#FOP screen-shots

[piperamitt]

Did you guys know Poof has a Crash Nebula lunch box? If not...

Now you do.

[silversodas]

The Fairly Odd Parents: A New Wish Observations

What actually sold me on giving this series a solid chance, was the theme song, why? Because for me it showed what the series is attempting to be, something that’s paying homage to the source material while being it’s own thing and knowing what it wants to be.

The original theme song is categorized as Electric Swing or Light Jazz. This new theme song sounds like straight up Swing and it SLAPS!

The Set Up

So Hazel Wells moves to the city with her parents for her Dads job and at the same time her older brother and best friend Antony has left for college. Leaving Hazel overwhelmed but still trying to put on a brave face for her family. Not long after arriving they are visited by their new next door neighbors

Cosmo and Wanda are masquerading as a retired human couple

Lol one of the gifts in the welcome basket Cosmo gives them is a jar of pennies. In some places it’s a thing to leave pennies as gifts for fairies, I wonder if Cosmo thought it was a custom human gift

The concept of the parents are pretty interesting, especially their jobs.

Angela is a therapist and author, with all of the non self awareness fairy world had going on her insight could definitely be interesting if she somehow finds out. she is also pretty open minded and non judgmental, not being off put by Cosmo and Wanda’s weird behavior and inviting them in

Marcus is a paranormal scientist, which instantly makes Cosmo and Wanda nervous but what makes him interesting is that he didn’t go in the direction I thought he was going. I thought he was going to go full FOP writing fashion and him basically say he was looking for fairies. But no, he is just wanting to learn the unexplained and mostly about ghost. I don’t know the fact that he is presented as a friend to Cosmo and Wanda who could be a potential obstacle because of the interest that are apart of his character is a lot more interesting then if he was presented as a blatantly obvious obstacle and that’s his only purpose as a character. ( not saying it was bad when FOP did it, they did it in a way that was funny just not to compelling)

Hazel figures out they are magic because both Cosmo and Wanda are piss poor at hiding it but Hazel actually completely drops it after being unable to get her parents to see it

Angela and Marcus actually make pretty good foils for Cosmo and Wanda they are both just completely normal people who highlight Cosmo and Wanda’s colorfulness just as they highlight Angela and Marcus’s normalcy. Hazel, Marcus, and Angela seem to be emotionally intelligent people and it makes them enjoyable and honestly is refreshing

This girl has more emotional maturity then I ever dreamed of having at 10, she keeps her brave face until she hears that Antony can’t come visit till the holiday brake, she has an understandable brake down and her parents feel really bad they are having to change so much so fast for her.

She almost runs away until Cosmo and Wanda catch her (which is interesting because when she passed them on her way up stairs they where to busy with their mail to pay attention to her, but when she is about to run away their full attention snapped to her. Their “child is about to do something stupid”senses must have been tingling) she relents and vents to them about her troubles and that she just wanted to see her brother.

Cosmo and Wanda seem to have a Cathartic moment in realizing that Hazel needed help and that they realized that they were ready to be Godparents again. It was this moment I was like “yeah, you guy’s definitely retired because letting go of Timmy hurt you”

It’s when after everything is resolved and Hazel visits their vary magical and whimsical apartment (I bought the episodes on YouTube but they wouldn’t let me take screen shots) that they reveal that they had been on a 10,000 year sabbatical through time and space during their retirement. They don’t bring up Timmy, just say that they used to be Godparents to kids but then retired for 10,000 years (and no it’s not 10,000 years into the future, they were just time traveling). They actually nervously ask Hazel if she would consider being their Godkid which she enthusiastically agrees too. Don’t make pacts with fairies kids

How it’s going so far

Something interesting to note that while they never bring up Timmy, he kinda haunts the background I think they still have some unprocessed grief for Timmy that may get unpacked. I herd this show is supposed to get an overarching story and after seeing a few episodes I can tell that it’s staying consistent that it’s not completely episodic even if it’s a slow build ( as slow as it’s allowed to be anyway)

It looks like their human personas are their default disguises, that has the potential to be interesting in future episodes

I can tell that Hazel is still not 100% close with Cosmo and Wanda right off the bat, she is still getting to know them, like it was actually so enduring to watch her formally thank them for playing with her. Cosmo and Wanda are also trying to ease themselves in for her sake, but it’s clear that even though they are out of practice they are all in for this little girl and are in Godparent mode. Wanda is never not in Mom mode, and Cosmo already knows all of her special interests off the top of his head in the short time he has known her.

I don’t know, I just saw that a lot of people have been “rightfully” cautious about this show or have written it off, and just wanted to share some things that I thought made it interesting and made it worth giving a look

There are some who are a bit hopeful because one of the writers for infinity train is on the writing team so who knows

[youryurigoddess]

The stuff dreams are made of, or the interesting case of Anthony J. Crowley

We’ve talked a bit about Crowley’s trauma and his way of reclaiming the narrative in the past, but it’s time for some deep dive into the story he’s trying to tell. A story that meanders through the fabric of time and space, slightly changing with the human fashion trends, but slowly and surely bringing the demon closer to a certain angel like the red thread of fate.

1793

Some stories start in a garden, some even Before the Beginning, but this one starts with an Arrangement. Or, to be precise, a little bit after that.

See, most of the iterations of Crowley we saw throughout the history until then didn’t delve too deep into human cultural tropes. If anything, they were the inspirations behind more or less prominent biblical figures, maybe some nameless villains matching his demonic provenance and role assigned to him by his employers.

But in the hustle and bustle of the revolutionary Paris, Crowley emerges as a prototype of the Scarlet Pimpernel — a chivalrous Englishman who rescues aristocrats before they are sent to the guillotine. Stan Lee famously called him “the first character who could be called a superhero”.

Sir Percy Blakeney, the main character of the novel and the West End play under the same title, leads a double life. Appearing as nothing more than a wealthy fop, in reality he’s a formidable swordsman, a quick-thinking master of disguise and an escape artist. Even his own wife, Marguerite, has no idea.

Unfortunately Marguerite is being blackmailed with her brother’s life to find and expose the wanted Pimpernel. She regrets betraying her husband the moment she's forced to do it and spends the rest of the plot working to save him. She does, they make up, and return together to England.

In Aziraphale and Crowley’s case there was just a short stop for crêpes. But what seems to be an inspiration of a specific scene might as well come up later in the wider perspective of the show, so keep in mind those fragments of the musical’s libretto:

We all are caught in the middle

of one long treacherous riddle.

Can I trust you?

Should you trust me too?...

We shamble on through this hell

taking on more secrets to sell

'til there comes a day

when we sell our souls away.

We seek him here, we seek him there,

Those Frenchies seek him everywhere!

Is he in heaven? Is he in hell?

Where is that damn elusive Pimpernel!

1941

The London Blitz is when we see a full-fledged iteration of the superhero Crowley performing dashing and heroic deeds under the literal cover of darkness and air bomb smoke. In a bespoke double-breasted suit and a fedora — still free from the unfortunate modern connotations from the internet culture — he’s clearly channeling Humphrey Bogart as a private investigator Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941) now.

It all starts with a woman and a simple plan gone wrong: Spade’s partner is shot dead, just like the man he was supposed to be tailing upon the request of a mysterious Miss Wonderly. And when a very soft-looking, sweet-scented man named Joel Cairo appears in his office willing to pay a hefty price for a "black figure of a bird", Spade starts not only a new job, but also his own quest for truth.

On the surface, The Maltese Falcon ends happily: the killer gets caught, and the hero winds up with the Falcon. But Spade's victory is completely hollow. The Falcon itself, originally meant as a symbol of loyalty, transforms into a symbol of a corrupting, futile, and self-destructive greed that makes people betray their own loyalties.

The treasure is just a worthless forgery and he’s fallen in love with the criminal — one of the first femmes fatales on screen. Despite his feelings for her and a kiss, Spade gives her up and submits the statuette as evidence, describing it as "the stuff that dreams are made of".

Remember the eagle lectern? The eagle was believed to be flying highest in the sky and therefore closest to heaven, symbolizing the carrying of the word of God to the four corners of the world. Aziraphale in the 1941 church scene is the closest to Heaven we’ve seen him on Earth. Just look at him: dressed in a smart, well-fitted coat with peaked lapels, symbolizing his Heavenly allegiance, and doing good this time not as a work assignment, but of his own accord. Being the closest to Heaven means the furthest and most unattainable for a demon like Crowley.

The Maltese Falcon is a metaphor for unattainability — things out of reach to desire and fight for, although never truly possess. It’s “the stuff that dreams are made of”. But Crowley secured the original — made of gold and encrusted with jewels, but hiding its real value under black enamel — eerily reminiscent of the demon himself and the unending kindness behind his inappropriately tight black clothing.

Quoting Michael Ralph — the production mastermind behind Good Omens — from the S01E04 “Saturday Morning Funtime” DVD commentary, “We wanted to tip our hat to the Maltese Falcon as being a precious object that no-one thought really exists but it does”. So we can safely assume that Crowley can and will achieve his dream in the future.

1967

Do you know what else happens in 1941 in Scotland? Ian Fleming, a British naval intelligence agent, meets with the famous occultist Aleister Crowley and asks him to lead the interrogation of newly imprisoned Rudolf Hess — a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany appointed Deputy Führer — given the two men’s shared enthusiasm for the occult.

This meeting has a significant impact on Fleming’s work as a writer; Aleister Crowley becomes the inspiration for his first villain Le Chiffre and creates a blueprint for most of the James Bond’s franchise ever since 1953, the publication date of the novel Casino Royale.

Meanwhile our Anthony J. Crowley believes in himself not being the villain he’s usually and sometimes forcefully painted as, but a superhero in disguise. The character of James Bond in particular inspires him so much that he buys petrol to get the limited You Only Live Twice (1967) window decals for his Bentley, dons his own tactical turtleneck, and sets off to organize a heist like no other. Sean Connery style.

Like a typical superhero, Crowley’s once again both saved and betrayed by his love interest. Aziraphale leaves him with a thermos of Holy Water, a faint smile, and a hope that they’ll soon match their speeds to meet halfway at the Ritz. The cancelled heist is not an ending, but a promise of a new beginning. And the fact that UK decriminalizes homosexual acts in the very same year is more than telling in this regard.

2019

An exceptional situation calls for exceptional solutions, and what’s more important than the impending Apocalypse? Demon Crowley does his best to put the arsenal of his 20th century film inspirations to good use.

"Ask yourself, do you feel lucky?" Crowley drawls, clearly imitating (although slightly misquoting) the titular Dirty Harry (1971). He’s hoping to be menacing and making the point of being the one on the right side of the law and history.

Some situations require more than quoting action heroes is not everything though. He knows what to do:

A jeep was heading purposefully towards the gate, and it looked as though it was crowded with people who were about to shout questions and fire guns and not worry about which order they did this in.

[Crowley] brightened up. This was more what you might call his area of competence.

He took his hands out of his pockets and he raised them like Bruce Lee and then he smiled like Lee Van Cleef.

'Ah,' he said, 'here comes transport.'

When in doubt, Crowley acts. He transforms into a combination of a stoic martial arts phenomenon and a sardonic, menacing character. His smile alone — even on Aziraphale’s angelic face, as seen in one of the final cut scenes — seems to be enough to ward off evil spirits, angels, and humans alike.

But we all know that even as breathtaking performances as those can’t protect anyone from the cogs of the Heavenly machine and its plans.

2023

No wonder that Crowley’s tactical turtleneck comes back in style after mere four years of retirement with a self-introduction “Former Demon, hated by Heaven, loathed by Hell. How will our hero cope?”. Something has changed during this time; he’s more mature now, not playing pretend by hiding behind the usual veneer of sarcasm and movie quotes anymore. Finally comfortable with the fact that this is his own story and there’s no need to become anyone else than himself.

The bookshop fire and the Heavenly trial still seem to haunt the demon in a way that makes him realize what all humans know: that every hero is his own biggest enemy. His ultimate dream might effortlessly change into his greatest nightmare any moment now, and the only thing he can do about it is hover in a two-minute distance from the epicenter of his feelings. But Crowley has no time to work on it when a new mission appears, to protect his angel from Gabriel and the combined powers of Heaven and Hell. Even if this — rather ostentatiously — is the last thing he wants to think about at the moment.

Crowley tries to plan ahead, while his story slowly warps into a different genre due to Aziraphale’s interruptions. He eventually changes back into his usual Henley shirt after agreeing to swap places and guarding the bookshop while the angel is off to Edinburgh, collecting more clues. Did he finish his personal quest off-screen? Did he just give up on it in the whirlwind of matchmaking shenanigans? Remains to be seen.

In the S2 finale our master of disguise in yet another turtleneck proves that he can successfully infiltrate even the universe’s back office. We don’t know where he drives off in the end, but one thing is certain — he’s got a plan. And a world (and his dream) to save, like a superhero he is.

[signalwatch]

Super Watch: Superman - The Movie (1978 - theatrical cut)

Watched:  01/06/2023

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  1,000,000th

Director:  Richard Donner

Superman: The Movie (1978) is the movie I've seen most of any film, enough so that I have it pretty well memorized.  At this point, I'd hesitate to say how many times I've seen the movie, but it's dozens and dozens of times.  At least 7 in the theater.  Intentionally, I haven't watched it much the past few years.  I mean, I'm trying to watch new-to-me movies, I can replay any scene in my head any time, I know the beats and jokes, and cool elements and emotions in every scene.  But I also know the plot holes, the mistakes, the dated issues with the film, where that's-a-doll, that's-how-that-shot-was-done, etc...  I even look for where extras were at a difference walking pace in various shots.  

What's probably most notable to modern film audiences is that a movie that plays it mostly straight for an hour has a hard jump in the second half to a far wackier vision of the world it establishes, moving from sci-fi epic to American Rockwell-esque pastoral to a cosmic sci-fi fantasy.  And then...  Metropolis, with hustling big-city folk, fast talking journalists, and Otis bumbling along.  And for the next 90 minutes, the movie is a mix of romance, screwball, camp and heroism.  There's something oddly Broadway-ish about that back 90 minutes - I mean, doesn't Miss Tessmacher seem like she needs an "I Want" song?  Because Lois gets one in spoken-word.

And god help us, almost everyone is doing a bit, from Perry White to the crook in the alley to the cops in the station talking about "big red boots".  We are not done yet with superheroes needing an absurd world around them for an audience to digest them, even after we just spent an hour with tragedy and heartbreak on planetary and personal scales.  

What that first hour accomplishes, though, is reminding us that Superman himself is not an absurdity.  He's the child of unspeakable tragedy, a product of America's heartland and humanity's most sincere beliefs of fair play and decency, but he is also an orphan in search of an identity.  And with the identity resolved, when he joins humanity in the guise of Clark Kent, he's fitting in while also being the space-god with laser eyes and a knowledge of the human heart and the 28 known galaxies.  He's not just some fop in a funny suit. 

But I'd also point out - Marvel has always known they need to wink a bit where DC has struggled with the idea since Snyder took over, and even Birds of Prey with Harley at the center doesn't quite get how to make this funny.  YMMV on Gunn's take, but he may have the best notion of how to balance comedy and tragedy, realism vs absurdism (or, at least, one with internal logic).   

I don't think any of this makes Superman: The Movie a failure or less-than, but I do get how it will make the film harder for newer audiences to access the movie.  Why is everyone acting weird, like an old-timey movie?  Cinema verite this ain't.  For a movie that shouts at the audience "this ain't your 1950's Superman, this is a modern Superman" with it's opening salvo, it's terribly dated to its period of release with fashion alone, and FX 15 years before a dinosaur would amble across a screen.

And, of course, it fails the nerd test of repeated viewings.  There's clearly stuff in the film that just doesn't make sense, like Lex telling Superman "You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason, when it came time to cash in your chips, this old… diseased… maniac would be your banker."  Well... no.  Superman has never met Lex, and he just showed up.  This is the speech a legacy villain gives Superman.  Superman's day is just now happening.  What draft of the script did this come from?  

But these were things we didn't notice as much in ye olde days of only seeing movies in the theater.  And certainly echoes the assumption that between radio and TV series, 40 years of comics, and overall pop culture saturation, Superman was already a known commodity, a pre-existing IP that would automatically fill in gaps for the audience even when things make no sense (why on earth would Lex think Kryptonite would be radioactive to Superman?).  

That's comic book stuff, and I'm not shocked it's given little attention - because what director Richard Donner cares about is the human side to Superman, the one that he devotes a whole sky-dance sequence to.  I'll be honest - I'm beyond judging the film for containing this sequence, but it is... weird.  It's not 1000% necessary to move the story forward, and I've spent a couple of decades now watching older movies to figure out if Donner took inspiration from somewhere for this sequence, but nothing has ever really presented itself.  From a story-telling logic, I 100% get it.  Lois needs to experience the wonder of Superman up close, feel she can trust him, understand he'll be there to protect her if she slips...  But.  Man.  For a 2-minute bit in a long, long film, it feels like the longest two minutes to a lot of folks.

I can talk about the stuff I like about this film all day, and have.  To anyone who would listen.  For decades.  So don't think I've turned on it.  But I also have the relationship with the movie you only have with a movie you've seen so many times, you've  known the names of the two cops who pursue Otis.  But I don't think it hurts to be honest about the movie.  I may love it and I'll defend it, but if you watch a movie this many times and you don't notice the rough spots, are you really loving something?  

Anyway, it was great to revisit for the first time in a while.  Especially post Superheroes Everyday's journey through the film.    

We'll rewatch eventually and say all the nice things you've come to expect, but this is not that post.  We'll do one on John Ratzenberger's characters in Superman 1 and 2 and try to figure out if this more than one character or a set of hard-luck twins.

https://ift.tt/3rDaiKm

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/S4UpyxE

[reddeadreference]

Blog Progress Update

Drafts: 68 - Queue: 60

Queue as of 4/13/22

-Missions-

Chapter 6: ALL

Epilogue 1: ALL

Epilogue 2: Half

-Other-

POI: 6

Locations: 20

Stranger Missions: 3

Journal (Chapter): 2

I’m slowly getting to the point where I’ll start having the queue post multiple times a day.

Travel Blog Portion below:

Damn it Pearson glitched so I didn’t get the dialogue you’re supposed to get with him… I know it’s not a cutscene but still I wanted to have the audio… he also glitched in the fact he looks like chapter 1 Pearson (second attempt to get the audio to play) with his coat and hair on top of his head..

Omfg I’ve been trying to damn a damn waxing cider fucking whatever bird for the last real life hour… I’ve only found good ones and the one perfect I found I shot too many times UGH

Finally got the hunting stuff done just gotta get John Squirrelson

Mrs Hobbs… ma’am.. You wanna explain why the squirrel magically has the same hat and outfit as John? How. Did. She. Know? Also she just threw in the fact she tried this with humans once. Like OKAY O-O that happened apparently.…

Welp.. time to get home to play hide and seek with the Squirrel Cowboy… Abi you get your dolls, let me have this..

Taking photos of Jack’s room… WHO THE FUCK GOT THIS BOY A TRUMPET?

Did some chores until dinner, sat down and BAM Charles is magically glitched back… only… it’s Charles just having gotten shot because his wound is wrapped but definitely still bleeding… he also doesn’t have a bowl anymore.. Just a spoon. A note also popped up next to him on the table but i don’t think it’s anything. Also I’ve gotten a glitch where I can just continuously greet Uncle… “Hello… Howdy… Old man… Hello….Hi…” and Uncle just looks at him.. Occasionally he’ll say Hi back. THE LETTER IS A LETTER FROM TILLY!!!! Did… did Charles actually come back and bring the mail with him XD

Omfg I started reading it, standing right next to Charles and as I’m reading I took a sip of my drink “Everything okay?” and I just look at the screen to see him looking at me like “wtf?” and almost spat out my drink laughing XD I love that Tilly and Mary-Beth keep in touch Q-Q

Abigail can play the piano… LOOK AT HER! (I spent way to long editing this and playing it multiple times to try and add things to it.) Like the detail of her hitting the wrong notes and looking frustrated and looking like she’s having fun when she’s getting it right. I LOVE IT.

It sounded like the sprig of shelelli(idk) song Sean sang but at times like another song.…

I couldn’t figure out where to change my clothes… I can just imagine John “Abigail… how do I change my clothes?!” annnnd now idk how to sleep… do I have a side of the bed? Can I only sleep at night? “Abigail! How do I sleep?!”

Also… Uncle sleeps UPSTAIRS and by upstairs I mean UP THE LADDER? Lambago and he has to climb a ladder…

Woke up “You can now feed the chickens.” John wakes up all excited, confusing the heck outta Abigail “I can feed the chickens!”

Ahhhh to you too sheep

So in order for her to hide the statue John needs to leave the ranch so I’m gonna go do Miller’s first quest

Fast traveled to Manzanita post and I didn’t know that the NPCs there would keep speaking Norwegian or Swedish.. (I forgot which the guy was)

Ugh.. made the mistake of alerting the skinner brothers to my presence and they killed the person I was supposed to save…

"I am that most worthless of all creatures… a writer.” I know but HEY

John’s face when Evelyn Miller gives his name XD *shocked John-achu* (ya know like... like Pikachu but... I’ll shut up now)

“... Connecticut fops…” O_O I never hear my state said in media it always messes with me XD idk y

Second time finding the squirrel and I thought “what are you doing John?! The fireplace is on!” …. ON…. The fire is ON… omfg… V.V

Alright anyway I can get all the newspapers I missed now so that’ll be the trips away from home I take to get her to hide the thing.

I love that we’re hiding and finding and putting back the statue without a word to each other about it.

Went to Rhodes to get newspapers (kid’s missing so that’s glitched) but I stopped by the gunsmith and he apologized for “what happened” as if it wasn’t Arthur 8 years ago who freed the guy in his basement. John goes “We’ve all kidnapped someone.” “We have?” “NO Of course not!”

Stopped by the Gen store,

“Damn John you’ve been gone a long time.” OH COME ON so I’m never getting the dialogue I’m supposed to get yet you recognize me?! I wish we got some more special dialogue like if we buy coffee “I remember how much Abigail liked her coffee.” or a chocolate bar “That for Jack?” or something like that… NevEr mind! Hovering over a chocolate bar “Young Jack will like that.” damn but no Abigail coffee comment..

“I wonder how many of the others are still alive.” OOF 

“In case you’re wondering, I still make a damn fine stew.”  Q-Q

“You should’ve seen this town when the Gray’s were still in charge, pft.” Dude… I … I was there.   

“It’s a hell of a lot of work but I love this store and a life where I ain’t sleeping outside hehe.”

“I heard Swanson is a preacher in New York now, good on him!” dude it took like 5 real life minutes for him to finally say this… I’m legit just staring at the catalog and listening as I work on other posts.

“I went to Clemen’s Point the other day just to see it again. Brought it all flooding back.” (again this took to long to play)

“You always were indecisive” HEY

So I left and came back to Pearson after finishing the squirrel stuff and he mentioned wanting to send a letter! So hopefully I'll get that too. 

Last person I need to see is Rains Fall (I like how there's like one per major place. Mary-Beth in Valentine, Tilly in Saint Denis, Pearson in Rhodes, and Rains Fall in Annesburg.) Kinda wish we'd also see Trelawny maybe… but he would be in Saint Denis with his family so that would have taken Tilly's spot… oh and I need to talk to Charlotte Balfour (not part of the gang but still someone I need to see)

So the whole gang as of 1907

Dutch - On the run

Hosea, Arthur, Susan, Strauss, Molly, Sean, Kieran, Lenny, Micah - X (dead)

John, Abigail, Jack, Uncle, - Beecher's Hope

Charles - Beecher’s Hope -> Canada

Sadie - South America (?)

Javier - Mexico (According to the newspaper article Notorious Bad Man Alive  “telegraph from Mexico” reports he’s in the mountains)

Bill - On the run(?)

Pearson - Rhodes (running the general store)

Swanson - New York (said by Pearson and in a newspaper article)

Tilly - Saint Denis

Mary-Beth - Valentine (forgot if she said where she is now)

Karen - also X (dead via drinking ?)

Trelawny - ????

Is Trelawny the only one we don't have the confirmed or even suspected whereabouts?

I'm gonna try and make a timeline visual for when certain people joined the gang (as best I can cause certain people we don't have a definite start date) and a visual for the timeline of the game. It would most likely look like a sideways bar graph type thing. 

[takeninbadfaith]

The “Thou Shalt Nots”

and the “tip” that could have replaced all of them.

AKA the “No Shit Sherlock” group

AKA Did you need these tips? is that why you put them in? Aside from taking pot shots at She-Ra?

16: If the only gay man in your work is a faupish diva, you’re a huge turd.

No shit.

My gods, did this really need to be said? 

The only thing i’m questioning is what show is this in reference to? because damn near the rest of these are about characters in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. If you know, please tell me so i can find the diva and love the heck out of him. 

on a more serious note, while, yes, if your only gay male character that one has in their work aligns with the limp-wristed, lispy fop stereotype, then one does need to examine their writing and how they write characters, because gay men come in all personalities. If one of many MLM characters happens to be more femme, then that’s not a problem, as femme gay men can and do exist. 

17: If the only lesbian in your work is an abusive ragaholic with vague angst issues and a codependent relationship to a protagonist, you’re a huge turd.

So. This is a dig at She-Ra, and at the character of Catra in specific. Though, even then it’s a poor dig, becuase, ya know. Adora is also a lesbian or bisexual. Making Catra not the “only” lesbian character. Also there’s Netossa and Spinerella who are in a relationship. 

Diregentleman also pointed out that this list of characteristics also near perfectly describes Vaggy from Hazbin Hotel, a show that Orchard likes. So. The problems for her seems to not be with the stereotype of the angry lesbian, but with the fact that She-Ra and the Princess of Power existed.

18: If your only nonbinary character is a nonhuman shapeshifter, you’re a huge turd.

Dig at She-ra again, this time aimed at the character of Double Trouble. 

One the one hand, yes there is a problem of non-normative genders being only in non-human characters, but Double Trouble was ground breaking in a lot of other ways. For example, they were a non-binary character who was voiced by a non-binary voice actor. 

Also, I wonder if Orchard realizes how much shape-shifting can be a power fantasy for someone who is non-binary. I’m non-binary, and I would love to have shapeshifting powers. 

19; If your only autistic character is an ethically challenged number fetishist, you’re a huge turd.

Three strikes at She-Ra. the target this time is Entrapta. 

I don’t think that she is canonically autistic. Anyone can feel free to correct me, but while Entrapta is written to be autistic-coded, i don’t believe it’s been stated anywhere that she is autistic. 

Pulling from Diregentleman again, but Orchard’s contempt here seems to be aimed at She-Ra for existing, as her favorite character on Steven Universe is reportedly Peridot, whom can also be described as an autistic-coded, ethically dubious number fetishist. 

While there is something of a point that most autistic characters in media do lean towards being mathematics savants (Mass Effect Overloard DLC, Rain Man, etc) the specificity of this complaint, and the personal insult, render any point to be derived from this nigh useless.

20: If your only black character is a volatile hyper angry brute, you’re a huge turd.

21: If the only black woman in your cast barely has any screen time except to be fetishized or its rule 20, you’re a huge turd.

What is this an attack at? Is this aimed at Star Wars? if it is, what Star Wars did you watch, because neither Finn or Lando could be described as “Hyper Angry” or “Brutes”. If this is a dig at She-Ra again, then uhhh.... there’s at least? 2 characters who are black. More than two even. 

And there are also at least two black ladies in She-Ra, if this is an attack on She-Ra. 

Like with earlier ones in this sub-set, the specificity and personal insults render it really hard to pull out the very true crumb of a salient point that is here. which is that if you only have one black character in your work and that black character is written in this highly stereotypical manner, then you need to do some self examination.

22: If the only trans woman in your cast is a Drag Queen in all but name, you’re a huge turd

Proof that Lily Orchard has never watched RuPaul’s Drag Race, and also that she has no knowledge of Drag culture at all. There are, after all, trans women who are Drag Queens: Gia Gunn, Kenya Michaels, Monica Beverly Hillz, Kylie Sonique Love, Jiggly Caliente, and more.

Of course, what Orchard likely means by “Drag Queen” is “Man in a Dress”. which is, frankly, insulting to the men, women, and nonbinary people who do wonderful artistic work in the world of Drag. However acknowledging that insult would require nuance, and social media - Twitter especially - is where nuance goes to die. 

73: The best way to avoid tokenism is multiple characters.

This point, and the fact that Orchard wrote it in as if it was something separate to the seven others that were presented at the beginning at her list, seems to prove that the other seven really were attacks at specific shows and specific characters, rather than the universal “tips” that she tried to hide them as. It also renders them all moot, because this is how you would write those earlier seven as a general writing tip: the best way to avoid stereotypical writing is to have multiple characters who could fall into a certain marginalized identity. For example,  have a group of gay men, one of whom could be described as a foppish diva, but also with many more who aren’t. or, if you do have only a single character who occupies a marginalized identity, then make sure that character is a fully realized person, and not just a quickly slapped together stereotype.

A wonderful example of this in the professionally published world i can think of of the top of my head is the “Society of Gentlemen” book series by K.J. Charles which is about a group of upper class men whom all are men who love and have sex with other men (some could be described as bisexual in modern language, but the series is set in the regency period in England). One character, Mr. Julius Norreys, is a foppish diva, primarily concerned with his clothing, and stinging others with his rapier wit, but in his own book - A Fashionable Indulgence - and the others, delve quite deeply into his character and history to show why he is how he is.    

Go read and be inspired.

[wellntruly]

THE NEW POPE - 1x02

This show makes me feel like I’m made of champagne and glass and on fire.

So THIS episode sends the gang off to a giant haunted estate in dreary old England, haunted by GHOST LENNY, and I SCREAM. Every scene is even more ~Tableaus~ than usual, and then suddenly bam! John Malkovich is there wearing violet and a smoky eye and he is Sad and Loungey like an artfully depressed fop who speaks in riddles and plays a harp and is definitely addicted to some sort of drug in this golden box yes? Oh we ready for this!!

Mostly though: G u t i e r r e z ! !  You are one of the lights of my Soul !

New Pope Live-Bloggin’ No. 2

[squeak laughing] Fuck I’m losing it we’ve already murdered a pope with a thumbs up emoji and Silvio Orlando is playing his own twin and this is only the previously on, fuck fuck

Hahaha Sofia what are you doing!

LOL that

Oh so this is just gonna be the new opener! How NEAT it’s the same song the same set but now filmed from different angles

The dancing sexy nun with the sexy glasses is the best part by the way

There is an absolute fucking lot of surreal shit going on in this English estate right now and I’m going out of my mind

Do I know the leader of the performance artists, in the red hoodie? was she part of the group that had all the women stand up out of the bushes last season with something painted on their bellies?

Every day Sorrentino comes up with something new! I can’t even show you what it is because I’m quite certain I’ll be flagged, but I am talking about the shot where Sofia’s husband is nude.

Sofia: “You only have one project in life, Thomas. [cheesy whispering] To give me pleasure.” Thomas: [grins]

This headline I’m weeping. Haha oh you guys are in such trouble!

Our away team is Voiello, Aguirre, Sofia, Assente, and Gutierrez. I’m delighted, what can go wrong.

Javier Cámara’s gentle little suspicious newspaper lower here—perfect, exquisite

Aguirre: “Are you nervous?” Voiello: “I’m always nervous. I’m not a bland man, you know.”

Gayest Cardinal Assente just said that he and Sir Brannox once spent long afternoons in “study” together and the entire train car basically nodded like welp

“We have forgotten, about Pius XIII,” as he’s starting to cry oh Gutierrez! God his relationship with Lenny is so! Aaah!

The HATS, what sort of CRIME CAPER

TABLEAU

Butler: “As his Eminence always says, we are all expected sooner or later. [tiny flickering smile]” BAHahaha

Aguirre: “Are there ghosts here?” Smiling maid holding three dogs on a leash: “Yes.”

Oh you all are gonna have FUN HERE, in the MYSTERY CASTLE

Voiello adorably bundling this blanket over his head like an old Russian woman, and then seeing shining beautiful creepy Lenny light a match and throw it into the fireplace with an enigmatic smile as it finally bursts into flames. Assente, as if on an unheard cue, walking swiftly past a screen and throwing off his top to emerge shirtless (and actually quite fit) on the other side---only to be faintly startled by a taxidermy fox. Truly if I knew how to gif I would gif every moment of this Agatha Christie episode which I love.

I let out the most delicate gasp, my hand flew to my mouth! Another of these gorgeous recomposed Bach suites sweeping up the pieces of my heart breaking open at Gutierrez’s face…! Javier

Assente, hopeful and hesitant and open: “I felt, lonely. All of a sudden.”

Oh my goddd!

Gutierrez, with this tremulous loving urgent restraint: “But if I let you come in now, we’ll feel even more lonely, later.”

AND GOD SAID: LET GUTIERREZ HAVE A LOVE STORY, WHERE THEY WILL NEVER TOUCH AND I SAID: THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT 🙏🙏🙏

I could not have dreamd to have even asked for something as perfect for me as this devel’!!!!

I spoke too soon for now Lenny Is Here, is sitting on Gutierrez’s bed next to him and telling him he made the right choice because pleasure leads to pain, and I cannae handle it !! !!!! !

One of my most adored things about this show is that they always let me have all realities at once, and so the Lenny that each of them are seeing can be a specific Lenny they have each called up, their own ghost of Pope Pius depending on what they need, and also simultaneously that Lenny, an actual saint who has performed actual miracles, is coma-tripping up here with his own Lenny agency to interact with them as he thinks they need. I want both things, and I will take them.

That they can hear Sir John playing an eerie delicate harp in the middle of the night, oh incredibly good

Y’know what I kinda love Sofia flirtily telling her husband on her cell that “These noblemen are looking at me” as she eyes all the portraits in her room, then having quite literal phone sex with him. It’s saucy it’s fun! Someone’s gotta luxuriate in their own pleasure in this cold mournful palace, and Sofia’s a perfect person to do it, because as Voiello described her last episode: she is someone who will never feel uncomfortable.

And! Of course! LENNY’S GONNA SHOW UP, scooping his hand under her bare arched back and gently supporting her as she turns onto her side, and this too is really interesting to me??? It feels kind of akin to him praying so hard outside Esther’s open window that she get pregnant this time. I don’t know I just love the hot young pope steadfastedly wanting nothing to do with having sex with anyone himself but kinkily supporting married women getting it on with their husbands? It’s weird and I love it.

I’m screaming, what is up with Malkovich leading his way across the room with his hovering hand, not looking?? Everything in this show is bananas and brilliant and beautiful and bananas! And his Astral Lenny gently moving the box away from his blindly reaching fingers?! Freckle.gif What does it all mean!!! 

Anyway all I know is that I miss Lenny so much and I LOVE missing Lenny, because it is SO WILD that watching this season every time I see this asshole I’m just like, “that’s the real pope though,” like very confidently, very warmed by him. And part of my brain is like Lenny?? Really???? L e n n y ? While the other part’s just like yeah. Yeah? None of these fuckers can come close. LENNY BELARDO is THE POPE. And basically I can’t believe I’m also one of the idolatrous faithful, great job show.

Okay what the fuck happened with John’s brother! It’s him that’s cut out of the pictures surely?

Oh he died at 25 that’s what happened. Although why would you cut him out of the photos? ...Unless it’s John, ohhh yeah maybe they cut out John and now they hate that he’s here taking care of them.

It’s wild actually that Sir John Brannox is actual aristocracy. His parents are a duke and duchess. Do you call him Cardinal Sir John Brannox? Sir Cardinal Brannox?

LOUNGING

WHAT are we supposed to think about all this EYE MAKEUP!

Brannox has interrupted Voiello twice already. He is still lounging.

Oho, yeah it IS you cut out of the photos isn’t it!

“That joke is terribly funny, even though I did not laugh.” OKAY A) HOOTLING, B) SHIT THAT’S A NEW POPE RIGHT THERE, he’s arbitrating what is and isn’t a good joke just like Lenny used to!!! This show and jokes & power

Alright I’m still working on getting a read on Sir John but so far he certainly seems insane enough for the role

I’ll never get over the tableaus

Gutierrez: “Last night in my room, I felt a clear presence of Pius XIII next to me.”

“yeah same but we weren’t gonna SAY ANYTHING, BERNARDO”

Wow so what do we think is in that filigree box that he uses to fall sleep. Hard drugs, really hard?

Three times Brannox has interrupted Voiello. We’re keeping track.

Aw look at you, asking Gutierrez a question! I don’t know how Gutierrez turned into The Only Woman In the Room Full Of Men Talking, but John sure noticed.

Oh he really is the only woman in the room, now just quietly shaking his head at their tactics! My DARLING, my LOVE.

“They are pretending to be unaware of the enormous spiritual weight the situation requires. To be pope, Eminence, is a martyrdom. And after Pius XIII, it’s a burden. And after Francis II, it’s…suspect.” Gutierrez you nailed, you nailed it! You just won the night! It’s all true, and it was ATTRACTIVE to Brannox, because he’s obsessed with his own suffering! And you don’t even know that you succeeded! Because you weren’t trying to manipulate him, you were just speaking from your heart! 

I actually don’t know if any of Sir John’s metaphors stand up to even the lightest analysis and I do think it’s telling that I haven’t felt the desire to transcribe any of them, but I’m still captivated because of his languorous confident delivery. He speaks like the Alex Guarnaschelli of cardinals.

Brannox: “It is essential to distinguish between what is physiological and what is pathological in the body of the Church. Voiello to the table: “There. His Eminence has just explained to you the basic principle of the Middle Way.” [whispering] ...what

Well I trust they’ll explain what Sofia’s husband is up to at some point

Oh my god have his parents left Adam’s room unchanged or something

Adam was a PUNK? a 1980s London Punk???

Or was BRANNOX WAS THE PUNK. The eye makeup a holdover!!!

“soporific charm” wow got it in one that’s John Brannox all over

Oh he’s already wearing all white, he’s in don’t let him fool you

Brannox right now: What is love? Baby don’t hurt me

Yeah, Yeah, ask Gutierrez to speak of love, yeah! I am Ready

Gutierrez: “Love is an abstract concept, but a necessary one. Like happiness, like intelligence. Like God. When I was young, a man took advantage of me. And as he did so, he would say, God does not exist. And I would answer back, in God’s place: even if he doesn’t exist, we desperately need to believe he’s there.” I have tears in my eyes, he is perfect. Never let him become Pope.

Oh my GOD, these quick-cut scenes! fuck I love art

And the video from the unnamed terrorist playing on a rolling substitute teacher TV in the middle of an empty marble hall in the Vatican, I mean god Though! Paolo I’m trusting you on this, I’m trusting you do not fucking let me down with whatever this storyline is going to be, I trust you!!

I mean now Paolo’s ending this episode with the papal assassin and his girlfriend having a surreal little dance scene in an empty fast food restaurant, truly what is this but inspiring my utter confidence in him

- - - - -

The New Pope: First Episode

The Young Pope: Masterpost

Pope Notes (new, and all)

[onelonecritter]

FOP: Fairy Fallout Pt.1

Act I

“The Fairly OddParents: Fairy Fallout” begins where another one of Timmy’s unintentionally catastrophic wishes has ended.  The opening of the episode starts with a shot of Timmy’s room where Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda are poofed into the scene looking utterly relieved to see that everything was back to normal after narrowly preventing an irreversible disaster.  The main trio took a moment to reflect on their most recent misadventure, mainly with Cosmo and Timmy going about it with a positive attitude while Wanda balanced out their more comedic commentary with a lecture on how they really needed to be more careful next time; only for it to be brushed off by both her husband, and godchild.  While Timmy actually did acknowledge the lesson to be learned, he questioned the odds of future consequences since he always corrected his mistakes in the end.  

“It’s not like I’m going to lose you guys because of this, right?” Timmy asked jokingly with a shrug.

Before either of the fairies could respond, however, the hulking form of Jorgen Von Strangle suddenly appeared in an explosion of fairy dust right behind the ten-year-old; the realization of Jorgen’s presence was enough to wipe the smile off of Timmy’s face the moment his smaller form became shrouded in Jorgen’s massive shadow.  The camera then panned up to capture Jorgen’s expression of absolute fury, wafts of steam rose up into the air from off of his shoulders and out of his ears while his generally bronzed skin was colored a fiery red hue.

“Timmy Turner, this is the last time I let you get away with nearly causing the end of the Earth, and the entire universe!” He bellowed in a rage, shouting loud enough to send both Timmy and his fairies flying back into the bedroom wall with a loud thud before bringing his wand up to conjure a projection screen.

One by one, Jorgen Von Strangle brought up footage of Timmy’s past shenanigans that turned dangerous.  From time-travelling to role-reversal, and wishing for the entire world as everyone knew it to change at the drop of a hat, Timmy and the others sat in silence as Jorgen went on with his lecture.  By the end of the slideshow, Timmy tried to object to Jorgen’s accusations, but he was immediately cut off by the hulking fairy.  Not even Cosmo and Wanda were able to make an effort to persuade Jorgen into giving Timmy another chance to prove himself this time, which only brought a more intense amount of dread over the three of them.  After brutally berating Timmy and his fairy godparents, Jorgen’s skin began to fade back into its usual tanned color, and his expression deadpanned.

With another blink of his wand, he conjured up the “Da Rules” book before opening it to a section to describe the punishment for godchildren who never learn from their mistakes time and time again.  Unfortunately, having grown used to Jorgen’s usual lectures, Timmy only stared up at Von Strangle with a somewhat distant look on his face.  In Timmy’s perspective, he could only hear mumbling and incoherent babbling from Jorgen, with the exception of certain words being registered more clearly until the conclusion of the massive fairy’s speech.

“From now on, you no longer have to share your fairy godparents with Chloe-” Jorgen declared, pausing for a moment once Timmy smiled joyfully at the declaration, but then finished his statement with a sadistic smirk on his face. “Because you don’t get to have fairy godparents anymore!”

Timmy’s expression of glee turned to a look of astonishment, and disbelief in an instant, along with Cosmo and Wanda reacting just as horrified by the decided punishment.  While the three of them had close calls where Timmy would end up on the verge of losing his fairy godparents forever at certain points, there would always be a way to turn it all around in order to keep them from separating.  The stakes would be high, but there would still be a way that gave Timmy a chance to take control of the situation.  However, this was no longer the case.

Cosmo and Wanda pleaded with the superior fairy to let them keep Timmy as their godchild, begging for Jorgen to show some consideration for all the years they spent making Timmy’s life more manageable, and to remember how far Timmy would go to right his wrong-doings.  Timmy was driven to tears as his shrill voice argued with Jorgen’s verdict, his high-pitched tone just about wailing in a mix of despair, anger, and desperation from having Cosmo and Wanda being taken away from him.  They weren’t just playthings to him, nor were they just his fairy godparents.  They were his family.  Even with the overwhelming grief surrounding the whole scene, Jorgen Von Strangle remained emotionless, and unmoved by their efforts to appeal to him.

Realizing that there was no changing Jorgen’s mind, Cosmo and Wanda sorrowfully hugged their godchild goodbye.  Wanda barely managed to say some comforting words to try and assure Timmy that they would always love him, but even that did nothing to ease the unbridled heartache all three were experiencing.  Jorgen Von Strangle merely rolled his eyes at the display, watching impatiently as the fairy couple mutually clung to Timmy until he roughly grabbed Cosmo and Wanda in his gigantic hand to tear them away from Timmy’s hold.  With a single strike of Jorgen’s staff-like wand on the hardwood floors of Timmy’s bedroom, and one last flash of the wand’s star, the fairies disappeared in another cloud of fairy dust that eventually faded into nothing.  Timmy Turner was left all alone, sobbing with no one to console him, as the sequence ended.  

The next shot was set in Chloe’s room after Jorgen brought Cosmo, and Wanda over to tell her everything that she needed to know.  This included explaining why Timmy would no longer have custody over the fairy couple, and giving Chloe a stern warning on the more major responsibility of being the only godchild to Cosmo and Wanda.  Chloe could only stand, and stare up in disbelief as she took in all of the troubling information.  Unlike his cruel demeanor towards Timmy, Jorgen spoke in an uncharacteristically warm manner towards Chloe, even if she had her fair share of mishaps caused by her own wishes during the time she’d been a secondary godchild; Jorgen still had a bit of a soft spot for Chloe.  He genuinely sounded excited to finally have Timmy out of his hair, making off-handed comments about how he was glad to know that someone as reliable and responsible as Chloe wouldn’t cause nearly as much trouble as Timmy ever did, even though he would normally take fairies away from both godchildren if only one of them broke any of the major rules.

After a moment of letting Jorgen ramble, Chloe finally interjected in her usual polite tone, asking if it was truly the right thing to do.  At this question, the gargantuan fairy blinked with a look of bewilderment on his face.  No doubt, he had been expecting excitement, or glee from Chloe when he told her that Cosmo and Wanda were officially all hers.  Picking up on Jorgen’s questioning gaze, Chloe continued to put in her take on whether or not it was right to deprive Timmy of his fairy godparents, emphasizing that Timmy actually lived quite a miserable life without them.  She even went so far as to point out the words stated in “Da Rules” about the importance of fairies being assigned to children who were miserable, but to no avail.  Even though Jorgen had a sense of fondness towards Chloe, her words fell on deaf ears, and Jorgen was quick to counter her argument.

“Would you rather risk the whole world, and the entire existence of life as we know it coming to an end because of the reckless actions of a single child?” Jorgen questioned, conjuring up a bar graph that depicted potential rates of apocalyptic destruction lowering dramatically in accordance with Timmy no longer having Cosmo and Wanda to grant his thoughtless, and sometimes selfish, wishes. 

Chloe’s shoulders tensed up as she pondered Jorgen’s retort, and took in all of the evidence Jorgen Von Strangle presented to her.  Inside her mind, Chloe truly did want to help the world in any way she could.  That’s what she was raised to do, and what just about everyone expected from her.  Without Timmy’s spontaneous and risky wishes to potentially shake up the entire universe, the dream of making the world a better place was within her reach.

“But, what about Timmy?” She asked, sending a concerned glance out of her bedroom window to peer over at Timmy’s house.

Once again, Jorgen brushed off Chloe’s concern for her friend, bluntly stating that it didn’t matter anymore before abruptly teleporting out of the room.  Everything fell silent now that Jorgen was gone, all except for the light sobs of Cosmo and Wanda as they floated a few feet away from Chloe, crying over a framed picture of Timmy that they held in their hands.  As the fairy couple were grieving, Chloe quietly approached them, and gave the two a reassuring grin while opening her arms to welcome them into a comforting hug.  But as the scene came to a close, Chloe’s soft expression turned into a look of serious determination as if the sorrows of Cosmo and Wanda ignited a spark of inspiration within her.  Even though she felt a sense of uncertainty deep down, Chloe knew that there just had to be a way to help her neighbor somehow, and she was going to find a solution.

[wannabealexjenningscoffee]

Maugham's secret life rises from `Ashenden'

Chicago Tribune, June 1992

W. Somerset Maugham is chiefly remembered in America for his South Seas tales such as "Rain" and "The Moon and Sixpence." We forget that he was one of the first agents in the British secret service and that he wrote entertainingly of this experience in the lightly fictionalized "Ashenden" stories. Alfred Hitchcock adapted two of them, "The Traitor" and "The Hairless Mexican," for his 1936 film "Secret Agent," starring John Gielgud. Now the BBC and the Arts and Entertainment Network have spent six months and $7 million to make lush new on-location versions of these two tales and two others, "The Dark Lady" and "Mr. Harrington's Washing." The four hours of "Ashenden" will air on A&E over two nights this week (7-9 p.m. Sunday and Monday).

As Ashenden, British actor Alex Jennings, 34, strikes a suitably adventurous figure, but he warns that this is no James Bond of World War I. "Ashenden isn't a man of action; he's an observer," Jennings says. "He does nearly get pushed under a train and he does get shot at, but he doesn't carry a gun. Instead, he carries a stiff upper lip." "Ashenden had in him, it seems, a strain of flippancy," Maugham wrote, and the TV dramatization preserves the character's detachment as he dashes through melodramatic plots. Jennings says, "Playing the part, I did a lot of Alec Guinness acting-I got to listen to some very good actors in some very nice locations," including Americans Rene Auberjonois and Elizabeth Montgomery in Hungary, Yugoslavia and Austria.

Maugham, 40 at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, didn't enter military service. Jennings says, "The secret service recruited him because of his writing skills. But don't get the impression that `Ashenden' is a bio-pic. The stories were fiction and we've elaborated on them further. In some ways Ashenden is Somerset Maugham, in others he's not. I'm not giving my Somerset Maugham here." The espionage exploits recounted in "Ashenden" involve the forgery of some love letters to lure an Indian terrorist onto British-controlled territory; an investigation of the traitorous tendencies of an Englishman married to a German; a light interlude in Russia during the Revolution; and a romance in Naples toward the end of the war.

Discussing his "Ashenden" role, Jennings, tall and blond, occupies a cell-like space high in the concrete ramparts of Britain's Royal National Theatre, where he is currently filling the house as a knockabout swordsman in an 18th-Century comedy, "The Recruiting Officer." He's in scruffy mufti, topped by a flyaway hand-combed hairdo, ready to desert the theater at a moment's notice, as his wife expects the imminent birth of their second child. "Ashenden was fairly faceless in the book-I hope he isn't on screen," Jennings continues. "He dresses conventionally in handmade shirts, blazers, cream flannel trousers. Quite dapper. Very nice to stand about in those costumes. It was exciting to try and be understated and minimal in the midst of those toybox surroundings, the steam trains, the vintage cars, the luxurious yachts."

"Ashenden," directed by Christopher Morahan, is the most lavish British TV enterprise since "A Jewel in the Crown" (1984), also directed by Morahan. It was Jennings' first major appearance outside the theater, though he had worked occasionally for the camera in productions such as "Smiley's People," in which he played a policeman briefly glimpsed puking into a bush.

Jennings' career is an example of the way the British theater system is supposed to work. "I can't remember ever not wanting to be an actor," he says. Son of a car salesman in Essex, he got his first sight of Shakespeare during a schoolboy visit to Connecticut, but when he applied to drama schools he was turned away. So he went to college thinking instead of being a lawyer. He eventually did study theater and afterward settled in to a meat-and-potatoes career as a bit-part player. "I had a steady climb," he recalls. "If I'd still been doing theater in schools and supporting roles in provincial repertory at 35, I'd have been either very committed or very bitter." As it was, he admits, "It was galling at the time to see yet another E.M. Forster film being made without me. One does spend a certain amount of time spitting about others' better luck."

Jennings' luck changed when he found himself in a cast being directed by Nicholas Hytner. Hytner, who went on to direct the musical hit "Miss Saigon," saw Jennings' infectious good humor and his capacity for exuberant, physical acting and used him in a series of plays that "tapped a popular nerve," as Jennings puts it. "I was ready to take responsibility for the leading roles I started to get, which I hadn't been a few years earlier." His wide-shouldered performances drew superlatives from the critics: ". . . a masterpiece of caustic comedy . . . charismatic . . . superbly convincing and repeatedly funny . . . " etc. etc. "British actors are trained to revere texts," he says. "One show in particular that I did in 1988 was acrobatic, outlandish, over the top. At the very least it proved I wasn't afraid to look stupid."

Part of the pleasure of doing "Ashenden" was the chance it offered Jennings to shed his knockabout "top of the fops" image. Having the kind of long face that looks good under a large hat can be a limiting virtue. "I love the theatricality of the theater, the excitement. At the same time, I didn't want to be typecast as Mr. Comedy." Hence, his suave, reserved, pencil-mustached Ashenden. "I had thought I was quite well set up in the theater until I got my face on TV and realized no one knew who I was." Further major screen parts don't loom for Jennings, who says, "I'm not yet climbing over piles of scripts on my doorstep every morning."

Nor will he get a second crack at playing Ashenden in a sequel. "I wouldn't want to become too closely associated with one character. Besides, we used up all the best stories. It's a finite series of dramas. Although the stories are separate, you don't need to have seen one to enjoy the next. There is a through-line: Ashenden's growing disillusionment with the secret service. "After Maugham's participation in the war, he left Britain and never returned. At the end of `Ashenden' we flash forward to the man in his 80s sitting in his villa in the south of France, disillusioned and sad. The Riviera-quite a nice place to be disillusioned in."

[chlstarrbaby]

Serenade, a Princess Peach x King Boo fic

(Belated Day 5  entry since my original entry for it is taking longer than I anticipated but anyway)

 Summary: King Boo serenades Peach at night, and nearly gets caught.

Rating: K+

Warning: Kissy Kissy

Ever since that first kiss, Peach had noticed that he had oddly been more affectionate, such as kissing the back of her hand more often than just saying goodbye. He seemed to never dare to kiss her cheek just yet though as if that would still be too forward of him, but he had just found another way to show his affection. In fact she could easily call it wooing, all things considered, and she could only guess he got the idea from when he came to visit her earlier than usual one evening as she played idly on her grand baby piano. He was invisible at the time, but she could tell he was there since he made the air in the room grow colder and made any candles nearby have light purple flames.

She just didn’t expect that he’d be a violinist, as she heard the notes of Clair de Lune on a violin come from somewhere below her balcony. As Peach looked down to see the source, she could tell he made himself a little bigger so the violin wouldn’t look ridiculous in his nubby white hands in comparison to the rest of his round body.

Peach was so flattered that she couldn’t help hum the harmony to the best of her ability as he played. She saw him smile even though he continued to concentrate on the notes. Eventually, when the song came to a close, he quickly floated up to her level as guards came out to investigate and asked her if she had seen anything. In reply she told them that the mystery musician that they heard had already long gone and she couldn’t see his face, the guards seemed to buy it as they wished her good night and returned to their posts. Unfortunately King Boo wasn’t figuratively out of the woods yet as he had to turn himself and his violin invisible upon Toadsworth’s insistent knock on Peach’s bedroom door and of course she allowed him in as she stepped away from her balcony and into her room to greet him properly.

“Alright, poppet, who was it that was serenading you in the night?” Toadsworth asked in a stern fatherly way, but gently enough that she could confide in him for anything.

“As I already told the guards below Toadsworth, I couldn’t get a good look at their face. And that’s besides the fact that their solo violin rendition of Clair de Lune was beautiful.”  Peach worded very carefully and convincingly.

Toadsworth sighed in defeat, in knowing this sort of thing would happen eventually. It didn’t help his nerves any that he had raised the dear girl himself from infancy. So for now he gave her a small warning for the next time a gallivanting fop came to woo her from a bush in the middle of the night with a serenade.

“Just promise me you’ll shoo them away next time? We can’t have unwarranted suitors serenading you every night for the sake of the servants that stay here at night.”

“As you wish Toadsworth.” Peach replied honestly, and wished him goodnight. She waited for many moments for him to be long out of ear shot, before she decided to address King Boo again. “I really am going to get ready for bed.” She called out, since he was still invisible as she headed behind her changing screen.

She didn’t hear a reply from him, but she knew well enough that he wouldn’t peek, since he was still a Boo, king or not. And sure enough, as soon as she was done dressing into her night gown she found him bashfully covering his eyes as he faced her bed, but was quarter turned to her simultaneously. The violin was by the window.

“I’m finished, you silly balloon.” She told him gently, and giggled when he groaned at the nickname she couldn’t help but give him after their first kiss.

“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?”

“Not a chance in Jaydes’ domain.” Peach quipped cutely, and decided to let him know of a privilege that he did have with her. “You can kiss me on the cheek any time you want you know.”

His floating altitude faltered at that generous offer (a Boo’s equivalent to tripping over nothing if you will), it was just as generous as having her first kiss in his opinion. Regardless, he did have a counter to it that he could only hope that she didn’t slap him for (and he would be a gentleman enough to let himself be corporeal enough to feel it since he would deserve it).

“As generous as that is, I am now obligated to warn you that I might never stop kissing your cheeks…as well as anywhere else that’s appropriate for that matter.” He all but purred, and took her hand and kissed the back of her hand once more.

Peach nearly rolled her eyes at his usual gesture of affection, if it weren’t for her confusion of what he meant by anywhere else, but that was answered for her as he started kissing up her arm. He stopped just before her shoulder because she had a neck frill there, but that was when he finally kissed her cheek. Then he was fast enough to zoom by to her other side and do the same thing, only when he go to her cheek, she turned enough to capture his lips instead. Peach inwardly giggled as she watched his eyes widen and his whole being blush hard enough to be mistaken for a Pink Boo again.

Then she giggled at the thought that if he blushed this much for a regular kiss, well she couldn’t even imagine what a French kiss would do to him.

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 6 Review, Part I: Dream a Little Dream of Me

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

Even though this is one of my favorite episodes, it’s taken me a while to get motivated to write this. I don’t want to get into detail about my personal life because it’s irrelevant to this blog, but last week was very busy and hectic. With the holidays coming up, things are also likely to get really wild really soon, so odds are I will be progressing even more slowly through this show. Yes, this is going to be another two-parter and yes, in the second part, I plan on doing another deep dive into the contents of the flashback.

We start out with Jean Paul bitching again at the portrait because, at the end of Episode 5, he finally figured out that making a deal with the Devil was a bad idea. Shortly after Raxl has had a chance to air her grievances towards Jacques as well, they meet up in the crypt downstairs. There she tells him of Dr. Menkin’s death, including Jacques’ explanation that Menkin was drunk. “Dr. Menkin never drank,” he says, and she responds, “Yes, I know. But you told me yourself that he had been drunk.”

In this shot, you can clearly see a camera on the right-hand side of the screen.

Considering that she knows that Jacques likes possessing him, one can safely conclude that she is feigning ignorance. After some exposition for the new viewers about the conjure doll and the silver pin, Raxl gives some new background information about Jacques’ crimes:

Raxl: “Three hundred years ago, Jacques Eloi des Mondes ceased to care for his wife and she was dead. After that, her younger sister, then she was dead. There is a sister of your wife under this roof. Is she younger than my mistress?”

Jean Paul: “Yes.”

Raxl: “Then get her out of here before she is dead! Please, M’sieu! It is all we can do! We must fight!”

Jean Paul: “Against whom? A man of three hundred years ago?”

Raxl: “The Devil is eternal!”

Really, Jean Paul? You need to be reminded whom you’re fighting against? You need to be reminded that Jacques Eloi des Mondes is a threat and possibly the Devil himself? Look, I know that you were born sometime in the mid- to late 1930s and grew up in a world where most people didn’t believe in the supernatural and viewed voodoo and similar religions as superstition, but the spirit of Jacques has already started messing with your life! He’s possessed you! He’s killed Dr. Menkin! He talks to you all the time through his portrait! He even changes your clothes sometimes and gets you drunk while he’s in your body! And besides, I’m going to assume that Jean Paul was raised some variety of Christian, so most likely he already believed in the Devil before the beginning of the show. I could see him being skeptical if Raxl one day decided to proselytize to him about the Great Serpent, but, in this case, he just has no excuse for not believing her.

Jacques poncily inspecting Jean Paul’s fingernails right after possessing him. I suspect that many real-life 17th-century fops liked making this sort of gesture.

Anyway, Jacques possesses him and tells her to go away, then reveals while talking to the cryocapsule that he has no intention on reviving Erica until after he’s had his fun. I’m sure that this is not surprising, because why should he want to return to Hell when he can stay on Earth for the time being and wreak havoc on the residents of Maljardin?

In the Great Hall, Jean Paul--who is himself once again--meets up with Alison. She can’t sleep because she is still trying to recover from the shock of Erica’s death and can’t accept that Jean Paul has frozen her with the intent to bring her back to life. He starts to comfort her, but then...well...I think you can guess what happens next...

As of this episode, Colin Fox hasn’t yet mastered the sexy evil smirk, but he is still hot as Hell.

If you guessed “Jacques possesses him again,” you’re right! The early episodes get predictable quickly, and, although I have no evidence to support it, I suspect that was one of the things Robert Costello* criticized about the show when he became producer. But predictable doesn’t always mean boring, and the sequence coming up is an interesting one.

Jacques dropping a hint about his true identity to Alison, who--fortunately for him--refuses to believe that Jean Paul is possessed. Note that the portrait is still visible in the background. Continuity error or inconsistency?

While pretending to be Jean Paul, Jacques gives Alison a history lesson on himself in the third person: “Jacques was a very active man. He was a chevalier, he was renowned of royalty and he was a scholar, an engineer, a navigator, an explorer, and a free-looter. He was the beginning of the family's true wealth. Legend has it that in the coral caves beneath the island of Maljardin, he buried a king’s ransom, which still lies hidden. To tell you the truth, I’m a secret admirer of his.”

So many BISSITS!

Alison is intrigued, but still not convinced that Jacques was a good person (perhaps the “free-looter” bit tipped her off?), and is still worried about him. “You do identify with him,” she says. “He frightens me.” To reassure her, Jacques goes on to draw some comparisons between himself and Jean Paul, taking the opportunity to try to seduce her:

Jacques: “Look at our history. He had a wife that he adored who died, as I did. He brought her to this château, as I brought Erica. He lost a princess, a woman he loved.”

Alison: “As you lost Erica.”

Jacques: “Well, you could say the connection has a ring of witchcraft about it--but only in theory, of course.”

Alison: “That’s a comfort.”

Jacques: “But I will add one more thing. Jacques’ wife had a sister. And her name was Rahua.”

Alison: *falling under Jacques’ spell* “Rahua? A pretty name.”

Jacques: “The name of a goddess. And her hair was like ripened wheat. Her skin was as white as goat's milk and as soft to the touch as the morning mist on the water of the lakes.”

Alison: “Sounds lovely. So real. You describe her almost as though you knew her.”

Jacques: “History to me is real and so romantic in spite of the tragedy.”

A man after my own heart.

Alison interrupts Jacques’ attempted seduction to ask about the death of Jacques’ wife. “Huaco was her name,” he responds. “They climbed to the headland alone to watch the sunset. They didn't realize that the terrible force of the trade winds would be a danger to them, the terrible force at the cliff edge. And when they reached there, Jacques Eloi’s cries of warning were drowned out by the wind that plucked her from the cliff heights and threw her into the sea like a rag doll.”

Soon after, the conversation shifts to Jean Paul’s plans to revive Erica, but Alison doesn’t want to hear about it. Then the handsome devil decides to drop another hint:

Cue another flashback in the form of a dream that Jacques gives Alison about Rahua. I will write about the flashback in more detail in my next post, so I will just summarize it for now. Huaco has just given birth to Jacques’ son and leaves dinner early to see him, but her sister Rahua (who, like Alison, is played by Dawn Greenhalgh) stays behind. Jacques kisses and tries to seduce her, but she is reluctant to accept his advances because she is his wife’s sister. To persuade her, he says, “The right [to happiness] belongs to those who take it,” and they kiss. It’s a great scene, if slightly reminiscent of a cheesy bodice-ripper in its execution--but, frankly, if someone were to write a cheesy bodice-ripper starring Jacques, I would probably love it. I’m a big believer in the Reader’s Bill of Rights; I am under no obligation to defend my tastes.

I know that Jacques is evil and likely planning on eventually killing her, but I want to be Alison in this scene. Why aren’t men my age this dashing?

Alison is distressed by the dream, crying “no” in her sleep, which makes me wonder if we the audience are missing part of it. Or does the thought of a romance between her and her brother-in-law distress her that much? When she wakes up, Jacques--who has been by her side the whole time probably implanting the dream into her head--pretends to comfort her (see above). Then he says his, echoing his line from the dream:

Yes, Jacques, I’d love to.

After she leaves, Jacques monologues to the audience about being the Devil, looking devilishly hot while doing so and flashing that gorgeous grin some more. (I will post separately, because this post is already a mile long.) By the end of the episode, the crew still hasn’t noticed the continuity error/inconsistency from earlier, and rolls the ending credits over the still-visible portrait of Jacques:

Stay tuned for an in-depth look at the first flashback about Jacques and Rahua, including my thoughts on the costumes. I can’t promise it’ll be finished this week, but I will try. Until next time...pleasant...dreams?

Notes

* Yes, the same Robert Costello who produced Dark Shadows left DS to work on this. So did two early DS writers, Ron Sproat and Joe Caldwell, who wrote some of the early Desmond Hall episodes. I will write more about them when they become relevant.

{ <-- Previous: Episode 5   ||   Next: Episode 6, Part II --> }

[quasip]

OMG YOU GUYS I NEED TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY D&D GAME! Like, I know a lot of you probably won’t care, but I just feel so good right now that I just need to let it out. 

So, some backstory. We are playing a campaign where we, the band of heroes, are trying to solve the case of fish people attacking some costal towns. Our band includes a Goliath Barbarian, a Half-Orc Monk, a Half-Elf Rogue, a Water Gensai Druid, and me the Half-Elf Ranger. 

We roll into town and are greeted by the mayor who gives us that background information that all parties need like how many attack, where do they attack, stuff like that when this pompous douchebag tra-la-las his way over to us. The mayor claims this guy, Lucien, is the town hero despite the fact that he is an idiot and his sword is made of gold.

Now as anyone who’s played Minecraft can tell you, gold swords are shit, so immediate suspicion is cast on this hero. We do a couple of checks and don’t sense any magic so we just assume everyone is an idiot.

On a side note, one of the first things we did was size him up and see what we could pawn from his dead corpse, something the DM found funny as that was not a reaction he had ever gotten in any of his games.

He claims to have found where the fish people are planning their attack and we think that he’s trying to lure us away to like give us to the fish people. Because that’s the only way he could be so loved in town despite being a useless idiot: he entered some sort of Faustian Deal with the fish people where they pretend to give him a good fight so the town loves him while he gives them sacrifices. Still, we follow him because we don’t want to grill this idiot in front of the town and we think we are hot shot adventurers who can handle anything.

We could not.

We find like 6 fish people and they don’t know we’re there. After so coaxing we manage to convince the fop to, you know, show us how it’s done. He walks towards them, lets out a mighty battle cry, and then flees leaving us alone with 6 fish people who immediately know our position. 

At first, we do pretty well. We do some damage, the fish people miss, we are feeling great. 

Then the monk went down. 

We were in an L shape kinda with the barbarian up at the top with 3 guys on him, the Druid nearby. Me and the Rogue near the bottom of the screen, and the monk by himself with two guys on him. They hit really good and he dies. 

They come after me next and they get a hit in for 7 damage. I have 12 hit points in total which leaves me at 5. Then the Druid goes down.

At this point, we had only killed like one of them so the rogue starts to retreat. The Barbarian goes after him to provide some sort of cover and I decide I’m taking as many of these fuckers as I can to try and help the other two escape.

I manage to kill one of the guys surrounding me and then shouted “COME AT ME BRO” which lured one of the two guys on the Barbarian’s tail to come try and attack me. I now have 3 guys on me and 5 hit points. I take 2 points of damage.

Next turn, Monk now has 2 fails and 1 success. Druid has one fail and one pass. I slam a goodberry into the Druid’s mouth to revive them. The Barbarian kills the one fish person I couldn’t lure away and the Rogue takes a pot shot at one of the guys surrounding me. It lures him away and both I and the Druid get opportunity attacks which make him weak enough that the Barbarian can slice him on his way to us. I dodge the rest of their attacks. 

We kill the last guy, revive the monk, cut off their heads, almost desecrate their alter, find some weird stone embedded into their chest and head back into town where the hero is telling the story of how he barely managed to escape after cutting down hordes of fish people in an effort to save us which, sadly, did not succeed.

We throw a head into the crowd of people, scaring the hero away and we finally get patched up.

TLDR; We almost TPK on 6 level 1 mooks but me and the Barbarian MVP it with me almost making a heroic sacrifice that must have pleased the dice gods because in the end: we all live to see Session 2. 

[newsintodays-blog]

Killed for asking for a vote: Mike Leigh brings 'Peterloo' to Venice

New Post has been published on http://newsintoday.info/2018/09/02/killed-for-asking-for-a-vote-mike-leigh-brings-peterloo-to-venice/

Killed for asking for a vote: Mike Leigh brings 'Peterloo' to Venice

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) – In 1819, mounted troops charged, swords drawn, into a pro-democracy protest in northern England, killing over a dozen people and wounding hundreds in what became a landmark event in the struggle to win common people the right to vote.

The 75th Venice International Film Festival – Screening of the film “Peterloo” competing in the Venezia 75 section – Red Carpet Arrivals – Venice, Italy, September 1, 2018 – Director Mike Leigh and cast member Maxine Peake pose. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

There were, of course, no cameras to record it, but journalists at the clash at St. Peter’s Field in Manchester compared the devastation to the battlefield at Waterloo where Napoleon was defeated four years before, and dubbed it the Peterloo Massacre.

The story is retold by Mike Leigh, the British director who made the surprise move into historical drama with the painter biopic “Mr Turner” in 2014, but insists “Peterloo” is as relevant to today as the contemporary films that made his name.

“We’re in a world of disintegration, in many ways, as far as proper democracy is concerned,” Leigh told Reuters in an interview at the Venice Film Festival.

“Democracy is an important and good thing, and we know from what’s happened in the UK and we know from what’s happened in the States that democracy can also lead us in the wrong direction.”

The film shows the build-up to the protest, as workers in Manchester’s cotton mills struggle with the falling wages and rising food prices that the landowners and industrialists who make up the ruling classes are only too happy to see continue.

Local activists persuade London-based gentleman radical Henry Hunt – a self-aggrandizing fop played by Rory Kinnear – to address the crowd, adding a north-south divide to a story already riven with countless layers of class differences.

The 75th Venice International Film Festival – Photocall for the film “Peterloo” competing in the Venezia 75 section – Venice, Italy, September 1, 2018 – Director Mike Leigh and cast member Maxine Peake. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Forced to stay in a humble home in Manchester, he barks over his shoulder to the lady of the house: “Mrs Jones, if you could bring me a light repast,” leaving the baffled woman to whisper to herself: “What’s that?”

In another scene, Hunt asks a servant girl to hold the paper he is writing on as he poses for a portrait painter. “Will I be in’t picture?” she nervously asks the artist.

“I don’t gratuitously put in humor or put jokes in,” Leigh said of his trademark use of comedy in often very dark subject matter. “Occasionally I might think perhaps on this occasion to take the joke out.”

“I find it difficult to look at people in the round without it being both comic and tragic – because life is.”

In a poignant reminder that we still live in the same world as the characters in the film, parents of a new baby note the infant will be 85 years in 1900.

“When we put that scene together – scripted it and shot it – it was about a week away from the birth of my first grandchild … and I was thinking about what will this world be like in 2100,” Leigh, 75, said.

“I wanted in some way to link then to now – to show that really it’s not that long ago. Actually 1819 is less than a century before my parents were born.”

Peterloo is one of 21 films competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival which will be awarded on Sept 8.

Reporting by Robin Pomeroy. Editing by Jane Merriman

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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[onelonecritter]

FOP: Fairy Fallout Pt.3

Previous (X)

Act III

The third scene began with Timmy leaving the school bus, and walking up to the front door of his house without even waiting for Chloe to walk with him.  It was clear by the dull, melancholy expression on his face that he wasn’t in any mood to be accompanied by his neighbor; certainly not after what happened at recess.  Timmy was exhausted, mumbling to himself about how he was ready to just go to his room and sleep.  But once he swung the front door open to enter the living room of his home, Timmy was immediately greeted by Vicky, who had been waiting for him.  Rather than greeting Timmy with her typically venomous jeering, she approached him with a look of concern, and asked him why he looked so tired and upset.  Timmy didn’t respond and simply glanced away from the babysitter, prompting Vicky to kneel down and examine him closely.

“My goodness!  I haven’t seen you this miserable since the first day I became your babysitter.” She cooed with sadistic cheer, quickly instructing Timmy to “hold his pose” while she reached into the back pocket of her jeans to take out a polaroid camera, and snapped a picture.

After letting the photo dry, Vicky analyzed the picture with an endearing grin on her face before the shot focused on a more detailed version of Timmy’s saddened expression.  The focus lingered on the picture while Vicky’s voice can be heard cooing before it showed Vicky pressing the picture to her chest as she claimed that it will always be cherished by her.  All the while, Timmy began to grow more and more agitated from being belittled.  A close-up revealed his clenched fists shaking at his sides, and his teeth gritting as Vicky wickedly cackled at him to the point of having to wipe away a stray tear from the corner of her eye once she calmed down.  Much to Timmy’s dismay, Vicky had grown bored of his presence, and wasted no time in viciously commanding him to do chores around the house so she could watch TV.

However, during Vicky’s seemingly endless list of demands, Timmy went from agitated to enraged.  His face slowly turned red, his chest was huffing and puffing while his eyes grew misty from every horrible thing he was feeling as his patience completely ran out.  Upon flinching slightly when Vicky dropped a massive list on his head that unrolled along the floor, Timmy lost it once again.  He ripped the list off of his head, stomping on it before leaping up to scream right in Vicky’s face about how he was sick and tired of making his life horrible.  More tears came flooding out of his eyes just like the recollection of all the years Vicky had abused, terrorized and threatened him; he remembered all of those times he thought things would change for the better between them, only to find out the truth that there was no changing Vicky to treat him better.  

“No wonder nobody loves you, and nobody ever will!  How would you like it if someone treated you like how you’ve treated me for the whole time my parents left me stuck with you?!” Timmy bellowed threateningly, his chest heaving until he finally caught his breath and the bright red color drained from his face.

At first, Vicky was absolutely stunned by Timmy’s behavior.  The shot focused on her utterly baffled expression while she stood completely silent, and blinked while Timmy had time to cool down until Vicky registered what just happened.  In retaliation to Timmy’s outburst, she grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and effortlessly lifted him up before storming to his room.  Vicky was absolutely livid as she kicked the door to Timmy’s bedroom open, and mercilessly threw Timmy inside so that he hit a wall with a booming thud.  Without any remorse or concern for Timmy’s wellbeing, Vicky’s shrill voice could be heard off-screen as she screeched at him to stay in his room for the rest of the night; the command was followed by an incredibly promising threat to hurt him even worse before the sound of the door slamming shut ended Vicky’s angry yelling.

After a couple seconds of showing him cradling his aching head, Timmy snapped out of his daze just enough to sit up from where he was slumped on the floor.  From where he was sitting against the wall, Timmy slowly managed to get back on his feet as he mumbled to himself about how Vicky seemed much crueler than usual.  Not just because of what he said to her, but he couldn’t help but wonder why she was acting like she had planned for his arrival after school.  During his musing, the shot followed him as he paced about his bedroom, all while the empty fish bowl that Cosmo and Wanda once lived in was visible on the end table near his bed.  The scene continued as Timmy finally deduced that his parents must have warned Vicky that he was down in the dumps, and was more depressed than usual since the night before.

“Of course, they told Vicky…” He sighed heavily, pinching the space between his eyebrows before he fell silent with a huff while crossing his arms over his chest, and scowling down at the ground. “She must’ve been really excited for me to get back home just to see how much she could make me feel even more miserable.”

It was only then that he realized just how alone he truly was, and his lament wasn’t heard by anyone, but himself.  His first instinct from not getting a response was to call out to the two fairies that used to be in the now vacant fish bowl, but he had stopped himself from doing so once he remembered.  He wasn’t their godchild anymore, and that painful reminder wilted Timmy’s irritated expression into an incredibly forlorn one as his heart sank.  He had his TV; he had video games; he had toys, and even a computer.  There were plenty of things to keep him preoccupied from the rest of the world, including his troubles, but every time the camera panned over to wherever he looked, he felt no such desire to do the things he loved.  

Without warning, Timmy began to tear up at how his whole world felt so dull and empty without the company of the fairy couple.  After getting off of the floor to sit upon his bed, he wiped away the tears running down his face, and sat quietly in his solitude.  He had no one to confide in, not anymore.  He couldn’t find comfort in his oblivious, neglectful parents, nor any of his friends.  It would always be times like these where he would realize that he had been taking Cosmo and Wanda for granted, but this time was all too real.  He didn’t even care if they could grant him wishes if they came back, all he wanted was to have them back and know what it meant to be loved by family that were actually present in his life and showed that they cared about him every day.

He saw no point in doing activities that would normally cheer him up, and didn’t have the energy to do anything.  Instead, Timmy glanced over to the empty fish bowl, and scooted closer to gaze at the still water within the glass.  For a moment, he wondered out loud if he should at least try to give the bowl back to Cosmo and Wanda, recalling the time he got to explore the tiny castle settled in the pebbles.  It used to be their home, after all.  Once Timmy moved away from the fish bowl, he rubbed his tired and red-tinted eyes as the exhaustion returned.  He forgot how much he wanted to just curl up and sleep before he got the nerve to lash out at Vicky.  But after considering making an effort to smuggle the fish bowl over to Chloe, Timmy shook his head to rid himself of the thought.

Even if he did manage to sneak out of the house without Vicky knowing, Timmy recalled the way he acted back at recess when Chloe tried to cheer him up.  He wondered if Cosmo and Wanda would even want to see him again after witnessing his outburst.  A growing feeling of doubt made Timmy clutch his chest as if he were physically hit by something, and his sorrow turned into agonizing guilt at the thought of Cosmo and Wanda looking down at him with anger and disappointment for what he had done.  It truly hurt him to think that he had suddenly lost the love and trust of Cosmo and Wanda in one fell swoop, and doomed himself to a lonely fate.  His parents were never there when he needed them; he scared off his friends by throwing a tantrum at his neighbor; and, there was no chance of him getting another fairy to replace the pieces of his heart that had been torn away with Cosmo and Wanda.

Every second of this reflection only dug himself deeper into a pit of grief, and there seemed to be no hope for him to stop anytime soon.

“Maybe they really are better off without me,” He murmured solemnly, curling up under the blankets as small tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes.

As the shot zoomed out on Timmy crying himself to sleep, the scene faded out to the inside of Chloe’s room where she was pacing back and forth, brainstorming ways that would prove to Jorgen Von Strangle that Timmy was worthy of being a godchild once again.

“Think, Chloe, think!  There must be something I can wish for to change Jorgen’s mind,” Chloe chanted to herself, tapping the side of her head as if trying to invoke her brain to produce a plan.

During this scene, Cosmo and Wanda were floating on the other side of Chloe’s room, trying to comfort each other after having to witness their former godchild fall apart right in front of them.  While the constant wailing from both fairies was clearly making it more difficult for Chloe to focus on the task at hand, she couldn’t help but eventually stop her pacing, and her own deeply concentrated expression faltered.  Chloe fell completely silent, unable to even hear her own thoughts over the sound of the fairy couple’s lamenting, and turned around to look at them with a rather disheartened look on her face.  As much as she didn’t want to admit it, it hurt her deep down to see her own fairy godparents so upset from having to lose Timmy as their godchild, and all of her attempts to console them were in vain.  In a way, it felt like their grief had completely driven a wedge between them, unintentionally causing the fairy couple to nearly neglect Chloe.

However, she was quick to shake off that feeling, and pushed herself to rationalize the situation.  After taking a moment to close her eyes, and take a deep breath, Chloe began to murmur to herself to imagine a scenario where her parents were in Cosmo and Wanda’s position.  She asked herself how much would hurt them if she had an actual sibling, and they were forced to give him up without being able to do anything about it before she calmly opened her eyes.  From Chloe’s perspective, the shot of Cosmo and Wanda holding each other as they continued to weep morphed into the scenario she envisioned within her mind.  Cosmo and Wanda were no longer in sight, and their forms were replaced with Chloe’s mother and father instead while the background faded to black with only a single light beaming down upon the couple.

Chloe’s father was struggling to hide his tears as he held onto his wife, clinging to the woman until he finally burst into tears.  But unlike Cosmo and Wanda, the married couple didn’t let the heavy burden of grief get to them nearly as much.  Instead, both parents finally looked up to see Chloe watching them from a distance, and welcomed her into a hug.  

“At least we still have you,” Connie grinned with a renewed sense of hope, earning a smile in return from Chloe.

“We still have each other,” Clark added as he embraced his family.

The shot lingered on a close up of Chloe’s face as she was slowly lulled into a sense of much needed comfort, and the tears she was holding back were flowing down her face.  Finally, the shot backed away when the pitch black background disappeared, and she opened her eyes to see that she was back in her room, hugging her fairy godparents as they embraced her in return.  The three stayed like this until Wanda sniffled, and dried her tearful eyes with a conjured up handkerchief before giving Chloe a sincere apology for not realizing how everything that was going on had been affecting her too.  

“We love you both, but it’s always hard for us to say goodbye to our godchildren.  Even after all these years,” Wanda sighed glumly, raising her wand to poof up another handkerchief for Cosmo, who loudly blew his nose into once he managed to get a hold of himself.  “Normally, things would get better when something like this happens.  No matter what Timmy did, he’d always find a way to convince Jorgen to let us stay his fairy godparents…”

“Then, what did he do that was so different this time?” Chloe asked, perking up at the slight glimmer of hope that there could be a loophole to fix all of the mess. “Was it something worse than anything he’s done before?”

For a moment, Cosmo and Wanda were at a loss for words, and could only glance at each other as they floated above Chloe.  The shot remained focused on the fairy couple as they are shown trying to remember the details of what Timmy’s last wish was that caused the major catastrophe that incurred the wrath of Jorgen Von Strangle.  Alas, even after the fairy couple described a rather dangerous and chaotic crisis that spiraled out of control due to Timmy’s impulsive behavior towards wishing, Cosmo and Wanda could only scratch their heads in puzzlement as the shot was aimed back to Chloe while she took a moment to register all of the information.

“So… There’s nothing I can really do to prove Jorgen wrong, is there?” Chloe murmured, sounding far more resigned than before once the fairy couple finished telling the story, and her once hopeful expression wilted away as her shoulders slumped. 

“I’m afraid not this time,” Wanda frowned apologetically, lowering herself so she was at her godchild’s level before conjuring up a large photo album that appeared in Chloe’s hands. 

Without waiting, Chloe opened the book to analyze several old photos from the misadventures Timmy and his godparents had endured even before Chloe moved into town.  While the shot focused on all of the pictures displayed inside the album, Wanda could be heard off-screen describing what had been going on in every bizarre, and nostalgic picture that was shown.  With every story behind the framed polaroids Chloe was told, the more she dreaded the idea of possibly trying to convince Jorgen that she wasn’t any better of a godchild than Timmy.  Without warning, Chloe slammed the album shut, and her face was revealed to be one of genuine horror as a brief imagination sequence was presented where the worst possible things that could happen to the people of the world came true upon making a purposefully terrible wish just to make Timmy’s numerous disasters pale in comparison.  She could potentially wipe out the entire population of humans, animals, and any living thing on earth with a single wish that slipped past “Da Rules”.

As her daydream faded away, she realized that even if she genuinely tried to put her plan into action, and Jorgen’s stubborn nature overpowered her attempts, then that would be the end of everything.  All of the horrible things plaguing her conscience would be the consequences of her plan, and all of the lives destroyed in the midst of the disaster would be on her head.  Just like the moment her kind and loving nature ended up in creating an even bigger disaster that caused her to move to Dimmsdale in the first place; her heart would rule over her mind, and she may end up making that very same mistake.  It was one life, or the lives of others; the same choice Jorgen Von Strangle asked her to think about on the night she became the sole godchild of Cosmo and Wanda.

“I...I can’t…” Chloe stammered as her eyes trailed off in a one-thousand-yard stare out her bedroom window, and her trembling hands slowly dropped the photo album. “There’s no way I could make a wish so disastrous.”

From behind Chloe, Cosmo pointed his finger and opened his mouth to object, but was immediately silenced by Wanda when she used her magic to literally zip Cosmo’s mouth shut before he could encourage her to go along with her initial idea.  Unlike Cosmo’s generally comedic character, he remained completely silent after getting over the initial shock of suddenly having his voice smothered.  He didn’t try to unzip his mouth, or use his wand to make it disappear; he didn’t even try to make a bunch of muffled noises in the background.  Instead, he just stayed where he was, quiet as a mouse while Wanda took it upon herself to approach their godchild and speak.

“Then it’s best not to make a wish, sweetie,” Wanda recommended in her more motherly tone. “I know you want to help Timmy, and we’d want nothing more than to fix this mess, but these things happen.  In the past, we’ve had so many godchildren, just like all the other fairies in Fairy World.  But, it’s never easy having to say goodbye.”

As the shot lingered on Wanda’s somber expression, Cosmo finally placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder from outside of view before floating into the scene.  Once he was among Chloe and Wanda, he finally raised his wand in order to make the zipper that sealed his mouth disappear.

“Normally, fairies are supposed to stick with their godchildren until they grow up, and that’s usually the hardest to deal with,” He added, sounding much more serious than normal. “Wanda and I have been Timmy’s godparents for just two years, which may not seem very long, but so much happened during that time that it feels like we’ve been a fairy family for the longest time.”

Wanda couldn’t help but tear up again, clearly touched by Cosmo’s sentiment.  Wanda was quick to wipe away the stray tear, however, reminding both herself and Cosmo that they needed to be strong.  As the mood began to pick up, Cosmo and Wanda embraced each other for a brief moment while Chloe watched them with a relieved smile now that the two finally came to terms with their grief.  However, Chloe knew that there was still work to do.  And once Cosmo and Wanda turned their attention back to their godchild, Chloe was then shown staring out her window at the Turner house in the distance, claiming that she planned on going over to talk to Timmy once the weekend finally arrived.  She knew that it was still too soon for her to try and approach him, and if what happened that day proved anything, Cosmo and Wanda agreed on her plan to wait for Timmy to calm down without question.

Now that her determination was rekindled, Chloe decided to scrap the initial plan of trying to make a risky wish.  It was obvious to both Chloe, and Wanda that it just wasn’t worth all the havoc; not to mention, the plan seemed to fall flat after Chloe took a moment to reflect back on her initial thought process.  Taking a note from what she learned from her parents, she needed to focus on the big picture, not just the small details.  If Chloe was going to make things better, she had to find a way to get through to Timmy; she only hoped that he would be able to keep it together until the weekend arrived. 

[onelonecritter]

FOP: Fairy Fallout Pt.2

Previous (X)

Act II

The next scene began with a shot outside of the Dimmsdale Elementary School and the sound of a school bell ringing before transitioning to the playground where the students were eating lunch, and cheerfully enjoying recess.  While the atmosphere maintains a more carefree vibe, Timmy is shown sitting at one of the picnic tables in the courtyard, sulking while his main group of friends: A.J., Chester, Elmer, and Sanjay are chatting amongst each other.  There are visible lines under Timmy’s eyes, and he not only appears incredibly tired, but forlorn from the night before.  This sudden change in behavior was quickly picked up by his nearby friends, Chester and A.J., who ended their conversation before A.J. tried to get Timmy’s attention.  It took a few tries before Timmy snapped out of his trance, but as he looked around to see the worried expressions on his friends’ faces, Timmy merely hung his head again and sighed heavily before mumbling that nothing was wrong.  

The shot then focused on Timmy’s friends as they exchanged glances with each other, all of them blinking in confusion as they sat quietly without a word before it back to Timmy, who continued to stare hopelessly down at the table with his head cradled in his hands.  Off-screen, A.J. spoke up, pointing out how Timmy hasn’t cracked a smile since they saw him on the bus that morning.  Then, Chester chimed in to reassure Timmy that they were there for him, and he was safe to talk about whatever was troubling him, only to no avail.  Soon, the background noise became quieter, and Timmy’s inner voice began to go on about how he could possibly even begin to tell his friends what had happened.  They couldn’t know the secret of him having fairy godparents even before Chloe came into the picture, and he knew for certain that there was no use in telling them how he got his fairies taken away.  

As he considered ways to try and explain the situation to his friends, and possibly find comfort from his grief, Timmy suddenly took notice of a strange aching in his chest.  He visibly recognized the feeling, and his exhausted expression became one of absolute anguish.  A close up on Timmy’s eyes showed tears beginning to gloss over them before the shot zoomed out to show Timmy breaking out into another crying fit right at the table, startling his friends.  For the first couple of seconds, all of the kids sitting at the table, and even the ones standing nearby, awkwardly distance themselves from Timmy as he hysterically sobs.  Everyone’s shoulders tensed up, their clenched teeth were visible as they frowned nervously, and they all looked clearly uncomfortable with the situation.  

After a couple seconds of Timmy weeping, the scene panned over to a pair of double doors opening to reveal Chloe exiting the cafeteria with a green lunch box in one hand while a pink messenger bag was slung over her shoulder.  Upon skipping down the steps to enter the courtyard, Chloe perks up when her name is suddenly called out by A.J. from off-screen.  Shifting over to where Timmy and his friends were sitting, Timmy’s friends looked absolutely relieved to see Chloe, and were practically scrambling away from the picnic table to flock around her.  Without hesitation, Chloe gave all of them a smile and gladly welcomed their company, but paused to switch her focus over to Timmy, who now had his head resting on the table where a pool of tears were forming.  As she continued to stare at Timmy, Chester asked if Chloe had any idea on what had Timmy so upset, and explained that none of them could get a clear answer out of him.

Upon hearing this, Chloe frowned, looking genuinely concerned about Timmy’s behavior.  Although, she couldn’t help but feel empathetic at the thought of how alienating it must feel being unable to open up about his heartache, not even to his close group of friends who have known him for so long.  While Timmy’s friends watched Chloe make her way over to the picnic table, she softly greeted Timmy with a smile when he lifted his head up to look at her.  After blinking away his tears, Timmy’s eyes instantly locked onto the distinct green lunch box, and the pink messenger bag before he perked up for a moment.  There was no mistaking it, Cosmo and Wanda were right there.

For merely a moment, Timmy’s face went from sullen to joyful as he opened his mouth to call out for his two former fairy godparents.  It was as if that single burst of happiness made every hour of sorrow disappear, and he could forget the trials and tribulations in his daily life from just seeing his closest companions.  But just as soon as Timmy’s vision of being reunited with Cosmo and Wanda had appeared, the illusion was shattered into fragments only to reveal Chloe, standing by the picnic table where Timmy was still sitting alone.  All of the warmth that had been surging through Timmy instantly grew cold, and his gleeful expression soured as he stared back at Chloe.  He not only looked like he had his heart crushed again, but he also seemed agitated by Chloe’s mere presence.

He hasn’t had such a bad attitude towards his neighbor since she first moved in, and occasionally still got annoyed with her overwhelmingly cheery attitude even after that, but what he felt at that moment was different.  Timmy’s hands balled into fists, visibly shaking even when he tried to keep his temper in check.  Rather than feel threatened, Chloe stood her ground despite her grin faltering and her heart sinking.  Bitterly, Timmy asked Chloe what she wanted, shifting his gaze away from her.  

Even with Timmy’s unwelcoming front, Chloe refused to let it deter her from at least trying to comfort Timmy.  Rather than getting defensive, Chloe sincerely offered to sit with him, and let him spend a bit of time with Cosmo and Wanda.  This invitation was enough to regain Timmy’s attention, and even made his expression soften slightly.  Seeing this change brought a hopeful smile to Chloe’s face, and she perked up when it seemed like Timmy was about to accept her offer.  His mouth opened and he glanced at the green lunch box and pink bag, but then he suddenly fell silent. 

Timmy’s mouth shut once again, and he frowned as his conscience piped up to weigh his options while the shot shifted from Cosmo and Wanda, then back to Timmy as he stared off into the distance with a more troubled expression on his face.  He really did want to stay in touch with them, yet deep down inside, he knew that he couldn’t.  While breaking the rules was something he had a terrible habit of, Timmy couldn’t help but become visibly frightened.  He wanted to hold onto the close bond he had with Cosmo and Wanda.  He needed the comfort they brought into his life, but even then, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to let go of them if he had the chance to have them around.

As he remained in silence, a sudden flash of light engulfed the entire scene.  The sounds of children playing and laughing in the school playgrounds were gone, along with the rest of the courtyard as Timmy thought back to all of the awful moments where he thought he had lost  Cosmo and Wanda for good.  All of those times where he had felt as though a massive part of his heart was torn away while he watched the fairy couple desperately try to avoid either getting sucked into the vortex within the “Da Rules” book, or being forcibly dragged into a fairy cab came rushing back to him.  Even worse was the time Timmy was forced to set them free from the clutches of Mr. Crocker by breaking one of the biggest rules in the book, and confessed that he was their godchild in front of his captive parents before bidding them a final goodbye.  Timmy still remembered how much it hurt him when he heard Cosmo and Wanda cry out that they loved him as the fairy couple were taken by the vortex within the giant book, but in the end, they were returned to him.

Unfortunately for Timmy, there didn’t seem like there would be another chance for him this time.  They had Chloe now, and knowing that she could be a better godchild than he ever could aspire to be, shattered any hopes of redemption he had left.  The flashback of Timmy embracing Cosmo and Wanda when they were reunited faded before it transitioned to a shot of Timmy’s eyes as they became flooded with tears again, and he started shaking.  Chloe could be heard calling his name from off-screen as the shot remained focused on Timmy’s face, capturing his look of despair as he tried with all his might to hold back from crying on the spot again.

“Just leave me alone!” Timmy abruptly snapped, completely shocking Chloe and sending her falling backwards off the bench while the other children stared in astonishment at them.

While Timmy stood up from his seat, and his shadow loomed over Chloe as she stared up at him in bewilderment.  Cosmo and Wanda’s faces materialized onto their object disguises as they looked on in horror at their former godchild.  Both of the fairies desperately fought back their tears as Timmy, for just a split second, made eye contact with them from where he stood above Chloe.  The anger that pushed Timmy to the point of snapping at his neighbor lingered, yet the initial rush had run its course.  Just when Timmy realized he made a scene, Timmy’s friends rushed into the picture to defend Chloe and try to restrain Timmy.  A.J. wasted no time in scolding Timmy for acting so hostile to Chloe, questioning why he was acting so weird while Chester helped get Chloe back up on her feet before she dusted herself off.

Once she got past the shock, Chloe moved to try and get back over to Timmy so they could try to talk things out.  Meanwhile, Timmy struggled to get his friends Sanjay, and Elmer to let go of him until he managed to literally throw them off.  This ended up sending the couple of kids tumbling right into Chester and A.J., resulting in the group landing in a heap on the concrete with an audible thud that made Chloe flinch away.  Without anything holding him back, Timmy leapt off the bench of the picnic table, and fled from the scene without looking back while Chloe tried to call out for him.  It would have been easy for Chloe to catch up to Timmy, but the crowd that formed around them when Timmy made a fuss kept getting in her way, and she eventually lost sight of him as the scene ended with one last shot of Timmy running back into the school.