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himbohunnicutt · 2 months ago

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A Very Serious Academic Article Regarding The New Production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane By The Jamie Lloyd Company; or, Much Ado About Tom Hiddleston

WARNING: CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THIS PRODUCTION (I mean and the plot but that’s 400 years old)

To begin with, one must consider how ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ - I do not subscribe to the Love’s Labour's Won idea much myself - would have been perceived back in the day. Funny, sexy, uncouth, outrageous. In light of this, much of the Jamie Lloyd Co’s production makes sense.

Upon our arrival at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane - a suitably historic and grand venue for such an iconic work by the Bard - we perused the selection of merchandise, instantly purchasing programmes and tote bags (we went back for pins later). Everything is pink. Our seats were the cheap ones, up in the gods (to which my mother said “well of course, you’re a goddess”), and we stopped in the loos as we made our way up. Music began to play in every part of the theatre, starting with Sophie Ellis Bextor’s ‘If This Ain’t Love (Groovejet)’. That’s when we knew it was going to be a damn good time.

The second we stepped into the auditorium, we were confronted with banging bass, pink lighting, and disco balls. We could see the edge of the stage, covered in pink confetti. The house music continued to play as we found our seats, and we were pleasantly surprised to find we could actually see 90% of the stage.

A school group came and sat in front of us, aged no more than fifteen. The teachers would go on to regret their decision as the show went on.

The music stopped suddenly.

The lights went out.

The show started.

The whole stage was revealed, also covered in pink confetti - which proved to be more than an aesthetic choice. Beatrice, Margaret (a non-binary icon), Hero, Leonato, and Borachio appear sat on plain plastic chairs, and Hayley Atwell began with Beatrice’s scathing description of Benedick. She perfected the exasperated talk of Benedick and Claudio - “God help the noble Claudio” - and I was pleased to see that they stuck to the original text, only removing or adding lines where absolutely necessary.

“Don Pedro is approached” - cue ‘Fight for your Right’ by Beastie Boys. The men appear, including the one we have all been waiting for. They dance, they pose, they set the chaotic and playful tone for the rest of the show.

Claudio (James Phoon) is the perfect himbo dimepiece in a matching shiny jacket and trousers, accompanied by Tom Hiddleston in some impeccably tailored blue dress trousers and a flimsy-looking shirt. There is hugging and kissing and all manner of flirting. Hayley Atwell’s apathetic Beatrice sits and watches. One thing I particularly enjoyed was how much the production leans into Shakespeare’s hints of a previous relationship between Beatrice and Benedick, in that they are explicitly exes.

They fight. It’s sexy and sarcastic and ridiculous. When Benedick says “It is certain I am loved of all ladies”, Tom Hiddleston turns to the audience and every woman with a pulse screams and cheers. This is the first time I have ever seen ‘Much Ado’ in a theatre, I have only ever watched recorded productions before, and I laughed out loud and harder more than I thought I would. I must say the line “scratching could not make it worse an ‘twere such a face as yours were” is hysterical when aimed at someone as genuinely beautiful as Hiddleston.

“I know you of old” is the moment when I realised they were really going for the exes thing and I loved it. I think it actually makes it all make more sense if they’re old flames.

The ten chairs for the ten cast members are placed in a line on the stage, and Claudio walks forward, Benedick lounging in a chair with everyone else. The friendship and brotherhood between the pair of them was so believable, the himboic Claudio and the smarmy-but-in-a-hot-way Benedick. I also liked that Hero is still on the stage at this point, so Claudio can stare wistfully at her and Benedick can look with disdain at his friend and the object of said friend’s affection.

Don Pedro is dressed all in pink, is explicitly bisexual, and is hotter than any Don Pedro has the right to be.

Tom Hiddleston delivers the line “If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot at me” completely deadpan and it is perfect. He delivers it in the way I have been known to deliver the line “If I say I’m going to do a PhD, shoot me in the head”.

Don John starts his plotting. He is camp and ridiculous and it works so well - “Oh no I’ve scratched my loafer” - and the plot is brought into action. The loafer line is brought about by the brothers being the last two left in a round of musical chairs, and Don Pedro pushes his brother to the floor. It is childish and chaotic and works so well.

All the while, there are little scenes between this where they dance and cause chaos, occasionally ‘scooby-doo’ running across the stage to some loud and bright brass music.

When Beatrice is describing the man for her - beard or no beard - she picks people out of the audience to point at.

“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man - sorry” She says, turning to the man in the audience without a beard that she had picked out.

The party scene begins, with big animal and creature heads fitted to each cast member to disguise their identity so chaos can occur. Beatrice has a cat head, Benedick a dog. Margaret flirts outrageously with Benedick and it is wonderful. Don Pedro seduces Hero for Claudio, which leads to Hero grinding on Don Pedro in the background whilst Beatrice and Benedick have their conversation, Tom Hiddleston doing an impeccable Scottish accent to disguise his identity.

Claudio’s got the wrong end of the stick - himbo that he is - and he is about as good at processing his emotions as any man in his early 20s with a penchant for partying. He has been convinced by the villains that Don Pedro has seduced Hero for himself - and to be fair after seeing their dancing you can understand it - and Benedick tries to understand why he has been nicknamed the Prince’s Jester.

Beatrice appears, and seems to be a little wistful for times gone by - “he lent it me a while, and I gave him use of it”. Again, they lean on the fact that Beatrice and Benedick were exes and it adds a depth to the scene that one could have argued would not have been there without it.

Don John and Borachio organise their plan to make Hero unsuitable for Claudio.

Then is Benedick alone on the stage, talking about the woman for him. Hiddleston picks out women in the audience the way Hayley Atwell did, finding a ‘fair’ woman, a ‘wise’ woman, and a ‘virtuous’ woman (he pointed to the balcony at this point and I am choosing to believe he was pointing at me, but lets not unpack that).

Benedick hides himself incredibly stupidly in any production of ‘Much Ado’, but the pink confetti quickly became less of a decoration and more of a prop as Hiddleston dropped to the floor and covered himself in confetti as best he could, spitting confetti in shock at what they say, appearing to cover his dignity with confetti whilst hiding. It was hysterical, especially as he attempted to move about the stage, rolling around and hiding behind the giant inflatable heart. The best moment was when he jumped down a trapdoor in the stage to hide, climbing back out later in the scene. This is Benedick’s moment to be a himbo and it is incredible, the tone perfect. The whole production plays on the ridiculousness and chaotic nature of Shakespeare’s text and this is a perfect scene to demonstrate that.

Beatrice appears to bid Benedick come in for dinner. He pops a button on his shirt, affects a deeper ‘sexier’ voice, and lunges, showing off his excellent legs. When she says “you have no stomach, sir”, he rips his shirt open and again every woman with a pulse screams. Beatrice runs, flustered.

It’s Beatrice’s turn to hide ridiculously and it again is chaotic and the giant inflatable heart is used to great effect. There is a hilarious moment when ‘pictures’ of Beatrice and Benedick are fetched as in the text, but they are cardboard cutouts of Atwell as Captain Carter and Hiddleston as Loki. They know they have superstars in their cast and they are not afraid to exploit that at every opportunity.

The friendships between Don Pedro, Benedick, and Claudio work so well, the good natured needling and bullying that comes with every friendship is totally believable. You do forget that they’re castmates, not best friends. This scene between them is also set up as Claudio’s stag do, to great effect - stupid beer hats and all.

They do cut the Dogberry and Verges scenes from the play and honestly I think it’s better for it. I have found with other productions that they do take you out of it, but I’m sure they made much more sense when the play was written. They adapt the lines so Borachio explains what is going to happen between himself and Margaret and that’s all that’s needed. It keeps the chaos flowing.

Borachio and Margaret then proceed to have sex on the table, and the school teachers begin to regret their decision to bring a group of teenagers to see this. Clearly they hadn’t done their research into this particular production, though the website does say suitable for 12+.

Margaret really comes into their own - I have so far forgotten to mention that they have the most incredible singing voice - and the pre-wedding scenes are sweet and fun but deep too. They turn some of the scenes into a hen do and it is glorious.

And so, the wedding. Claudio is very, very angry - perhaps slightly too angry but considering how much of a himbo they’re playing him as, it works - and Hero does manage to hold her own. Leonato similarly is fuming and unrelenting and again, it works. He has already proved earlier to be an emotional man and the decisions all make sense.

Benedick clears up the chaos, and Beatrice cries. I really liked that they gave Beatrice time to cry, to be emotional. This scene is my favourite in the whole play and arguably my favourite scene ever written by Shakespeare. The whole theatre is silent as Beatrice and Benedick declare their love for each other.

“I do love nothing in the world so well as you”

Then, Hayley Atwell gives a powerhouse performance, kickstarted by the simple line - “Kill Claudio”. A brief “huh?” from Benedick is the last bit of comic relief for a few minutes as Beatrice has her moment. This scene is always powerful, Beatrice repeating the phrase “God, that I were a man”. She screams “I would eat his heart in the marketplace”, which is always the line that I think makes or breaks a Beatrice, and she does it perfectly. Anger reverberates off her and Benedick cannot help but be caught in her blast radius.

I really liked the decision they made with the next scenes, discussion around Claudio’s marrying Leonato’s ‘niece’ - with Hero herself under the table watching everything, the rest of the cast sitting at the side of the stage. I appreciate that she is there, as her ‘death’ hangs over the characters and she is present in spirit if not physically, and so to have her there watching everything really works.

The funeral scene is cut, also for the better. Margaret and Benedick have a moment, Margaret taking their chance to get their hands all over Tom Hiddleston to great comedic effect.

Benedick begins to try and write his poem for her, but they make the most of this by having him sing the first verse of ‘I Want It That Way’ by Backstreet Boys. He is almost too good of a singer to pull off the comedy of the moment but it works. They also linger on the word “horn” as Benedick is reading out what he has attempted to write, with smirks and giggles from the audience confirming that the emphasis on dirty jokes is paying off (they also emphasise the word “come” quite a lot later on, to the same effect).

As Benedick asks Beatrice, who has appeared, which of his ‘bad parts’ did she first fall in love with, he again pops a button on his shirt. Hayley Atwell makes Tom Hiddleston get on his knees and it not only works for the scene and their dynamic but also worked for the audience. You could hear hearts beat a little faster.

They sit on the floor together, entangled, necking like teenagers, with Margaret appearing to usher them inside. They are exasperated with their pair, gesturing for them to come inside a few times.

The costume heads are back for the wedding to disguise the three women, this time Beatrice with an octopus on her head. Margaret briefly tries to replace Beatrice at the wedding - they have spent the whole play being chaotically horny for Benedick - but is yanked back.

They play the comedic nature perfectly, balancing it with the emotion of the scene. The line “come, I will have thee, but by this light I will take thee for pity” elicits hoots of laughter from the audience once again.

All the dancing throughout the show pays off at the end, as Benedick says “Let’s have a dance ere we are married, that we may lighten our own hearts and our wives’ heels”.

Margaret belts out ‘When Love Takes Over’ as everyone dances ridiculously and brilliantly and sexily. They get the audience up on their feet to dance too, the glitter balls covering the theatre in light. It briefly feels like being in a nightclub and it’s the perfect closing to a show full of joy and fun and sex and chaos.

To me, it feels like they have managed to replicate in a very modern way how ‘Much Ado’ would have been received by the original Elizabethan audiences, updating the level of sex and dirty jokes to a comparable level.

Everyone in the cast is amazing, but the standouts really are Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston - and not just because of their fame. They are perfectly cast and they play it so well, convincing as sparring partners and as lovers and as friends to the other characters. The simple nature of the staging also works, it allows the words and the performances to shine through in a huge theatre. It could have been easy for it to get lost in such a venue, but the simplicity works. Aesthetically the show is glorious, the soundtrack is a banger (there is a playlist on spotify of songs featured), and every single cast member is perfect for their part.

Could this be one of the best ‘Much Ado’ productions ever? I think so. I can’t see it being bettered any time soon.

#tom hiddleston #hayley atwell #much ado about nothing #william shakespeare #much ado about nothing 2025 #theatre royal drury lane #benedick #beatrice #much ado #tom hiddleston much ado #theatre review #london theatre review #london #theatre #west end theatre #west end review #maad

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chocolate-gore · 4 months ago

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Here’s a thought:

"The Mother Gooseberry Hour" is very probably lost media and an urban legend in the Outlast universe, with many people actively debating whether or not it actually existed, or if it is merely creepy pasta bait.

[this is a long one]

Because "The Mother Gooseberry Hour" ran locally and only during the early 50’s [1951 until 1955] there are probably only a select few people remembering it who are also - as of the main series time setting of 2013 - OLD and maybe even dementia ridden. That not only counts for the adults of the time, but the children too, if you consider that the last time it aired was in 1955. Assuming the oldest child watching would be 12 at MOST, the audience members would approximately be between 60 and 70 in 2013. And they certainly would not discuss their hazy memories of a strange TV show they watched on the internet, but instead relay these memories to their own children and grandchildren, who would at first dismiss it because…they never heard of it. Maybe the interest of SOME is peaked, but it’s so obscure that they can’t find anything about it. But then some come to discuss the topic online, only to find that they meet other descendants of people who have ALSO been told about "That strange Dental Goose Show".

Why would I assume the show is lost media though? Phyllis crimes were well documented in contemporary media after all? Well, her crimes may have been, but not THE SHOW.

I do not think that actual tapings would have been preserved because of 1, the reputation of Phyllis herself and the late show’s tone, and 2, not even the moon landing’s broadcast was entirely preserved due to a practice where TV broadcasters would repurpose old tape and record over them to save money. Storage of film was also not ideal with the materials being highly flammable. I’d even go as far as to assume that the earliest broadcasts of "The Mother Gooseberry Hour" didn’t even exist anymore, while the show was still on the air, because of that practice. If you’ve stuck your nose into the lost media rabbit hole, you may know about the whole Doctor Who debacle, which is very similar. There would have been no interest in preserving a niche, localised tv programme for children back in the day. The ONLY way that ANY tapings could still survive until 2013 would be through Murkoff. I would bet that they would have been the only ones with an interest to acquire tapings of such a show, you know, for archival and research purposes on Phyllis’ life and psyche. MAYBE the Philadelphia PD would have them in their archives but like…that’s a stretch. Who knows.

Anyways, so some may argue that "But there is Doctor Futterman merch in the Trial environments though?" Well yes, but I think that this was simply done to immerse Phyllis into the idea that she is still a successful TV show host. The merch [and all the Dr Futterman brand sex toys btw] is not real merch from the outside world, it’s just props like everything else in Sinyala. Yes, the show was popular, but it was also - again - localised to Philadelphia. If there WAS merchandise, it would have been limited in number, and limited in distribution because…why would you want a plushie of a character from a show you’ve never heard of? In that case, merch would have been obscure too, and dismissed as bootleg Disney plushies.

Anyways, SO:

Early 2010’s in the OL universe. Creepypasta culture is alive and well, and Miles, Lynn, Blake, Waylon & Lisa being media literate adults because of their professions have at least heard of the story of "That strange Dental Goose Show". Neither of them is from Pensilvania though, so they only know of if through online accounts. For shits & giggles [assuming the all of them were friends pre canon, a headcanon which I fuck with HARD] they one evening get together and - with the power of god and journalism on their side - they come across an obituary of a Dentist, one Dr. A. Futterman, through which they come across old articles reporting on Phyllis’ Futterman’s arrest that mention her being the host of a show that seems rather a lot like "That strange Dental Goose Show". What is weird though, is that after her commitment to Holmesburg…the paper trail on Phyllis Futterman just…stops: No Obituary, no patient files mention her after 1956, the only hint of what has become of her is when she is being mentioned offhandedly in a correspondence document about patient transfer in 1956. It’s never mentioned where she got transferred. Who is the man who visited her in December of that year, shortly before her alleged transfer? Why is that man’s name redacted? What did they talk about?

Instant Intrigue.

Miles and Lynn are SO tempted to look more into the Holmesburg lead, while Blake and Waylon are hung up about that show. Because Blake found something…strange. Most people who remember "That strange Dental Goose Show" are from the Pensilvania area. That’s what connects all accounts and is consistent accords the board. Maybe the descendants of those who remember moved to a different state, but the "rememberers" themselves were ALL Philadelphia residents…except…there are accounts from people that sound fabricated at first glance, but then Blake and Waylon find more that are eerily similar, and feel entirely earnest:

Accounts of relatives or friends from people who all died under strange circumstances. People who lived distinctly OUTSIDE Philadelphia. People who don’t remember the show, but the "Mother Gooseberry" character. Except in these versions she is a nightmarish murderer who hunted them down with a drill inside her hand puppet. Her face mangled and decaying, her breathing laboured and heavy with each heavy step. Engaged in strange conversation with her goose puppet, as if it was a real person. An effigy of someone. They described their incredibly hazy memories of her like…a dream, a distant memory. But it’s consistent every time.

Waylon thinks they’re totally fake, and Lynn agrees but…Blake disagrees. See, the "rememberers" relayed accounts almost PERFECTLY describe how she looked after the Holmesburg experiments, instead of how the "rememberers" of the show described what she looked like on air. And the former group - again - were never in Philadelphia, not to mention anywhere near Holmesburg prison.

And…all the "rememberers" who recalled that monstrous version…are dead now. Having passed on in a year that is weirdly consistent every time: 1973. Miles has a suspicion. It’s something he researched just recently. He scrolls through pages and pages of links until he finds the article he remembers containing exactly that year too: In an article about the closure of Mount Massive Hospital he rediscovers it: It’s the year of the official discontinuation of MKUltra.

Either this is a STUPIDLY elaborate ARG…or something is wrong here…VERY wrong…

#outlast #the outlast trials #outlast 2 #murkoff corporation #outlast whistleblower #outlast trials #red barrels #mother gooseberry #phyllis futterman #miles upshur #waylon park #blake langermann #hi I wrote this instead of working on my thesis have fun

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galdra-studios · 4 months ago

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Happy New Year Everyone!

Time has once again, like a gust of wind impossible to grasp, rushed by and left us breathless. Between family gatherings, cookie baking and a bad cold to top it all off, December went by in a flash and here we stand at the start of a brand new year, out of breath, with runny noses, but smiling, because despite all the tumult, 2024 holds many great memories for us to look back on. So let’s take a moment to do just that!

The big event of the year, of course, was the Arcadia Fallen II Kickstarter! So much work went into planning it, from designing merchandise and promotional material, to building and releasing our very first playable demo. We’ve tried running Kickstarters a couple of times now, and we’ve learned a lot from each of them, but things online change so quickly these days, there was really no way to know how it would do. Thankfully, we were blown away by the result! We’re so grateful to all of you who supported us and we’re looking forward to using that generosity to make the game the best it can be^^

What else…? Oh! We continued working on the game! xD We’ve been writing so many new scenes, character sprites have been drawn, music composed, and weird sound effects recorded! Backgrounds have been drawn, GUI updated and it’s just a satisfying feeling to see all these different parts of the game coming together. We’re looking forward to continuing production-mode in the new year.

One of the things we’re looking forward to in the new year is getting more mini-games into the game. Daniel has been swamped by other tasks for months now so it’s gonna be great having him back into programmer mode again. We’re gonna continue producing assets like music and art and we’re gonna be working on hooking scenes up, putting all the pieces together. One big milestone we’re looking towards is wrapping up all the content for the extended demo so we can share it with you all. We hope you’ll look forward to that^^

Thank you so much for your support this year! We’re looking forward to making 2025 a year to remember!

Cheers!

- The Galdra Team

#arcadia fallen #galdra studios #indiedev #visual novel #vndev #vn development #indiegame #arcadia fallen ii

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princess-puppygirl · 1 month ago

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just reminded of a post i saw yesterday about how so much of transfem culture is increasingly product-driven; i see the point and understand the sentiment behind wanting a unified community that isn't tied to spending money on corporate merchandise and whatnot, but i do not think i saw the tv glow is in the same category of oversaturated commercialization as "programmer socks" and blahaj. like god forbid a trans person enjoy a film with an explicitly queer narrative and have its message resonate with them and want to share in that experience with others. lmao

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white-cat-of-doom · 2 years ago

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In honour of me hitting 400 followers here, and after a bit of organization of my merchandise 'archives', I have grouping of CATS items to give away that one lucky kitty will win! An eclectic mix, mainly from Japan, including:

Tokyo March 2006 Programme

CATS (2019) Japanese Movie Programme

London Palladium Programme from January/February 2015

Three Shiki Secret Charms from the recent Nagoya run (you get to choose from Victoria, Jennyanydots, Jemima, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Old Deuteronomy, Rumpus Cat, and Coricopat! See what they look like below the cut)

A brand new 39th anniversary button set from Japan

A promotional handfan from Tokyo in 2007

Japanese 1989 2CD Cast Recording

(Sealed) CATS (2019) Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack CD

A smaller bonus item or two 😸

RULES (Please read these carefully and follow them):

1. Entries will open today and will close end of day (EST) August 30th - in one week. You can enter at any time between now and then, but anything after than date will not be counted.

2. Please only ONE entry per person. When you reblog THIS post, you will be assigned a random number, and the receiver will be picked by a random generator to make it fair for everyone. Likes do not count as entries. Multiple reblogs will result in disqualification. I want everything to be as fair as possible!

3. It will be free shipping within North America to receive your prize. This giveaway is open to individuals overseas as well, but I may ask for half of any shipping charges, as they can get expensive. This is especially true if you want to ensure delivery! Tracking is not cheap unfortunately and worldwide mail delivery can be very slow if not sent by air. Any import fees are not controlled by me, so please keep that in mind, even if marked as a gift.

4. You must be comfortable with providing me with shipping information. Rest assured you will be providing me this information in confidence and I will not share it with anyone. If you are not comfortable sharing this information, please do not enter as I will not be able to send it to you.

A winner will be selected on August 31st, and they will receive a message indicating that The Everlasting Cat blessed them with a prize. It will be publicly announced as well. I will ship them out to you within one or two days and will give an update once that happens.

I have been selling items online for more than eight years now, and I do my absolute best to have my packages arrive safely. While I would feel terrible if the package becomes lost, without tracking I cannot do anything except say sorry.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

#CATS Musical #CATS the Musical #Thank you to everyone who follows along here to see The Kitties!#It is not much but it is still fun!

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notearsnora · 6 months ago

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Universal Pictures UK has partnered with Into Film to create a career learning programme designed to help young people fly into their futures with confidence. It aim's to demystify screen industry careers by spotlighting the roles of trainees who worked to bring #WickedMovie to the big screen.

“To celebrate the release of Wicked, only in cinemas from November 22, we’ve created a careers-focused learning programme to empower young people to unlock their unique powers. Wicked Futures: Careers in Film is a free learning sequence for students aged 12-18. Activities demystify careers in the screen industries by profiling trainees who helped bring Wicked to the big screen. Supported by objectives from English/literacy, maths/STEM and PSHE, learners will be inspired by the diversity of the film production roles showcased, and the power of their own skills, experiences and qualifications. The sky’s the limit!”

Teachers and Parents from the UK can also submit their students and children to their contest before December 20th: “Enter social media maestros to our competition for a chance to win a content creation kit and Wicked screening. Screen industry careers don’t only exist on set! Our Marketing Wiz competition focuses on how films reach audiences, challenging students to apply their knowledge of social media by creating an exciting promotional post to help Wicked soar in cinemas. Enter your students ahead of the closing date of Friday 20 December. Terms and conditions apply. The creator of the most magical post will win an iPad and Apple Pencil Pro. The winner’s class will receive a cinema screening of Wicked, and two runners up will win Wicked merchandise bundles.”

More on r/TilltheEndoftheMoon!

Shui Long Yin 水龙吟

The Official Announcement (link)

What do we know so far (link)

#till the end of the moon #luo yunxi #bai lu #black moonlight holds the be script #cdrama #chang yue jin ming #chinese drama #tantai jin #tteotm #ye xiwu #ye bingchang #xiao lin #deng wei #chen duling

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sardinesandhumbugs · 5 months ago

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Hi!! You mentioned the 'letter from the chief' in the WITW musical programme- I have been trying so hard to find any information about that online but I've come up with nothing! Don't suppose you'd be willing to talk a little bit about the content of it? :D

Hello, hey, hi! Yes, I was lucky enough to snag a copy of the programme, back when there was still a merchandise store for the musical :D

Annoyingly, I think the shop closed down a while back (I presume it ran out of stock/interest to keep it going) (I failed to grab the tea towel I wanted, so I made one out of spite instead) but I did at least grab a programme, so I'm so excited to talk about it!

I made a post here covering when it first arrived, including a vague overview of the contents, and some interesting snippets.

The post here transcribes the infamous letter written from the perspective of the Chief! (I love it, it's So Much, but I am never going to use any of it as canon <3)

If there's anything else you're curious about specifically, please let me know and I'll pull out the copy for perusal! There's lots of lovely photos, but you'll have to make do with the finest pics my second-hand phone camera can supply.

#wind in the willows #hilariously I have another that looks very much the same as this #which was the basingstoke production #(an am dram production I did actually see in person)#(and actually did several improvements vs the west in imho)#(but that's for another day)

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princess-of-the-corner · 1 year ago

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ML Game Designers AU

Max is the leader and primary programmer. Marinette is the character designer. Nathaniel is the concept artist. Kitty Section composes and performs the music. Marc and Ivan are the story and script writers. Alya puts together the promotion. Chloé funds everything and organizes merchandising. Kim and Alix do motion capture stunts for animation. Adrien, Mylène, and Zoé, among others, would be voice actors.

They would do a fighting game like what Max made in canon and some RPGs (perhaps like the Miraculous Fantasy AU).

I don't know what Nino, Sabrina, and Kagami would do.

I feel like we should just say that Mari and Nath collab instead of one doing one or the other but YEAH

Nino is actually good at directing and scripts so he's organizing the story and supervising everyone recording their lines to get the best take.

Kagami can roll with Kim and Alix when it comes to the motion capture stuff where she displays more proper weapon stances while the other two are more hand-to-hand combat and general movement/platforming

Idk on Sabrina though.

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mllemaenad · 1 year ago

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The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

Well, that went better than expected. I mean – there are implications, obviously, but so far everyone's limbs still seem attached, so that is a definite plus.

The meat of this thing, the case file, is interesting, because of how far it leans into a desire for publicity.

We have:

A forum post with a deliberately provocative and arguably supernatural image in First Shift

The tattoo artist who live streams the creation of an obviously supernatural tattoo in Making Adjustments

The crowd-drawing (and occasionally crowd-murdering) violin in Taking Notes

The surprisingly popular horror media review blog that has had all content removed except the posts that detail the author's ensnarement in a supernatural film viewing in Personal Screening

Needles actively reporting his crimes and harassing the emergency service operators in Introductions

The unnamed gambler character in Rolling with It feeling inspired to dress up and cause supernatural havoc in public by getting people to roll the dice

... And now Mr Bonzo

Pretty much everything about Mr Bonzo, really. This was a character that regularly appeared on television. While the situation evidently escalated, it is strongly implied that there was always something wrong with him, both by the fact that Nigel does not know where the name came from, and by Gotard Rimbaeu's disproportionate terror at encountering him. He had a chart-topping song that can still apparently be used to summon him. He has merchandise that is still being sold. And the thing is, he's still making the news:

Geraldine And how do you respond to the more recent rumours? Nigel (on guard) Excuse me? Geraldine The witness statements from three murders over the last five years- Nigel (speaking over her) I told your producer this wasn’t going to be discussed. Geraldine -that claim a person in a Mr Bonzo costume was at the scene? Do you think there could be a copycat? – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

This bit here is clearly the point of this interview. The nostalgia and the laughter were all to lead Nigel into a trap: the big story here is that Mr Bonzo has been seen killing, and they want Nigel to comment on it.

I know this is a reference to a stunt on an actual British variety programme. I think it might even have aired at some point in Australia – but I must admit it wasn't something that was on my radar in the 90s. It's hard to be accurate about something from that long ago, but I don't think I ever saw it. I'm not completely sure how close this is to reality, but I think pretty close, barring the murders.

The point is, this is something that was obnoxiously popular in the real world ... and perhaps even more prominent here. Even if you're not aware of the cultural impact of this thing specifically – and like I say, this largely passed me by – you'll know how this kind of thing can spread. A novelty can consume the public consciousness. And if it's just a novelty – well, it might be annoying after a while, but no more than that. But if it's more than that?

In an odd way, all of this reminds me of Good Omens, and how the gone-native demon Crowley relates to his colleagues:

"I tied up every portable telephone system in Central London for forty-five minutes at lunchtime," he said. There was silence, except for the distant swishing of cars. "Yes?" said Hastur. "And then what?" "Look, it wasn't easy," said Crowley. "That's all?" said Ligur. "Look, people –" "And what exactly has that done to secure souls for our master?" said Hastur. Crowley pulled himself together. What could he tell them? That twenty thousand people got bloody furious? That you could hear the arteries clanging shut all across the city? And that then they went back and took it out on their secretaries or traffic wardens or whatever, and they took it out on other people? In all kinds of vindictive little ways which, and here was the good bit, they thought up themselves. For the rest of the day. The knock-on effects were incalculable. Thousands and thousands of souls all got a faint patina of tarnish, and you barely had to lift a finger. But you couldn't tell that to demons like Hastur and Ligur. Fourteenth century minds, the lot of them. Spending years picking a way at one soul. Admittedly it was craftmanship, but you had to think differently these days. Not big, but wide. With five billion people in the world you couldn't pick the buggers off one by one any more; you had to spread your effort. But demons like Ligur and Hastur. They'd never have thought up Welsh-language television, for example Or value-added tax. Or Manchester. He'd been particularly pleased with Manchester. – Good Omens, Corgi Edition, 1991. p.22-23. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

The Magnus Archives was about secret cults and esoteric knowledge. It was about old men and their devoted acolytes trying and failing, over and over, to summon their gods. It was John running into other avatars and getting laughed at, because he had the power and the doom, but he hadn't been properly initiated into the Mysteries, so he didn't know the proper terminology.

It was also about the dead-end job you couldn't quit, no matter how much you wanted to.

The Magnus Protocol is the dead-end job you could lose tomorrow. The apparent high turnover at the OIAR, whatever the hell went on with Karl the former IT guy, Teddy losing his new job immediately after he got it – and Mr Bonzo. Mr Bonzo is the job you lose the moment a new guy turns up:

Nigel Well, there was a different man in the suit, of course. There were a few of them over the years. It was very physically demanding and that wasn’t the only injury we had with it. It actually became a sort of ritual: the newest member of the production crew wore Mr Bonzo until someone else joined. – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

And it's also about freaking out a lot of people in one go.

If I have any theory about this part, it's this: what if the core difference between universes is a desire to be known, and this is because of the way The Magnus Archives ended?

There have clearly been supernatural entities in this world for centuries, at least – otherwise whence came the cursed violin? But it's impossible to reasonably discuss whether these are native beings who have been exposed to something new via interdimensional travel, or whether they are the entities from The Magnus Archives and something about the nature of interdimensional travel means that now they have always been here.

But either way, what if the new thing these beings have is ... a taste, let's say, for the public stage.

The entities from The Magnus Archives were like Hastur and Ligur. They might spend years tormenting one soul, or stage a whole set piece for one guy and have to deal with him just not getting the effort they put in. There were rituals, yes, and they were of a larger scale – but still tended to be desperately secretive.

It was craftmanship, sure, but in terms of nourishment it made them scavengers. They had to catch a person alone, or in a moment of emotional vulnerability, to feed upon them.

Then, of course, the apocalypse happened. And for a while, all the world was their smorgasbord. It turned out that everyone could be afraid at the same time. And while those set pieces still existed, they could shove lots of humans into them at once and torment them all together.

But then:

Archivist Because for the Fears to spread into these new worlds, they would need to leave ours, wouldn’t they? Annabelle If one should leave this place for… greener pastures, the rest must follow. Archivist Leaving us behind in the process, freeing our world at the cost of others.Basira What are you saying? Archivist We can pass them our apocalypse. [MUFFLED DISCOMFITED REALISATION] Annabelle Nothing so extreme. In these new worlds they would exist as they used to in ours, lurking just beyond the threshold. – The Magnus Archives: Connected

That puts everybody back to square one. I'm not suggesting that these beings have a coherent plan for restarting the apocalypse – we might get there, but these are creatures of feeling, not thought, so if we do it will likely be a human plan. Rather, I mean, that they have the feeling that they like being known. It was good to eat well. It was good when everyone was afraid.

And that changes the model. Now they're Crowley, setting up the M25 to churn out a smidgeon of low-grade evil every time someone drives on it. The push is not to isolate someone and work on them, but rather to declare to the world "Here I am".

Several people wore the Mr Bonzo suit. Not for long, but they were all touched by it. Millions saw "Nigel's SOS" (that is on the nose) and – and this is called out specifically – Mr Bonzo was especially popular with children, even though the original joke seems to be geared more toward adults. And all of them then knew about the serial killings. People don't work at the OIAR for very long, at least not usually, but everyone who does is exposed to the horror stories.

It's not the equivalent of being a statement-giver in The Magnus Archives, exactly. You don't have some personally crafted nightmare that will stay with you forever. But you know there are things out there that can hurt you. You have reason to be afraid.

And the OIAR seems to be sending Mr Bonzo out to kill. Kill whom? And why? Don't know. But as I said: he's making the news. And before him there was Starkwall. And they also made the news. By committing a massacre.

In more meta terms, Mr Bonzo seems to fill a similar niche to Jane Prentiss. He's almost certainly going to be a problem, but is probably not the problem with the world. But more importantly the kind of thing he is teaches you something about how the world works.

And he has some interesting similarities: in both cases you seem to be looking at something parasitical. Jane was both seduced and consumed by her wasp nest; and while there was enough of her left to understand what was happening she was desperate for help.

Nigel seems to be Mr Bonzo's prisoner, with the comedy dungeon transforming into a more literal hostage situation. But he's also his livelihood, and his claim to fame.

Geraldine Yes, I was going to ask – Mr Bonzo merchandise is still on sale via your own website. Do you feel at all uneasy about that? Nigel About what? The fact that a few sales might be from people trying to be edgy? A man’s got to make a living, Geraldine, and it’s not like I can tell if someone’s buying a t-shirt ironically. Besides, people think of Nigel Dickerson and Mr Bonzo is never far behind so it’s not like its changing my reputation. In a lot of ways I’m more his prisoner now than I ever was on my show. – The Magnus Protocol: Saturday Night

Jane was a creature of almost pure tragedy: sure, she had problems prior to the wasp nest – that's why she was vulnerable to it – but her descent into monstrosity is marked largely by confusion and distress. Nigel seems actively complicit in spreading Mr Bonzo around, and he's defensive when someone suggests it's inappropriate.

I assume the "worm tracks" Sam and Alice find when investigating The Magnus Institute are at least an Easter egg, although whether they're relevant to any of the current happenings remains to be seen. Whatever brought the place down mostly spared the archivist's office, and that feels relevant.

The return of the tape recorder is interesting, though, because it doesn't fit the pattern of how listening in has worked in The Magnus Protocol. Tape recorders were an Archives thing. Supernatural events would only record on tape. If no tape recorders were available in a given setting, eventually one would just manifest itself.

The situation in The Magnus Protocol has been much more opportunistic: any device with a microphone will do. If you stayed away from microphones – a thing Colin has largely managed to do – it couldn't create one to record you. Of course, tape recorders weren't just popping into being this early in The Magnus Archives either, so I'm not suggesting this is some permanent rule. But Sam and Alice's phones are clearly available as options: the first bit of conversation comes from a phone. But once inside, something makes a tape recorder when it did not have to.

And the other noteworthy thing is, of course ... whatever crawls out of the trap door at the end. Mostly this one is a "put a pin in that for later" situation, because while it's clearly important there's not much you can do with it just yet.

But there are a couple of things.

The first point of interest there is that it pops up just as Sam is talking about not being chosen for something. So is this someone who was chosen?

The second is how the character is credited: [ERROR]. That looks very much how one might see something in an error log; something technological in nature.

Which suggests Colin is right: he should figure out what's up with the computers as quickly as possible.

#the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #the magnus archives

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usafphantom2 · 1 year ago

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The MiG-25 Foxbat

In the late 1960s, the USSR revealed the existence of the aircraft that appeared to be the world’s deadliest fighter, the MiG-25 (NATO reporting name “Foxbat”). This aircraft could outrun any fighter in the air, and indeed any military aircraft other than the SR-71 Blackbird.

SR-71 T-Shirts

CLICK HERE to see The Aviation Geek Club contributor Linda Sheffield’s T-shirt designs! Linda has a personal relationship with the SR-71 because her father Butch Sheffield flew the Blackbird from test flight in 1965 until 1973. Butch’s Granddaughter’s Lisa Burroughs and Susan Miller are graphic designers. They designed most of the merchandise that is for sale on Threadless. A percentage of the profits go to Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base. This nonprofit charity is personal to the Sheffield family because they are raising money to house SR-71, #955. This was the first Blackbird that Butch Sheffield flew on Oct. 4, 1965.

Loaded with two R-40 missiles (NATO reporting name AA-6 ‘Acrid’), the Foxbat could reach 78,000 feet, but with its full complement of four missiles, it was limited to 68,900 feet. By contrast the Habu flew at cruise speeds above Mach 3 at over 80,000 feet.

Nevertheless, once an SR-71 Blackbird flown by Col. Darrel Cobb was fired on by a MiG-25, as Cobb himself recalls in this interview given to his son Chris;

The “holy grail” of the soviet air defense system: shooting down an SR-71 Blackbird

Col. Cobb’s SR-71 Blackbird fired on by a MiG-25.

‘Operational missions.

‘First let me assure you; we never broke President Eisenhower’s promise to cease overflying the Soviet Union. We remained over international water – 12 mi offshore.

‘All of my operational flying was from Kadena, Okinawa. Area of interest was Vietnam; Korea; Vladivostok, USSR; China. Later, we flew transatlantic & return from Seymour Johnson, NC supporting the Israel Arab war. After I left the program, the SR flew from Mildenhall, England & Bodo, Norway.

‘We already touched on missions against Vietnam & the only night mission.

‘Today let’s cover “north missions.”

SR-71 print

This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. SR-71A Blackbird 61-7972 “Skunkworks”

‘Take off, refuel & head into the Sea of Japan; between Japan & south Korea. Accelerated to operational speed – 3.20. Head directly at Vladivostok. headquarters of USSR air defense; and test/r & d of new radar & intercept development. 2200 mph guaranteed to light up all the radar & intercept systems they had.

‘A MiG-25 interceptor squadron was based just outside of Vladivostok. The “holy grail” of the soviet air defense system was to shoot down an SR-71.

‘Turn north up the Sea of Japan & make a U-turn back down the USSR coast (12 mi offshore) with ELINT & SIGINT recorders going full bore. Photo cameras looking oblique into the USSR, updating the interceptor air order of battle. Head south east till past Vladivostok then turn slightly left then right to cross Korea at the DMZ. Photo cameras updating N. Korea force readiness to resume hostilities against S. Korea.

SR-71 Blackbird fired on by a MiG-25

‘Continue down the yellow sea coast of China. All sensors evaluating China’s threat to Taiwan. Turn left- decel & land at Kadena. I flew this profile several times during the 4 years I flew ops missions. One of these got very, very thrilling. Southbound, passing Vladivostok, Reg (my RSO) announced;

‘”We’ve got a fighter locked on – it’s gotta be a MiG-25″

‘”Our DEF [Defensive Electronic Gear, DEF. It Provided ground-to-air and air-to-air missile protection. Still Classified. Def systems were labeled DEF A,B,C,E and G. Later modifications to the DEF Systems resulted in DEF A2, C2, H and M systems. Nearing retirement of the SR-71, a programmable DEF labeled A2C could defeat all known threats to the Blackbirds] is blanketing all beautifully.”

Fedotov MiG-25RB altitude world record

‘”Oops – he just fired – – we’ve got a missile locked on”

‘”Our def has shifted to its missile magic”

‘”There – lock’s broken. Missile’s back in search”

‘”That’s weird – sounds like the missile’s locked on – but not locked on us”

‘”He’s gone – coming up on the “s” turn to the DMZ.”’

Fast forward to late 1976 Col. Cobb retired from the Air Force.

MiG-25 at risk of being shot down by its own missile

Cobb continues;

‘I’m retired! Learning that retirement means no days off; no vacation; no holidays; big pay cut.

‘I find the aircraft TV channel & history channel. Lots & lots of SR-71 films. I avidly watch at every opportunity. In my den, glued to the TV & today’s SR-71 show, & who do I see comparing the MiG-25 with the SR-71??

SR-71 pilot recalls that time his Blackbird flew so fast that he and his RSO landed at Kadena AB two hours before they took off from Beale AFB beating the sun

‘You’re right – – Lt Victor Belenko!

‘He was totally gobsmacked; his MiG-25 burned up the engines getting to Mach 3 yet the SR’s cruise speed was greater than 3.0.

‘Belenko is the one who said that the Holy Grail of soviet air defense was to shoot down an SR.

‘He told of how they would pre-position ahead of the SR’s radar track and had to zoom up to get a lock on & fire their missile.

‘Belenko stressed how quickly & precisely they had to perform because the window of opportunity was so very short.

‘Their target was traveling at 3600 ft/sec. Faster than a speeding bullet.

‘He described in detail how precise the post firing breakaway had to be executed to avoid getting shot down by their own missile; talking as though they found this out the “hard way.”’

Cobb Concludes;

‘Man talk about intense attention – – I’m quickly mentally replaying that tape from the inter-phone – –

‘”We’ve got a fighter locked on – it’s gotta be a Mig-25″

MiG-25

‘”Our DEF is blanketing all beautifully.”

‘”Oops – he just fired – – we’ve got a missile locked on”

‘”Our def has shifted to its missile magic”

‘”There – lock’s broken. Missile’s back in search.

‘”That’s weird – sounds like the missile’s locked on – but not locked on us.”’

What happened to the missile fired by the MiG-25 Foxbat at the SR-71 Blackbird?

What happened to the missile fired by the MiG-25? Could it have locked onto the Foxbat itself? Could the SR-71 DEF have deceived it? We’ll never know.

However, we can assume that given that SR-71 had a cruise speed faster than the top speed of the MiG-25’s Acrid missiles, the Blackbird simply outran the AA-6. There was no chance a Foxbat could conduct a tail-chase interception of an SR-71 (the MiG-25 couldn’t carry out a head-on intercept of a Blackbird too: in fact, the Foxbat’s radar and fire control system was not sophisticated enough to solve the problems of a head-on intercept at closing speeds that would exceed Mach 5).

Be sure to check out Linda Sheffield Miller (Col Richard (Butch) Sheffield’s daughter, Col. Sheffield was an SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer) Twitter X Page Habubrats SR-71 and Facebook Page Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder for awesome Blackbird’s photos and stories.

This model is available in multiple sizes from AirModels – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS.

Photo credit: Dmitriy Pichugin via Wikimedia and U.S. Air Force

@Habubrats71 via X

Linda Sheffield Miller

Grew up at Beale Air Force Base, California. I am a Habubrat. Graduated from North Dakota State University. Former Public School Substitute Teacher, (all subjects all grades). Member of the DAR (Daughters of the Revolutionary War). I am interested in History, especially the history of SR-71. Married, Mother of three wonderful daughters and four extremely handsome grandsons. I live near Washington, DC.

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