaiti-kid]

Exclusive: Ian Guerin Talks R&B and Dream Dinner Guests

Singer-Songwriter Ian Guerin is making a name for himself in R&B. 

Mexican R&B/Pop rising superstar, Ian Guerin, is a force to be reckoned in the industry. Guerin has been writing and performing since he was nine-years-old and he burst into the music charts with his first pop album MADSEXY in 2012 before transitioning into R&B with his new album Irreplaceable which was released in 2019.

Since 2014, Guerin has won 9 BEAT 100 Awards in the United Kingdom and an Akademia Award for Best R&B Soul Song in the United States for his single “Cry”. He’s topped the BEAT 100 United Kingdom World Chart three times with his singles “Pop This Jam,” “Free Time,” and “Roll the Dice”. 

Ian Guerin recently discussed his musical career with Your Money Geek’s own Maggie Lovitt. 

Maggie Lovitt (ML):  You have been writing and performing since you were nine. What first inspired you?

Ian Guerin (IG): The need to vent. I’ve always been very sensitive so I hurt harder than average. I found a way to quiet those voices in my head through singing very early on and then came writing.

I remember penning my first song and feeling immediately lighter. Then, when I sang it, I felt a sense of healing—like everything was going to get better, even though nothing had really changed.

ML: Your debut album “MADSEXY” was a pop album, what inspired you to create an R&B album?

IG: R&B has always been the genre I’ve felt myself with. After I made “MADSEXY” I was satisfied with the overall result, but something felt off—I knew I needed to be and sound authentic to really thrive, so when I made “IRREPLACEABLE” I aimed to be 100% genuine. No trend-following, commercial considerations, or outside inputs about what was “best for me,” my career, or my sound. I wanted raw truths and timeless music.

I wanted to do an album I was proud of in every regard. I grew up listening to artists that had total control over their work, and who wasn’t afraid to defy the odds. We’ve all been through the downfalls of love I talk about on “IRREPLACEABLE,” but most importantly I’m proud of it all as a body of work. People feel the words and the music because they’re free of false pretenses. “IRREPLACEABLE” is exactly the album I wanted to make since high school. 

ML: What was the creative inspiration behind your music videos “Roll the Dice” and “Free Time”? Did you come up with the concepts?

My sister, who is a filmmaker, is the one who’s written and directed all my videos so far.

The idea behind “Free Time” was she wanted me to walk through iconic LA streets that featured notorious murals while reminiscing on the love I’d lost. She wanted it to feel as if I was wondering and walking with no apparent direction in search of answers—when she suddenly appears to put all I’m saying in the lyrics to the test.

IG: On “Roll the Dice” the idea was that I was friends with the model and I told her the story I tell in the lyrics about being in a failed relationship and being aware she had one too. Then, in the end, we come together to talk about our situations and fall in love because of that, which isn’t exactly how the song plays out, but people have to listen to it to hear the real story.

ML: Do you feel like R&B is your niche? Do you have plans to explore other genres with your next album?

IG: It’s definitely the genre I enjoy most and the niche I’ve been more embraced by fans. I’m totally me within’ R&B; however, I don’t feel my music has ever been constrained by genres. You hear multiple styles on “IRREPLACEABLE,” because I have multiple influences. Therefore, the new music I’m readying will feature a mixture of genres like 70’s Disco, Lounge & Soul. I truly have no fear of trying new things or of crossing over as many times as I need to, as long as that doesn’t compromise my essence. Because that’s what people have become attached to.

ML: A lot of your music was clearly written about people in your life. Do you feel like love and heartbreak are easy emotions to tap into? Is that where your inspiration comes from?

IG: They are most definitely where my inspiration comes from. However, I don’t know if they are easy emotions to tap into or if it’s just that I’ve grown accustomed to tapping into them to create and release them through song. Maybe it’s hard for people who aren’t used to diving into them, but I’m very introspective so it comes naturally for me.

ML: When you get an idea for a song, are you a pen and paper writer, or do you use an app on your phone?

IG: I’m definitely a phone person. I use my voice notes app to record melodies, harmonies, or lines yet my creative process is intricate.

My demos have to sound exactly like the final recording because my producer uses them as a reference for post-production and mix. I record everything twice in full. First during the demo stage and then during the final session.

What I do is I finish the demo and then play it back till I learn it by heart. I then go to the studio and lay it down with the flow and freedom only a song you know off pat has. 

I don’t read off the paper during the final session—reading distracts you from feeling. You have to have everything encrypted in your mind so you can feel it in your heart, that’s what sets the greats aside from the average. They don’t focus on doing it right, they focus(ed) on expressing it naturally.

ML: How did you react when you got your first #1? Who was the first person you called?

IG: I literally jumped and did a celebration dance. I didn’t call anybody, because it was 4 AM. I remember posting the chart on Facebook so my fans were the first to know; I told my mom and dad first thing the next morning.

ML: In recent years the music industry has really been evolving, especially when it comes to musicians owning their own music. How important is it for you to have control over what you create?

IG: It is pivotal. In fact, I have a lot of reservations about releasing music I don’t own 100%.

I know master ownership is a make or break; thus, I only take on projects I don’t control when I’m really invested in them. Plus total control over your work guarantees the preservation of your quality standards. I don’t imagine a world in which someone tells me the kind of artist, musician, or songwriter I have to be to succeed. I know who I am and where I’m going; hence, I like to have the final word on everything that’s released in my name to get there. Again, that’s how the greats did and continue doing it. I think it’s the only way to create a legacy.

ML: Do you have any advice for aspiring performers? Is there anything you wish you had known when you first broke into the industry?

IG: I wish I’d known how long and how hard it would be to make it to those first relevant steps of the staircase. Therefore, my advice to them is: don’t waste time on wishful thinking, get to work. Listen only to the advice of people you respect. Don’t listen to people who tell you you need a backup plan. Stick to your artistic essence. Don’t try to be anybody but yourself. Everybody else is taken. There can only be one you so know yourself and your music well and take a leap.

ML: With COVID-19 turning everyone to social media, do you have any plans to do a live concert on your Instagram or special jam sessions?

IG: I did a jam session for fans in Australia with incredible performers from down under and the U.K.—I’m doing a second date on May 9th. I’m also planning a show on Instagram and another on Facebook in association with other performers. Plus I got word about the possibility of performing in support of gay homeless kids of America so I’m absolutely looking forward to that. Whatever I can do to help I’m open to doing.

ML: How have you been handling quarantine? Have you been working on new music? 

IG: I’ve kept myself pretty busy. I’ve had a lot of interviews and meetings about different projects and collaborations. I’ve got over 6 collaborations pending or in the works and I’ve also been working on my new single which will be out the minute this is over.

I’ve been fortunate because a busy mind is a healthy mind and days have gone fast for me. There’s this one collaboration I was invited to do that’s got my mind blown and I think fans are really going to enjoy it—I don’t think they’ve heard me like this before.

ML: Are there any artists you would love to collaborate with?

IG: Yes, in the independent arena I’d love to work with Emma Gale. Her debut single is perfection. I’d love to sing a song of hers and this is a first for me. I usually sing my own material or offer to co-write, but when I heard her single I knew I had to keep my hands off of it and let her write it. 

Mainstream-wise it’s got to be Tony Bennett, Ariana Grande, Mariah, or Will. i. am. I’d love to sing a standard with Tony and I’ve written songs I’d love to have Ari, MC, and Will on—they’re four different projects.

ML: Do you have any big dreams you’re trying to manifest into reality?

IG: Yes, I always do. I totally believe we are energy, and that we can hold in our hands whatever we see in our minds. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t like to discuss them, because I don’t want energy to dilute, as my mother puts it. I can tell you this: my heart is open for business and I’m ready to take the world by storm. I need these dreams to materialize so I can have a voice that can really make a change.

ML: You’re having dinner, who are the five people you’re inviting. They can be dead, alive, or fictional.

IG: Ariana Grande, Jack Nicholson, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, and Bojack Horseman. I can totally imagine myself walking into the room holding hands with Ariana and Bojack third-wheeling while he gets angry at Charlie, we all agree with Jack and are mesmerized by his charm and Judy and Charlie tell amazing stories about the glamourous olden days when legends were active. God that would be out of control.

ML: What’s next?

IG: First and foremost, surviving the pandemic and helping others survive it too. Then my new single, my new video and hopefully press and concert tours. I can’t wait to meet my fans in person.

Follow Ian Guerin’s Career:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/IanGuerinVEVO Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamianguerin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IamIanGuerin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamIaNGuerin Website: http://ianguerinmusic.com/

  Check out Your Money Geek’s Interview with Paul Guerra.

The post Exclusive: Ian Guerin Talks R&B and Dream Dinner Guests appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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