#IVE ONLY WATCHED THE FILM ONCE I WAS MOSTLY CONCERNED WITH REMEMBERING WHOS WHO AND KEEPING UP WITH THE PLOT

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

my dad recently made the mistake of quoting roy's last words to me and had to endure my ten minute obsession-fuelled dissection of the ending and that scene in particular and all the symbolism. and i have come to the conclusion that i need to rewatch bladerunner NOW. ASAP. or i might actually start biting furniture

[papermoonloveslucy]

MEET THE PRESS

August 3, 1969

You are clued into the frank and tough talk to come by the way Lucille Ball swipes away with her handkerchief at the flies threatening the hors d’oeuvres The kerchief almost snaps like a wet towel. 

The scene is the pool patio of her home on Beverly Hills’ Roxbury Drive and a cocktail party is in progress for visiting television editors. 

Lucy has just emerged from the main house. She wears a powder blue double-breasted slack suit and saucer-sized sun glasses. In the blazing sun her orange hair has the color intensity of hot coals. 

She has counted heads. Husband-producer Gary Morton is there. So are Desi Arnaz IV her son, and Lucy her daughter. And her TV side-kick Gale Gordon with his wife. Plus a half-dozen of her staff and CBS emissaries. There have been introductions all round to the newspaper types. It is time, she announces, to talk and she waves everybody into the big and comfortable pool house. A table has been positioned so that she can sit there presiding as she used to do at the stockholders’ meetings of the old Desilu Studios. 

Almost immediately some wag fields her the question: “Lucy do you run the show?” She flashes him that big innocent TV look of hers. A staff member jumps up “Let’s all answer that one for her” There is a resounding “YES” from family-and-cast. Everybody laughs uproariously.

Very few questions are required to prime the pump. Lucy, it seems, has some matters of personal irritation on her mind and as far as she is concerned they come tumbling out without any prodding from her would-be interrogators. 

First of all, she asks rhetorically, what’s all this business about whether she would retire? “I never said I wanted to quit or retire. There was a time when I was willing to quit but nobody asked me. Now I’ve set a date when I’ll retire” 

A lot of ears perk up Somebody asks slyly — when? She’s waiting for that. Her answer is smilingly emphatic: “When I drop dead in my tracks.” 

She turns then without anybody’s questioning to the matter of her longevity in television. This is her 18th year on the tube and it used to be talked about that she traded her popularity to CBS in return for its buying other shows produced by her company. This evokes an almost visible jet of steam out of the top of her carrot locks. “I never at any time sold any of the 20 shows our company produced on the basis of my returning each season. I’ve said that literally hundreds of times and nobody believed it.” 

She went on to make it clear that she also dislikes the “big business” image which has adhered to her over the years. “I never like to talk about big money. I make my deal and that’s all. It’s been mostly a matter of legal procedures.” 

As the star wades into these fiscal subjects your eye roams over the assemblage. Young Desi in tennis togs impassively studies the smoke curling up from a cigarette. Young Lucy clutches her hands around her knees and stares intently at her mother. Husband Gary sitting on a ledge at the back of the room swings his legs and smiles. 

There has been no mention of Desi the elder the former husband Lucy’s co-performer and co-founder of Desilu Studios (now sold). Earlier this writer had chatted briefly with young Desi. He said he saw his father off and on and spends his summers as a rule at the father’s beach home at Delmar, south of Los Angeles. 

The youngster asked if I knew his grandfather Dr. Desiderio Arnaz who lives in Coral Gables.  (1)

But back to Lucy She’s telling us how many years it took to realize that as Lucille Ball she had attained V.I.P. status.

She reviews the years she spent trying to make it in show business, first on the stage, then as a model, and finally in the movies. Much of the time she says she stagnated. Until television came along. 

“I never had any sense of importance. I was very pliable always willing to do what I was told It wasn’t until one day I saw in print somewhere some actress described as a ‘Lucille Ball type’ that I knew suddenly I was somebody and a part of the business.” 

From there on the interview jumps from subject to subject. 

I ask her whatever happened to the project Dean Martin’s producer Greg Garrison had for starring Martin, her, and Jackie Gleason in a revival of the musical “Guys and Dolls.”  (2)

“I never said I would do it. Garrison kept publicizing it, but he never cleared it with me. I do still want to do ‘Diamond Jim’ with Jackie It’s just a matter of finding the time.” (3)

A lady editor wants to know how Lucy keeps her sinuous figure. 

“I don’t particularly like food. I’m not very fond of meat, for example, except in the morning.” 

Which brings a snort of disgust from her husband. “Can you imagine what it’s like to have to watch her eating corned beef or hamburger at 6 o’clock in the morning?” 

The questions now go to the children. What are Desi’s plans? Does he want to make acting his future? “I want to be an actor for awhile but I don’t think I ever want to be one certain thing.” 

Young Lucy, who, at 18, is two years older than her brother, is more sure of her future “I’ll go to college for awhile but I like acting. I’ll stay at it if I can.” 

Would she somebody asks join the campus protest and carry a sign? Only if it says ‘wet paint’ quips she. 

Lucy now introduces her cast veteran, Gale Gordon. He pays her extravagant compliments and talks a bit about his radio and early television days. 

The interview’s late arrival is venerable George Marshall, who is now the show’s director. Lucy introduces him as “our sexy senior citizen.” Marshall goes back to the dawn of movies and is filled with fascinating anecdotes about his years in the business. (4)

The conversation turns to TV’s talk shows. Somebody suggests to Lucy that she would be a highly likely guest for Merv Griffin’s new show starting on CBS Aug 18. (5)

Lucy's answer comes lancing back “That’s what you think. I don’t like him.” Which rocks everybody back. Why not? “Because he doesn’t know how to interview. He’s rude to his guests and he monopolizes the conversation.” 

She doesn’t wait for the next question. “I’m wild about Dick Cavett (on ABC) I think he’s great And I told Bill Paley (board chairman of CBS) he should have him on our network. But Bill said ABC got him first and we’re out of luck.” (6)

Everybody is suddenly distracted by three teen-age girl fans leaning over a fence way up front. They’re begging to be allowed on the grounds. Morton jogs forward to shoo them away. 

“This happens all the time,” says Lucy. “My God they used to picnic right in front of the house until our police department stopped them. Jimmy Stewart, who lives up the street, finally told me how to keep them away. Turn on the lawn sprinklers.” 

Morton returns and takes everybody for a tour of their luxurious but very lived-in home. Lucy tells us a funny story about how Jack and Mary Benny had once been their next door neighbors sold their home then asked her to try to mediate a re-sale of the place back to them. Then we take our leave.

#    #    # FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) Dr. Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y Alberni II (1894-1973) was a Cuban politician and the father of Desi Arnaz. He graduated from the Southern College of Pharmacy in 1913 in Atlanta, Georgia. Desiderio Arnaz II was the youngest mayor of Santiago de Cuba (1923–32). When president Machado was overthrown in August 1933, Arnaz was arrested and jailed. Six months later, he was allowed to go into exile. He married Dolores "Lolita" de Acha y de Socias in 1916 and had one son, Desiderio "Desi" Arnaz III. He later had a daughter, Connie Arnaz (1932), with Anne M. Wilson, whom he married in 1941.

(2) Guys & Dolls was a 1950 stage musical by Frank Loesser, based on the stories by Damon Runyon starring Robert Alda, who appeared on several episodes of “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy”.  It was filmed by MGM in 1955. During that time, Lucy and Desi were also under contract to MGM, so they prevailed upon “I Love Lucy” to insert a clip from the film into “Lucy and the Dummy” (ILL S5;E3). After its initial airing on October 17, 1955, the clip was removed from the film print, and for legal reasons, has never been restored. It is unclear whether Garrison’s project with Martin, Ball, and Gleason would have been a film revival, or a stage production. Whatever it was to be, Lucy wanted to have no part of it, perhaps remembering the rigors of performing on stage in Wildcat (1960). During her film career, Ball was in two films based on Damon Runyon material, The Big Street (1942), a film she claimed as her favorite, and Sorrowful Jones (1949). She also did a radio version of Runyon’s “Tight Shoes” in 1942. Ball and Gleason would have been cast as Miss Adelaide and Nathan Detroit, while Dean Martin would have played Sky Masterson, the romantic lead. Those roles were played by Vivian Blaine, Frank Sinatra, and Marlon Brando in the film. Obviously, the project never came to be. 

(3) “Diamond Jim” was a project that Lucy dearly wanted to make with Gleason. He would play Diamond Jim Brady (1856-1917) to her Lillian Russell. Ball even went so far as to have a script written to further grab Gleason’s attention. Despite their best intentions, Gleason and Ball’s schedules never allowed for enough time to make the film. 

(4) George Marshall (1891-1975) had directed Lucille Ball in Valley of the Sun (1942) and Fancy Pants (1950).  He was considered an expert at location shooting, so when “Here’s Lucy” wanted to spend the first four episodes of Season 2 on location, Marshall was hired as director. He stayed on for seven more episodes of the sitcom before bowing out. 

(5) Despite Lucille Ball’s rather harsh public assessment of Merv Griffin (1925-2007) at this August 1969 press party, Ball appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show” four times between 1971 and 1980! During her first appearance, the aforementioned George Marshall was also a guest! 

(6) Lucille did seem to enjoy doing the talking to Dick Cavett, although she only got to do his chat show once, on March 7, 1974, in conjunction with her press tour for Mame. 

[blankdblank]

Undercover Pt 4

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3

Requested by - @deepestfirefun​

All –

@himoverflowers​, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator​, @sweeticedtea​, @ggbbhehe4455​, @thegreyberet​, @patanghill17​, @jesgisborne​, @curvestrology​, @alishlieb​, @jogregor​, @armitageadoration​, @fizzyxcustard​, @here2have-fun​, @lilith15000​, @marvels-ghost​, @catthefearless​, @imjusthereforthereads​, @c-s-stars​

x Thorin – @evyiione​, @deepestfirefun​, @queenoferebor​

 …

The movie went over splendidly for the boys who got to experience their first actual visit to a cinema. Outside the mall in their bouncing into the waiting car sent for you the boys chatted with Estel, who scrambled into his own car seat to be secured by Boromir as you secured the boys and buckled in beside them wetting your lips shaking your head at Jimmy’s concerned gaze seeing how pale you were. Straight away you were driven to the Palace where the boys cheerfully bounced outside peering up at your in Estel’s offer to show them his room.

With a nod you said, “Go on. Your Grandpa should be here soon. Have some fun.”

They giggled and turned racing off while Boromir set down his girl who soon raced after Faramir’s girl and Izzy off to head to their garden playhouse while Jimmy wrapped his arm around your middle, “Come on. Let’s get you to that Doctor.” Turning to lift you in his arms for the walk behind Faramir to the Doctor’s Wing fully stocked for any emergency.

.

“What all are your symptoms Miss Pear? I heard you swallowed your tracking ring.”

“I um, ya, well I threw that up in the mall.”

His grin flinched wider passing off the blood samples for testing he had just drawn, “Good, that is good. Just lingering nausea now? You are looking really pale.”

“I started to get these pains in my pelvis.” He nodded, “And I thought it might be the stress, but, I started bleeding,” he nodded, “And it really was way more blood than I usually lose with my period. And I keep having these stabbing pains.”

He nodded, “Well, if you wouldn’t mind removing your shirt and lay back we can take a look.”

The buttons across the front were easily removed and you set your top aside leaving you in your strapless bra as you started to lay back only to wince and freeze at another cramp. Exhaling shakily you lowered with the Doctor’s help only to bite your lip at his feeling around your stomach. With brows knitted together he asked, “Do you have cramps like these usually?”

“Not really. Few bad ones in the second day, other than that no, nothing close to this.”

He nodded, “For now I’m going to give you something for the pain and some fluids while we wait on those blood results.”

“Okay.”

.

Laying back again you eased your hand across your chest to grip your arm under the blanket they had given you in your chills even with the borrowed scrub shirt on you. A plane touching down on the private airstrip was heard and with it brought the distant sound of Thror greeting his grandsons while voices carried on their path to your door. Through the heavy door your father passed through with your four oldest brothers who hurried to your side and folded around you in tight hugs. Settled beside you your father stretched out holding you through another painful cramp even with the meds you whimpered through gripping his shirt tightly. Behind them the door opened again and you all looked up at the Doctor entering again as you shifted up wincing at another cramp.

Anxiously he looked you over and said when he stopped at the foot of your bed. “Miss Pear, I believe I found out what happened to have you in this much pain.”

“How bad is it?”

Inhaling sharply he stated, “Well your scans on your stomach came back clear, no damage from the ring. Though, your blood work came back positive, I believe the sedative and stress from today triggered you to miscarry.”

“I,” tears welled up in your eyes and your father folded around you at your lean into his chest, not giving you a chance to feel ashamed at conceiving without being married or what having to share the news with the Durins.

“The pain should ease and pass in a couple days. It was quite early, barely over a month I would guess for it not to appear on the scans yet.” Quietly the Doctor slipped out of the room leaving you to calm down while your brothers folded over what little was left exposed of your back.

Against the chest collecting your tears you mumbled weakly, “I didn’t know.”

Kissing the top of your head your father cooed back, “I know. You would have said something, to them and us.”

Sniffling again you tried to add jokingly, “Just once and baby, great genes.”

Your brothers chuckled as your father rumbled out while stroking your back, “Just how your Mom and I were wed.”

Peering up at him he smiled at you knowingly as your eldest brother said, “I wasn’t born till your second anniversary.”

He nodded wiping your cheek, “Some times early on, it just happens.” A tear streamed down his cheek matching your next one he wiped away, “Eru sends us little ones, sometimes even when we don’t notice. So comes snow after fire. It hurts but we will find happiness again through this.”

“How am I supposed to tell them?” You weakly trembled out.        

Turning towards the door he heard Thror approaching and he asked, “Would you like me to tell the King?”

Nodding you replied, “If you wouldn’t mind.”

He kissed your forehead again, “Just relax, we’ll have you on the plane back soon enough,” and eased off the bed and turned to head to the door.

On the other side of it he hurried to wipe his cheek catching Thror with a concerned look on his face asking, “The Doctor wouldn’t say much past the ring being purged and not harming her, how is Bunny?”

“She is still in pain, the Doctor said that would pass in a few days. Past that there isn’t much he can-,”

“Surely we can do something? Was there a broken bone or-?”

His words broke off at your father stating plainly, “She was pregnant.”

Thror’s heart sank, “Was?”

“The Doctor believes between the sedative and the stress her body wasn’t able to-, he said it was barely over a month, not uncommon for stress to, even she didn’t realize she was-,” With tears looming in their eyes Thror moved in claiming a momentary hug catching a glimpse of you laying between your brothers through the window on the door, stepping back he said, “The jet will be ready soon. I’ll see to it she has everything she needs when we get back.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure she’s ready.” Thror nodded then turned to go back to find the boys again, uncertain of how to spread the word himself, especially to Dis. Your acceptance into their clan now was official with the nameless child to be marked to Thorin’s line of heirs with you officially his Consort now, soon to be delicately announced to their people when they were certain you had found your solid ground again.

.

The jet was finally fueled up and on your feet again holding your own shirt again you grinned lowering to accept Prince Estel’s hug that the girls joined in on before racing off again freeing you to rise and accept hugs from Jimmy, and the Brothers. King Arathorn walked out to bid you farewell with a handshake of his own along with his hushed condolences as Thror held the boys already nodding off in his arms mumbling still about the film. Behind the trio you walked under your father’s arm holding your worn blazer as your brothers took the diaper bag you had bought from the aid who had first taken it in your arrival.

Against his side you grit your way through the flight back watching Erebor grow closer. When the wheels touched down however you had passed out fully and were carried off by your father, who was asked to take you in to their own Doctor’s Wing where a full private room was set up for you. Right away you were groggily helped into the sweats and tank top B and C had brought you along with extra blankets and pillows for you. Nestled in the nest they made for you another bag of fluids were added to the iv still in your arm as you dozed off again hearing the Durins cheerfully greeting the groggy boys being taken off to be bathed, changed and readied for bed.

.

Anxiously looking around Dis spotted Thorin still staring at his phone after the unanswered message to you when he had helped Kili into bed alongside Frerin, looking at her grandfather she asked, “Jaqi went home?”

Thror shook his head, “No, Jaqi is in the Doctor’s Wing.”

All eyes turned to him as Thorin said, “What happened?”

Thror wet his lips, “Apparently, the sedative and the stress, caused her to miscarry.”

Gripping Thorin’s shoulders Dwalin and Balin kept him upright as Frerin leaned against the wall through Dis’ clapping her hands over her mouth mirroring her mother and grandmother’s tearful reaction. Vili, “Is she in pain?”

Thror nodded, “The Doctor said she was barely over a month along, not uncommon for stress to cause this. The worst of it is mostly over, just a few days rest and, physically she should be fine. Bit of a shock even Dabondor said she had no clue, it was so early.”

Between his cousins Thorin made his way for the door with Frerin behind him. Tearfully in the hall he mumbled, “There has to be something we can do for her pain.”

Gripping Thorin’s shoulder Frerin, “Thorin, you need to take it easy.” Thorin turned to face him with a tearful glare to find his tearful gaze in return, “You were there too, either she didn’t want to make more of that night or was worried about what it meant, we haven’t talked about it the three of us. Now she finds out she conceived from it. I know it hurts, but we have to ease into this or she might get more upset.”

Thorin, “How are we supposed to be calm? Gramps doesn’t even know-,”

“Thorin,” lowly he cut him off moving him aside saying, “From what I remember I was behind her the whole time. Jaqi is your Consort now, unless by some off chance the baby is fine, even then still they will be added to your line.” Thorin’s head shifted to the side a tick, “I love her, as a Sister, you know I do. You are in a relationship. Unless she says otherwise she remains your Consort. No need to add to any stress by publicly throwing me in the mix.”

Nodding abruptly Thorin turned through a sharp exhale continuing his way through the halls until they found your private room, pausing at the door they knocked gently and entered peeking in finding you shifting onto your back with a groan at your next cramp. Your brothers were lounged out on cots around the room as your father stood at their entrance. A grin flashed onto his face with a nod, “Your Majesties.”

They shook their heads and Frerin said, “Please, you’ve known us long enough, we don’t need titles.”

Thorin wet his lips, “Mr Pear, we should probably-,”

Your father shook his head, “We can handle all the customary discussions later. As for now, I have a call to make to my Wife. Your Grandfather has agreed to send out for the best Obgyn, should be landing in a couple hours for better scans. It was just a blood test back in Gondor.” Thorin nodded and he watched him pass by after saying, “Shouldn’t be too long but I’ll be back in a bit if she asks, so you can have some time alone.” After a pause he looked the brothers over saying, “If it helps, I believe you would have managed to work it all out. Would have done right for the little one, even through school.”

Alone in the room they turned to your bed where they settled around you, Frerin and Thorin snuggled at your sides as your eyes peeked open curiously at them. Weakly you chuckled saying, “I suppose it wasn’t a dream after all.”

Cupping your cheek Thorin sweetly kissed your lips, “Are you in a lot of pain?”

You shook your head, “No. It’s better now.” Wetting your lips you asked, “Thror knows?”

Thorin nodded and Frerin answered, “You have been recorded as Consort for Thorin. It will be marked down on Thorin’s line.”

Leaning back you caught Frerin’s eyes asking, “Just his?”

Frerin nodded cupping your cheek with a soft chuckle, “I do love you, however, you are in love with my brother. Unless by some chance I have won you over-,” you rolled your eyes and giggled in his folding around you in a tight hug kissing your forehead. “Thought so, either way, head over heels to hear you’re finally dubbed Consort.”

“Does this mean I have to be in a parade or something?”

Thorin chuckled kissing your forehead, “No. Just rest, a specialist should be here in a bit.”

Dwalin at your feet moved the blanket so he could start to rub one of your feet while Balin took the other, each sharing just what details of the celebration coming up along with what you had missed in your courses. The work for all of which had been collected for you with countless questions about why you had missed school at all and why the Princes had been missing all but rugby practices as well.

.

On your back staring at the screen while the specialist pressed the wand into your navel, “It looks like you had a ruptured ovarian cyst. I don’t see any more, which is good. As for miscarriage,” around the room the Durins and your family hopefully listened in as she shifted the wand and your brow inched up and you asked, “Why is there a ghost on the screen?” Pointing at what seemed to be a cocky ghost grinning on the image before you.

The specialist chuckled saying, “Those, would be your triplets.”

Your mouth fell open and your father chuckled leaning in to kiss your forehead, “You three looked like a seal on your first picture.”

Grinning at you the specialist stated, “Now, as far as the cyst goes, it appears your body had to pick which to keep feeding. Cyst simply split free and burst. The fluid mostly flowed out of you, the pain is from the pressure of your body moving what is left to be reabsorbed. It still is early, I would say a few more days on bed rest to be safe and bi weekly check ups through the first trimester.”

The rest of the stop in was filled with detailed instructions for your diet and self care tips taken down by the Durins, all of whom lit up at the news of their new member. None more elated than Dis, who stole the spot at your side across from Thorin when the specialist left to start sharing tips and plans she had for your entire pregnancy. Though an urgent call tore Thror from your side only to have him and his anxious walk back to your bedside causing you to ask, “Is anything wrong?”

Wetting his lips he turned on the tv along the wall he set to the news that replayed the story about the reason for your absences being that you had lost the Prince’s child, though which one they still had no clue leading to one anchor leading the others into agreeing with him you were Consort for both. Folding your fingers over your mouth you watched the story build and build for the few minutes you watched until Thror’s asking, “Bunny?”

Your eyes turned to him and your brows inched up, “Hmm?”

“Are you alright with me giving an official announcement? People are bringing tokens to the gates.”

Wetting your lips you sheepishly said, “I don’t really know the best way to say this.” He nodded, “They could belong to both.”

A snort came from behind the hands of one of your eldest brothers covering his mouth as he hid behind your father at the Princes both awkwardly grinning at you as you said, “It, was the once, but still-,”

Thror’s grin earned a chuckle from your father as well in seeing the King nod and say, “I shall announce you as both of their Consorts then, even if you still choose to only wed Thorin in the future. We will get this train to stop circling its caboose.” A curt nod ended his sentence making you giggle in his turn to hurry off to give the emergency notice.

Peering up at your father you caught his chuckle in his reach over to pat your ankle as the brothers snuggled against you starting to delve into the put off conversation of courtship and honoring your bond to the pair of them now. In the opposite end of the Palace the King spoke to a camera broadcasting all through the kingdom stirring the growing crowd outside to silence as it played over the speakers aimed out to the gates. Their tears for the unspoken heir presumably lost welled into a growing hope that the now confirmed heir to both Second Generation Crown Princes would remain healthy through the full term, however long that would be at their half Dwarf lineage against your assumed Numenor blood.

The real shock came with both brothers exiting the front of the Palace grinning to the groupings of people arriving. A trail of guards along with them as they accepted the gifts and flowers, shaking hands and accepting the hugs of children along the way sharing news you were safe in bed resting. By noon word had rippled through to all of Thror’s kingdoms and the lands around Erebor already sending congratulation and well wishes for the heir along with wishes to see the celebration for your union and to publicly record the heir. Comfortably you laid back relaxing as the guys returned to school, settling into the schedule again they handed off your completed assignments for you and confirmed you would be back again soon.

.

The first day back and you felt all eyes on you as you passed through the sea of students. Each Professor beamed having you back again taking their own silent pool on when you would give birth. Professors Baggins and Reeves had the most animated reactions to your return. Soon enough the days blew by and your progress in classes and growth were splayed out publicly for the world to see and as the ninth month passed by without you sprouting so much past a small bump the world groaned at the slow long wait of typical Dwarven births.

A full year had passed and with a series of courses you had tucked under your belt and together with the Princes, who relished having another year to sandwich you through your shared classes stealing brushes of their hands across your growing bump, all sat with you to help share the course stealing so you can get your credits sooner.

Second New Years had come and gone and again headlines flew across the world each time you were just a few moments behind schedule. Nobody however expected the explosion your sudden labor would cause. Wide eyed after an exam in one of your lone classes you sat after a long exam, in fetching your bag you sat down again at a sharp pain in your pelvis. Quietly you tore a page from one of your notebooks you crumbled to throw at the guard mentally drifting off along the wall. His head turned sharply to the room finding your hand subtly waving him over as you finished packing your bag, at your side he crouched to hear your whisper, “I think I need to leave.”

Hastily he shouldered your bag and helped you up guiding you outside where he lifted you in his arms carrying you after giving the alert over his radio. Inside the car again on the way to the Palace you steadily breathed in the back until you stopped at the side entrance. The door on the car opened and in your rise to your feet a squeak left you at the splash of water between your legs, softly you said to the driver, “I am so-,”

He chuckled shaking his head, “No need for sorry, you go and relax as best you can. Nothing a few towels can’t sop up.”

Wetting your lips you heard assurances that your relatives were on their way as the ruling family would be back from the Iron Hills as soon as the storms keeping them there could allow. Silence seemed to flood through Erebor for an agonizing week. A long painful wait came to a head for a half hour long end to your labor with three crying children, far too into the labor already your planned c section was tossed into the wind by the time the assigned surgeon got on the line. In the sea of blondes your mother ended up aiding the most in your labor with your father catching the last that was eager to join its siblings. Settled back into your healing bath after while your parents and the midwife rinsed off the trio your eyes met Thorin and Frerin’s over the video chat B had been keeping going with progress checks.

No official announcement, no raised flag or presentation of the chosen flock of Ravens to spread the word through the streets the people sat waiting until their King would come home. The fifth day had come and gone with only a brief sighting of you at one of the balconies stirring up a spreading grin on the faces of the crowds waiting for news growing more concerned by the day. A nip at your lip was followed by your lean in to whisper to the first of the antsy Ravens that hopped close enough for you to nab, a gentle toss later your hands released and the eager bird took off to the crowds sharing a simple number, 3. Behind him at the discovery of their missing member the Raven hall emptied and they all soared over your head to join their kin.

The number soon shared and elated gasps from the crowds rippled out through each of the streets while the growing flock of Ravens spread the news across Erebor. Two days more and finally the King returned, cheers and shouts sounded while the Royals met their newest members with all of the crowds outside starting up once again at sunrise in singing the traditional songs to welcome the new heirs to their next day. Noon again brought with it the long awaited traditional announcement with names and number of the first set of triplets in their line’s history.

Behind that came a flood of gold changing hands as bets were both won and lost, though none could tell just how your futures would grow. Two fathers to help with your little trio, all in school so close to the public bringing a new look into the lives of those ruling their lands for the generation you were born into. Hopes would rise and fall, but no matter what, none of you would forget the grand parades the birth and following marriage for you and Thorin. And none would forget the day fire lit up the sky and just as soon as their Princess had arrived she had vanished in the clutches of an all to unexpected rise of the shadow clad Lord Smaug, and the ripple of destruction that followed until a badly bloodied blonde floated down the river of Raven Hill. Straight into the arms of a startled watchman who sounded a long since awaited alarm at the cracking of icy green eyes.

[theconservativebrief]

Ryan Coogler’s Creed, the 2015 film that unexpectedly made the Rocky franchise great again, worked so well because it knew exactly when to celebrate and when to subvert the Rocky formula.

Casting the great star-in-the-making Michael B. Jordan as Adonis “Donnie” Johnson, the son of Rocky’s Apollo Creed — whom the heavyweight champ Rocky Balboa got his million-to-one shot against in the 1976 original, before the two became friends in later films — was a smart way to replicate Rocky’s rise-and-fall-of-a-boxer story arc. It also allowed Creed to shed the weird detritus that the Rocky franchise had accumulated over the previous four decades (like that robot).

And as if that wasn’t enough, Coogler made the world aware of how great Tessa Thompson (who plays the film’s love interest) is and gave Sylvester Stallone (Rocky himself) his best role since the 1990s — while simultaneously announcing himself as one of the most promising directors of his generation. He shot Creed’s fight sequences with a balletic grace, and imbued the film’s interpersonal scenes with just as much heart and heft (before delivering on his potential with the impressive follow-up project of 2018’s absolutely massive hit Black Panther).

What makes Creed II just a little disappointing, then, is the way it simply becomes another Rocky movie. Where the first film meditated on the legacies that black fathers leave for their sons, on the notions of aging and mortality, and on what it means to build a name for yourself that distinguishes you from your parents, the second film is mostly concerned with who wins boxing matches. It pillages Rocky history wholesale, becoming a kind of remix of two of the other movies in the franchise.

And yet … the reason there are so many Rocky movies is that their base formula still works. Creed II might not be the near-perfect movie its predecessor was, but it’s still pretty good. Let’s examine the recipe that went into making this film.

Donnie and Bianca have a child, thus batting for the Rocky II cycle. MGM

If you know anything about the plot of Creed II — and the Rocky franchise in general — you’ll probably expect the film to follow in the footsteps of Rocky IV. And it does, pitting Donnie against the son of Ivan Drago, the man who killed Apollo. (We’ll get into this plot point in more detail in just a moment.)

But what holds Creed II together isn’t the conflict with Drago. Instead, it’s Donnie’s attempt to figure out what his life might look like without boxing. He and Bianca (Thompson) get engaged. They discover she’s pregnant. They move to Los Angeles to be closer to his mom (the great Phylicia Rashad). And when Donnie encounters a setback that makes him hesitant to return to the ring, the movie enters a surprisingly powerful stretch that just lets Jordan work through his emotions, trying to process the traumatic things that have happened to him.

It’s a reminder that this franchise has always been at its best when it pairs smaller-scale stories of its characters just trying to live their lives with the spectacle of the big boxing matches. It’s also a welcome chance to give Thompson and Rashad more to do than Creed offered — accounting for Creed II’s one unambiguous improvement over the original film.

But astute Rocky scholars will recognize this story as largely a soft reboot of the plot of Rocky II (one of the less discussed Rocky sequels, perhaps because it doesn’t feature a memorable “villain”). Like Rocky II, Creed II replaces a great director (Coogler on Creed; John Avildsen on Rocky) with a serviceable one (Steven Caple Jr. here; Stallone himself on Rocky II), and it compensates for a retread of a story with ever grander mythmaking. (At one point, Donnie retreats to the desert for a massive training montage that asks, “You already know Michael B. Jordan is buff. But what if he were more buff?”)

Even in the particulars of their plots, Creed II and Rocky II have a lot in common: the main character having to step away from boxing for a long time before finally dragging himself back to the ring for the climactic rematch; the coupling up; the baby being born.

And just like Rocky II, Creed II is a pretty good follow-up to a great predecessor.

The Dragos come to Philly. MGM

But, okay, there’s a lot of Rocky IV in this movie!

By far the most ridiculous of the Rocky films, Rocky IV sends the mumblemouthed boxer into the Soviet Union to avenge the death of Apollo, who died in a match against Ivan Drago, the Russian monolith of a man played by Dolph Lundgren. Rocky was Apollo’s trainer and failed to call the fight when he saw his boxer was ailing, so it’s a mission of both redemption and revenge. By the end of the film, Rocky has more or less won the Cold War.

Rocky IV is kind of awesome, in that cheesy ’80s way, but its tone could not be more different from the more realistic tone of the Creed movies. So the choice to incorporate Drago, his son Viktor, and a vision of post-Soviet Russia that mostly seems drawn from watching ’80s movies feels like a dangerous gamble on the part of Creed II screenwriters Stallone and Juel Taylor.

What saves this story from feeling like a total misfire is the script’s willingness to scramble your emotional investment. The Dragos were completely tossed out of Russian society and have had to live a hardscrabble life on the fringes of that world; Viktor is a massive wall of a man because it’s the only thing he knows how to be. (In contrast, Donnie had some degree of economic security once he learned who his father was.)

Don’t get me wrong. Neither Caple nor Creed II’s screenwriters seem to realize just how sympathetic they’ve made the Dragos, especially in a climactic fight that hinges on the relationship between father and son in a way that doesn’t wholly work. And pivoting from the intimacy of Creed to a generation-spanning family epic straight out of a potboiler novel is just a weird call all around. (So is the way Ivan keeps saying variations on “break him,” because everybody remembers him saying “I must break you” in Rocky IV.) But it could have been worse.

Stallone and Jordan still have potent chemistry. MGM

One reason Creed II manages to avoid totally losing itself in Rocky lore is simple: It’s still rooted in a movie that took its characters and their emotional complexities seriously. The sequel struggles to find anything for Rocky to do that’s as compelling as what he experienced in Creed, but it can still coast on the power of Stallone’s cragged face, tumbling off his skull like rocks from a mountain.

Similarly, there’s really no good reason for Creed II to busy itself with a brief conflict between Donnie and Rocky that seems to exist just to make the movie longer, but Jordan and Stallone built up such goodwill with Creed that I accepted it until I realized it was simply marking time. The sequel clearly recognizes how potent the chemistry between Jordan and Thompson is, and goes all in on it.

There are worrying signs in Creed II that a potential Creed III might abandon any semblance of ties to our reality, and its inability to meaningfully connect a story where Donnie becomes a father to the preceding film where he struggled under the burden of never knowing his own is a touch surprising.

And that’s to say nothing of Caple, who films Creed II’s fight scenes with a blunt, visceral quality that appeals but makes most of the movie’s smaller scenes feel a little perfunctory, as if he were checking shots off a list. Particularly egregious in this regard is a scene where Donnie’s mother figures out that Bianca is pregnant before she does, after his mom simply says that Bianca looks pregnant, even though we never see a hint of why she might think so. (Caple even botches a great little bit of physical comedy from Thompson that closes the scene!)

But I really loved Creed, and just enough of that movie’s spark carried over to its sequel to keep me invested.

In the end, what most prevents Creed II from being better is the way everything that happens in the Rocky universe primarily concerns the same handful of families — to the degree that when Donnie needs a new trainer in LA (after Rocky stays behind in Philly), he hires the son of Apollo’s old trainer. It’s ludicrous!

And it makes the movie feel a little like one of those primetime TV soap operas that indulge in wild fancies in the name of entertaining us. There are a couple of scenes involving the Drago family saga that made me howl, and their silliness felt half-intentional on the part of Creed II’s filmmakers, like they were daring the audience to take the scenes seriously because they knew how ridiculous it was.

This kind of hurts the movie’s attempt to establish the identity of the Creed franchise as something distinct from the Rocky franchise. But hey, even the stupidest Rocky movies are a lot of fun.

Gotta have a montage. MGM

The little-seen, not-that-bad 2006 Rocky Balboa — in which Rocky hauls himself back into the ring because the TV all but dares him to, while examining his relationship with his son (Milo Ventimiglia) — was not a movie whose themes I expected to ever appear in the Creed franchise. But there it is, winking at you in a handful of scenes, prodding you to wonder if Ventimiglia might take a day off from This Is Us to film a quick cameo.

I won’t reveal whether he did, but this tiny leavening agent is what ultimately reveals that Creed II’s heart is always in the right place, even when its brain isn’t. It’s a movie about how families are complicated legacies of their own, long continuations of stories we don’t always understand or appreciate as we’re living them, and how sometimes, time runs out unexpectedly. It is, in its own, weird way, a great Thanksgiving movie.

Creed II is playing in theaters everywhere.

Original Source -> Creed II is no Creed. But it’s a pretty good Rocky sequel.

via The Conservative Brief