#Michael Sheen has killed me today | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ingravinoveritas · 6 months

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Have you seen this?

(Grouping these together since they are related.)

So, I have indeed seen Georgia's Insta stories from today, of which there were several. I'll put up some screenshots of the ones @mythicalgallery mentioned for those who might not have seen them:

These stories came first, of a photo of David with Elliot Levey (who was his co-star in Good and is, I believe, also godfather to at least one of David and Georgia's children), and who could probably make a killing moonlighting as a Michael Sheen lookalike. Apparently a lot of people thought the same thing, going by the volume of comments on Twitter and people also replying to Georgia's story, which she subsequently took a screenshot of and posted.

That then brings us to the story in @climb-dtennant-like-a-tree's screenshot. What's strange to me is that Georgia posted another picture of she and David (both of which were presumably taken in the car on their way to or home from their outing last night) with his face not covered (posting side by side for comparison):

So I'm not entirely sure why she chose to censor the second picture, although I've seen numerous theories abound. One that seems particularly common is people saying that she didn't want people to make her picture be about him, which is interesting to me because all of Georgia's pictures that she takes with David are about him, whether he's the focal point of the photo/video or not. He is there to generate engagement, because she knows that is what people want to see, and that photos of her with him have many more interactions than those that do not.

I've also seen some folks saying that perhaps David did not want to be photographed by a one-woman paparazzo and she is respecting his privacy, but to my mind, if that were truly the case she would not have taken or posted the pic at all. My feeling, then, is that David either looked pissed off or was making a weird face and Georgia did not want that to detract from the shot, so censored his face. This isn't far out of character for her, either, as she also censored Michael's face in another Insta story from last month.

For me, however, the interesting timing of today was not anything to do with these stories, but rather Georgia posting another story (a picture of David with Birdie) right after AL posted the video of Michael and Lyra. It's hard to say how much of this was coordinated or planned, but given how many times this has happened, it makes me wonder if they are posting these things for entertainment, just to see the fans freak out and praise them for it. I've mentioned previously how Georgia and AL remind me of the girls who used to bully me in high school, and this reminds of one particular facet of their behavior. In Georgia and AL's case, it's doing things to get a reaction/a rise out of the fans and then making fun of the fans for it. I fully acknowledge that I have no way to know this for sure, but that is the feeling that I get.

But yes, those are my thoughts on Georgia's story censoring David's face/all of the assorted Insta stories from today. I would be curious to know what my followers think of all this as well...

#climb-dtennant-like-a-tree #mythicalgallery #reply post #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #georgia tennant #sometimes i feel like the more i try to understand Georgia the less i actually do #curiouser and curiouser #also someone should probably get poor Elliot a t-shirt that says 'I Am Not Michael Sheen'#i can just imagine what Georgia must've thought seeing those comments #yikes #thoughts #discourse

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billpottsismygf · 9 months

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Okay, rewatch complete and my feelings are just so *mixed*. When I was halfway through, I wrote this whole thing about the weak plot and bad pacing, but having watched episodes 4-6 in one sitting today, I’m now feeling much better about it. In fact, the emotions of the last scene were even more hard hitting this time, and I no longer have as much of a character issue with Aziraphale’s decision as I did my first time through.

To get my bad thoughts, all written yesterday, out of the way:

The plot is so weak and the pacing is all over the place. What is series 2 about? Crowley and Aziraphale take in an angel who has lost his memory, they successfully hide him for a few episodes while trying to set up two shopkeepers, then we find out what was going on. The End. Series 1 works because we get all this amazing character stuff for Aziraphale and Crowley on top of an engaging romp about the end of the world, with a huge cast of characters and lots of moving parts that all come together at the end for a satisfying finale.

I found episode 3 a particular slog, which is a shame because I do actually like the Georgian setting of the flashbacks, but it gets very flimsy very quickly. I just don't believe Elspeth's sudden desire to kill herself (with an apparent sudden change of heart re: bodysnatching, since she says she doesn't want anyone digging her up), then another sudden turnaround once she's been given the money. I liked the general message they were going for wrt poverty and Aziraphale's ignorance of how the world really works, but it just doesn't quite work for me.

I also don’t buy into Nina and Maggie at all. If it was established that they knew each other a little already, then it might work, but Maggie’s deep investment in Nina liking her just reads as either overbearing or unbelievable. They’ve clearly never spoken about anything other than coffee before, and Maggie has a crush fair enough, but after one somewhat awkward evening locked in a shop, she’s crying and declaring herself in love. I like both of the actresses, but I’m not sure they completely sold it either. (I feel bad pointing out particular instances, but when Maggie’s “crying” when Aziraphale goes to ask about the song, she doesn’t even believably read as upset, let alone crying.)

There's also just the, fanfic-ness of it all, especially with Gabriel and Beelzebub. I've always seen that pairing as a bit of a crack one, though I'm glad there are people who enjoy it, and for it to become canon like that... Maybe if they were still bitches at the end? But the mushy lovey dovey 'wherever [they are] is my heaven/hell' stuff just doesn't read as in character for either of them. It's like they switch into totally different characters at the relationship reveal (though on the rewatch, I did appreciate knowing why Beelzebub was so keen on finding Gabriel).

Really the main things this series has going for it is, firstly, that it is often pretty funny, and, secondly, the chemistry between David Tennant and Michael Sheen, on top of their individually brilliant performances. I am deeply invested in their relationship at this point, as well as the wider implications for Heaven and Hell, but if I weren’t I don’t know that I would be all that excited for series 3.

I do think series 3 will be better, as this was always described as the series that got us to where series 3 needed to start from, but this is so obviously a filler that it’s hard to see why it was made in the first place. I imagine we needed that break up scene at the end to lead into the final series, but I wonder if that couldn’t have been achieved with a special, or honestly if we couldn’t have just found out what happened through flashbacks within series 3 itself.

Now, onto the good, written today:

The second half of the series is actually much more enjoyable. I adore the entire conceit of having a Regency ball, and it works so well alongside the gathering menace of the swarming demons. I also love the entirety of the 1941 flashback, even if it doesn’t have much to do with the main plot - sidenote, but the thing of calling the flashbacks ‘minisodes’ is very odd given that they often take up the vast majority of their respective episodes.

Now that I was expecting the Gabriel and Beelzebub stuff, it wasn't quite as jarring as the first time. I stand by what I said above about the out of character-ness, though.

The Nina and Maggie of episodes 4-6 are also much more believable, because they're actually talking. They're taking part in the main plot, too, and they get to have agency at the end and tell Crowley off for trying to manipulate their love lives.

As said above, this time the entire final scene between Aziraphale and Crowley packed an even bigger punch. I loved it the first time round, though of course I found it devastating, but this time knowing where it was leading, it hit me all the more. It’s a real showcase of both Michael Sheen and David Tennant’s acting chops, as well as the complex relationship between their characters.

Derek Jacobi, master that he is, is of course completely fantastic as the Metatron. I wonder if he’ll have a bigger role in series 3 (if we get it). I really hope so; I’m always delighted to see more of him. Muriel is so adorable as well, and I find the rivalry between Uriel and Michael so enjoyable.

This series is such a mixed bag and I just cannot settle on a consistent opinion. I think perhaps it would have fared better with either a more complex plot, or fewer episodes. I’ll probably do another rewatch soon, but on a much slower episode-by-episode basis.

#good omens series 2 #good omens #good omens spoilers #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #good omens mine #mine #reactions

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therealvinelle · 3 years

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Hi, love your metas and your fic. I think you mentioned somwhere that at the end of BD Aro was trying to prevent the fight. What were his motives? According to Edward, the Volturi are cowards, but I didn't get this feeling. Caius was begging for a battle, the guard vocally proclaimed willingness to die for the cause... hell, Jane had to be restrained from running to Bella and punching her in the throat. And I find it unlikely that their leader is less brave than them. Explain Aro's brain pls

Thank you so much! That’s really nice of you to say. And sorry for the late answer.

And explain Aro’s brain, whew. That is a very big question with a very long answer and this post will be a manifesto by the time I’m done. But you wanted Aro’s brain explained so manifesto it is.

So, before we go anywhere I have to make the distinction between Aro of the books and Aro of the movies. Those two are different people.

Starting with appearance, because casting does a lot for me and if a big deviation is made it better be like Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, which is to say it better fit the character. Also, disclaimer, I think most of Twilight was miscast, and especially the Volturi. I’m forever dying at Caius looking like Lucius Malfoy. However, this is an Aro post, so we’re highlighting Aro.

Aro of the books is a twenty-something Greek with skin that has petrified and eyes covered in a milky sort of film, which totals to him looking perfect, as all vampires do, yet frail. When he walks it looks like he’s gliding. This is an otherworldly, ancient, inhuman being. He’s energetic and excitable, yes, but if anything that should add to how very other he is. Casting Michael Sheen is a clear signal that the movies were going in a completely different direction with Aro. Sheen is a great actor who played what he was given perfectly, but what he was given was a very different character.

In New Moon the book, Aro first rejects Edward request because this is Carlisle’s gifted son, and more, this is not what the Volturi do. They are not hitmen. It’s just a big no all around.

Bella enters, and the Aro she meets is a very polite and gracious man who’s delighted to see the human still alive, and pleased Carlisle’s son won’t be suicidal anymore. However, Edward fully intended to step into the sunlight in the middle of Volterra, specifically to provoke the Volturi, and he has broken the law with Bella. Further, Edward makes it clear that he fully intends to walk out of Volterra with his human still human, and that she’ll die of old age if he gets his way. Edward’s contempt of the law could not be more clear. However, Alice shows Aro that Bella’s fate is sealed, she turns or she dies. The law will be upheld. Aro is glad to hear it, and lets the Cullens all go home.

All in all, it’s a very tense occasion where Edward has put Aro in a difficult position, because he’s trying to force him to kill his best friend’s son, and Aro goes “YES THANK GOD” when Alice finally gives him an out.

New Moon of the movies was not this. Starting with the flashback (because I’m being thorough), Aro executes a lowly criminal himself. I object to that, I think that’s a menial task and Aro doing it himself made the Volturi look less regal, not more. Cut to the present day, Aro rejects Edward’s request because he doesn’t want to waste his gift. We get the whole meeting with Bella, and Aro… well I don’t know why he does any of the things he does. This guy never mentions his friendship to Carlisle, tries to kill our plucky heroes three times in the space of one minute (one, gives Felix the order to kill Bella, stopped by Edward. Two, moves to decapitate Edward, stopped by Bella. Three, he’s about to eat Bella, stopped by Alice), and when he lets them go it feels terribly convenient.

This was a guy written to be the villain of the series, and it showed.

Cut to Breaking Dawn part I’s ending scene, and while I love the song choice for the scene, and fully agree that Aro considers misspelling Carlisle’s name to be a capital offense, the scene itself… we are presented with a villainous, power-hungry megalomaniac who’s just waiting to strike against the Cullens.

We then get Breaking Dawn part II, and I haven’t seen that movie in years but I remember the fight scene well enough. Aro kills Carlisle with the biggest grin on his face, and gives the go-ahead to his Volturi to kill the surviving Cullens and their witnesses.

Contrast that with canon, where Aro’s first words to Carlisle are «Nothing would make me happier than preserving your life today». Now, he’s making it very clear that this meeting will most likely end with Carlisle’s death, but he’s not happy about it. He’s certainly not going to kill him with a smile on his face and laughter in his heart.

The movies needed a hammy villain, and that’s what Michael Sheen played. It is not who Aro is, at all. And he’s not the only character this happened to, but again, this is an Aro post so I’m not going to start raging like Don Corleone about what they did to my boys.

So, with the movies firmly expelled from the post, let’s look at the Twilight series from Aro’s point of view.

Or, rather, we’ll have to start earlier because Aro’s decisions throughout the series are pretty clearly motivated by Carlisle. And that means considering, “why is Carlisle so important, anyway?”

Consider these things: one, Aro is gifted with the power of knowing every single thought a person has ever had. He knows your soul. Two, Aro is the leader of the supernatural world, he has been for over a thousand years.

How many friends does a person with that power and in that position have?

Three, who does Aro even come into contact with?

Starting with number three, for Aro it’s going to be 1) criminals, 2) Volturi guard hopefuls, 3) Weirdos like Laurent who are wasting Aro’s time.

(“But what about the guard!” Well, while we observe close interpersonal relationships between Aro and Jane, and Aro and Renata, and one can assume Corin to be close to the wives, the distinction between Volturi coven and Volturi guard remains. The guards are servants, in some cases beloved servants, but servants nonetheless. It would be inappropriate and weird for Aro to start slumming it with Demetri and Felix)

So, Aro doesn’t get out much, which brings us to point two. The people he does meet, and who are willing to entertain a friendship with the Volturi leader, are going to be people who want something. And that might work for some rulers, Louis XIV built Versailles specifically to make his subjects do this for him, but he had something to gain politically from that. Aro does not, his power is supreme without a need to tolerate brown nosers. More, with his own and Marcus’ gifts, he’ll know right away that he’s being used for power. He would get nothing out of it.

Finally point one, Aro’s gift. Say that we have a vampire who’s not a weirdo and who thinks Aro’s a cool dude. Well, the question now is, who would ever want a person in their life who knows all there is to know about them? I wouldn't want anybody to know every thought I've ever had, I certainly would never seek out a person to know me that deeply when I could just go find normal people to be friends with instead. Not to mention how incredibly unequal such a friendship would be.

In short, I don’t think Aro has any friends.

Enter Carlisle a very amiable person who cherishes Aro for his personality, and doesn’t mind having his mind read. Aro just found a unicorn. Carlisle on his end likes Aro so much that he lives with him for decades. Even if you want to read their relationship as platonic, that’s still a very strong friendship.

Point being that Carlisle is unbelievably precious to Aro, and so very unique. Aro has lived for over three millennia, and never met anyone like this before. There won’t be another Carlisle.

This in turn makes him willing to stretch as far as he can to preserve that friendship and, as the plot thickens, keep Carlisle alive.

Fast forwards to 2006, and Aro is sitting in Volterra minding his own business when Carlisle’s son walks into town demanding his own execution. He has not committed any crimes. Not only is assisted suicide not something the Volturi even do, but this would ruin Aro’s friendship with Carlisle. Even if Carlisle was miraculously understanding of Aro killing his son (which I can’t imagine he would be), this would never leave the air between them. Carlisle could never be around him again after something like that.

So, Aro turns down Edward’s request. “Stupid Volturi man ruining my dramatic suicide, I’ll show him who’s boss!” Edward replies, and runs shirtless into the sunlight. I’m sure Aro was just dying, you had “The Sound of Silence” playing as he stared into nothingness because how is this happening to him. A whiplash of an hour later, Bella is alive again, Aro is happy, we can be done with this now, right? Right?!

No, Edward says, we cannot be done with this. He’s still refusing to turn Bella.

And so we get that whole New Moon exchange where Aro very tellingly shoves the part where Edward WALKED INTO THE SUNLIGHT IN VOLTERRA under the carpet and out of the conversation (for comparison: Irina is executed for false testimony and Bree for breaking a law she didn’t know existed), and he even allows Bella to leave human when he could easily have bitten her himself to keep the Cullens honest. This guy went out of his way to be lenient and show the Cullens good faith.

And then a few months later Irina walks into Volterra, bearing memories of what is unmistakably a Cullen immortal child.

Aro may care for Carlisle, but this is the guy who killed his baby sister so he’d still have Marcus’ gift. He will bend far, very far, for those he cares about, but he will not break. It’s duty above love, Volturi above Aro’s personal preferences. An immortal child is not an offense that can be tolerated, and so it’ll be Didyme 2: Aro Kills Someone He Loves Boogaloo.

By now I think it should be quite clear why I think Aro was trying to prevent the fight. Battle would have meant Carlisle’s certain death.

(And that’s even assuming the Volturi won the fight. With Bella there, there was a chance the Volturi wouldn’t prevail. But even before Bella started showing off, Aro was very much hoping this wouldn’t be another Didyme situation.)

#aro #volturi #carlisle cullen #twilight #twilight meta #twilight renaissance #the sad thing is that i have so much more to say about Aro #this is only the first of many posts #Anonymous #ask #i guess i also have to tag #aro/carlisle #sorry guys my terrible ship is leaking into my metas #but damnit IT'S A GOOD SHIP #long post

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thesibfiles · 3 years

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Courtney going on tour right after?

Theres a misconception that after Kurts death, Courtney went straight on tour right away. This is false. The album was already set to release a few days after and they couldnt change that on such a short notice. Promotion for the album was cancelled and she pushed back the tour 4 months.

“Live Through This was supposed to provide Love an opportunity to step out from her famous husband’s shadow. “It’s annoying now, and it’s been annoying for nine years, Love said in a 1999 Jane Magazine interview of always being connected to Cobain. Released four days after Cobain’s body was found, the album’s promotion was put on hold. Rather than retreat from the public eye, Love openly mourned and helped fans of Cobain and Nirvana make sense of the singer’s death. She sat with grieving teenagers gathered outside the couple’s Seattle home and recorded a reading of parts of his suicide note that was played at the singer’s memorial that gathered near the Space Needle. In the days following his death, Love showed a very raw and emotional side and admitted that, like many fans, she didn’t have all the answers.

It was, and still is, impossible for people to discuss Live Through This without noting the irony of the album’s title. Love has said the name was not a prediction at all, but instead a reflection of all she had endured in the months leading up to its release, including a very public custody fight with the Los Angeles Department of Family Services over daughter Frances Bean. Rumors suggested that Cobain had written much of Live Through This (it’s Miss World, not Mister, just FYI). “I’d be proud as hell to say that he wrote something on it, but I wouldn’t let him. It was too Yoko for me. It’s like, ‘No fucking way, man! I’ve got a good band, I don’t fucking need your help,’” was Love’s response to critics in Spin’s oral history of Live Through This. Love and Cobain often shared notebooks and lyrics with each other, and while there is talk of Cobain’s influence on Love’s work, or the writing of all of it, less is mentioned in the press of her impact on his lyrics and music. Rather than sucking all the life out of Nirvana or threatening the success of the band, like many assumed she would do, she inspired Cobain. Fun fact: In Utero, Nirvana’s last album, was named after a line from one of Love’s poems.

Sadly, songwriting rumors would be replaced by other rumors. Women are often vilified and condemned for the deaths of their male partners. Love, like all women, was supposed to save her partner from death and addiction. Fans of Cobain projected all their anger and resentment over the loss of the Nirvana front man onto Love, and soon she was blamed for not only his addiction but also his death. There are even two movies devoted to the theory that Courtney killed Kurt: the awful Soaked in Bleach (2015) and the equally awful Kurt & Courtney (1998). If you think we’ve come a long way, baby, sadly we haven’t.

One year after Anthony Bourdain’s death, Asia Argento is still being blamed, and in September 2018, Ariana Grande had to take a break from social media after fans blamed her for the death of her ex Mac Miller. A few months later, she would be blamed for new beau Pete Davidson’s mental health and addiction issues. It’s amazing she finds the time to write hit songs what with all the dude destruction she has going on. When women are not being blamed for the deaths of the men in their lives, they are being attacked for not grieving properly. “She wasn’t crying. She’s got $30 million coming to her. Do you blame her for being so cool?” a hospital staffer said of Yoko Ono following John Lennon’s murder in 1980.

About four months after Cobain’s death, Love went on tour to promote her new album. Some questioned and judged why she would go on tour so soon, but Love has said it was a necessity. She had a young daughter to support. She needed to work. She also, sadly, still needed to prove herself. “I would like to think that I’m not getting the sympathy vote, and the only way to do that is to prove that what I’ve got is real,” Love told Rolling Stone in 1994.

Twenty-five years later, Cobain’s death still hangs over Live Through This. In the days leading up to the anniversary of Cobain’s death, former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur wrote an open letter to music magazine Kerrang saying she “would not stand for Kurt’s death overshadowing the life and work of the women he left behind this year.”

“We were extremely well designed for each other,” Love has said of her relationship with Cobain. In a letter reprinted in Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love, she calls him “my everything. the top half on my fraction.” The two had similar upbringings, both came from broken homes and spent childhoods shuttling between relatives and friends. They both grew up longing for love and acceptance. When we tell the story of Kurt and Courtney we talk about drugs and destruction, but we don’t talk enough about love.

The two also shared an intense drive and ambition. “I didn’t want to marry a rock star, I wanted to be one,” Love said in a 1992 Sassy interview. Evidence of her drive can be found in the many notes and to-do lists she kept, some of which are collected in Dirty Blonde. There are reminders to send her acting résumé to agencies, to write three to four new songs a week, to “achieve L.A. visibility.” A scene in the documentary Kurt & Courtney features an ex of Love’s reading from one of her to-do lists, which has “become friends with Michael Stipe” as the number one task to complete (not only did Love do this, but he is her daughter’s godfather). This ambition is not surprising from a woman who, when she was younger, mailed a tape of herself singing to Neil Sedaka in hopes of getting signed. Love knew what she wanted at an early age, and what she wanted was fame.

She was certainly living by the “do not hurt yourself, destroy yourself, mangle yourself to get the football captain. Be the football captain!” motto she championed in the 1995 documentary Not Bad for a Girl. Ambition is often a dirty word when it is used to describe women and Love is no exception. She has been repeatedly described as calculating and controlling when she should be rewarded for her blond ambition and viewed as an inspiration. Critics and the press often call her a gold digger who only married Cobain for fame and money. They fail to mention that when the two met Pretty on the Inside was actually selling more copies than Bleach, Nirvana’s debut album. Even post-Kurt, Love’s intentions were always under scrutiny. On the Today Show to do press for The People vs. Larry Flynt, Love refused to talk about her past drug use, despite the host’s repeated questions, saying the topic was not an appropriate fit for the show’s demographic. She was right, but it didn’t stop a writer from describing the move as “calculating” in a 1998 Spin piece.

Cobain was ambitious too; he was just much slyer and more secretive about it. He was known to call his manager and complain when MTV didn’t play Nirvana’s videos enough, and he would correct journalists who misquoted the band’s sales figures in interviews. While success is typically celebrated and rewarded for men and it certainly was for Cobain, he also had to be mindful of the slacker generation that loved Nirvana and greeted success — and especially mainstream success —

While female celebrities like Love are criticized for their rebellion, male celebrities, like Cobain for example, are celebrated and mythologized for it. Cobain and Love both struggled with addiction, but it is Love who is repeatedly vilified for her drug use. “She was vilified for being a mess, for being a drug addict, for not being a great parent — in other words, all of the things we expect in a male rock star,” said Bust magazine in a piece in the magazine’s 20th anniversary issue, which featured Love on the cover.

We make jokes about the drug antics of male celebrities from Keith Richards to Charlie Sheen, idolizing their debauchery and depravity. The new Netflix/Lifetime movie by Jack Daniels, The Dirt, about Mötley Crüe, takes the band’s excesses to almost comic levels. Check out crazy tourmate Ozzy Osbourne snorting a line of ants by a hotel pool! Such zany antics! I would love to see Lindsay Lohan try to get away with that. We never allow women to live down their arrests and their addictions, but we repeatedly allow men to have a redemption arc. Robert Downey Jr. was in and out of jail and on and off drugs for much of the mid to late ’90s, but we rarely, if ever, talk about his past.

When Love isn’t being attacked for her addiction issues, she is being judged for her parenting. Love’s first unflattering press was “Strange Love,” the much publicized 1992 Vanity Fair profile by Lynn Hirschberg. While the piece talks at length about Love’s drug use and constantly questions her parenting ability, it doesn’t paint Cobain in the same light. “It is appalling to think that she would be taking drugs when she knew she was pregnant,” says one close friend in the piece. Hirschberg relies on many unnamed sources and focuses often on the tabloid-like aspects of Love’s life and addictions. “Courtney has a long history with drugs. She loves Percodans (‘They make me vacuum’), and has dabbled with heroin off and on since she was eighteen, once even snorting it in Room 101 of the Chelsea Hotel, where Nancy Spungen died,” she writes. “Reportedly, Kurt didn’t do much more than drink until he met Courtney.” (Even when it is reported by Kurt and Krist that Kurt tried heroin in 1989, way before Courtney, It was also known that he smoked weed and used caugh syrup to get high in 1989 and 1990.)

This double standard was common in coverage of the couple. In Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the 2015 documentary by Brett Morgen, Love asks her husband, “Why does everyone think you’re the good one and I’m the bad one?” Later in the film we see a scene of Frances Bean’s first haircut. The child sits on Cobain’s lap while Love searches for a comb and scissors. The camera shows Cobain nodding off, and while he maintains that he is just tired, it’s clear he’s not. The scene is painful to watch, especially because those around Cobain carry on like nothing in wrong, giving the feeling this is just like any other day in the Love-Cobain household. The scene is a reminder of how the press treated Cobain’s addiction when he was alive. They just carried on like nothing was wrong, instead directing all their judgement at Love.

#courtneylove #courtney love #hole #grunge #nirvana #kurt cobain #kurtcobain #90s

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babyspiderling · 3 years

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Tiny Dancer p.2

"Just stare into space, picture my face in your hands. Live for each second without hesitation"

"Janet, you can't tell anyone about this." Michael tells her, focused on damage control. Janet fires back without hesitation. "The hell you mean I can't tell anyone? Marlon owes me ten bucks now." I roll my eyes, patting Michael on the back. "Mike,I'm sure your brothers are looking for you. I don't think we want anyone else listening in on this conversation anyways. I'll talk to Jan, ok?" He glances back and forth between his younger sister and I, a concerned look deep in his face. He sighs out an "Ok, fine." and heads back to his dressing room. I turn back to the youngest Jackson. "Listen Jan, I only want what's best for Mike. If it were up to him, and if the circumstances were different, you'd be the first to know on purpose. The world may be changing fast, but we've got a long way to go. The media would flip if word got out that The Michael Jackson was with not only his seamstress, but a white chick at that. Not to mention your father. God, he would kill us if he found out. He'd fire me and i'd never see Michael or any of you again." I deflate in front of her eyes, letting myself show vulnerability to the fifteen year old. "I really do love him Janet. I can't lose him, but I can't just let him risk losing his career over me. I'm the reason we're a secret. Michael is a glass half full person, always trusting and seeking out the positive, but I see what is going to happen if we enter the world of the limelight." When I look into her eyes, her head is cocked to the side, studying me. "Alright, I see where you're coming from. I know Joseph, and you're probably right. Just don't hurt Mike. He's my favorite after all." I nod, relieved that she understood where we are coming from. "I promise to tell you everything you want to know later ok? Maybe at the hotel or while I'm patching up something that the boys unsurprisingly ripped up." Janet giggles, and we make our way back to the rest of the group.

I lay down in the linen sheets of the hotel bed, needing to sleep to be able to get up in the morning to fix a couple of loose buttons and worn knees. I hold a pillow close to myself and let myself float away to dreamland.

The creaking of my door opening stirs me from my slumber. I prop myself up on my elbow, turning on the lamp. "Mike? What's going on?" He's in pajamas, and his hair is mussed. He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, and murmurs out a "Couldn't sleep." I huff and fall back onto the bed. "Fine, get in here. You said so yourself that you sleep better with someone than alone. We've both got an early morning and it's already... 2 AM." His bare feet shuffle across the hotel carpet and the bed slightly creaks as he climbs in next to me. Once he's gotten comfortable, I lay my head on his chest and wrap an arm around him, succumbing to the exhaustion filling my bones.

I wake up to my alarm, letting myself give in to Michaels grip and the temptation to hit the snooze button and spend an extra few minutes in the warmth and security his arms provide. I snuggle close to him and doze off. Once again the door opens up, but I shrug it off, thinking it to be Janet. Instead of her girlish squeal of embarrassment, I hear a masculine shout of surprise. The sharp cry from Randy shocks us both awake. The second youngest Jackson wears an expression of both surprise and smugness. "I knew it! I knew something was going on between you two! Mike, my man, congrats. I knew you'd get her eventually. Now tell me, when did this all start out?" As Michael and I rubbed the sleep from our eyes, Randy had made himself comfortable on the small couch nearby, his chin in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. Groaning, I pull myself out of the bed, tugging my shirt down so I don't flash Randy. I pat Michaels shoulder and groan out: "You're taking this one. I talked to Janet last night and I have to get ready. Jackie tore his shirt last night and I've got to make him a new one. Who tears their shirt in the middle of their chest like that?" I sit on my heels to grab my things and head to the bathroom to get dressed.

Finished with make-up, I tie my hair back in a high ponytail. Combing through my hair, Michael enters to get ready himself. "So, how'd it go?" He shrugs a little and reaches for the extra toothbrushes the hotel offers. "Randy promised to keep it a secret until we tell everybody else. He was a little surprised that we've been together since Destiny. He thought it was a recent development, not a three year old relationship." Securing my hair one last time, I turn and smile at my lover. "Well, at this rate, Randy only has to keep it a secret for another 5 days. Go ahead and schedule out a lunch or something for your mother. I want her to know that I love her son more than anything else, and I don't want to keep him a secret anymore. But you have to promise me that if this whole thing goes wrong, your career comes first. You have worked your entire life for this, you are living your dream life, don't throw away your dream for me." He chuckles a bit, and rests his forehead against mine. "If this whole thing goes wrong, I'll hire you again myself. You'll be my personal costumer/seamstress. And no one will be able to get rid of you." I giggle and give a peck to his mouth. "Alright toothpaste lips, finish up and get back to your room. I'm sure you can't go to sound check in your pajamas. And send Janet and Randy back to me. I need her input on somethings and I'm sure Randy has more questions." He finishes up and goes back to his room, the two youngest Jacksons coming in not too much later.

"Alright guys, I'm gonna work some because that is what I'm here to do, but I can answer your questions at the same time." I lay out the fabric on the round table in the room as the two sat down on the couch. They both started talking at the same time, but stopped soon enough. Janet spoke first. "When did this start? How did this start?" I smile at the fabric and respond. "Even when I was growing up, I thought that Michael was the most handsome boy on the planet. But when I started working with you guys 4 years ago I decided to remain professional. This was my dream career and I would not jeopardize it over a celebrity crush. Michael and I became friends not long after, and I actually pushed him away in the beginning. I was so scared that either of us would get attached and it would risk our professional lives. During the music video for Shake Your Body, I was joking around with Marlon and Michael got all huffy. He ranted a little bit and ended up kissing me. It didn't take long until we started actually dating." I flip the fabrics so that the shirt is inside out and pin it together. I move to my machine, and Randy asks: "Why keep it a secret? It's not like anyone here doesn't like you?" I adjust the needle to where I need it and lower the presser foot. "Well, we as a society may have come a long way, but not everyone is going to agree with the fact that Michael Jackson, global superstar, chose to date his seamstress, and then the fact that it's a biracial relationship will send a whole other group into a frenzy. He worked so hard to be where he is, to live his dream, and I felt that if we released our relationship to the public, it could cause a lot of backlash his way. Plus I'm pretty sure that if Joseph found out about us, he'd see me as a distraction, turning his son against him. He'd fire me in an instant. I'd probably never be able to see any of you again. Now that it's suddenly impossible to keep us a secret anymore, we're going to tell Ms. Kathrine soon. Michael is going to schedule it today, and we'll tell her then." Once the two are done with their questions, Janet turns on the radio and we just have a good time until Randy needs to head to the venue. Janet and I finish up, double checking over everything before we accidentally forget anything at the hotel.

We make it to the venue early enough that we make it backstage, and I watch the boys rehearse and just do their thing. Randy meets my eyes from his place behind the bongos, and he sends me a wink. I make my way to the dressing rooms to replace what I fixed for the second night in New York. As I replace the red floral print shirt in Michael's dressing room, my lover walks in. His hair is a little wet from sweat and he has a thin sheen of sweat covering his skin. I giggle as he does his best to freshen up. "I'm glad you don't do sound check in costume. I'd have to make an outfit for every night of the tour, since you guys sweat so much." He sticks his tongue out at me, and then has a mischievous look in his eyes. He turns and creeps towards me, his arms wide to catch me if I tried to escape him. I back away slowly, "Michael, don't do this! I'm a nice person! I just took a shower!" I go to make a break for the door but he catches me and pulls me close, squeezing me tight and rubbing his sweaty face and body all over me. "Michael Joseph Jackson! I'm going to kill you! I'll put you in an outfit from '68!" He just giggles in my ear, enjoying my shrieks and squirms. "No you won't, you love me too much." I push at his arms, trying to get out of his grip. "Not anymore! Randy's my new favorite member!" He bites at my earlobe teasingly, his breath fanning over the shell of my ear, his voice dropping from the usual airy high pitch he speaks in. "Are you sure about that, girl?" I shiver and stutter at the distraction, "Fine, you called my bluff. Now can you please let me go? I need to know when we're telling your mother." Reluctantly, Michael loosens his grip enough for me to grab the towel he used, wiping my own skin down, and I rummage through my purse for my bottle of vanilla. Michael takes a seat and smiles at me. "Girl, you know I get hungry when you wear that stuff. Smelling all sweet and stuff." I chuckle and apply the vanilla to key points. "Tell you what. When we go out to tell your mother I will buy you any dessert you want after." I watch from the mirror as he lifts himself from his seat and slots himself behind me, his mouth close to my neck, and even closer to my ear. He gives a teasing squeeze to my backside and murmurs in my ear: "What if I want you to be my dessert?" I turn in his arms, and deliver a light slap to his shoulder. "Michael! What is with you? You've never been so... forward." He just chuckles and steps away. "Maybe I'm just excited I can finally show you off to everyone. Oh, and we're meeting Mother at lunch tomorrow. I've gotten a reservation for the three of us at Mortimer's. I heard they're really good." I nod and glance down at my wrist watch. "Oh, wow! I've got to make sure Jackie's shirt fits for tonight. Break a leg if I don't see you. And I'm excited to have lunch with your mother. I love you!" I give him a peck on his perfect lips and head out the door. Michael catches my wrist before I can leave and pulls me back to him, giving me a real kiss to make up for my quick peck. I giggle as we break away for oxygen. "Alright love machine, I seriously have to go." I hurry out of his dressing room and down to Jackie.

I've never been so nervous in my life. I have no reason to be nervous. Kathrine doesn't dislike me, in fact she and I have had amazing talks between fittings and shows. But maybe after she finds out that I've stolen her son's heart, her opinion of me will change? If she doesn't approve, will Michael leave me? He is an absolute mommas boy. "Babe, relax. Mother absolutely adores you, and I do too. Everything is going to be absolutely fine. I promise." Michael squeezes my thigh in reassurance, and I take a deep breath to calm myself down.

All three of us are seated at the table and our drinks are ordered. Michael holds my hand under the table, unsure himself how to start. "Mother, I have something to tell you, I am in love with the kindest, most beautiful woman in the world." Kathrine smiles a bit at this and urges her son to continue. "That's amazing honey. Who is it?" Michael and I glance at each other before Michael tells the Jackson Matriarch. "Well, Mother, it's Y/N. She and I have been together for almost 3 years now." There's a mix of emotions on her face, and she opens her mouth, trying to figure out what to say. "Well, Michael, honey, I am so happy you found someone. You deserve to be happy. I just can't understand why you wouldn't tell anyone for all that time." I sigh, opening my mouth. "Ms. Katherine, that's my fault. I wanted to keep our relationship under wraps because Michael has worked so hard to be where he is and I didn't want to be a reason for him to receive backlash. I also knew that Mr. Jackson eliminates any distractions for the boys. I know it sounds selfish, but I would have rather kept him my little secret and not have to give him up than show him off and risk losing not only my job, but the love of my life. I know now that telling you about our relationship is going to make Michael happy, and if his happiness means I am seen as a distraction and the consequences that go with it, so be it. I regret not telling you sooner, and for that I am truly sorry." Katherine listens the entire time with soft eyes, listening to every word I say. Michael grabs my hand on the table and gives it a proud squeeze. Once again Katherine opens her mouth and what she says next almost brings me to tears. "Oh, Y/N. understand. I see you truly care about my son, putting his career before your happiness, and then his happiness over your career. I know that that is not an easy decision, and it really shows just how much you care about him. Now, I won't sugar coat anything, but not everyone will approve of your relationship. A white woman and a black man together won't be the easiest thing for people to accept but you have to remember that it is your happiness, no one else's." I felt like all the weight had been lifted off my shoulders after that. We ate lunch and enjoyed the streets of New York. After Katherine had gotten into her car, I turned to Michael. "Alright, what do you want for dessert?" Pulling me into the back of the car, he placed me in his lap. "Hmm, something sweet, a little spicy... I'll have... you."

Taglist: @accio-boys

#michael jackson #michael jackson imagine #michael jackson x reader #80s imagines #80's imagine #80's x reader #80's fanfiction

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everyhowlmarksthedead · 4 years

Text

KEEPING UP WITH THE ARIZAS

Michael “Riz” Ariza x Reader

Chapter 6: “The first date: first attempt”

Word Count: 2.3k

Author comments: Warning of some angst, and I'm not even sorry. This work wasn't re-edited, so I'm sorry if you find grammar mistakes! I hope you all enjoy. Gif isn't mine, more or less 'cause I cut it to keep Antonio's part, but credits to the author.

Tag list: @starrynite7114 @chibsytelford @dazzledamazon @mara-mpou @sammskellington @gemini0410 @1-800-imagines @briana-mishell24 @sassymox @whyisgmora @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcrobae @jade770 @witchy-wish @rebel-without-cause-x @xx--day-dreamer--xx @spiced-reads @leaalfred ✨ (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)

“I can't believe you're gonna actually do'et”.

Your father appeared from nowhere, resting a shoulder on the door frame, cross-armed. He looked at you from top to bottom, rolling his eyes with a snort, while you put your makeup on point with a red lipstick. The rest was somewhat light, but you needed to highlight your lips, one of your best attributes.

“Do what, dad?”

“Trying to ask Riz out”.

“Why?” You inquired turning at him, with both hands supported on the edge of the sink, twisting your neck some inches to the right.

“'Cause he's my friend, my brother”.

“Then, I just have to kill you. Which is a good idea 'cause he could feel guilty for god knows why, so he would want to take care of me. Maybe live together at the ran—”.

“He's older than you. And not even his type”.

“The encouragement you give me… Wao, papá!”

“I'm trying to protect you”.

“Well, thank you. I don't need it, okay? I've been preparing myself since I have fifteen. And… shouldn' you let me commit my own mistakes?”

“Good. I don' wanna hear you cry after him laughing at this… bullshit”.

Those last words felt like a knife stabbing your chest. Almost five years working on it. Trying to be his friend, losing your ass even when he was simply breathing close to you, taking interest in whatever he could be doing (...). It wasn't only a physical attraction. You really found him very intelligent, funny, hard-working and loyal. And it could sounds bad, but sometimes you wished to be one of Vicki's girl, because of the much care he had with them. Almost five years working on it, arming yourself of courage, just to see how it burned among the flames of your insecurities at the end.

You raised your eyes subtly outlined, looking your reflection in the mirror. One minute ago, you were feeling stunning, amazing, out of this world, even sexy wearing a tight black dress over your knees and a heart shaped neckline. It was the first time you were dressing like that, trying to surprise him, being used to see you on your ‘rider outfit’ which is a cool one too. Now you felt ridiculous, with some painful lashes running under your chest, snorting because you knew your father was right. Taking off the makeup from your face with a wipe, your father put his head out the door.

“Are you re—? What are you doing? For god's sake, (Y/N), when I get to the party, there will be no beer! Those fucking prospects drinks more than the fuckin' Charlie Sheen on his day off”.

“I forgot I have an exam next week, leave to the clubhouse”. You just said, cleaning the red color covering your pinky lips.

“Mi amor, listen…” He raised a hand close to you, being stopped before he could touch you.

“Dad, just fuckin' leave! Okay? I'm fucking fine”. Interrupting him, you threw the wipe inside the sink with a sudden move. “I fuckin' get it. Your brother. Older than me. With interest in women, not in… in… I don' even know what the fuck I am”.

“Cariño...”

“A fuckin' clown, dad. That's what I am. A. Fucking. Clown”. You pointed out every word on air with your left forefinger.

“You don' need to be this rude”.

“Well, fuck you for breaking my fuckin' heart, instead of telling me ‘go, do it and if he doesn't want you, I'll hold you’. That's what a normal father would say to his daughter”.

“I didn' mean to hurt you”.

“But you did”. Turning at your father to face him, you took off the black dress raising it on air hanging it in your fingers. “I had to work at Bernardino's one month to afford it, and all the makeup you see here. From dusk till dawn, surrounded by creepy drunk old men”.

“I could have paid it for you”. He said then, with a guilty tone of voice because of everything.

“But, that's not the point, dad! I was trying to show Riz I can also earn my own jack”. You leaned towards the toilet where you left your huge Mayan's black shirt to wear it. “Go to the party, get drunk with your brothers, fuck some chick and have fun”.

Your father toured his incisors with the tip of his tongue, nodding in silence. After clean the mess in the bathroom and keep all your stuff there, you just lay down in bed hugging one of your big pillows. You were waiting for that weekend for five long days away at the university, as every week since you move out of Santo Padre to San Diego.

You didn't know you had keep it. You totally forgot it and finding it brings you bittersweet memories of that night and what happened the days after. Giving a spin over the black high-heels, putting well the tight dress on, you have a look in the mirror. Still fitting like a glove to your anatomy. And you're incredibly stunning in it. You like it, you have always liked. But you don't feel like you can use it. It's like if it is going to bring some bad luck to your relationship.

“Shit, you look like a cheap bitch, baby”.

You were so self-absorbed, that you haven't realized Riz was resting his back on the door frame.

“Yeah, I'm gonna ask Vicki to be one of her girls, 'cause you can't even find your small cocky”.

Teasing each other all the time it's a current mood. And you love it. Turning at him and focus all your attention in your husband, your eyes notice the way he tied his hair in a small black bun with some bristles falling by his temples. No matter how many years can pass away, he will run you out of air with the most minimal detail.

“Are we celebrating something?” Riz lifts up an eyebrow, licking his lips. Not being nervous, but excited about the idea. “I know every special date and today isn't one of them”.

“It's just a dress, Michael”.

“Really? I was about to ask you to marry me again”. He chuckles crossing both arms on his chest covered by leather.

“I bought it seven years ago, for a… date I should have had, and that never happened”.

Riz's jaw get tense from zero to one hundred, just in a second. His gesture turns into somewhat more confused, when he notices the sadness and the pain in your voice. You never told him about that night, but maybe could be a good moment to do it. Your eyes come back to your own reflect in the mirror, before taking off the shoes, heel against heel losing almost seven inches of high.

“One month working in a… bikers' pub, enduring bullshit, to buy it. But I stayed at home”.

Riz isn't sure if he wants to know how a guy broke your heart, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to know why you kept that dress, seeming it like the dead body of a bad memory. And you're talking about something that happened seven years ago. Before being together, so he's starting to make his own Netflix movie in his head.

“I was i—”.

“I don' wanna fuckin' hear it”. He just raises a hand slightly, shaking his head.

“Why?”

“I don' give a fuck about what you did seven years ago”.

His hardened voice gives you some chills around your back, knowing he's really angry because of what he's imagining. Something too far from reality.

“Take that fuckin' dress off”.

And that is the best confirmation to know the grade of his annoyance.

“Riz, I wanna tell you something”.

“Fuck, no! You have told me a million times that I was your first love. Your only one. But something happened seven years ago that broke your fuckin' heart and fucked you down, and you keep that… clothe you were gonna use with him. How the fuck should I feel, ah? So you lied to me and… what? I was the second choice?”

“You should be a film director”.

“Good, thank you for first hurting me and then fucking laughing in my face”.

“Could you plea—?”

“FUCK, NO, (Y/N)! I'm fucking disappointed right now!”.

For a second you could swear that your husband is about to cry, with his eyes getting reddened. You can feel the tension in his body, seeing how furious his chest grabs and expels the air.

“It was my father”. You say then, before giving him the opportunity to leave the room. “My father broke my heart, actually. Even if the date wasn't with him. It was me who didn't go”.

Now, he's a little more confused, turning at you after giving you his back some seconds ago.

“Actually, me and… the ‘other guy’... we never talked about having a date. I just… wanted to force it. I mean, he was my friend. The point was come to the clubhouse and maybe earn some time together, alone”.

Yes, you're making him suffer a little, but he never was clear with you. So it's a kind of payback. And you know exactly what he is thinking. Clubhouse, Mayan, friend, seven years ago: Angel. He has been your best friend since ever.

“I can't fuckin' believe you…” He whispers letting his head falling down, until his chest meets his chin, laughing between teeth bitterly.

“But my father told me that he would never notice me, as I wanted, as I wished it. Do you wanna know why?”

“Fuck, no. And fuck you, (Y/N)”.

You have to do a big effort to not break in laughter, walking closer towards him.

“Because he was his brother. He was loyal. And a little bit older than me. Apparently I wasn't his type either”.

“I'm fuckin' done with this… bullshit, (Y/N)”. He says then whilst moving his hands about to lose his mind, walking away from the main room, looking for his helmet to leave the house.

You don't move a single inch of your body, waiting just one second before raising your voice.

“But he finally noticed me, 'cause I broke a bitch's nose who was talking shit about him!”

Silence. You can't hear his heavy boots touring your home. Riz is standing next to the principal door, and you don't need to be looking at him to know it.

“That night when Coco was full patched! I was ready to go and ask him out!” You add dancing your hips from the left to the right slightly, waiting patiently for Riz to coming back. “I was mentalizing myself for almost five years to do'et! But I thought my father was right! And I decided not to do it 'cause… I was more scared of losing that friendship, than him breaking my heart”.

Even if that last sentence is recited something low, you're sure he has heard it, with his steps walking through the hallway right to the room.

“But… well, I finally got my date, but I didn't use that dress just in case it brought me bad luck. I was too in love, to ruin it for a superstition. And I kept it in a bag”.

Riz appears again with pursed lips and his dark eyes on his feet. A little ashamed because of his words, but still being mad because of you making him believe something it wasn't true just to tease him.

“And…” Taking some steps close to the Mayan, you grab the helmet to leave it above a chair, placing his hands on your waist after that. “I made him the love of my life, my best friend, my confidant, the prize of my good karma, my soulmate…”

“All that?”

“Nope, I made him a lot of things more. But those are the most important”. Traveling your hands to his shoulders and lifting up yourself on your tiptoes, you kiss your husband with all the love you feel inside your chest. Slowly, enjoying it.

Sometimes you forget how lucky you are of having Riz by your side, and sometimes he does it too, but you know you own the whole world being together. He's the most kind man of all. The most loving, pleasing and empathic husband you could ask for. Always working hard to make you smile, to make you feel like a goddess, to make you feel proud of what you two have. Michael lives for you, and you live for him.

Deepening the kiss a little more by straining his tongue between your lips, his fingers go up to your cheeks caressing them and pushing you closer to him, with his scent intensifying and flooding your lungs. His mouth molding perfectly to yours, as always, so slow that steal you a soft gasp tangling your hands on his wrists.

“I have never felt love for anyone it's not you, mi rey”. You say almost in a whisper, when you pull away yourself a second to take some air, touching his nose with yours. “And marry you for a second time sounds so good…”

“Change your clothes, mi amor”. Riz soughs, eyes closed, with a silky loud tone bristling your skin. “We're leaving”.

“To Las Vegas?” You sound excited as a five years old about to go to DisneyWorld for the first time, even if you're already married.

“You wanna marry me again?”

“I wanna marry you every day of my life, Riz”.

#mayans mc x reader #mayans mc #mayans mc imagine #mayans x reader #michael riz ariza x reader #riz ariza x reader #riz ariza #michael riz ariza #keeping up with the arizas

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thegoodomensdumpster · 4 years

Text

I WATCHED GOOD OMENS IN FRENCH SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO

and it wasn’t that bad. Here are my thoughts, barely edited as I wrote most of them while watching the show.

EP 1

OK i like god’s voice so far

possibilité d’embarras gastrique is a good formulation, I wonder if it’s the same in the book ( I think I kinda need to read it in french now...)

aghghdhgs « primo-délinquants »

of course subtitles don’t match the audio for a variety of technical reasons but when you get things that have very different underlying meanings i find it… not good This one about Crowley being evil / a demon : subtitles : « c’est ton travail » - « it’s your job » audio : « c’est dans ta nature » - « it’s in your nature » i mean dang

crowley sounds like a little shit asking az about his sword

« T’AS FAIT QUOUA » - he just loses his shit (kinda giving me some le coeur a ses raisons vibe)

ok crowley sounds very nerdy when he tries to explain that he took down the phone network, i think i actually like this voice acting

ligur sounds… very suave (im a little ill at ease)

crowley getting called mon chou by satan freddie mercury is a thumb up from me

i see the part where aziraphale speaks japanese wasn’t dubbed over and we can still hear michael sheen. it’s a bit disturbing considering french aziraphale has a higher pitched voice (and he sounds soooo much more anxious than sheen, give this angel a xanax )

“sandwich bœuf cresson” ( beef and cress sandwich ) deirdre really who makes this kind of sandwiches

im being reminded that the chattering nuns prepared little cut outs for their explanation about the antichrist switch… such dedication to useless crafts (it made me laugh on my first viewing and it’s still funny to imagine that some of them either ordered or built these things themselves just so they could make this two minutes long presentation for the most important act of their satanic nun careers)

retire-toi vil démon infernal, créature des abysses XD i swear az doesn’t sound even remotely convinced when he is saying the « get thee behind me foul fiend » line in french, it’s just too over the top for credibility, it sounds like it’s straight out of some super intense dnd session

they still can’t say bouillabaisse (which, like, weird because french, but still valid). nice touch is crowley couldn’t say soupe de poisson (fish stew) either and said poupe de soisson (sish ftew)

warlock mah boy how can you be a teenager and not like dinosaurs

c’est un dinosaure un nullosaure plutôt - apply burn heal

La façon dont warlock s’est exclamé « C’EST NUL » m’a fait penser au nain de naheulbeuk

the english version has nothing on french speaking aziraphale for the second hand embarrassement during the magic tour. it’s over 9000 i literally hid my head in my jumper when he was presenting harry the bunny. Horrible experience, 0/20, would not recommend

EP 2

oooh agnes has a lovely voice !

why is young newton having such a quality dub for the three sentences he has to say

dick turpin’s name is jesse james (tbf dick turpin is not known AT ALL in france, i discovered him reading good omens)

shadwell is pure chaos (as expected). No particular accent for him though, the chaotic energy was probably enough. Would have made me laugh if he had like, a chti or a marseilles accent.

aziraphale is so fucking stressed out by crowley’s driving i thought he was gonna explode

« tu es un gentil garçon » => « you’re a nice boy » said az to crowley DANG THAT’S SO INFANTILIZING AZIRAPHALE YOU’RE TALKING TO A DEMON FROM HELL NOT TO PINOCCHIO

ARGH FIRST MON ANGE OF THE SERIES i’m hit straight in the heart

anathema’s mom doesn’t have a spanish / latino accent at all when talking in spanish…. why...

dog being called toutou is definitely adorable (it’s basically « doggy » but way cuter imo)

tickety-boo has become ça gaze. that’s valid. it’s corny but i still use it unironically from time to time so ... i stan

EP 3

« je répands la fomentation » « i’m here spreading foment » « quoi tu fais des crêpes au froment ?????? » « what you’re making crêpes with wheat ??? » love the fact that we shoehorned in one more ref to crêpes

az called crowley mon cher camarade, unintentionnal communist propaganda ftw

« pas de repos pour les… bah, pour les bons » « no rest for the… good » – az was so deflated about the ineptitude he realized he was saying, he felt zero percent commited to his sentence

i was wondering how they would play aziraphale not being able to speak french in the bastille and they opted to have him stutter a bit and say to his executionner « excuse me i’m anxious » XD

« vous êtes le 999e aristo à mourir par mes soins. Mais vous êtes le premier en costume beige » « you’re the 999th aristocrat I’m going to kill, but the first one in beige attire » yeah i guess now that az isn’t english anymore his most noticeable feature is his cream aesthetic

« c’est au cas où ça tournerait en eau de boudin » « j’ADORE le boudin » => « in case it all goes pear shape » - the literal translation featuring food in french is « turning into black sausage water ». I don’t know what pear shaped inspires to english native speakers but the mere mention of boudin always make me giggle, it’s such a funny word and such a funny food

OH !!! no terrence rampa for the tv series, we’ve got anthony J. rampa. Rip terrence petit démon parti trop tôt :’(

« tu roules trop vite pour moi rampa » SERIOUSLY i know we can still infer « rouler » (here as in driving, but literally rolling) as a metaphor for their relationship but you could have said TU VAS TROP VITE that would have been so much better argh

has anathema got an emergency stock of potteries to break in case of emotionnal crisis ?

« Rampa, un démon très futé, il m’oblige à redoubler d’effort » « crowley, a very clever demon, he forces me to make double the amount of effort » oh so admitting you’re making an effort there aziraphale ? :))))))

dang i really want to know how shadwell said that major milk bottle died because not only did he die in combat but aziraphale’s reaction is a bit intense, it must have been quite a tale (this could be a crack fic prompt : «The Epic Tale of the Death Of Major Witchfinder Milk Bottle, by Sargent Witchfinder Shadwell» )

des sorcières et des phénomènes sorciéreux x)

CROWLEY CALLED AZIRAPHALE DUCON ?????? EXCUSE ME ????? #NotMyCrowley #CrowleyWouldNeverDoThat #CancelAnthonyJRampa2K20 => ducon would be an insult, the gathering of du and con, con being a very nasty but common swear word, and associating it with du- makes it extremely patronizing. it’s like « absolute pathetic digraceful moron +++ ». thanks i hate it *frowny face *

EP 4

l’apocalypse c’est pour aujourd’hui juste après le goûter : it could be translated as « apocalypse is scheduled for today right after tea time » except that « goûter » is not quite tea time but rather the little sugary snack kids take when they come back from school and that most adults drop out of (i haven’t and i’m sure az hasn’t either). thanks aziraphale for having exclusively food related notion of the time because tbh same

ligur has no right to be this sexy between ariyon bakare and his french voice actor that’s just not allowed

radio crowley’s voice vs french ligur’s voice, who has the sexiest voice : FIGHT

(jk french agnes nutter’s voice is by far the sexiest)

gender neutral doesn’t ‘quite’ exist in french but pollution has been assigned a female voice actress and masculine pronouns (i’m saying it doesn’t quite exist because officially we have no gender neutral, but it’s a serious wip among lgbt+ circles to the point where it’s started being used in a few medias)

hastur « en attendant qu’un plombier vienne » / « while waiting for a plumber to come » does hell have a special plumber unit or do demons have to call on human plumbers for their pipes damages ? Dang hastur having to call a human plumber for hell’s plumbery is another damn good writing prompt for a crack fic

Michael is called Michel in the subtitles but Michael in the audio *shrug emoji*

EP 5

to get a wiggle on has become « il faut qu’on se remue les fesses », literally « we need to shake our butts » like, yes, se remuer les fesses is a common expression to say « we need to act in order to get things done » but it really casts the image of people shaking their booty to some music and obviously crowley thinks the same Weirdly enough I have almost nothing to say for that episode. Sorry. But we’ve discovered most voice actors and actresses so far and no bit of dialogue really struck me as worth discussing or pointing fingers to mock it.

EP 6

« on va BROUTER quelques derrières » - « we’re gonna lick some butts » OK THIS IS UNQUESTIONNABLY FAR SUPERIOR IN FRENCH THAN IN ENGLISH you thought LICKING butts was good ??? you really thought that ???? AZIRAPHALE HERE SUGGESTS TO GRAZE BUTTS. TO NIBBLE THEM. TO EAT THEM. TO. MUNCH. ON. THOSE. BUTTS!!!! not just licking, guys. This is as serious step beyond licking. (oh yeah he should have said « botter » instead of brouter btw, which is really just kicking, fyi)

« moi je crois en la paix, pétasse ! » wow, language, pepper (fyi i think « pétasse » is far far worse than « bitch » even if it means roughly the same, pétasse is almost never used while bitch is rather common, so it’s a swear word +++)

Dagon sounds like she’s got a nasty cold. #GetDagonIbuprofen2K20

I can confirm that Crowley offers Aziraphale to not just stay at his place, but to move in with him. « tu peux t’installer chez moi si tu veux ». omg they were roommates.

Bad translation strikes again : i don’t know why, but the french dub doesn’t have the « tickety-boo » / « ça gaze » being referenced as Rampa / Aziraphale is being knocked down, which is… a real mistep. It was narratively significant and I’m quite mad the translators missed it.

The Jesse James explanation from Newt has become very nonsensical, instead of the neat and to the point pun « wherever I go I hold up trafic » we’re getting a circonvoluted « because it’s a crime to mechanic’s diligence ». I’m not judging that one too hard, I have no idea how to make it better, and that’s probably how it was translated in the book as well thirty years ago, but it definitely doesn’t have the same impact. On the other hand, it definitely IS a very bad joke that doesn’t even deserve a chuckle, so Anathema’s embarassement really matches the audience’s (aka mine).

OVERALL :

I wasn’t convinced by Crowley… I mean, Rampa’s voice at first, but as the nerdiness showed up it really grew on me. I still think that french dubs have often problems with some voice inflexions every here and there, and for instance in Rampa’s case it was when he was annoyed or frustrated ( at the Globe when complaining about horses and Shakespeare’s plays that aren’t comedies, and also when discussing Azirphale’s magic tricks, it’s like… there is a step between having the right amount of grumpy complaining and overdoing it that is overlooked. It’s overacted, it should have been a bit quieter imo. I don’t mean to criticize voice actors too hard either but as an audience watching french dubs this is a very recurring problem and it always feels off to me. It’s actually one of the main reasons I avoid french dubs whenever possible.)

I have a hard time judging Aziraphale’s voice dub because it clashes so much with both the idea I had formed with it when I read the book and Sheen’s delivery that I just… kinda filtered it. It was too high pitched for me, and too anxious (though for this last point I must admit it could be funny at times, but I’m not fond of this character portrayal). The rest of the cast was rather good, nothing to complain about. There wasn’t anything stellar either, but everything that needed to be conveyed was and it was professionnal. It was also very homogeneous, no voice really struck me as being way too bad or way too good compared to the others, so it was really consistant.

So I don’t have much to complain about overall despite a few wonky translations here and there, BUT there is one thing I felt very robbed of : Crowley calling Aziraphale « mon ange » happens only once, when giving a lift to Anathema, and I’m almost certain they translated it that way because otherwise the joke about Anathama mistaking them for a couple wouldn’t work. So, they were forced to make it that way. The rest of the time Crowley calls Aziraphale « l’angelot », and despite being literally translated by « little angel », it feels sarcastic more than anything else ( the « L’ » in front of « angelot » is part of the reason why, it creates some distance, the other reason being that this word in itself has a very corny vibe and people being affectionnate to each other wouldn’t use it as a term of endearment). So, that’s a shame.

I like the English dub much much MUCH better than the French, but the french wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. The voice actors and actresses were quite good, the dialogues mostly faithful and endearing despite a few really missed steps. It really had its moments. Props to brouter des derrières, that one was fantastic.

#good omens #french #french omens #tv omens #my stuff #meta #review #long post #text post #i hope you found this entertaining :)

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nomanwalksalone · 3 years

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BASTARDIZATION

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

Today’s topic has everything to do with bastards, illegitimate marriages of heretical ideas that could make #menswear purists blanche. As with much of what’s viewed as heresy or blasphemy against classic menswear, the garment pictured springs forth from the 1960s, both directly and indirectly. Bastardization, of course, is all about that indirectness, that genealogical “collateral” line. And yet mutts are sometimes the most beautiful and intelligent of animals… at least to this beholder.

I came to my #menswear cropper through a love for 1960s vividness, even recognizing that its Technicolor thrills were largely phenomena confined to a privileged middle and upper class. Still, the cinematic glories of Terence Stamp, Michael Caine, David Hemmings and others made an impression on my suburban adolescent self, as did David Bailey’s photographs. And, of course, Connery’s Bond. Today James Bond is trapped in a postmodern funhouse mirror of reboots and reimaginings, licensed more to retail brand names than to kill. The more stylish heir to Connery’s infamously politically incorrect Bond is the gloriously profane cartoon hero Sterling Archer, he who coined the portmanteau word “tactleneck”, the tactical turtleneck in the deepest black and the finest materials that accompanies him on all his most sensitive missions. In a review of Archer’s and Bond’s shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser, I noted that T&A are missing out on what could be a fruitful collaboration with Archer, being as they are the inventors of another glorious bastard turtleneck from my 1960s period of inspiration.

Warren Beatty and Hemmings, who famously sported searingly striped shirts (another T&A staple) as a fashion photographer in Blow-Up, modelled it, but it was Lord (not Edward) Snowdon who made this design most famous when he was turned away from a soirée in New York City for wearing it: a tuxedo shirt made out of silk with a turtleneck collar without any space for a bow tie. The design was bizarre but awesome: the simplicity of a turtleneck meant no studs, cummerbund or waistcoat, or the aforementioned bow tie. To my mind it’s aged rather better than the ruffled front tux shirt George Lazenby sports in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

According to my pal @voxsartoria, this shirt’s design was the brainchild of T&A’s creative cutter at the time, Robert Clark, who had come up with other bizarrely inventive models, such as the Clarney, a hunting shirt with a cravat in the same cloth as the shirt built in. There’s no word on whether he also designed a shirt called the Charney, after Dov of ill fame, that would sexually harass the wearer.

I hate tying a bow tie, even if thanks to Bruce Boyer’s latest book I now know that it more or less ties like a shoelace, so I wanted to have my own tactleneck, my tactical response for dealing with black tie that cuts through the fuss and bulk of putting on a dress set and a cummerbund, among other things. But bringing back an inspiration had its issues – as Jurassic Park suggested, every resuscitation results in some genetic variation. For one, T&A only offered it as a bespoke model and never came out with a ready-to-wear version, even though T&A’s currently doing all sorts of archive editions of famous designs, so it’s a design only available custom. However, as with other items of bespoke gimmickry, apparent simplicity hid significant artifice. In order not to show its closure, the T&A version buttoned up the back, something impossible to do on my own in my valet-free class and age.

No, additional bastardization was called for. I had my own shirtmaker create a new pattern for a turtleneck-collared shirt that buttoned up the side, keeping the closure out of sight but far easier to do up, rather like the buttoning on old fencing jackets (they use Velcro now). That inspiration also came from a 1960s T&A design, in this case the side-buttoning Cossack-style shirts that they popularized after having made models for Omar Sharif to wear in Doctor Zhivago (Omar was a loyal fellow who continued to patronize T&A for decades thereafter). The collar still has to button around the back, but that can be done on my own with a lot of swearing.

In true bastard fashion I did not go back to the source, to the Churchill Room at Turnbull & Asser to have this shirt made. New customers at most English shirtmakers are required to place a minimum order of three or six shirts, and I don’t have any call for that. I instead tested one of my current shirtmakers’ skills in asking him to create a completely new pattern for an odd shirt design. Among other things I knew I could trust him to fit a test shirt on me before making the actual shirt up, something the British don’t do.

A more practical query would be why I didn’t just use a knitted turtleneck in cashmere or cotton, since those stretch and don’t need to be cut and fitted. Even at their finest, however, knits can still add more bulk under a sportcoat than a woven cloth, and they just don’t have the sheen of silk. Nor do knits usually have French cuffs for cufflinks. (For some reasons, the original T&A design had button cuffs despite being made for black tie; I changed that.) Good silk for making shirts is rather hard to find; even though 50 years ago it seems to have been the material of choice for better business shirts and formal wear shirts, to judge by mentions in those Bond novels that helped launch Connery. Nonetheless, silk is far more delicate and difficult to clean than, and generally doesn’t breathe nearly as well as, cotton. There are wonderful cottons available now that have some of silk’s luster and fineness, but in homage to my inspirations I too wanted this shirt in silk. I know that the cloth house David & John Anderson has a book of silks called “Jade” (their finer cotton books are named after diamonds and emeralds, so “Jade” is obviously a bow to China where silk weaving first originated). That book might as well exist in name only, as it was impossible to obtain, but DJA’s sister company Thomas Mason had a fine ivory silk twill that we made this up in.

The result, an obvious bastardization of black tie – tieless, waistcoatless, sashless. It looked and felt exactly as I had intended – different and yet somehow elegant in its own way, at least in my own mind – the offwhite ivory color less severe than a pure white would have been, the silk’s sheen and softness elegantly replacing conventional collar and bowtie. A tactile tactic better, in my own admittedly biased view, than the dark necktie or other inglorious bastardizations that pass for creative black tie nowadays.

Quality content, like quality clothing, ages well. This article first appeared on the No Man blog in 2018.

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ourimpavidheroine · 3 years

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Happy Belated New Year! I was just wondering if, during the pandemic, you found any new (or old, but new to you) tv shows that you've fallen in love with? Or otherwise liked enough to binge and/or watch on a regularly basis? I remember noticing you mention something about the books you've read, and I wondered if the same could be applied to another creative media.

So I suppose I should preference this by saying that sometimes I watch things because they are excellent television and sometimes I watch things because they amuse me regardless of quality. I am not above being merely entertained by media; sometimes that’s all I want and frankly, I think that’s fine.

1. The Mandalorian. Which, if I am going to be honest, has saved the bloated, rotting carcass of my once-beloved Star Wars franchise for me. And not just because of Grogu, either; Pedro Pascal is great as a character who never shows his face (but still manages to express so much emotion and intent through voice and movement) and frankly, anybody who would bring Amy Sedaris in as a reoccurring character has my vote, so thank you for everything, Jon Favreau.

2. RWBY. I am not a big fan of Rooster Teeth - that sort of frat boy geek club thing they do there holds no interest for me. But I do love RWBY and, no offense to the late Monty Oum at all, but the past few seasons have really tightened the storylines and improved the writing. Also, they’ve been making an effort to bring in some diversity there which I have appreciated. (For a very much adult show, I really enjoyed gen:LOCK and am looking forward to its second season. I’ve actually been wanting to write some gen:LOCK fanfiction, so that should tell you something!)

3. Snowpiercer (Netflix). Yeah, I enjoyed this! Great cast and plot twists and turns that were earned, not just thrown in there for shock factor. Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connolly have great chemistry and it works, especially in the sort of claustrophobic atmosphere the show has. I love it when characters are morally gray and both of them play morally gray characters and it works.

4. The Untamed (Netflix). I loved this so much I watched the entirety of it twice. Obviously China took out the love story between the two main characters in the book when they filmed it (hello, state-sanctioned homophobia!) but it’s still there if you are looking for it. Gorgeous, lush costuming and scenery (although terrible wigs on the guys, wtf, ever heard of a lace front?) and some inspired casting in some of the roles. It’s that sort of swooping, epic story that I love and you don’t realize until the very end who has been pulling a lot of the strings (and when you do find out, it’s glorious).

5. Doom Patrol. This is a weird fucking show and I love it. I mean, it’s weird. But in all the ways that tick my boxes. And bless, but Brendan Fraser as a foul-mouthed Dale Earnhardt robot man is something I never knew I needed or wanted but I did, I really, really did. Also, Diane Guerrero is astonishingly good. She won’t get any awards for it - Doom Patrol is not the kind of show that gets awards - but she should.

6. Queer Eye. I watched the original when it aired nearly 20 years ago but the reboot is so much better. SO MUCH. The original was so elitist...I remember in one episode that Thom, the interior decorator, gave this couple with three small kids a glass coffee table and I was like, the fuck is wrong with you? Not only is it dangerous for them in terms of injuries but do you have a clue how often they will be cleaning dirty handprints off that thing? Same with Ted, the cooking guru, who gave complicated recipes with difficult to source ingredients which was just ridiculous. The reboot, on the other hand, is wonderful. Antoni not only teaches cooking techniques but gives recipes that people can realistically make (and pays attention to if the person has kids, is of a certain heritage, etc.). Bobby designs real homes that can be used by the people who live in them (including being kid-friendly, and disability-friendly, for example). Tan is an endless resource of real fashion advice that can benefit ANYBODY, not just sample sized people, and he doesn’t try to make people into someone they aren’t - he just enhances and polishes who they are and who they want/need to be. Jonathan is not only a joy to behold but again, is someone who gives people real grooming advice and haircuts that they can actually keep up with (as opposed to a fancy cut that will take a lot of upkeep that you know the person won’t do) and he gladly delegates to other professionals when he knows he can’t do what is needed (fixing some matted dreads, for example). Karamo is a former social worker who LISTENS to people and really connects with them one on one to help build their confidence and tackle issues. (His predecessor, Jai, was completely useless and to this day I have no idea what he was supposed to be accomplishing.) I love Queer Eye. I love how these five men show by example how men can be nurturing, caring, affectionate and supportive. I love how open they are about their own issues, how open they are with their clients about it as well. (Although I will never EVER stop being pissed off that the producers allowed that fucking white cop to pull over Karamo like that for a “joke”.)

7. The Expanse. Yes, there are a lot of differences between the show and the books. But I don’t mind them; if anything I just look at the TV show as a different entity altogether and judge it accordingly. This is the first “hard” sci-fi I’ve really enjoyed since the Battlestar Galactica reboot ended. (The reboot of Galactica remains one of my favorite TV shows of ever, btw. I’ve tried to re-watch it but it reminds me too much of my late wife and I just can’t. But that’s on me and not the show.)

8. Good Omens. This was a delight, from start to finish. I read the book when it originally came out (my paperback copy is battered and well-loved) and it makes me laugh just as much today as it did 30 years ago. What more can be said about how absolutely fantastic David Tennant and Michael Sheen are? Or the careful and loving way Douglas Mackinnon handled the source material? Neil Gaiman meant this as a love letter to his much-missed friend Terry Pratchett and it succeeded in every single way.

9. RuPaul’s Drag Race. What can I say? I watch all of its variations. It’s overblown and relies on cheap, drummed up drama and I don’t give a shit. I’ve been watching since it first premiered and continue watching. Although I’m not yet sold on the new Porkchop plot twist thing this season.

10. Killing Eve. Oh man. A love story between two women, one of whom is a sociopathic serial killer? It’s so wrong and yet so, so right. Great performances by Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer. I especially love that they don’t try to somehow rehabilitate Villanelle; that would just ruin the entire thing. Oh and Fiona Shaw is one of my favorite character actresses and she does not disappoint. If you like your TV dark then this is the show for you.

2020′s been a weird year for TV, for sure. Kind of scarce, thanks to the pandemic, but what can you do? Anyhow, here’s my top 10, Anon!

#tv recommendations #personal #long post #Anonymous

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dukereviewsxtra · 4 years

Text

Duke Reviews Xtra: Alice In Wonderland (Tim Burton)

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Another Duke Reviews Xtra Where Today We're Continuing Our Look At The Movies Of Disney...

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Where Last Sunday On Duke Reviews, I Looked At Walt Disney's Animated Version Of Alice In Wonderland, So On Today's Duke Reviews Xtra We're Going To Be Looking At Tim Burton's Version Of The Tale...

In This Remake/Sequel To Lewis Carroll's Tale, A Now Teenage Alice, Returns To Wonderland Or Underland As It's Called In This Movie (It'll Be Explained Later) To Save It From The Tyranny Of The Red Queen By Slaying The Jabberwocky...

Will Alice Win?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland..

The Film Starts As Alice's Father, Charles Kingsleigh Trying To Sell The Idea Of Creating Trading Posts In Asian Lands Including Bangkok To Some Of His Men When His 6 Year Old Daughter Alice Wakes Up And Tells Him About Her Adventures In Wonderland...

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(Start At 0:46, End At 1:06)

Of Course, Dear Dad Eventually Dies As We Cut To A Few Years Later Where A Now 19 Year Old Alice Is Attending A Party On Former Friend Of Her Father's Estate As She Faces Not Only The Stifling Expectations Of The Society She Lives In But A Marriage Proposal From The Friend's Son Named Hamish, Who Alice Dislikes...

But During The Proposal, Alice Sees A White Rabbit Which She Chases And Falls Into A Large Rabbit Hole When She Follows The Rabbit To A Large Tree...

Crashing Into A Large Room Full Of Doors, Alice Drinks A Bottle Marked Drink Me Which Causes Her To Shrink Out Of Her Clothes...

And Yet She's Wearing Clothes For Some Reason, You'd Think She'd Be Naked When She Shrinks, Yet When She Grows Out Of Her Clothes In The Queen's Garden She Does Rip Them And Is As I Said Basically Naked With Flower Bushes Censoring Things...

But Like The Animated Version, She Left The Key Up On The Table So She Has To Eat A Cake Marked Eat Me Which Causes Her To Grow...

However, Unlike The Animated Version Where She Cries Creating A River Of Tears Before Drinking From The Drink Me Bottle Again, She Just Drinks All Of The Drink Me Bottle And Just Unlocks The Door So She Can Enter Into A Vast Garden Residing In Underland...

There, Alice Meets The White Rabbit (Voiced By Michael Sheen), The Doormouse, The Dodo (Voiced By Alfred) And Tweedles Dee And Dum (Played By Nardole From Doctor Who) Who Take Her To See The Caterpillar (Voiced By Severus Snape) Who Goes By The Name Of Absolem..

Once There, They Show Alice A Calender Called The Oraculum, Which Details Each And Every Day In Underland Since The Beginning Where They Reveal That On The Frabjous Day, She Is Supposed To Slay The Jabberwocky With The Vorpal Sword...

But Having No Interest In Doing So And Believing This Entire Thing To Be A Dream (Throughout Most Of The Movie) The White Rabbit Asks If She's The Alice Of Legend Only For Absolem To Tell Them Not Likely...

But Before They Can Get Alice Back To Her World, They're Attacked By The Cards Of The Red Queen And A Creature Called The Bandersnatch...

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(Start At 0:31)

Alice Walks With The Tweedles For A While Until They're Captured By A JubJub Bird...

Meanwhile At The Castle Of The Red Queen (Played By Mrs. Lovett From Sweeney Todd) The Red Queen Screams In Anger Over Someone Stealing One Of Her Tarts, After Discovering That It Was One Of Her Frog Footmen, She Has Him Beheaded As The Knave Of Hearts (Played By..)

That...

Tells Her That Alice Has Returned To Underland, Which Leads Her To Assign A Bloodhound Named Bayard (Voiced By Peter Pettigrew)...

Which Actually Surprised Me, As Timothy Spall Has One Of Those Voices You Could Pick Out Of A Lineup And Instantly Know His Voice From His Work In Both Harry Potter And Sweeney Todd But Here I Could Barely Tell It Was Him...

As I Was Saying, The Queen Recruits A Bloodhound Named Bayard To Find Alice In Exchange For The Freedom Of Him And His Family...

Wandering Through The Tulgy Woods, Alice Is Soon Met By The Cheshire Cat (Voiced By Stephen Fry) Who Bandages Her Arm Before Taking Her To The Tea Party, Where She Reunites With The Doormouse Before She Meets The March Hare And The Mad Hatter (Played By Johnny Depp)

And Whether You Like Or Hate His Mad Hatter, He Still Is Pretty Good...

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But When The Knave Of Hearts Crashes The Party, The Hatter Quickly Shrinks Alice To 6 Feet Tall And Hides Her In A Teapot As The Knave Talks With Him...

(The Knave) Don't Make Me Fight You, Depp Like I Did David Letterman...

With Bayard Finding Alice In The Teapot, The Hatter Persuades Him Not To Reveal Alice's Location, Which Leads Bayard To Lead The Knave And His Troops Away...

Travelling With Alice, The Hatter Reveals How The Red Queen Rose To Power On Horunvendush Day And How Not Only Did He Lose His Family (Which We'll Discover More About In The Sequel) But The Vorpal Sword...

With The Queen's Cards Quickly Approaching, The Hatter And Alice Race To A River As The Hatter Places Alice On His Hat And Tosses Her On It Across The River As He Is Captured By The Knave And His Cards...

Found By Bayard, Alice Persuades Him To Take Her To The Red Queen's Castle To Rescue The Hatter As She Crosses A Moat Of Severed Heads...

To Get There As Bayard Throws The Hatter's Hat Over The Wall While The Queen Is Playing Croquet. Found By The White Rabbit, He Gives Her A Piece Of Upelkuchen Cake To Make Her Grow Again. However, She Eats Too Much And Not Only Grows To 8.5 Feet High, But Grows Out Of Her Clothes (Like I Mentioned Before).,.

Introducing Herself As Um From Umbridge...

Is That A Town Run By Dolores Umbridge?

And Saying That Everyone Makes Of Her Over Her Height, Alice Avoids Suspicion As The Red Queen Accepts Her Into Her Court...

Being By The Red Queen's Side, She Watches As The Hatter Is Brought Before The Queen...

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(Start At 2:30)

Retrieving The Hatter's Hat Later, Alice Returns It To Him As Bayard Informs The White Queen (Played By Princess Mia Of Genovia) That Alice Is At The Red Queen's Castle...

Asking The White Rabbit Where The Vorpal Sword Is, He Tells Her That It's In The Domain Of The Bandersnatch...

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(Start At 1:06, End At 1:10)

So, Getting His Eye From The Doormouse, Alice Goes To Face The Bandersnatch Only To Run Into The Knave Of Hearts Who Tries To Seduce Her...

Wow! Who Knew George McFly Was An Asshole?

Eventually Escaping The Knave, Alice Gives The Bandersnatch Back His Eye So She Can Get The Vorpal Sword From It's Case But Unfortunately It's Locked...

But That Doesn't Stop The Bandersnatch From Healing Her Wound That He Gave Her Which Is When She Discovers That He Has The Key To The Case Around His Neck...

So As Alice Gets The Vorpal Sword, The White Rabbit Grabs The Oraculum While The Red Queen Hears About The Knave Coming On To Alice...

Knowing That The Knave Would Never Betray Her The Queen Orders Um's Capture As Alice Returns To The Hatter And The Doormouse To Free The Hatter But She Is Confronted By The Knave Who Orders The Cards To Arrest Her For Seduction....

The Hatter Tries To Hold Off The Knave And The Cards As Alice Tries To Get Away But When The Doormouse Accidentally Says "Run, Alice", The Knave Now Knows The Truth That Um Was Actually Alice....

Running Into The Courtyard, Alice Is Ambushed By Cards But Luckily She Is Saved By The Bandersnatch Who She Rides Off With To The White Queen's Castle...

Once There, The White Queen Shrinks Alice Back To Her Normal Size, Before She Has A Talk With Absolem Who Now Says That She May Not Have Been Alice When They First Encountered Each Other But She's More Like Alice Now...

Held In A Cell Next To Bayard's Wife And Pups, The Cheshire Cat Appears To The Hatter And Asks If He Can Have His Hat After His Execution Today,

However, When The Execution Happens, It's Revealed That The Hatter Was Actually The Cheshire Cat...

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(Start At 1:39)

Arriving At The White Queen's Castle, The Hatter Is Glad She's The Right Size As The Cheshire Cat Gives The Hatter Back His Hat Before Asking Alice How Her Arm Is..,

The Next Morning On The Frabjous Day, The White Queen Tries To Find A Champion As Many Come Forward But Of Course, The Prophecy States That Must Be Alice Or No One At All....

But Still Not Wanting To Fight, Alice Runs Into The Castle Where She Once Again Encounters Absolem As He's About To Go Into A Cocoon So He'll Become A Butterfly..

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(Start At 1:38)

With Both Armies Meeting On A Gigantic Chess Board, The Jabberwocky Finally Reveals Itself To Alice...

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(Start At 1:21, End At 4:05)

With The Red Queen's Guards Following Her No More After The Deaths Of The Jabberwocky And The JubJub Bird, The Cheshire Cat Crowns The White Queen As Queen Of Underland As She Banishes The Red Queen And The Knave To The Outlands...

But Unable To Live With The Red Queen, The Knave Tries To Kill Her Only For The Hatter To Stop Him By Throwing A Knife Out Of His Hand As They're Carried Off...

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Collecting The Blood Of The Jabberwocky, The White Queen Gives It To Alice Saying That It Will Send Her Back To Her World, So Saying Goodbye To Her Friends, Alice Drinks The Blood And Is Sent Home...

Climbing Out Of The Rabbit Hole, Alice Returns To The Party Where She Refuses To Marry Hamish (Only For Him To Become A Minor Bad Guy In The Next Movie)

And Instead Becomes His Father's Apprentice, Voyaging To China To Place A Trading Post There. Saying Goodbye To Her Mother, A Blue Butterfly Lands On Her To Which She Believes To Be Absolem As It Flies Off Ending Our Movie....

And That's Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland And Why Do People Hate This?

Yes, The Changes Can Be Upsetting And The Girl Who Plays Alice Isn't That Great. But The Story And Characters Are Interesting, Both Johnny Depp And Helena Bonham Carter Are Good In Their Roles, And The Environments Are Amazingly Designed So I Say See It..,

Tune In Tomorrow As We Look At The Burtonless Sequel, Alice Through The Looking Glass, Till Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#alice in wonderland #Johnny Depp #Mia Wasilkowska #anne hathaway #helena bonham carter #crispin glover #matt lucas #alan rickman #Stephen Fry #timothy spall #Michael Sheen #christopher lee #disney #disnerd #disney +#Disney Remakes

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aethelflaedladyofmercia · 5 years

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WIP Wednesday: Final Chapter of “Early Days”

Aaah, I can’t believe I’m at the last chapter of my first long fic! (Well, first in...let’s not talk about how many years...)

For those following our progress, that means Aziraphale and Crowley have left the Garden of Eden, and I will no longer have access to tons of useful GIFs related to my story.

It also leaves me at a bit of a loss as to what to say today. There’s almost nothing I can talk about that isn’t a spoiler! And I know, people say “if telling the ending ruins your story, it’s not a good story,” but as a reader (and consumer of TV shows, movies and other media), one of my favorite parts is that “aHA/oSHIT” moment when you finally figure out what’s going on, and it’s something you only get to experience once per story. So when I talk about spoiling, I’m talking about specifically ruining that moment for people, which again, is one of my favorites.

Also, it’s just super hard to talk about endings out of context?

But I suppose there is one thing that’s fairly well foreshadowed and doesn’t count as a spoiler in any major way: Gabriel shows up, and he’s an ass.

So yeah. I started writing “Early Days” less than a month after GO aired, and I wasn’t much involved in the fan community at first, so I had no idea how Gabriel was received. But I haaaaaaaated him. Well, that’s a strong word; people tend to use that term for characters that they wish wouldn’t show up at all, but I love a villain who I can just REALLY DISLIKE WITH MY WHOLE SOUL and Gabriel gets pretty close to that.

I enjoy a character that makes my skin crawl. Who makes me throw up my hands and shout “WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THE THING?!” Who occasionally does something so awful your brain has to stop and recalculate.

Heaven in Good Omens is AT LEAST as terrifying as Hell, and Gabriel just makes suuuuch a good “face” for it. I really wanted him to show up at the end of “Early Days” and be a complete ass to poor Aziraphale.

BUT, as I said, I wasn’t much involved in the fandom yet, and wasn’t sure how this would be received. I suspected (and it turned out I was right) that he had some fans - some who like him because they find him redeemable, some who just like him as he is, some who ship him with Beelzebub (which... ???? ...but I guess there is a certain logic to that, I can see it) - and I didn’t want to deal with a deluge of Gabriel fans complaining about my story.

(Yes, I was raised feral in the comment sections of FF.net and the flame-war ridden Harry Potter boards, where if you thought someone portrayed a character OOC you just told them, and then insulted their entire family and told them to give up writing. It left its scars...)

So I considered introducing an original character to play Aziraphale’s superior here. I do ultimately go that route for certain things - I’ve mentioned Briathos, Aziraphale’s commander during the War in Heaven, because Gabriel clearly is not one to actually fight; I’ve also got a new Archangel I hope to introduce down the line, once I’ve got some characterization issues sorted out; and I’m working on an OC demon to be a former superior of Crowley’s - but the scene called for a familiar character, and ultimately one thing decided me:

Gabriel is abusive.

The whole structure of Heaven is pretty emotionally abusive, but Gabriel is in a lot of very small, sometimes petty ways. He’s controlling, he’s insulting, he’s manipulative, he gaslights, and just generally makes Aziraphale’s life awful. Look at Aziraphale’s face every time they talk. Look at his overbearing body language. Look at the “material objects” scene - he literally can’t be bothered to remember the name of the thing Aziraphale loves most (well, they fall between Crowley and Food) while in a shop that sells them because Aziraphale, as a person, is just that unimportant to him.

But, perhaps more importantly, it’s the way he’s so BLOODY CHEERFUL about it. There’s a certain genuineness to Gabriel that honestly makes it all worse. He tells Aziraphale to “lose the gut” in the voice of someone who really thinks a bit of gentle ribbing is all the motivation someone needs to lose weight (stop it); he laughs about how “humans are so simple” in a way that’s meant to suggest inclusivity don’t worry, I don’t think *you’re* simple, not this time (you’re an ass); he tosses out “of course there has to be a war, how else would we win it?” with the casualness of someone who never thinks of other possible solutions (I hate you); and right before the so-called “trial” he walks past Crowley-as-Aziraphale and pats his shoulder as if to say “don’t worry, this won’t be that bad” right before berating him and ordering him to kill himself (ARG I DONT EVEN TOUCH HIM YOU MONSTER!!)...

As you can see, thinking about it sends me into a bit of a rage spiral.

But the point is: to Gabriel, this is what being a warm, genuine, loving person looks like. As far as he is concerned, he is being the best possible authority figure, gently encouraging Aziraphale to be the best possible angel, by viciously cutting away everything he doesn’t like about him. He’s completely internalized his own propaganda, to the point where he’s forgotten what love ACTUALLY looks like.

Which, in turn, means that the angels - who, as Michael Sheen once put it, are beings of pure love - are being twisted by their leader to have a wholly distorted view of what love IS.

Which means Aziraphale ALSO doesn’t really understand love. Think about it.

Smiles like this one only come after Crowley does something FOR HIM. He pouts and scowls about his jacket being ruined until Crowley removes the stain, and then out comes the smile he knows Crowley wants. I’m not saying it’s fake. Its real. Like at those eyes. He can’t maintain eye contact for more than three seconds before he has to distract himself by pretending to be a gun expert.

But in the economy of Heaven, a sign of affection is a reward for services rendered. It’s not something freely given.

I’m sure you can find counter examples of this - in the show and even in my own writing - that show Aziraphale being affectionate without prompting. I mean, he is different; he’s not wholly caught up in the propaganda of Heaven. But he is deep enough that he constantly manipulates the person he loves most and doesn’t see that as in any way problematic; he’s deep enough that when Gabriel tells him TO HIS FACE that he will fail with the Anti-Christ and no one cares, he doesn’t see any warning signs; he’s deep enough that breaking free will take more than a little hand-holding and laughing at the Ritz.

So, in conclusion. Seeing Gabriel be abusive towards Aziraphale leads me to consider the effects of that long-term abuse on our favorite angel. This, in turn, leads me to wonder about the relationship dynamic between him and Crowley - both before and after the Notpocalypse. And to wonder what exactly it will take to get them both healed - which is shaping up to be a major theme of the post-Notpocalyse portion of “Sawdust of Words.”

Which you can find here on AO3!

(Side note: Crowley also has his issues, though he does hide them a bit better. One of my upcoming long stories, “What it Means to Be a Demon” explores this side of him a bit more and...oh lord does it get real dark real quick sorry in advance.)

#good omens fanfiction #ao3 link #good omens meta #GO!Gabriel #wip wednesday #aziraphale #gabriel #ineffable husbands #good omens prime #aziraphale and crowley #seriously back the F off Gabriel you suck #ao3 #ao3fic #finished wip

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gothamstreetcat · 4 years

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OTP TAG

Rules: Pick 10 of your otps from different fandoms without reading the questions and then answer them. Then tag 10 other people to do the same.

tagged by my lovely BatCat fam: Kayleigh, @marthaskane (Tumblr caught me trying to tag your old Url) Itzel, @brvceselina and Emily @apple-grass-and-smiles

Sidenote: but it's actually pretty funny how I don't have many OTP’s. I literally have maybe only three that I'm super passionate about, and even than some of these I'm just not into the fandom anymore. So I’ll do my best (but I’m not gonna lie, some of these are made up).

Bruce & Selina (Gotham)

Martha & Thomas (Pennyworth)

Harley & Ivy (DC comics)

Anne & Gilbert (Anne with an E; since I never properly saw the original show)

Daryl & Carol (The Walking Dead)

Bruce & Selina; again (DC Comics)

Belle French & Rumplestiltskin (Once Upon A Time)

Bridgit Pike & Karen Jennings (Gotham)

Alfred Pennyworth & Maria Kyle (Gotham)

Crowley & Aziraphale (Good Omens)

Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Yes!! I wanna say it was my very first comic, Batman: Hush. It’s actually a bit of a sad story, but apparently DC Comics didn’t want the Hush storyline to be in main continuity. One of the reasons I love the comic is how clearly Bruce and Selina impact on one another, and I think the budding of their relationship is such a big part in the comic. You can tell how much they mean to each other and I think much of what the other characters in the comic said about them speaks volumes.

Have you ever read a fic about 2?

Not yet, but I’ve borderline written two.

Has a picture of 4 ever been your screensaver/profile pic/tumblr?

Nope.

If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

They’ve ‘broken up’ a lot in the show which is something I was never in favor of. I was not surprised but I was never happy behind their reasoning of creating drama or constantly making Rumpelstiltskin look like the bad guy. It was very tiring.

Why is 1 so important?

Gotham’s BatCat is so important because it really taps into the childhood of both the characters where the comics often don’t. Yes, the comics give up background but it’s often a panel here and there or maybe even some background information through dialogue. Funny thing is, their childhood is often what I am most interested when reading about my favorite characters. So often we see more of them as adults, and what makes Gotham’s version unique is how even as Bruce and Selina were undergoing constant pain, they were together. Bruce was not alone in the alley when his parents were killed and now has someone to share the heavy burden with. He was not alone in his childhood and finally had a friend to lift him up. “Current comic BatCat wishes wants that Gotham BatCat has” - drawing-cookie (and that’s just the facts)

Which one has the strongest bond?

Everyone with the exception of Alfred and Maria, Karen and Bridgit because they’re obviously my own pairings and have no real connection. The same for Rumple and Belle because even while they have a strong connection the writers kept screwing them over so it doesn’t really feel like I can properly put them here. Also, Thomas and Martha do have a strong bond, but current Pennyworth Thomas and Martha I don’t think are there yet (but they will!)

How many times have you read/watched 10′s fandom?

Yesterday when I read this I realized I didn’t have a ten, but upon remembering the blessing of Good Omens I can say I’ve watched the show at least twice, read the book once (need to re-read as well) and the scrapbook once. Such a pity... because the number should be higher.

Which ship has lasted the longest?

“Bruce and Selina. You can’t beat 80 years worth of heart stopping history” Was my first response before I added the ineffable duo. In which case, you can’t beat the couple that’s been together since forever.

How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

They’ve had their on and off moments but I think the term ‘broken up’ is way too harsh for them.

If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive: 2 or 8?

They would probably make it out alive because Thomas and Martha are both smart while Karen and Bridgit have some tools to survive. And I think Thomas would argue that I'd be wise for them to work together and Karen would tell him he’s not her dad.

Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

I can’t remember but I want to say no (even if the answer is more likely yes). It would seem obvious given how people felt about Rumpelstiltskin that Belle would not want to cause chaos onto their relationship, and Rumple would not want harm to come to Belle--if any of that makes sense.

Is 4 still together?

Yeah, the show seemed to leave off on a good (yet abrupt) note. While I’d also like to add in the novels they are indeed married and have many children together.

Is 10 canon?

Absolutely. Confirmed by Neil himself and Michael Sheen seems to be a very big shipper over them--it’s really kind of cute.

If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Honestly, Crowley and Azirapale being as they are magical beings and have quite the advantage.

Has anyone ever tried to sabotage 5?

Haha, I don’t think I should even go into this. Show wise? I don’t think so.

Do you spend hours a day going through 3′s tumblr tag?

Most definetly. I spend way too much time on Tumblr in the first place, and I’m sure their blog would be filled with oozing amounts of blood, mental health advice, taking care your plants 101, why you should recycle, and gay shit.

If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break forever or else she’d break them all up, which ship would you SINK?

Probably Alfred and Maria considering I’m literally the only one that likes them and I wanted to have an opportunity to talk about them. Their relationship wouldn’t work out in the long run anyway so they’ll be okay to take one for the team.

You guys, thank you so much for tagging me. I’m really not sure who to tag at the moment so if anyone want’s to do this please tag me in it. I also haven’t gotten a chance to read your own tags and I will do so!

#tag games #please let me know if you'd want to be tagged in the future #and if you do this please tag me

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azfellandco · 5 years

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This is not for you.

First off, do not reblog this. There are only a handful of people whose opinions on this topic I care about, and they are perfectly capable of reaching me through discord should they want to discuss this post. I know saying this is not going to deter anybody who is really determined, but I just want to make very clear what this post is for: this is for me and my friends. This is not me “weighing in on the discourse”, this is not meant to be taken as a point for or against any argument. This is me, talking about how I feel.

I think I’m done writing for Good Omens. Maybe not forever but certainly for a good long while, at the very least until tumblr’s newest obsession shifts again, preferably until this fandom shrinks back down to something more closely resembling the five people in a dinghy it felt like when I first started writing here a year ago(ish).

There’s a number of reasons for this but the primary one is: I feel too watched here. I don’t like the number of followers I have, I don’t like the number of strangers I get coming into my inbox or commenting on my posts, and I certainly do not like the atmosphere surrounding Neil Gaiman and Michael Sheen’s involvement and/or observation of this fandom.

It seems to me that many things Neil Gaiman has been saying, many things people are applauding as evidence of good representation and engagement with his fans, aren’t really his ideas and his work to take credit for. To name just one example, the conversation going on lately about Crowley dressing in women’s clothes during the Mesopotamia scene. A friend of mine made a post about this in April and it just seems to me to be too much coincidence that Neil Gaiman, active tumblr user and frequent trawler of the Good Omens tag himself, didn’t see fit to talk about this himself until people’s discussions of gender and representation started gaining traction. It seems to me that if Neil Gaiman had really intended Crowley to have been dressed in women’s clothes and read as female presenting, he might have said something about that before it became popular. Retroactively deciding something is a way because people like that idea is not the same thing as intentional representation.

And it’s the same for the pair of them being asexual and nonbinary, and the same with him endorsing queer readings just in general. It’s only been after the fandom started saying these things that he’s started saying them, too, after insisting, historically, for thirty years, that Aziraphale and Crowley are not a couple. And please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want him to say “they’re explicitly gay” or whatever else, I want him to get out. I want Neil Gaiman to subscribe to what he has claimed to support in killing the author, and stop commenting. Stop lurking, stop answering people’s questions, stop treating the community that has sprung up around this book as his. It isn’t. Fandom spaces belong to the fans, not the creators, and headcanons and fanwork belong to the people who make them, the predominantly queer and female people who make them.

I am done writing for this fandom because I am tired of seeing concepts that originated with me and my friends, for fun, for free, come out of the mouth of a middle-aged cishet white man who is making money off his writing. Do you know when I write? I write in bits and spurts walking home from work, while I’m waiting for the water to boil for pasta, in the half hour break I get at my night job. Do you know what I’m doing when I’m not writing? Desperately and scramblingly trying to take care of myself, to cook and clean and do grocery shopping and laundry and all the while worrying that maybe today is the day I drop something, maybe today is the day I miss a ball in the juggling act of supporting myself and my frankly ridiculous cocktail of mental illnesses and hurt myself or lose my job. Do you know why I write, why I do fandom? So that I have somewhere to let off steam, something safe to think about besides how totally screaming scared I am, all the time. I am 24 years old and I make just enough to survive and not much extra, and I am constantly aware that I need help and can’t afford it, and that I’m just biding my time at my job, trying desperately to hang on long enough that I’ll be eligible for benefits and thus can begin looking for mental and physical health advice.

And it is just exhausting to me that I can write, pour my heart into something I love and care about and post it online for the benefit of other people who love and care about the same thing, and then have to contemplate the idea that Neil Gaiman or Michael Sheen are seeing my work. That these well-off people, happily settled into life and kids and a career that puts food on their tables and allows them to live without worrying about whether the next time they have a really bad day they’re going to lose everything, can see the things I write, can see the things we all write, fic and meta and headcanons and queer readings going back thirty years, in some cases, and say it was inspirational to the way Aziraphale was portrayed in the show or, even worse, just completely fail to acknowledge that the fandom influenced a changing perception of the material at all. Because Neil Gaiman’s tune about this all has definitely been changing since the show came out.

I don’t know, I know this isn’t fully rational but Neil Gaiman and Michael Sheen lurking here has made me feel like I’ve put together a portfolio of work, somehow, without intending to or thinking about it, because I don’t think of the writing I do for fandom as serious work. I don’t consider my fandom presence to be a professional pursuit, but just by existing in this space as a professional writer himself, Neil Gaiman makes me feel like I ought to. Like if I say something insightful enough somewhere, sometime, someone will swoop down and tell me they’d like to give me money for it, because I desperately, desperately need money or at least the kind of emotional security having a great deal of money or a steady supply of work I can do without physically and emotionally exhausting myself can bring. I don’t have to have a good customer service presence on here, I don’t have to be friendly and marketable and neurotypical and stable, because this is a hobby and my livelihood doesn’t depend on it, but the vague shadow of the idea that Neil Gaiman or Michael Sheen could see my work and be impressed by it throws that out the window.

This blog isn’t going anywhere but I am done writing for this fandom, fanfiction and meta and headcanons and all of it, because every time I do some tiny part of me is hopeful that it will lead to financial stability, somehow, and it isn’t going to, and it isn’t healthy. I am going to write some fic for some smaller fandoms for a while, smaller fandoms that my handful of friends are interested in, and I might try to work on some original writing. If part of my angst about this whole mess comes from wanting to get paid for my writing, that would seem a sensible course of action.

#begone thought

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themerrysous · 5 years

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Comic-Con Preview Night Thoughts:

(yeah I’m like a week behind but seeing as Pennyworth debuts tonight, it seemed like a good time to chime in)

Batwoman (CW, airs in October, I think?): Wow. They went like...gay-gay. Not like gay, like gayyyyyy-gay. Here for it. Sadly that's about all I'm here for. Heavy-handed dialogue and establishment of character relationships (expositional dialogue is so 2000-never, please stop this travesty today), possibly some of the worst fight choreography and filming I have ever seen (hard to explain succinctly but fight choreography elements need exposition when new elements are added, and need a variety of wide shots, close ups, and specials/inserts, and this was ALL wide shots sans necessary establishing elements), and super angsty lesbian drama worthy of The L Word. It's like they knew they would get fans simply for having Ruby Rose and wlw content and didn't attempt anything more. A bit insulting, really.

If I watched this show, it would be purely to see Rachel Skarsten’s performance as Alice. In a role that could easily devolve into caricature or simply a regurgitation of any version of the Joker or the Riddler, Skarsten found a way to walk the line between “outright mad” and “playing at being mad because it’s her aesthetic”. Her Alice definitely has a wink-wink nudge-nudge air that keeps her lines (most notably the infamous “why is a raven like a writing desk?” riddle) from being too forced. She’s working deftly with what little she’s been given. Kudos, girl.

My genuine hope is that CW sees how badly Batwoman did at SDCC and reshoots a few scenes (god please reshoot the unbelievably creepy “rescue” scene because that was like...uncomfortable to watch. please don’t make batwoman a creeper.). I would love for this series to be good, right from the start. None of this Breaking Bad “oh you just have to get through the first three seasons and then it’s great” bullshit.

Pennyworth (Epix, airs July 28): Oh my god. Oh. My. Gaaaawd. First, stellar opening credits (JauraProps and I have A Thing™ about credit sequences). Second, beautiful cinematography and a colorist who knows their stuff. Third, nice bit of wink-wink nudge-nudge foreshadowing in regards to Alfred Pennyworth’s future. Fourth, PALOMA FAITH IS KILLING IT, Y'ALL. I haven't really seen her stretch her legs, acting wise (granted I haven't seen her in anything else besides St. Trinian’s, but love her music!), but she's already proving delightfully deranged in her role. Fifth, I'mma be real here: I have less than pure levels of admiration for Dorothy Atkinson, particularly when she gets to be just a little bit vicious. I love her in Harlots, I adore her in Mum. I would probably watch this show just for her face. At the start, I was afraid she was going to be put in a flatter, quieter version of her turn as Jane in Call the Midwife, stuck playing a sighing and beleaguered housewife--but without spoiling too much, let’s just say she ends her part of the episode with a kick. Then entire ballroom erupted into cheers and laughter at her moment of victory. I can’t wait to see where her character goes in this series, as well as the rest.

All in all, this is a story that makes you lean in. Even secondary and tertiary characters have distinct voices and enough of a backstory to make you want to know more. Stellar crew, adept and well-matched cast with a Peaky Blinders vibe.

Prodigal Son (Fox, airs Sept 23): I’m gonna be a bit petty here: Tom Payne legit has one of the most unsettling faces I have ever seen. I was shocked to realize he played Paul “Jesus” Rovia on The Walking Dead--because in this role, he looks nothing like the laid back dude from the zombie apocalypse. He’s lost weight, his hair style is...not flattering, and the whole unshaven thing definitely gives credence to the idea of a character who’s coming unhinged from insomnia and debilitating nightmares. If he showed up at my police station to help find a serial killer, my first question would be: “yo, bro, you sure it ain’t you? because you look like someone who makes human skin lamps in your free time.”

The story follows a young man (Payne) who happens to be the child of a prolific serial killer (played by the incomparable Michael Sheen). In fact, the son was the one who found his father’s last victim and called the cops. For years, he met with his father in a high security asylum as they attempted to “crack the code” of psychopathy and serial killers. However, at this point, it’s been a decade since he’s seen his father--and now he’s a profiler for the FBI. His ability to think like a killer makes him a prime candidate for solving murders...and yet it’s also what has him living in fear of his self.

Michael Sheen is the reason to watch. Who else could instill such genuine sweetness into a performance that actually has you looking at a horrific serial murderer and going “ah, he’s not so bad”?! And by sheer witchcraft, ineffable holy miracle talent, Sheen is able to give warm smiles that seem truly deep and genuine at a glance, while maintaining a cold calculating deadness in his eyes. He’s the kind of guy you want to believe, the guy you want to trust, even when you know that perhaps you shouldn’t. Every Sheen scene is a masterclass in acting. If nothing else, literally fast forward through everything else and simply watch his scenes.

My one issue: these bitches have freaking BELLAMY YOUNG playing Payne’s mother. Like she ain’t legit barely 13 years older than him. I’m assuming they’re going to address how youthful she looks eventually (at least give us a throwaway line about botox or something) because it literally kills the whole “suspended disbelief” vibe. Though Sheen is also only 14 yrs older than his “son”, at least he was able to grow out his beard, the added silvers giving a little more credence to a wider age gap, whilst Bellamy is looking dewy as always. Also that reminds me: note to self, stalk Bellamy Young’s skincare regimen.

#random thoughts #comic con preview night #batwoman #pennyworth #prodigal son #rachel skarsten #dorothy atkinson #tom payne #michael sheen

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firstlycan-a · 5 years

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1ST RULE — tag some muses you would like to know better. 2ND RULE — BOLD the statements that are true for your muse.

muse. lucian fc. michael sheen

occupation. firstborn lycan, leader of his pack age. approximately 800 (immortal but can be killed) sexuality. bi pronouns. he / him / his

APPEARANCE:

i am 5'7" or taller. (5′8′’)

i wear glasses.

i have at least one tattoo.

i have at least one piercing.

i have blonde hair.

i have brown eyes.

i have short hair.

my abs are at least somewhat defined.

i have or have had braces.

PERSONALITY:

i love meeting new people.

people tell me that i’m funny.

helping others with their problems is a big priority for me.

i enjoy physical challenges.

i enjoy mental challenges.

i’m playfully rude with people i know well.

i started saying something ironically & now i can’t stop saying it.

there is something i would change about my personality.

ABILITY:

i can sing well.

i can play an instrument.

i can do over 30 push–ups without stopping.

i’m a fast runner.

i can draw well.

i have a good memory.

i’m good at doing math in my head.

i can hold my breath underwater for over a minute.

i have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling.

i know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch.

i know how to throw a proper punch.

HOBBIES:

i enjoy playing sports.

i’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else.

i’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else.

i have learned a new song in the past week.

i work out at least once a week.

i’ve gone for runs at least once a week.

i have drawn something in the past month.

i enjoy writing.

i do or have done martial arts.

EXPERIENCES:

i have had my first kiss.

i have had alcohol.

i have scored the winning goal in a sports game.

i have watched an entire season of a tv show in one sitting.

i have been at an overnight event.

i have been in a taxi.

i have been in the hospital or er in the past year.

i have beaten a video game in one day.

i have visited another country.

i have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts.

RELATIONSHIPS:

i’m in a relationship (verse dependent)

i have a crush on a celebrity.

i have a crush on someone i know.

i have been in at least 3 relationships.

i have never been in a relationship.

i have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them.

i get crushes easily.

i have had a crush on someone for over a year.

i have been in a relationship for at least a year.

i have had feelings for a friend.

MY LIFE:

i have at least one person i consider a “ best friend ”.

i live close to my school.

my parents are still together.

i have / had at least one sibling.

i live in the united states.

there is snow right now where i live.

i have hung out with a friend in the past month.

i have a smartphone.

i have at least 15 cd’s.

i share my room with someone.

RANDOM SHIT:

i have break–danced.

i know a person named jamie.

i have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce.

i have dyed my hair.

i’m listening to one song on repeat right now.

i have punched someone in the past week.

i know someone who has gone to jail.

i have broken a bone.

i have eaten a waffle today.

i know what i want to do with my life.

i speak at least 2 languages.

tagged by: @amrefevr [ ♥♥♥ ]

tagging: STEAL IT

#☽ ⎛ idiosyncratic introspection ⎠ ☾ : headcanons

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