To Freddie, with love

It's been days since I watched 'Bohemian Rhapsody' on its opening day and I can't shake it off.

For several reasons, it messed up with me. Good movies or books or songs are supposed to do that, don't they? And why do I need to speak up about it? I've been mulling about this for these days, why would I blog about how Fred Mercury influenced my teenage years. And, after all, here I am.

Growing up in a small town in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, in pre-internet era, it was very hard to keep up to date with the world. We had a few glimpses of what was happening in the cosmos through TV and radio, and - in my case - my English course teachers. Two guys who lived in Rio and worked in my small town during the week. Really cool guys over their 35's, they had lived abroad at some point, gays (I know now), and guess what? Both looked liked this:

Really, I swear. 

Tight jeans, tight t-shirt, black belt, moustache.

We're in the middle of a political maelstorm (I suspect our left politicians here are envying Trump resistance, only they are far- faaaaar- from Obama. Let me not start here talking about the biggest embezzlement in our history.) with the election of a new president and the discussion of several changes. One is 'politics free school'. Left-right inclinations aside, a teacher DOES HAVE a lot of power over students. He/she can influence likes and dislikes, how one aprehend the view of a different reality. 

That's what they did to me. Like Sidney Poitier played in 'To sir with love' and Robin Williams in 'Dead Poets Society'.

I liked them, a lot. Respected, looked after their knowledge of the English language. So, the way they looked - very, very different from the other guys in my small city - was... ok. It was just the way they were. So what? Big Deal.
The music they liked, the books they recommended, the movies... We were prone to like as well. They were cool guys.

That's where Fred Mercury comes in. 

There was no effort to love Queen, the songs are awesome to this day. 'Don't stop me now', 'I want to be free', 'Hammer to fall'. 
Nowaday, my 9 yo son likes some of them, can sing 'We will rock you'.

But only by watching the movie, soooo many years later, I realized how much Fred Mercury and my teachers shaped me. I had the wrangler jeans, loved them. Guess I even still have a wrangler denim jacket... The sneakers, I use them because I really think they're cool - even if my plantar fasciitis scream when I spent time in flats. 

So, in a cool, twistedly aged and weirdly up-to-date way, Fred Mercury impersonated my teachers in the 80's and I'm sorry I was so young when he was around. Didn't get to attend a concert live, didn't know about his cats, never learned his B sides, science was slow for him, but I also didn't care about his affairs.
But he is in several of my books. The Magical Tour - the very last - is in '45 days in Europe with Mr. Darcy', the teacher's influence is in 'The Prince of Pemberley'.

Now, I do what I can - and have been doing since I watched the movie: watch again the Live aid concert.

BTW, that opening sequence on 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ... OMG!!!

disclaimer: all images came from google search 'bohemian rhapsody' 'to sir with love' and 'fred mercury'

My favorite Pride and Prejudice fanfictions

Hello there!

I've been busy here with work&family, getting everything ready to take a week away visiting the Milan Furniture Fair in April, and of course, surfing the Bicentenary wave.
 

Last Saturday we had a Darcy friends' meeting covered by nacional TV! 

How cool is that?  

Globonews (our kind of CNN) will feature a Literature show on the Bicentenary and they wanted to link it to our reality so they asked to film our JASBRA RIO meeting (Jane Austen Society of Brasil, Rio de Janeiro branch).

me and reporter/poet Claufe Rodrigues from Globonews Literature

I talked about my 'Friendship of a special kind ' and am now hoping against hope that I don't get to be cut out on the final edition...

Anyway, I promised my Darcy friends some tips of fine P&P fanfics and here they are. Long overdue and sadly tainted with my bad habit of not marking authors, I now share this list with you all. But I'm sure, all the lovely ladies who wrote these superb P&P stories know how important they are to my own literary production.

Me!

 
Without further ado...

• An unexpected song - Modern, MA or T, Fluff, low angst, retelling. Rika wrote a captivating story, long and filled with lovely HMS. For me it's THE classic fanfic. Sadly, not done.
• Paper jam - Modern, MA, Fluff, low angst, retelling. My dear beta reader Beta Belén retold P&P with a Latin American Lizzy e a British Darcy. Really cool stuff.
• Obtacles to overcome - Modern, MA, Fluff, low angst, retelling. Belén again. Darcy is 'England's hottest horseman' and Lizzy is a poor student who loves horse ridding. Another classic.
• Scotch and sirens: Regency, AU, variation, T, angst. Such a nice story. Mr Darcy doesn't return to Meryton after Wickham and Lydia's wedding and a very sad Lizzy is sent to spend some time with an aunt in Soctland. Guess who decides to visit a friend at the same corner of the world?
• Chance Encounters : Regency, AU, variation, MA, low angst. A delicious story with Lizzy and Mr Darcy meeting by chance at a London theater before Bingley invites him to Meryton. In a delicious smile exchange scene Lizzy dissolves Darcy broodness and (of course) he falls in love.
• A shade in his character: Regency, variation, MA, angst. Darcy demands a very expensive reward in order to help Lydia. A classic sadly left without closure but worth the reading, I guarantee.
• Bargain with the Devil : Regency, variation, MA. Lizzy finds out about Lydia and Mr Wickham at Longbourn and not at Pemberley. Desesperate for help she seeks Darcy who she doesn't know still loves her. He decides to help but demands something in return...
• Sexpert challenge: Modern, AU, MA. Enid was really inpired when she sent the P&P gang to an erotic reality show in a deserted island. Prepare to laugh your life out. 
•  Pulse and Prejudice : Regency, T, variation, angst. Mr Darcy is a vampire. Do I need to say more?
•  Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife : Regency, sequel, MA, angst. Maybe because it was the first one I bought in paperback version I consider this to be THE oficial sequel. In spite of jumping alllll the time from side character to side character, the Darcy+Lizzy scenes are the best ever. 
• The lesson e Hunsford revisited: Sequel, MA, fluff. Mr and Mrs Darcy are enjoying their first years as a married couple. Cute, cute, cute!
• The muse: Modern, T, retelling. Another classic. Darcy is a reknown ballet choreographer and Lizzy is a corps de ballet dancer; Pemberley is at Miami. Really nice.
• The Fencing lessons: Regency, T, sequel, variation. Obvious classic. Darcy doesn't return to Meryton after solving the Lydia x Wickham situation so Jane and Bingley work a lot to unite him with Lizzy.
• Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star : Modern, AU, retelling, MA. Darcy is a rock star like Bono Vox and has a band like U2 with Bingley and Col Fitzwilliam. Lizzy has an indie girls' band with Charlotte and Jane and by chance they are chosen for the opening show of the guys' tour. So much fun!
• Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy : Modern, MA, retelling. Lizzy is a lawyer and Darcy is a judge known for his seriousness. I loved it!!! I even have a playlist for it.
• Never too late for love: Modern, MA, AU, variation. Darcy and Lizzy are older, around their 60, widowers. Excellent. 
• No strings attached: Modern, AU, variation, MA, angst. Darcy and Lizzy fall in love through letters they exchange while trade houses. When he visits Bingley and Jane he stays at Lizzy's, when she's at London she stays at his place. Here there's that famous scene...   “Don’t sunburn that part,” he giggled—yes, giggled—as he tried to pull the towel back into position over his waist./ “I like my sausage well done,” she grinned. :D
• Her price: Regency, MA, angst, variation. Lizzy accepts to marry Darcy in his first try. 
• Manga classics: Regency, T, angst, retelling, comic book. This is one my new favorites, so dramatic and with lovely twists like the second proposal under a summer shower, so lovely. I've posted about it.
• Coletânea de contos de fim de ano. All of this, in every variation. My lovely Darcy friends and I united in a free eBook or a low cost paperback super cute Holidays' stories. In Portuguese. Links on the sidebar ►

And I'll add some more...



REFERENCES:
Story era: Modern, Regency (original P&P time)
Rating: MA (+18 or older), T (all)
Category: Sequence, retelling, variation, alternate universe (AU)
HMS: hot monkey sex, erotism

hope you all like it.

bj 

Happy Easter!

Hello! Happy Easter!

May this new beginning be as sweet as all the chocolate threatening our waists!

May He bless us all!

So, Chappy 5 of 'How Darcy persuaded Lizzy' is on, and if you are wondering what´s REALLY going on in their heads, here goes a hint. Turn your volume up and close your eyes. (If you are just normal and cannot resist dancing, please open your eyes!)

Lizzy: 

Darcy:

Got it? :D

And just because I can´t resist a laugh... Can you?