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sparkles-rainbows-severed-heads · 4 years

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Nazi-Hating, Bisexual King, and German actor, Conrad Veidt (1893-1943) whose performances inspired the creation of Edward Scissorhands, Jafar from Aladdin, and The Joker, was a gem in real life. Be like Connie. Do it for him.

Here’s some information on how great he was:

https://aikainkauna.tumblr.com/post/41163268378/ten-reasons-why-you-should-love-conrad-veidt

“In honour of Conrad Veidt’s 120th birthday, let us present you with a list of reasons why you should love him. Because, let’s face it, he kicked more arse than you ever will. While wearing your great-grandmother’s dress.

1. He was an awesome actor who could hypnotise the screen in both the silents and the sounds. He could do amazing things with his body language, his eyes and his voice and move like an actual cat. Oh, and he was Method before it became popular. To the point where his friends and colleagues would get worried because his entire body language and way of speaking would change. He genuinely believed he was possessed by some greater spirit when he was acting. And it shows. 2. He was an amazing human being—everybody loved working with him because he was incredibly polite and jovial and charming, but he was even more amazing off the screen. Let us tell you why.

3. This guy starred in the first gay rights movie ever and played the first explicitly-referred-to-as-gay character on screen, and the first sympathetic gay character on screen. In a movie that said it was okay to be gay and that some people were just born that way. In 1919. The makers of the film and Connie himself were flooded with death threats from the far right. They would arrange riots in theatres and release gas and rabid rodents into the aisles. But the makers of the film stood their ground. Later, the Nazis tried to burn all copies of the film but over half of it still survives and a reconstruction can be seen here.

4. Oh yeah, and this guy also starred in an early pro-choice film, had a high opinion on women (with some progressive views for his time, when the right to vote and to wear trousers were still seen as new and scandalous things) and was a fierce campaigner for human rights and a vehement anti-Nazi for his entire life. Speaking of which…

5. In the Thirties, he starred in two British movies sympathetic to the plight of the Jews. While still a German citizen. Hitler sent him personal hate mail, Goebbels tried to persuade him into doing propaganda films for the Nazis instead and he told them to go stuff themselves. This was after some of his Jewish and gay friends had already been killed by the Nazis, too, so he knew exactly the sort of danger he was in. Oh, and they imprisoned him and tortured him with sleep deprivation and put him on the Gestapo hitlist. Guess what? He didn’t budge. He never raised his hand in the Heil Hitler salute, once. And when, finally, the British authorities helped him escape to England, he never went back to Germany again. Also? Despite being Protestant, he identified himself as Jewish on official forms as a form of protest. In. Nazi. Germany. I’m sorry, but Conrad Veidt’s balls»»»>yours.

6. He spent a huge amount of money supporting the British war effort and personally smuggled people out of the hands of the Nazis. Including driving his third wife’s Jewish parents out to Switzerland in his car under the cover of night after much bribery and passport shenanigans. In the Forties, he participated in a fund helping fellow Europeans escape Nazis and settle in the UK and the US. One of the people he helped was his Casablanca co-star, Paul Henreid. By the time Henreid had reached the UK, the war was in full swing and he was treated as an enemy alien. Connie (who had managed to acquire British citizenship just before war broke out) personally rang the British authorities and vouched for him until Henreid could finally cross the Atlantic to safety (with some monetary assistance from Connie himself). So, kids, when you watch Major Strasser menacing Laszlo in Casablanca, remember this guy actually helped him escape the Nazis in real life.

7. While living in London in the late Thirties, he and his wife would regularly shelter war children at their house. When the air raid sirens came on, he’d rather run back home to be with the kids rather than stay safe at the studio’s bomb shelter. No, really. And even when he’d left for Hollywood in the 40s, he would do stuff like this for the poor kids of London huddled in bomb shelters. You might need tissues.

8. He was made of actual sex on and off the screen. He possessed an amazing, androgynous sexual aura that would take no prisoners. He could be feminine without being effeminate, seductive and possessing and powerful without being gruff or macho, incredibly catlike and soft without being weak. Despite being skinny as hell and 6’3” tall, he was as graceful as a dancer, gliding around so smoothly it was uncanny, slightly unnatural (when Disney were making Aladdin, they deliberately based the cartoon Jafar on his performance in The Thief of Bagdad and told the animators to make him glide like Connie did. Yeah, that’s right, Disney villains were based on him. No wonder. No, really, look at that). From the Thirties onwards, he was repeatedly described as pantherlike. He had a sensuous, cruel mouth (always a little more red and open and wet than it should have been in order to be decent), large, pale blue piercing eyes (oh yeah, he was well-read in hypnotism and occultism, so he is actually hypnotising and possessing you for real), finely manicured fingernails (sometimes filed into sharp points) and a voice to melt knickers off anyone within a five-mile radius. When he smoked, it looked like he was giving oral sex to a woman and a man at the same time. Watch A Woman’s Face, The Thief of Bagdad and Dark Journey for good examples of this amazing man’s slinking, slithering, purring charm.

9. Oh yeah, speaking of the off-screen sex… Merle Oberon said “he would have sex with a butterfly”, Anita Loos quipped “the prettiest girl on the [Berlin] street was Conrad Veidt” and he was a major gay icon in 1920s Germany thanks to the aforementioned gay rights movie and his androgynous looks and style. Let us remember this guy spent his youth in Weimar Berlin and its cabarets, a modern Babylon where “anything goes” was an understatement. Drugs, wild parties and sexual diversions of every sort imaginable were the done thing in those days. You were considered unfashionable if you didn’t dress in drag and experiment with bisexuality. In that, he was hardly different from his peers (like, for example, his good friend Marlene Dietrich). But then again… there were people who experimented and there were people for whom it was all a phase, but according to numerous sources, he was a natural, voracious bisexual and so in love with everything feminine he genuinely loved to dress as a lady. And apparently he would fall in love all the time, so the Twenties were… busy years for him, especially when his second marriage had started to fall apart. Just don’t ask what he did to Olivier. And according to a couple of sources, Gary Cooper. Oh, and his first wife left him after she found him wearing her dress (her loss). Most of the time, his friends would describe him as a ladies’ man during the day, and going after the men as well after he’d had a few drinks in the evening. He seems to have calmed down a lot in the Thirties after he found genuine happiness with his third wife and escaped the Nazis to the UK, but apparently he was still an incorrigible flirt with both sexes until the end of his life. If you think he looks seductive and deliciously perverse on screen, that’s all real and then some. So, yep, this was a guy who was a genuine saint and an amazing human being and a naughty, naughty man at the same time. How often do you hear of both sides coexisting in the same person?

10. He was, basically, the last lingering sigh of Romanticism as a genuine cultural movement. On screen, he played the Gothic, Byronic hero to the hilt (The Student of Prague being one of the greatest examples of the type). In the silents, he played degenerate dandies, tortured painters and pianists and violinists, cruel yet seductive tyrants, men haunted by their doppelgängers, possessed creatures wanting to crawl out of their own bodies, sleepwalking and twitching and writhing on the screen, turning everything into a dark, exquisite ballet. In the sound films, he turned that demonic energy outwards and would pin people down with his gaze as he cursed them, would undress women with a flick of his pitch-black lashes, would curl his long fingers around their arms in a sadomasochistic, erotic stranglehold. He never completely lost his accent, but he compensated for it with pitch-perfect softness and tone, speaking very slowly and quietly when everybody else would speak loud and fast. His voice in The Thief of Bagdad was compared to poisoned honey. The MGM bosses were surprised at the mountains of fanmail he received from women in the Forties, even if they had never given him a starring role, only supporting, villainous ones. And the ladies wanted this villain, oh yes. A woman moviegoer (presumably after seeing his performance in A Woman’s Face) described him thus: “Conrad Veidt has wicked eyes, a sinister mouth, strange hands and a half-man/half- woman quality about him. His walk is frightening. There is something not quite normal about him. And yet, he was totally fascinating, charming and appealing to me at the same time!”

So, there you have it. There are many more reasons to love him, but it would take forever to try and list all of them. I suggest you watch his movies and read up on him yourself, because he deserves to live forever.”

#conrad veidt #do it for him #do it for her #the cabinet of doctor caligari #the cabinet of dr. caligari #the man who laughs #gwynplaine #casablanca #the hands of orlac

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bookloversreviewer · 5 years

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We're celebrating the release of Light My Fire by Jessica Ruben! One-click yours now!

Light My Fire (Sex. Rock. Mafia. #1) by Jessica Ruben

Cover by: Okay Creations

NA Contemporary Romance

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46641148-light-my-fire

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2noGWkE

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2nppUD7

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2oYFC8L

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2nfSJlz

Paperback: https://amzn.to/2mrEKIU

From Amazon bestselling author Jessica Ruben comes a hot new Romance…

He saved me from war.

Fed me when I was in too much pain to eat.

Smuggled me and my family into America when it became too dangerous to stay.

But, Nico didn’t flee with us.

While I began elementary school in the United States, he was building the greatest and toughest Mafia of the century.

The Mafia Shqiptare.

Nico is now King of all underground trades.

Sexy. Aggressive. Brilliant.

After years of nothing but silence, he’s back in my life,

Ready to do whatever it takes to bring me into his universe.

He isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.

EXCERPT:

“It’s your brother,” he says matter-of-factly. “But you probably knew that already.”

My stomach drops. Agron.

“It seems he’s been stealing from some of my associates.” His voice is completely devoid of any feeling. “He was dealing for them and keeping a little bit of product for himself. Sometimes, he used it; other times, he sold it. But after a while, people began to notice. He ran to the Shqipe for help.”

I want to blink, but I cannot move.

“I gave him the money to pay those debts. And now, I’m the one he owes. I figured I could use him to do some small-time work, get my money back that way.” He takes a sip of his wine, completely unfazed. “And then I hear, Agron wants a firm spot in my world. Gave one of my men a whole story that the Mafia Shqiptare is where he’s meant to be.

“As we both know, your brother has always been a loose cannon. Arguably, untrustworthy. I knew him when he was a kid, but I’m a firm believer that people don’t change.” He stops speaking, continuing to dig into his food.

Meanwhile, I’m worried mine is going to come back up. Hearing this about my brother isn’t a surprise, but it’s painful nonetheless.

I take another sip of my wine, hoping it will calm me or at least give the illusion I’m relaxed. Unfortunately, my hand trembles, and the glass shakes, giving me away. Nico notices, of course.

He clears his throat, putting his fork down. “There is something I need from you. And if you give me what I want, I’ll protect your brother from the other gangs by giving him a spot in the Shqipe. You do not have to agree to the arrangement. But if you do, there is no end to it until I decide it’s over.” He settles into a forward-lean position, big arms resting on the glass table and shirtsleeves pulled up to the center of his strong, corded forearms. Everything about him, from his body language to his words, spells dominance.

I open and then shut my mouth.

Nico looks me up and down, his gaze stormy and hot.

Is Nico going to ask me for sex? It wouldn’t be unheard of in these crazy circles. But I have a limit, and whoring myself out for the sake of my brother is a no-go. No. Impossible. Never.

“What I need is simple,” he continues casually, the look in his eyes extinguished. “There is a new family I’m aiming to do business with. They’re the type who like to work with men who are … settled down. I know how loyal you are to your word. We share a language and customs. You will act as my wife when I request it.”

“I have school.” I lick my lips. I can’t let go of my future. Not for Agron and not for anyone. I won’t!

“You can go back for your studies”—he nods—“finish your degree. But when I call, you must come.”

“This arrangement,” I start, pointing between himself and me, “it’s just for public purposes, r-right? Nothing private you’re expecting or illegal?” I can’t help my stutter. I want to stay strong in the face of all of this, but it’s getting difficult.

Nico looks over my shoulder, and I turn my head, finding no one behind me. When I refocus on him, he’s fuming. He knows what I’m insinuating.

He grits his teeth. “You aren’t my whore, Elira. And I’m not going to ask you to do my dirty work either.” His eyes are hard.

Is he offended?

“Take my proposal at face value.” He finishes his drink. His huge hand places the delicate crystal glass on the table. “There is no hidden agenda. You pretend to be my wife, come when I call you, and act as I expect, and in return, I will bring your brother into my fold, making sure that no outsider kills him. If you walk away, he’s on his own.”

“He wants to work for you. He will do a good job for you.” I swallow hard.

He cocks his head to the side, like he’s calling bullshit. “Agron’s best asset is that he is related to you.”

I shift, but the weight of my body feels like it’s doubled. “And if he’s within the Shqipe, the other groups won’t be able to touch him?”

“That’s right.”

Quiet descends upon our discussion, but my mind shrieks. The skeptical part of me is on questioning overdrive. “What kind of events would be required of me?”

He takes another bite of food. “We’d travel. Dinners. Things like that.”

I wait to hear more, things along the lines of dungeons and sex slave, but thankfully, it doesn’t come. “So, all I have to do is pretend we’re married?”

He nods. “Yes. Exactly.”

“But what about when this business thing you need me for is complete? What will happen to Agron then?”

His lips quirk up. “You’re very loyal, Elira.”

“He’s my brother.” What else can I say? I want and need Agron to stay safe and alive. This is clearly his best shot.

“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes. I would take this offer then if you are so keen on making sure he stays out of trouble.”

“You’ll swear to that?”

“My oath is my bond.”

I know he’s telling the truth. For people like us, honor is everything.

I wait for him to elaborate some more, but he doesn’t. Surprisingly, I feel my nose twitch. I was expecting him to mention something, anything, about before. About what we had. But he doesn’t. And I’m not about to either. I just want to get the hell out of here. I want to go back in time and tell myself not to have that damn cigarette. I wish I’d flagged Jack down when he was circled by those girls and claimed him for myself. Instead, I made one fucking choice, and now, here I am, in front of Nico, my life on crazy ground.

“It’s late.” Nico shifts in his chair. “You’ll stay tonight and think. Tomorrow morning, give me your answer. Regardless of what you choose, I’ll have my car bring you back to school.” He stands up, twisting the fancy gold watch around his wrist. “When you’re finished eating, Maria will bring you back to your room.”

“I want to leave tonight.” Some of my bravado from before is gone. Beneath the strong girl is plain me—a college kid from Tobeho. Here is the last place I want to stay.

“Until I have your answer, you aren’t allowed to take one step out of my sight.” He stands up to his full menacing height, and in this moment, he truly scares me. He doesn’t give a shit about what we had—that much is clear.

I force myself upright, refusing to cower.

Seemingly satisfied, he walks away.

“What an asshole,” I curse under my breath.

He snaps, “What did you call me?” His stubborn jaw gives him a stony expression.

My stomach drops to my knees.

“Something to remember.” He saunters back to where I sit. “I will not be seen with a woman who doesn’t look polished or well-raised. I know who you are and where you come from. Act like the woman you ought to be or forget the deal.” And with those final cutting words, he’s gone.

About the Author:

Jessica Ruben lives and works in New York City, where she spends her days dominating in the court room as an attorney. Come nightfall, she writes romances centering on gorgeous alpha males and the intelligent women who love them.

Jessica is an insatiable reader, and will devour a few books a week without batting an eyelash. Books have always been her drug of choice, and she has no plans on detox anytime soon. She has three wildly delicious children and a husband who, for reasons unimaginable to her, loves her brand of crazy.

http://jessicarubenauthor.com

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spynotebook · 7 years

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This post was originally published on The Portalist. It has been reproduced here with permission. For more from The Portalist, follow them on Facebook.

Unless you’ve been living in isolation on Ahch-To for the past six years, you probably know that we’re just days away from the release of The Last Jedi. The Last Jedi is a Star Wars movie, and it’s going to have Skywalkers and lightsabers and the Millennium Falcon and even porgs, whatever the heck they are. Hooray! But what is it going to be about?

This article includes everything you need to know before you walk into The Last Jedi, plus some stuff that you probably don’t, to be completely honest. The sections below are ordered from the most remedial to the most nerdy, so feel free to skip the start if you know your stuff—or to start right at the beginning if you’re seeing it with friends who don’t know you’re a Star Wars ignoramus.

The background: the Star Wars universe before The Force Awakens (2015)

The Last Jedi is a Star Wars movie. You’ve seen Star Wars, right?

If you haven’t, you should take time to watch some movies in the days ahead of The Last Jedi’s release. You don’t need to, because I’m about to give you the background, but you should, because (most of) the Star Wars movies are great. If you click this link, I’ll even tell you what order to watch the Star Wars movies in, which is a thing you actually have to think about with the Star Wars movies.

Anyway, here’s what you need to know about the ghosts of Star Wars movies past, which are certain to have an impact on The Last Jedi just as they did on its predecessor, The Force Awakens (spoilers follow, of course).

RELATED: The 7 Most Absurd Moments of the Star Wars Holiday Special

Force ghosts of Star Wars movies past. Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Star Wars (1977) establishes the most important parts of the Star Wars universe. The galaxy is ruled by the Empire (bad), but there is hope in the form of the Rebellion (good). There are also Jedi knights (good), who are monk-like warriors with lightsabers. The original Star Wars opens with an Imperial raid on a Rebellion ship. Princess Leia is captured by bad guy Darth Vader, but not before stashing plans to the Imperial super-weapon (the Death Star, of course) in a couple of robots (“droids,” in the Star Wars universe) and firing the whole package off in an escape pod. Enter Luke Skywalker, a kid on a desert planet who stumbles on the droids, finds out that the father he never knew was a Jedi knight, hitches a ride off the planet with a smuggler named Han Solo, rescued Leia (or, more accurately, she rescues him), and eventually blows up the Imperial super-weapon as Darth Vader spirals off into space in a damaged ship.

Credits roll, but the story continues. Vader’s survival (and a huge box office return) set the stage for a sequel.The Empire Strikes Back (1980) is perhaps the best Star Wars movie and features the biggest spoiler since Citizen Kane: Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father (that’s Empire’s spoiler, not Citizen Kane’s). From here on out, Star Wars is a family affair, and that family is the Skywalkers. Empire also features Luke training on a remote planet with a Jedi master (Yoda), a relationship it seems he’ll be on the other side of in The Last Jedi.

RELATED: Star Wars Gifts for the Jedi in Your Life

Yoda on the remote planet Dagobah. Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

The original trilogy wraps up with Return of the Jedi (1983), which goes back to the surprise-family well with the reveal that Princess Leia is Luke’s sister and Vader’s daughter. Vader both repents and dies in Jedi. Han and Leia get together. This stuff looms large in the new movies, as you might imagine, especially since we’ve somehow gone from the Jedi Return-ing to being down to The Last Jedi. Something has gone wrong, it seems.

Before me move on, let’s talk prequels. I haven’t bothered with the episode numbers yet, but Star Wars loves its episodes. Special editions and re-releases have changed the title of Star Wars (1977) to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, and the other two are Episodes V and VI, and technically have similarly clumsy titles now. The prequels filled in the beginning with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (the Sith are the evil Jedi with red lightsabers). They were released years after episodes IV, V, and VI, and weren’t nearly as well-received, but you knew that. They track the story of Anakin Skywalker, destined to become Darth Vader, and also prominently feature Obi-Wan Kenobi, destined to be Luke’s mentor in the original movie.

RELATED: 50 Star Wars Quotes from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ewan McGregor as Ben Kenobi in the prequels. Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Oh, and it actually came out after The Force Awakens, but I’ll mention Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) here because of where it fits in the narrative. It’s a prequel that takes place immediately before the very first movie (i.e. between Episodes III and IV), and it isn’t really relevant to the new trilogy—though you should watch it anyway, because it is so, so dope.

More background: The Force Awakens (2015)

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

After two prequels that everyone hated and one prequel that only some people hated, Star Wars was revived again after Lucasfilm was sold to Disney. The first big Star Wars release of the Disney era was The Force Awakens, which serves as Episode VII, a direct continuation of Episode VI—excuse me, I mean “Star Wars: Episode VI –Return of the Jedi.”

The Force Awakens returned Star Wars to some of its old conventions, rejecting the prequel trilogy’s love for the Episode part of the title, obscure politics, and, uh, bad acting. It also features a plot that closely parallels that of the original Star Wars. Some people think the derivative plot makes The Force Awakens a terrible movie, which is a fine opinion to have and share at dinner parties, and definitely not something that makes me want to remind you that the whole plot of Star Wars was completely derivative to begin with, anyway, man, so why don’t you just relax and enjoy things?

via GIPHY

Anyway, The Last Jedi will be a direct and immediate sequel to The Force Awakens, so you should just watch The Force Awakens. It’s just one movie! But if you really won’t, I’ll go ahead and spoil it here.

With the Empire gone, the Rebellion has established a Republic. But Luke Skywalker is missing and a new set of baddies—the First Order—is trying to re-establish the old Empire.

RELATED: Ralph McQuarrie: The Artist Who Made Star Wars Shine

Once again, we meet a hero (Poe Dameron) who stashes secret stuff (part of a map that shows where Luke Skywalker is hiding) in a droid (BB-88—the round thing) before being captured by a bad guy in black (Kylo Ren). And, once again, that droid finds a parentless hero (Rey) on a desert planet, and that hero discovers a calling.

We also meet a stormtrooper-turned-good-guy (Finn) and some heroes from the original trilogy: Han Solo, who has returned to his smuggling ways, and Leia, who goes by General instead of Princess now. It turns out that bad guy Kylo Ren is their son, but he’s obsessed with the wrong part of the family legacy—the work of his grandfather, Darth Vader. Kylo Ren is being guided by a very ugly dude named Snoke, who appears as an enormous hologram.

RELATED: 6 Swashbuckling Space Operas to Enjoy While You Wait for the Next Star Wars

Snoke in “The Force Awakens.” Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

The Force Awakens ends with a mashup of Star Wars’ greatest hits: a prison breakout on board a super weapon, a space battle to take out that station, a ground assault to take out the station’s “shields,” a lightsaber battle, and family drama. The last proves to be the biggest surprise of the movie, as Kylo Ren kills his father, Han Solo. But the good guys win out, the map to Luke gets put together, and Rey heads off to meet Luke Skywalker.

So that’s where we are now—but this raises plenty of questions.

The questions that The Last Jedi might answer

VIDEO

If one thing separates The Force Awakens from every other Star Wars movie, it’s that the film seemingly lacks a Skywalker at its center. All six previous movies starred either Luke or Anakin, plus extra Skywalker parents and siblings and Skywalkers-by-marriage. The Force Awakens puts its most prominent Skywalker, Kylo Ren, in the bad guy role, à la Vader, but our hero is not (necessarily) a Skywalker.

But, of course, we don’t know who Rey’s parents are. Could she be a Skywalker? Leia and Han don’t mention a daughter. Nothing has indicated that Luke has one. But Star Wars has always been about Skywalkers, and if The Force Awakens reminded a lot of people of the series’ first film, well, then there’s a certain twist that would make The Last Jedi very reminiscent of the second.

Speaking of Skywalkers, The Last Jedi is going to feature Luke pretty prominently. What’s he like these days? It seems he’ll be at least as reluctant a mentor as Yoda initially was in The Empire Strikes Back—and perhaps one that’s a good deal more cynical. Why is that? And what will his relationship with Rey be like?

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Rey isn’t the only character whose origins are a mystery. Who is this Snoke dude? Is he a Sith? He’s apparently not, but if he’s not, then … well, what the heck is he?

Rey may be off meditating and training, but Poe and Finn are still in the thick of things with General Leia. They’ll be joined by newcomer Rose Tico (a resistance maintenance worker). What’s on their plate in this one? The previews are pretty short on super-weapons for them to blow up. Will The Last Jedi be a quieter, sadder affair, as Empire was?

There’s another new character that’s getting a lot of buzz: Benicio Del Toro’s character, who we don’t even have a name for yet. He’ll meet Finn and Rose at a gambling resort and may help them break a code, and that’s about all we know.

As for the rest we’ll just have to wait to find out. In the meantime, though, at least we have lots of questionable fan theories.

What happens next? Fan theories galore

A quick warning before we move forward: while the fan theories listed below are just theories, they obviously could be correct. They also involve a deeper examination of preview footage and available details than you might usually have going into a new movie. So consider this your sort-of-kind-of-spoiler warning, if you care about such things. Now, onto the theories!

∙ Luke is Rey’s father:

This is the most obvious answer to the series’ current big question. It would be tidy and would be on-brand for the series. But it wouldn’t be surprising. Does that matter?

∙ Rey is Leia’s kid.

The only over obvious way to make Rey a Skywalker is to have her be Leia’s kid. But neither she nor Han Solo (the father of the only kid we’re sure Leia has had) seem to be looking for a long-lost daughter.

∙ Rey is a Kenobi.

This theory is very popular, but I really don’t know why. It’s largely based on Rey’s accent, which is not exactly unique in the Star Wars universe. It’s not clear how we’d end up with Kenobi children, and using Rey to connect Obi-Wan to the new movies seems like a solution to a problem nobody thinks exists.

∙ Rey is a Jinn, as in Qui-Gon from Episode I.

I mean, she’s not, but it’s a real theory, so here you are.

∙ Rey turns on Luke.

The case for this is largely based on preview footage.

∙ Luke is the bad guy.

The Skywalkers don’t have a great track record for staying not-evil, and Luke has some interesting lines in the preview. He allegedly went into hiding after his pupil Kylo Ren turned to the dark side—but hey, who knows what really went on, or what happened after that? This theory meshes nicely with the Rey-fights-Luke one, but is similarly short on evidence.

∙ Rey turns to the Dark Side.

If not Luke, why not Rey? She has a special connection to Kylo Ren, and Star Wars has always been about falls and redemptions.

∙ Kylo Ren turns to the Light Side.

It’s like the Rey theory but, like, opposite! A redemption arc for Kylo Ren seems inevitable, but it could just as easily be in store for Episode IX.

∙ Snoke is Darth Plagueis.

See, Darth Plagueis is a Sith Lord mentioned in the prequel who—you know what? It doesn’t matter, because we already know Snoke isn’t a Sith.

Are any of these worth the bandwidth it takes to display them? That’s hard to say. All we know for sure is that they’re fun to consider, and that we’ll get at least some of the answers when we return to a galaxy far, far away on December 14th.

(images: Lucasfilm)

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bookloversreviewer · 5 years

Text

We're celebrating the release of Light My Fire by Jessica Ruben! One-click yours now!

Light My Fire (Sex. Rock. Mafia. #1) by Jessica Ruben

Cover by: Okay Creations

NA Contemporary Romance

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46641148-light-my-fire

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2noGWkE

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2nppUD7

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2oYFC8L

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2nfSJlz

Paperback: https://amzn.to/2mrEKIU

From Amazon bestselling author Jessica Ruben comes a hot new Romance…

He saved me from war.

Fed me when I was in too much pain to eat.

Smuggled me and my family into America when it became too dangerous to stay.

But, Nico didn’t flee with us.

While I began elementary school in the United States, he was building the greatest and toughest Mafia of the century.

The Mafia Shqiptare.

Nico is now King of all underground trades.

Sexy. Aggressive. Brilliant.

After years of nothing but silence, he’s back in my life,

Ready to do whatever it takes to bring me into his universe.

He isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.

EXCERPT:

“It’s your brother,” he says matter-of-factly. “But you probably knew that already.”

My stomach drops. Agron.

I want to blink, but I cannot move.

Meanwhile, I’m worried mine is going to come back up. Hearing this about my brother isn’t a surprise, but it’s painful nonetheless.

I take another sip of my wine, hoping it will calm me or at least give the illusion I’m relaxed. Unfortunately, my hand trembles, and the glass shakes, giving me away. Nico notices, of course.

I open and then shut my mouth.

Nico looks me up and down, his gaze stormy and hot.

Is Nico going to ask me for sex? It wouldn’t be unheard of in these crazy circles. But I have a limit, and whoring myself out for the sake of my brother is a no-go. No. Impossible. Never.

“I have school.” I lick my lips. I can’t let go of my future. Not for Agron and not for anyone. I won’t!

“You can go back for your studies”—he nods—“finish your degree. But when I call, you must come.”

Nico looks over my shoulder, and I turn my head, finding no one behind me. When I refocus on him, he’s fuming. He knows what I’m insinuating.

He grits his teeth. “You aren’t my whore, Elira. And I’m not going to ask you to do my dirty work either.” His eyes are hard.

Is he offended?

“He wants to work for you. He will do a good job for you.” I swallow hard.

He cocks his head to the side, like he’s calling bullshit. “Agron’s best asset is that he is related to you.”

I shift, but the weight of my body feels like it’s doubled. “And if he’s within the Shqipe, the other groups won’t be able to touch him?”

“That’s right.”

Quiet descends upon our discussion, but my mind shrieks. The skeptical part of me is on questioning overdrive. “What kind of events would be required of me?”

He takes another bite of food. “We’d travel. Dinners. Things like that.”

I wait to hear more, things along the lines of dungeons and sex slave, but thankfully, it doesn’t come. “So, all I have to do is pretend we’re married?”

He nods. “Yes. Exactly.”

“But what about when this business thing you need me for is complete? What will happen to Agron then?”

His lips quirk up. “You’re very loyal, Elira.”

“He’s my brother.” What else can I say? I want and need Agron to stay safe and alive. This is clearly his best shot.

“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes. I would take this offer then if you are so keen on making sure he stays out of trouble.”

“You’ll swear to that?”

“My oath is my bond.”

I know he’s telling the truth. For people like us, honor is everything.

“I want to leave tonight.” Some of my bravado from before is gone. Beneath the strong girl is plain me—a college kid from Tobeho. Here is the last place I want to stay.

I force myself upright, refusing to cower.

Seemingly satisfied, he walks away.

“What an asshole,” I curse under my breath.

He snaps, “What did you call me?” His stubborn jaw gives him a stony expression.

My stomach drops to my knees.

About the Author:

http://jessicarubenauthor.com

0 notes

bookloversreviewer · 5 years

Text

Take a peek inside Light My Fire by Jessica Ruben! Don't forget to add it to your TBR!

Light My Fire (Sex. Rock. Mafia. #1) by Jessica Ruben

Cover by: Okay Creations

NA Contemporary Romance

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46641148-light-my-fire

From Amazon bestselling author Jessica Ruben comes a hot new Romance…

He saved me from war.

Fed me when I was in too much pain to eat.

Smuggled me and my family into America when it became too dangerous to stay.

But, Nico didn’t flee with us.

While I began elementary school in the United States, he was building the greatest and toughest Mafia of the century.

The Mafia Shqiptare.

Nico is now King of all underground trades.

Sexy. Aggressive. Brilliant.

After years of nothing but silence, he’s back in my life,

Ready to do whatever it takes to bring me into his universe.

He isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.

EXCERPT:

“It’s your brother,” he says matter-of-factly. “But you probably knew that already.”

My stomach drops. Agron.

I want to blink, but I cannot move.

Meanwhile, I’m worried mine is going to come back up. Hearing this about my brother isn’t a surprise, but it’s painful nonetheless.

I take another sip of my wine, hoping it will calm me or at least give the illusion I’m relaxed. Unfortunately, my hand trembles, and the glass shakes, giving me away. Nico notices, of course.

I open and then shut my mouth.

Nico looks me up and down, his gaze stormy and hot.

Is Nico going to ask me for sex? It wouldn’t be unheard of in these crazy circles. But I have a limit, and whoring myself out for the sake of my brother is a no-go. No. Impossible. Never.

“I have school.” I lick my lips. I can’t let go of my future. Not for Agron and not for anyone. I won’t!

“You can go back for your studies”—he nods—“finish your degree. But when I call, you must come.”

Nico looks over my shoulder, and I turn my head, finding no one behind me. When I refocus on him, he’s fuming. He knows what I’m insinuating.

He grits his teeth. “You aren’t my whore, Elira. And I’m not going to ask you to do my dirty work either.” His eyes are hard.

Is he offended?

“He wants to work for you. He will do a good job for you.” I swallow hard.

He cocks his head to the side, like he’s calling bullshit. “Agron’s best asset is that he is related to you.”

I shift, but the weight of my body feels like it’s doubled. “And if he’s within the Shqipe, the other groups won’t be able to touch him?”

“That’s right.”

Quiet descends upon our discussion, but my mind shrieks. The skeptical part of me is on questioning overdrive. “What kind of events would be required of me?”

He takes another bite of food. “We’d travel. Dinners. Things like that.”

I wait to hear more, things along the lines of dungeons and sex slave, but thankfully, it doesn’t come. “So, all I have to do is pretend we’re married?”

He nods. “Yes. Exactly.”

“But what about when this business thing you need me for is complete? What will happen to Agron then?”

His lips quirk up. “You’re very loyal, Elira.”

“He’s my brother.” What else can I say? I want and need Agron to stay safe and alive. This is clearly his best shot.

“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes. I would take this offer then if you are so keen on making sure he stays out of trouble.”

“You’ll swear to that?”

“My oath is my bond.”

I know he’s telling the truth. For people like us, honor is everything.

“I want to leave tonight.” Some of my bravado from before is gone. Beneath the strong girl is plain me—a college kid from Tobeho. Here is the last place I want to stay.

I force myself upright, refusing to cower.

Seemingly satisfied, he walks away.

“What an asshole,” I curse under my breath.

He snaps, “What did you call me?” His stubborn jaw gives him a stony expression.

My stomach drops to my knees.

About the Author:

http://jessicarubenauthor.com

0 notes