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oneaustwotinsix · 2 years

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The fan-favorite couple known affectionately as “Tarlos” — finally decided to get engaged in Monday’s season three finale of “9-1-1: Lone Star.”

In the episode, T.K. found Carlos updating his will, leading to a fight over T.K.’s refusal to plan his own estate. But after having nearly lost his father, Owen (Rob Lowe), in a building explosion, T.K. — who had unexpectedly lost his mother, Gwyn (Lisa Edelstein), earlier in the year — had a change of heart, waking Carlos up in the middle of the night to declare that he would leave everything to his “husband,” meaning Carlos, before he popped the question.

“My life has been scarred with loss, and at times, it’s felt inescapable,” T.K. told Carlos. “But that’s the risk of love, right? For the first time in my life, the love that I feel is infinitely more powerful than the fear of losing it. … Every moment that we’re not married is a wasted moment. And baby, we only get so many.”

T.K.’s impromptu proposal was one of many endings that Rubinstein and Silva said they discussed with co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear. This version was ultimately chosen to hark back to how T.K., a recovering addict, was introduced in the pilot, when his last failed marriage proposal led him to relapse and overdose on painkillers.

"I think what the finale symbolizes in many ways is closing the chapter on your past traumas, on your past demons,” Rubinstein said in a joint video interview with Silva. “With T.K., I think it’s the initial proposal that almost led to his death, and I think this is a new chapter for him and everything’s going to be OK, it seems like. And he’s actually found the man of his dreams and somebody that he wants to spend the rest of his life with.”

Rubinstein said he loved the idea of the proposal’s “being something that he just has to get off his chest.”

“He literally wakes [Carlos] up at 3 in the morning,” Rubinstein added with a laugh. “And he’s like: ‘Marry me right now! I can’t wait any longer!’ It’s so romantic in many ways.”

Silva, who said he “was very happy” and that he “got super excited” when he read the final script last month, revealed that the proposal was shot with multiple cameras “rolling at the same time,” allowing him and Rubinstein to stay in the moment during every take.

“The reactions that you’re getting are not layered in the sense where we’re cutting bits and creating this sort of performance,” he said. “You’re getting it live from both of us at the same time.”

As they began to rehearse the pivotal scene with director and executive producer Brad Buecker, Rubinstein and Silva — who both said they always knew that a “Tarlos” proposal was a matter of when, not if — revealed they both started crying during the initial read-through, before cameras were even rolling. Buecker “immediately felt the vibe, and he’s like: ‘All right, let’s cut rehearsal a little earlier. You guys go get ready, because the emotions are already there. … Let’s save it for the real thing.’ And it was like that every single take,” Rubinstein said. “I just remember it being so powerful and so epic and really beautiful, and the words did all the work for me.”

Rubinstein said that given that T.K. and Carlos already live together, know each other’s families well and have created a tight bond with the other members of Station 126, he felt the engagement was always going to be a “natural progression” of their relationship.

Rubinstein and Silva quipped that as much as they would love for the coming nuptials to go off without a hitch, they’ve already begun to brainstorm any number of things that could go wrong, given the “9-1-1” franchise’s reputation for outlandish emergencies.

“Someone’s going to choke, someone’s going to have a heart attack, an earthquake’s going to take place — all at the same time!” Silva said with a laugh. “I think it’s going to be special either way. I want Carlos to be the most Texan. I want him to wear a cowboy hat — like, all Tejano gear — to his wedding. I want to show the Mexican American culture … because America is beautiful and has many shades, and we need to show that on national television.”

Rubinstein said with a playful smile: “We would have a honeymoon, and I was like: ‘Listen, if production wants to send us to, let’s say, Hawaii, and there will be something that we have to deal with there, I’ll take it. I don’t care. I’ll deal with a rescue with Carlos and T.K. in Hawaii. I’ll deal with anything if we go to Hawaii.’ I’m just so, so excited that we know that there is a wedding and honeymoon on the horizon.”

But at the end of the day, both actors understand the importance and shared responsibility of telling a prominent love story between two men when anti-LGBTQ legislation continues to be passed across the country — and around the world.

“I think now more than ever, it’s beyond imperative to show this sort of relationship on network television. Television brings conversations into homes that might not be asking for such conversation,” Silva said.

Seeing this sort of relationship being portrayed right now and this sort of reality where two people can just sit in bed and commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives, I think it just speaks to the commitment to the diversity of the show and what we want to see in real life, as well,” he continued. “We want to let viewers [know] that this love exists, it is legitimate, and it deserves to be on the screen.”

And when the time comes, Rubinstein and Silva said, they would both love to see T.K. and Carlos start a family together, because “you don’t know how powerful representation is until you see yourself” — and what’s possible — on television, said Silva, who is openly gay.

"When you depict a relationship between two men “caring and loving each other and caring for this child,” you’re sending a message “that these are human beings who simply love each other, who deserve to love each other, that all of this prejudice against the LGBTQIA+ community is coming out of fear and ignorance and shall not be entertained and shall not be condoned,” Silva added.

“To show them have a kid eventually would just break all the barriers, and so many people’s brains will explode for good and for bad,” he said. “People need to be uncomfortable, and people need to realize that this is real life, this is normal.

“I think this relationship is so important for opening people’s minds and eyes to what the real world is like and that we’re not some monsters,” said Rubinstein, who is openly bisexual. “We just want to be treated fairly and equally, to be loved and to be treated with respect and kindness, and that’s it. … So it’s about time that we start showing these kinds of storylines on such a massive network."

Article courtesy Max Gao, NBC News

#tarlos

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thebookwormfairy · 4 years

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Winx Club Maribat AU Part 2

Hey guys I'm making a permanent tag list for my Maribat stuff. If you like to be added just message me! Okay on to the story!

Part 1

Masterlist

Marinette had a great summer

She loved being back home with her parents, but something felt different

She felt like her parents were hiding something from her

Something big

She tried not to let it bother her and just enjoy her summer

Her favorite part was when her friends came over

Though she was a little surprised when Damian's brothers stepped out of the portal along with Damian, Adrien, Alya, Alix, Jon, Juleka, Nino, and Rose

Jason walking up and ruffling Marinette's hair: You look surprised to see us Pixie Pop

Damian pushing Jason away from Marinette before giving her a hug: Sorry Angel, my father wouldn't let us come unless they came along

Marinette smiling: It's no problem the more the merrier

Marinette showed them all the sights of Paris

From the classics like the Eiffle Tower

To more local secrets like Ande's Icecream

Much to Marinette's embarrassment Andre made her icecream based off of Damian and his her

But it didn't seem like he understood or at least he didn't bring it up

On the last night in Paris before they all had to return to school Damian asked to talk to Marinette alone

They climbed out onto her balcony to get some privacy

The pair stood in silence for a but staring out into the Parisian night

Damian grabbing Marinette's hands: Marinette we've known eachother for a couple of months now, and they've been wome of the best times I've ever had

Marinette blushed: Really?

Damian also blushing: Yeah, I know it's only been a couple of months but I can't imagine my life without you, and I don't want to have to. So will you be my girlfriend?

Marinette rushing forward hugging Damian: Of course I will!

The two stood there hugging eachother as close as possible

The young couple pulled apart a little bit only to lean towards eachother again when the moment was ruined by a blue skinned witch

The blue skinned witch short a spell towards the two

Damian was able to push Marinette off the balcony and onto the roof away from the spell

Damian: Are you okay?

Marinette: Yeah

The others hearing the explosion came running out of the backery seeing the witch

Adrien spotting Damian and Marinette on the roof yells: Are you guys okay?

Marinette: Yeah

Marinette transformed and flying Damian down to the street with the rest of their friends

Mayu: I know one of you have the Miraculous! Give it to me at once

Marinette: What's a Miraculous?

Jason: No idea

Mayu: I will tear apart this entire planet until I receive the Miraculous!

Marinette: Oh no you won't!

The other fairies transformed and start to fight but it was like their attacks barely fazed the witch

Damian: Come on boys we have to help them!

The Specialist jumped into the battle

Together they were barely able to chase the witch off

Marinette had so many questions, but one kept popping up in her head

Did this have anything to do with the mysterious ring she found during her final?

After the girls and Adrien used their magic to repair the damage from the battle and check on Marinette's parents they decides to go to Gotham a day early and stay in Wayne Manor

Dick assured the group that it was perfectly fine and that their dad would much rather have a few surprises guests then for any of them be injured

Bruce was very welcoming to the group of misplaced kids

As the Adrien, Jon, and the girls minus Marinette went to bed, the Wayne's and Marinette stayed downstairs

Alfred: So why did the young masters return with their friends so soon?

Damian: We were attacked

Bruce: Attacked?

Tim: Yeah by some crazy blue skinned witch! She was looking for something....what was it?

Dick: She was looking for something, um, it started with an M. Mmmm... mmiii...

Jason and Marinette: The Miraculous

Alfres was shocked when he heard that

He's heard of the Miraculous before, the powerful treasures from the planet Miracul, but they were lost when the kingdom fell

Or so everybody thought

Alfred looked at Jason as he laughed at something Marinette said

He couldn't helping thinking back to the first thought he had upon meeting Jason

That he looked so much like King Rolland

But there was no way that the Dark Coven would have let the royal children live

They sadly were probably the first of their victims

They would have been the wielders of the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous

Together they would have been able to take down the Dark coven single handly

To not get rid of such a big threat early on would have been plain stupid so of course the royal heirs are no more

But Alfred couldn't help but think that Marinette looked an awful lot like Queen Clarisse

When the fairies returned they told Ms. Faragonda everything that happened

Faragonda had a pensive looked on her face, but told the girls to head to their dorms

With the start of school all thoughts of mysterious blue witches and Miraculouses were pushed to the back of their minds

Dick was officially a teacher at Red Fountain and was totally crushing on his co-teacher Kori, who could totally kick his but

Which is one of the reasons he loves her

Marinette kept teach Adrien magic with the help of the other faries

And of course Damain now tags along with Adrien so he can see his girlfriend

Though Adrien now hates Marinette and Damian because the 2 have made it their personal mission to kill Adrien

Okay maybe Adrien was being over dramatic

Truthfully the young couple just liked to tease Adrien relentlessly about his crush on Jon

Damian become more of a regular sight at Alfea

And with him came his brothers

Much to Damian's chagrin

Jason and Marinette started to become closer and closer

Adapting more of a sibling relationships

With Jason even giving Damian the shovel talk

Damian: Shouldn't you be giving Marinette this talk

Jason: No I prefer to threaten you

Damian just glares at his annoying brother

Yes everything was going great for Marinette until one day Alfea was attacked

This person was a man you looked like a scarecrow but he too was looking for the Miraculouses

Scarecrow was throwing potions at the young fairies that made them see their worst fears

Soon only Marinette and her friends were left standing though it was obvious that the gas was starting to get to them

Scarecrow zeroing onto Marinette: You! Your the one with the Miraculous!

Marinette blasting Scarecrow: I have no idea what your talking about! What is a Miraculous?!?

Scarecrow laughing: Oh my gosh you hold possibly the most powerful magical object in the universe and you have no idea, do you? Gove me the Miraculous little girl and I just make let you live

Marinette: Never!

Scarecrow: Have it your way!

Juleka was the first one to go down, Rose followed closely behind wit Alya holding out for a but longer before she too succumbed to the gas

Alix was able to stay much longer

She continued to fight besides Marinette blowing the gas away from the two

Watching Alix gave Marinette a brilliant idea

Marinette: Alix I have an idea!

Alix trying to blow Scarecrow away, but only succeeding in pushing him back a couple of feet: I'm all ears

Marinette: Let me handle this guy, you need to blow the gas away! If we can clear the gas everybody will go back to normal

Alix: I'm on it!

Alix flew down to wear the gas was starting to use her winx to blow the gas away from her classmates and teachers

Scarecrow laughing: Oh and what are you going to do, little fairy?

Marinette didn't answer the man instead gathering all her strength into one big blast

Even with all of Marinette's power the man only laughed

Scarecrow: That was cute

Marinette stared at him in horror

How was he laughing?

She put everything she had in that blast but it didn't do anything to him

Marinette was ready to give up until she heard the same voice she heard during her final

The voice: Marinette I can help you but you have to trust me

Marinette for some reason trusted this voice

She couldn't explain why she just did

Marinette: Okay I trust you

Marinette felt another wave of power washed over her

Green sparks surrounded Marinette and she felt reenergized

With this new energy Marinette gathered all her power again and this time when Marinette released her attack Scarecrow was blasted to the ground, getting knocked out in the process

Marinette pants as she landed back on the ground, Alix was able to clear the gas and everybody was starting to calm down

She cold feel the mysterious energy leave her as Ms. Faragonda walked up to Marinette

Faragonda: You did a great job Marinette. Well take this man into custody and find out what he was doing here

Marinette: Okay Ms. Faragonda.

Ms. Faragonda stared after her young student

She saw that green energy around Marinette

The only explanation could have been the Cat Miraculous, but that would be impossible

Faragonda needed to do some research

2 weeks later Marinette and her friends were called into her office

Faragonda: Thanks for coming in today girls, in light of the recent attacks I feel like this is important, but it also must remain a secret

Alix: What is it Ms. F?

Faragonda: We finished interrogating the man who attacked Alfea and it's what I worst feared. He is a member of the Dark Coven, the coven that destroyed the kingdom of Miracul.

The girls gasped at the information

Faragonda: Yes I know. They seem to think that one of you had a Miraculous and the attacks won't stop until you either defeat the coven or they kill you. So I believe it's time to gather the Miraculouses again and for you to start the next level of your training, Enchantix. Enchantix is achieved when you save a member of you family from a life threatening situation, that's why most fairies don't achieve it. They're not willing to take such a risk, but with Enchantix you'll be able to take on the Dark Coven and with the Miraculous you'll be able to start them for good

Alya: But how will we find the Miraculous? Weren't they scattered when Miracul fell?

Faragonda: That is true Alya, but we have an advantage that the coven doesn't have, somebody from Miracul. The people of Miracul had a connection to the Miraculous and with the royal family gone hopefully they will reach out to the last citizen of their kingdom

Marinette: Who is the last citizen?

Faragonda: Jason Todd. We'll be working with Red Fountain to find the Miraculous, but this must remain top secret nobody out of this room and the Specialist assigned to the mission must know about this. We have no idea how far the Dark Coven's reach extends

Faragonda: And one more thing girls and this is very important. No matter what never put on a Miraculous. Besides the Dark Coven the only people who would be able to wield and Miraculous was the royal family of Miracul and the people they bestowed the miraculous to. Anybody else who dares put on a Miraculous will be destroyed by the very power held within it.

Of course the Specialist assigned to the mission was Jason's brothers, Adrien, and Jon

They spent months tracking down the Miraculous

The Miraculous did seem to call out to Jason, but they called out to Marinette too

Marinette didn't know what to think of it

She was too scared to tell anybody that the Miraculous were calling to her too

She was scared of what it would me if they were really calling to her

And she was also scared that the ring she kept in her pocket was also a Miraculous

Marinette didn't let these worries get in the way of their mission

There was too much at stake for her to let her fear get to her

Their mission was actually going pretty well they already found 4 Miraculouses each on of the girls' home planet

The ones they found so far were the fox, turtle, rabbit, and mouse

With each Miraculous another fairy gained their Enchantix

Mainly because it seemed that a member of the Dark Coven appeared wherever they went

Alya got her's saving her twin sisters, Alix her father, Juleka her brother, and Rose her mother

Marinette was the only one who hadn't gotten her Enchantix and she didn't really know if she wanted to get it

The very thought of anything happening to her parents or anybody in her family made her feel sick

Today the group was going to the planet Miracul

They couldn't go by ship so Tim rewired the alternate reality chamber from the fairies' finals into a transport chamber

Dick: Are you sure the next Miraculous is on Miracul?

Jason: Positive, something is calling me there

Marinette also feeling something calling her: Jason hasn't let us down yet, I'm sure we'll find another Miraculous!

Jason: Thank you Pixie Pop at least somebody believes in me

Jason jokingly pulled Marinette into a tight hug pitting about his brothers questioning him

Damian: Please remove yourself from my girlfriend Todd

Jason turning to face Damian still holding onto Marinette: No, she may be your girlfriend but she's my unofficial adopted sister

Marinette laughing: Come on Jason let go. We got work to do

Jason: I don't really want to do the work today

Damian successfully tugging Marinette away from his annoying brother: Too bad

Tim: Now now, none of that. Come around kiddies I got the portal all set up

Tim pulling out 10 necklaces: So as y'all know we can't fly to the planet Miracul so we're teleporting. The teleporter will get us there but these babies will get us back. All you have to do is press the button and boom you're back here safe and sound

Jon: Sounds simple enough let's do this!

Of course no of their missions could be simple

The planet Miracul already held a lot of danger for the fairies

Since Miracul was a frozen planet the temperature could freeze the fairies wings and cause them to shatter

So the fairies of the group didn't want to transform unless it was absolutely necessary

The group explored the planet following the voice Jason said he heard

Jason lead them into the old place going to a room that felt so familiar to him

It was a child's room, old dusty toys laid on the floor covered in dust a frost

Jason was about to pick up a small chest when there was a blast of ice

Another coven member had found them

This one called himself Mr. Freeze

The fairies transformed hoping to send him off packing

But because of Mr. Freeze's powers the fairies had a hard time fighting him off

Mr Freeze aimed a blast at Jason

Marinette flying towards Jason: Jason watch out!

Marinette pushed Jason out of the way getting hit by the blast instead

Marinette's whole body was frozen solid from the blast

Jason and Damian: No!!

The two ran towards Marinette while the others continued to fight Mr. Freeze

Damian: No no no, please Marinette no!

Jason: No Pixie Pop! No why? I promised...I promised?

The ice around Marinette started to crack and shatter and Marinette emerged from it in her Enchantix form

She wore a dressed made out of Red petals with black vines wrapping around under her bust

With Marinette's new form they were able to blast Mr. Freeze away and send him into a full retreat

It wasn't until after the fight was done that Marinette and Jason realized something

Marinette looking at Jason: Wait, if I got my Enchantix form...then that would mean we're...

Marinette and Jason: Family

@t1dwarrior-of-earth @clumsy-owl-4178 @vgirl-10123 @aestheticnpoetic @toodaloo-kangaroo @animegirlweeb @k-poplunardreams @our-preciousss @razzledazzle247 @justafanwarrior @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

#maribat #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #daminette #winx club au #adrijon #brotp #jasonette

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ollieofthebeholder · 3 years

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leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall): a TMA fanfic

Tumblr tag || Also on AO3

Chapter 45: Martin Prime

“I Spy, with my mental eye, something that begins with…C.”

“Croft?”

“N—yes. Wait, how did you know that?” Jon sounded slightly indignant. “I didn’t even know you knew that word.”

Martin snorted. “Then you’re cheating.”

Jon sighed theatrically. “All right, fine, but which croft?”

“Hmm.” Martin pursed his lips thoughtfully. “The one two hills over, with the stone fence that was falling down in places. The one you had a hard time not seeing as sinister.”

“Well done.” Jon cupped Martin’s cheek in his hand and gave him a gentle kiss. “Right, your turn. Let’s go with…hmm. Let’s say Gertrude’s storage unit.”

It was a silly and relatively pointless game, but Martin loved Jon so much for coming up with it. They’d played I Spy several times when they were in Scotland because Jon had misunderstood Martin’s attempt to explain the one helpful thing he’d been given during his brief stint in therapy, but it had helped both of them, so Martin hadn’t told Jon until much, much later that it wasn’t what he’d meant. Still, it had been fun to play, and it had given them a brief moment of levity during their trek through the fearscapes between their tiny haven of sanctuary in Scotland and their ultimate destination in London. Martin had joked about playing it at Christmas, and Jon had apparently taken that to heart.

He’d come up with this variant not long after, and they’d played it a few times since. One of them would select a location they were both familiar with, and the other had to try and remember what it looked like, then pick something to “spy”. One part game, one part memory exercise, it was a continual surprise to Martin how many little details he could still picture in his head.

He sometimes suspected Jon of changing his answers solely so Martin could be “correct,” in the same way that Martin had never had a favorite color until Jon had guessed it to be green, but at least it was a fun exercise.

“Right,” he said, trying to cast his mind back over the storage unit. That one would be trickier. There’d just been so much crammed into a relatively small space, and Martin had admittedly been a little distracted by relief over having Jon back and talking to him, seeming to actually enjoy his company. It was hard to focus on details beyond the plastic explosives crammed in the hard case.

“I Spy, with my mental eye—” he began.

Jon’s fingers suddenly touched Martin’s lips as he hissed a warning to stay quiet. Martin froze and held his breath, and then he heard what Jon did—voices in the corridor. They were muffled but distinct, which did at least mean it wasn’t someone who didn’t need to be down there, but…

After a moment, though, Martin caught a laugh that sounded familiar and relaxed. “It’s them.”

“That’s…not good. It’s the middle of the day.” There was a rustle as Jon got to his feet. “God, what happened now?”

Martin bit his lip. Being blind and living essentially underground meant his internal clock was a bit off, but he trusted Jon. If it was midday, that meant it was Wednesday; Past Jon had been gone less than two days. He was probably still in Beijing. Nothing bad had happened to Jon while he was in China, unless there was something he hadn’t told Martin, and he probably hadn’t even had time to get into Pu Songling yet. Which meant something had happened to one of the others. Best case scenario, they’d uncovered a statement that bothered them or they wanted clarification on. Worst-case…

The door opened, and Past Martin’s voice came in, obviously in the middle of a sentence. “—like I’m offering to show you a pipe of Amontillado we’re keeping down here, it’s—oh, hey, you’re up already, that’s good.”

“What’s happened? Did something go wrong?” Jon asked urgently.

“Depends on your definition of ‘wrong,’ I suppose.”

There was a slight, nearly imperceptible creak as the door opened wider, and then a short pause before a female voice that sounded rather familiar spoke. “Is this some kind of a joke?”

Martin sat up a little straighter. “Melanie?”

He felt a surprising mix of delight and regret. He’d come to like the feisty firebrand in the short time they’d actually been able to get to know each other, despite the strain of the world having ended, and one thing he’d privately lamented when they’d made the decision to come back in time was that he wouldn’t get the chance to talk with her again, so having the opportunity was an unexpected pleasure. On the other hand, the fact that she was here and being brought down probably meant that she’d been trapped into working at the Institute, and that sent a stab of aching melancholy through his heart. They’d wanted so badly to keep her from turning bitter and angry…

She didn’t sound angry, though, at least not yet. Then again, their Melanie hadn’t at first either. “Are you clones or—you knew my name. What are you?”

Martin couldn’t help the grin that curled across his mouth, even as he got to his feet. “Me? Oh, I’m the Antichrist’s plus-one.”

The surprised laugh sounded like Tim’s. Melanie actually sounded delighted. “Does that mean he’s the Antichrist?”

“Assuming you’re pointing to Jon, yes.”

“Melanie.” Jon sounded like he was struggling to keep his composure. “It’s—it’s good to see you. What are you doing here?”

“Getting initiated. Or hazed, maybe. Depends on how you want to call it.” There was a rustle of fabric, and Martin guessed Melanie had just folded her arms across her chest. “You’re looking at the newest Archival Assistant.”

“Oh, Melanie,” Jon murmured, his voice full of regret.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, evil fear things, spooky stories, you can check out any time you like but you can never leave, today we are canceling the Apocalypse, blah blah blah.”

“Any other pop culture references you want to throw out there?” Martin asked dryly.

He could imagine Melanie shrugging. “I mean, you might have to give me a minute to come up with a few. But they told me all about the crap they have to put up with. We have to put up with, I guess.” She paused. “So, neither of you really answered my question.”

“Melanie King, meet the Primes,” Tim said. “Jon and Martin, meet the crazy woman who knew what she was getting into and did it anyway. Ow!” he added, punctuated by the dull, wet smack of somebody being punched in the side. “Jeez, what were you, a boxer in another life?”

“You say that like I’m not a boxer in this one,” Melanie grumbled. “I just don’t compete is all. Prime whats?”

“So you know those pop culture references?” Past Martin said. “Here’s one more. They’re—they’re Jon and me, from the future. They’re the reason we’re trying to stop the Apocalypse. The reason we know we need to stop the Apocalypse,” he corrected himself. “Tim calls them the Primes, like—”

“Like Spock Prime. Got it. Okay.” Martin could picture Melanie’s scowl pretty clearly; it had been more or less her default expression for a while. “Well, then. Unless one of you can mind-meld, you’re going to have to prove that some other way.”

“No, fortunately, the ability to plant thoughts and memories in someone’s head is one I was spared.” Jon sighed heavily. “I—I don’t know if there’s anything I can…m-most of what I know about, about your future counterpart are things that haven’t happened yet, o-or the others could have told us.”

Martin pursed his lips as a thought occurred to him. “I can think of one thing, but you probably don’t want it bruited about.”

“I seriously doubt that there’s anything you can come up with I wouldn’t want them knowing.” There was a challenging edge to Melanie’s voice that was all too familiar.

“Melanie—” Sasha began. Great, everyone was there.

“No. You think you know some big secret about me, something I wouldn’t have told you until later? Fine. Say it. I look forward to being able to look you in the eye and tell you you’re wrong.”

Martin sighed in exasperation. “You got shot by a ghost while you were in India. In the leg. You told the doctors it was a—a mugging, right? They couldn’t find anything in the scans, but trust me when I say it’s probably still in there.”

There was another one of those long pauses. “Fuck.”

“I did warn you,” Martin pointed out.

“You did, and I should have listened.” Melanie snorted. “I mean, obviously. I’ve only been working here for three hours and I already know that’s the number one Archives rule: Always listen to Martin.”

“Excellent life advice, both in the Archives and out,” Tim agreed.

“Both of you shut up,” Past Martin muttered, but without a lot of heat behind it.

Martin laughed. “It really is good to—we have missed you, Melanie.”

“You guys must have had a really rough few years if we’ve known each other long enough for you to miss me,” Melanie said, but he could hear the smile in her voice anyway. “For what it’s worth, it’s good to meet you.”

There was a bit of an expectant silence before Jon made a flustered-sounding noise of surprise and tapped Martin’s arm. “She wants to shake.”

“He’s not an idiot,” Melanie snapped. “If he doesn’t—”

“No, I’m blind. Sorry, should have warned you.” Martin reached out and found Melanie’s outstretched hand.

“Oh.” The slight pull against Martin’s arm was the only clue he got before Melanie—at least he assumed it was Melanie—surged forward and hugged him instead. In his ear, she said, “You look like you need it.”

“Well, I’ll never say no.” Martin didn’t need physical contact quite the same way Jon did, but it did give him comfort to feel a friendly touch once in a while. And it was substantially more important now that he was blind to have a tactile connection to the world around him. He was just momentarily caught off-guard; he’d forgotten how much shorter than him Melanie was.

After a moment, Melanie pulled back. “Right. Do I get an explanation or is it ‘you’re from the future’ and we leave it at that?”

“We can explain. Right, Jon?” Martin added, raising an eyebrow in his fiancé’s direction.

“Right. Of course. Ha-have a seat.” Jon sounded like the entire situation had put him off balance. “We’ll see what we can do.”

In a lot of ways, it was easier than when they’d told their story to the crew the first time, close to a year ago now. First of all, the team was aware now of a lot of things they’d had to explain, and Melanie had lived through at least some of it, so there was less to catch up on. Second of all, Tim, Sasha, and Past Martin were able to help fill in a lot of details. Including some things even Jon and Martin hadn’t been aware of.

“And then the world ended,” Jon concluded, much as he had the previous year. “And Martin and I…well, eventually we decided to try and put it back.”

“By coming back in time? How’d you even know you could do that?” Melanie asked. “Is it in one of those statements up there?”

“No. N-no, I don’t—I don’t think so. I don’t know how the Keeper found out about that passage back. That wasn’t our original plan,” Jon said slowly. “I’m not completely sure we had a plan, come to think of it.”

“Head to London, kill Jonah Magnus, and hope for the best,” Martin said with a shrug. “Push the big red reset button. I don’t know. I think we were still figuring it out when we got there.”

He could hear the frown when Melanie spoke next. “Sorry, I’m new to all this, I’m sure you’ve been over it a lot, but—how did you know you could? Can’t imagine the big scary fear god that thinks it’s won just…giving you a map to all its vulnerable spots or whatever. How did you know there was even a way to fix it?”

“We didn’t,” Martin said simply. He felt Jon lean against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him. “But we had to try.”

There was another long pause before Melanie spoke again, her voice almost too soft to be audible. “Who else survived? Besides you two?”

“What?” Jon asked with a frown.

Martin realized she had almost been too soft to be heard; he’d only caught it because he had to concentrate so hard. “You, Georgie, and Basira. And the Admiral. But in our timeline…Sasha’d been gone for years at that point, she died when Jane Prentiss attacked us. And our Tim died in the Unknowing. Once Daisy went over to the Hunt, we were the only ones left.”

“The whole rest of the world died?” Melanie demanded.

“No,” Jon said quickly. “No, not—not yet. They would have. Eventually. But no. After the Fears came through…the world divided largely into two categories. Watcher or Watched. You were either trapped in a fear’s domain or—or observing one.”

“So which one was I?”

“Neither. You and Georgie, you were both sort of…outside it. I don’t know that you were the only ones, either, but you were the only ones we knew about.” Jon paused, then added, “You kept going into domains and—rescuing people, actually. Or trying to. These tunnels are a blind spot, and that didn’t change even when the Institute became the literal center of the world. You and Georgie would run into a domain, get someone out, and bring them down here.”

“And inadvertently started a cult,” Martin added. He couldn’t help the slight smile that tugged at his mouth. “You hated it.”

“God, yeah, I would have. I swear, the worst part of Ghost Hunt UK is dealing with the fans. I just got into it to investigate the paranormal, not to be famous doing it.” Melanie sighed heavily. Martin felt bad for her. “So what happened to us? After you left. Did you erase the whole future timeline so none of it ever happened, or did the three of us have to either fix it ourselves or live in a post-apocalyptic hellscape for the rest of our natural lives?”

“I—I don’t know.” Jon sounded incredibly shaken.

Martin rubbed comfortingly at Jon’s shoulder. “We left before…we didn’t get to tell them we were going. The Keeper—the one who helped us get back in time—he promised he’d let them know what was going on, he said they’d be safe. As far as I know, we didn’t…that timeline still continued to its end. I just don’t know when its end was. And unfortunately, we never will. Personally, I think what would have happened is that when the Keeper told everyone that our plan went to hell and Jonah got away, your counterpart would have said ‘fuck this’, got a knife, and gone after him herself. She kept trying to kill him in our timeline and he saw her every time. I don’t doubt for a minute that she’d take advantage of the fact that he literally wouldn’t have been able to see her.”

“Why not?”

“Same reason he can’t see me. Because she was blind, she was immune to the Eye. And as hard as she was working on her anger, I think she knew how to turn it into a weapon. Also, she hated Jonah.” Martin sighed. “So yeah. We don’t know what happened to everybody in our timeline, but if anyone could fix it, it’d be our Melanie. Correcting the Apocalypse with a knife and sheer spite.”

“Damn right,” Melanie said. Someone turned a laugh into a hacking cough.

Jon sighed and leaned against Martin’s shoulder. Martin shifted slightly to settle him into a more comfortable position. After all these months, the movement was as natural as breathing. “I’m so sorry, Melanie. We—we’d hoped we could keep you out of all this.”

“Hey, don’t take away my right to choose. I knew what I was getting into.”

“Did he ask?” Jon asked. “Or did he just hire you?”

“Of course he asked.” Melanie sounded exasperated. She dropped her voice to a lower register and did a very poor, mocking imitation of Elias’ drawl. “‘I understand that your show is on a hiatus, and with Jon off traveling, I’m sure Martin and the others could use some assistance. Jon spoke quite highly of your research abilities. Would you be interested in a paid position here in the Archives?’ I could have told him to fuck off if I’d really wanted to.”

Martin replayed the words in his head a couple of times. “Yeah, sounds like he flattered and dangled bait in front of you, but didn’t actually force you. Very carrot and stick.”

“So why did you say yes?” Sasha asked, sounding curious. “Knowing what you were getting into, more or less?”

Melanie sighed heavily—Martin was incredibly familiar with that sound—but to his mild surprise, it was Past Martin who answered. “She told us that, Sasha. Or at least indirectly. She—you said you started Ghost Hunt UK to investigate. And when we were having lunch before you left for India…I saw how animated you got when you were talking about that student film you did. The supernatural, the paranormal, it’s genuinely something you’re interested in. You agreed to join the Institute because it lets you do all that and get paid for it, with the added bonus of not having to deal with people if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, basically. And, you know, if I can help save the world, that’s a nice little plus, too.”

Martin heard the rustling of fabric, but he honestly couldn’t have said if it was a hug or a light shove or what, and Tim’s next words made him none the wiser. “Thought you couldn’t read minds.”

“I can’t. I just know people.” Past Martin’s voice softened. “I promise, Tim. I’m not developing any new abilities.”

From the way he said that, Martin could picture quite vividly what Tim’s face had to look like. It was probably somewhere between the way he’d looked when he’d brought Sasha her coffee after she’d been attacked by Michael and the way he’d looked when telling Martin what had happened to his brother—a mixture of concern and fear and maybe a little bit of heartbreak. Tim really did worry about the others developing powers from the Eye, but there was probably an additional layer here because it was Past Martin.

Martin did know people. He had a fairly intuitive sense for the mood of a room and the way people interacted. In his timeline it had led him to play peacemaker, or try to, attempting to mediate between Jon and their Tim. In this…go-round, he supposed…it mostly meant he was picking up on a lot of things that weren’t being said, or at least weren’t being said aloud. He’d heard the fabric rustling, the lighthearted banter, the genuine laughter. He’d picked up on the gentleness in Past Jon’s voice that reminded him of the way Jon had spoken to him so often after Prentiss attacked, after he’d been accused of murder, and especially during those agonizing months he’d been working with Peter Lukas and they’d been so close and yet so far apart. He’d noted the affection in Tim’s voice, the way he’d tried so hard to control his anger and fear and actually talk to them. And of course he knew himself, and by extension his past self, knew what he sounded like when he was trying to navigate a simple conversation without wearing his heart on his sleeve, when he was trying to throttle back an emotion he desperately wanted to express but didn’t think would be welcome…or safe.

He knew love when he heard it, and dear God, if it had been that obvious to him for so long, he was already mentally betting with himself against how long it would take Melanie to call them out on it. Because he also knew hidden love, and he was willing to venture that they weren’t trying to hide their relationship because they thought it was inappropriate in the workplace. He was willing to bet all three of them thought it was unrequited on their part and that they had to keep it hidden from the others lest they be shot down.

He’d never really thought about polyamory himself, but in retrospect, yeah, maybe he had had a bit of a crush on their Tim. At least for a while. That would never have gone anywhere, though.

“Do we need to get out of here?” Melanie asked. “I mean, is Big Nose McCreepy going to notice we left the Archives essentially abandoned?”

“No, we’ve got a bit,” Sasha said. “He’s supposed to be meeting some of the Institute donors for a lunch of some kind. He’s not on site and he’s going to be occupied for a good while. I’m kind of hoping he gets a little tipsy, too. Anyway, he thinks he’s got us over a barrel right now. He thinks he trapped you into the Institute, so he’s feeling smug enough that he’s not going to pay attention to us for a while. His plan is to give us the rest of the week, at least, to let you ‘settle in’ before—”

“Sasha!” Jon said sharply. He sat up so suddenly it almost pulled Martin off-balance.

“Oh. Oh, shit.” Sasha inhaled abruptly. “I swear that wasn’t on purpose.”

“That’s—Christ, Sasha, you shouldn’t be able to do that from down here—”

“I didn’t—I Knew that before we came down. I’m pretty sure.” Sasha took another deep breath. “Right, okay. I don’t know who’s nominally in charge while Jon’s away, but—I think maybe I should take tomorrow off? Just to…recalibrate. Ground myself. Get some distance.”

“Take the rest of the week,” Tim suggested. “I don’t know who’s nominally in charge either, but—”

“I’ll stand in for your Jon,” Jon said. “Tim’s right. Take a good long weekend. Don’t think about the Institute, or the Archives, or the Fears. Just…I know it’s easier said than done, but try to distract yourself.”

“I think I have a way of doing that.” Sasha sounded thoughtful. Martin was pretty sure it was sincere.

“What do you do?” There was a hint of a challenge in Melanie’s voice, but also a good deal of curiosity. She was genuinely asking. “When it gets too much. What do you have that keeps you from—doing whatever it is you shouldn’t do?”

“Going out and pouncing random people to draw their traumas out of them,” Jon said dryly. “And I have Martin. He’s been my anchor for…much longer than I realized at the time. We’ll read or—or talk, or take a walk or something. We played cards a lot when we were in Scotland.”

“We were playing I Spy earlier,” Martin added.

Sasha snorted, but Past Martin seemed to actually understand. “Like a memory game type version?”

“Basically, yes. We pick someplace we both know—or knew—think about what was in it, and pick something for the other to try and guess. Five tries or less. And no mind-reading.”

“It’s still your turn,” Jon reminded him. “The storage unit.”

“Hmm.” Martin thought for a moment, then smiled as he remembered the one thing he’d fixated on while they were there. “I Spy, with my mental eye, something…brown.”

Jon made an exasperated noise. “I swear that must have been her favorite color. That could be anything.”

“Well, then, you’d best get guessing.”

“Fine.” Jon sighed heavily. “The…box full of dolls.”

“Nope. Guess again.”

“The book? The one we didn’t know what it was?”

“That was black.”

“It was—never mind.” Jon sighed again. “The notebook?”

Martin shook his head. “Come on, Jon, think. This is me we’re talking about. What would I have been looking at?”

“The…the frame on the painting with the dogs in it.”

“One guess left.”

“Give me one more hint.”

“It was the first thing that gave me hope in weeks.”

Jon was silent for a long while. Finally, he said, “I give up. I honestly, genuinely cannot think of anything that was brown that might fit the criteria you’ve given me. What do you spy?”

Martin’s smile widened. “Your eyes.”

There was a chorus of awws and exaggerated gagging sounds in equal measure from the other four, but from the way Jon took his face in both hands and kissed him, tenderly but thoroughly, Martin could tell that his choice had had the effect he wanted.

#leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall)#ollie writes fanfic #tma #the magnus archives #jonmartin #jonmartim

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thatblondeperson · 4 years

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So I learnt from that Tim Drake Guy's tumblr that Steph is a bully and abusive with Tim is that true. I ask since I know you seem to agree with a lot of the thoughts expressed on that blog. Can you help me find some examples of Tim/Steph comics. I was going to get YJ but the same tumblr blog says it's bad

So I want to preface with some very solid advice I've learned from being in fandom. It's really hard to learn anything from any blog because so much of it is opinion based, that the line between headcanon and canon gets far too muddied too often, and there's also always going to be biases that come from very personal spaces. It's important to take everything that every blog says ESPECIALLY in the DC fandom, with a very large grain of salt because half the fandom really doesn't actually seem to source their information with anything other than out of context panels, shitposts, or their own perfect ideals of what they want to gleam from the pages of each comic. It's all interpretive, and I'm sure that sounds a little bit petty, but I'm adding myself in here too because I have my own opinions separate from others, despite my firm ideology in staying as close to canon as I possibly can.

As far as that blog, I actually strayed away from them because I no longer agreed with a lot of what was being said. It got to the point where it was getting very unnecessarily negative all the time, and I want no part in this ship war that drives practically every bit of drama in the Tim fandom. I think that there is a lot of merit to some of the opinions on that blog, and they're clearly an expert on Tim in many ways. I knew them personally, so I can attest to that. But I think they also read only what they WANT to read on every page, and I think that makes for a lot of gaps where misinformation can leak in. That got filled with a lot of straight up wrong assessments of Stephanie Brown, and unfortunately that blog was already prime traffic for antis to spew unnecessary hate, so once the blog itself got on board, I tapped out.

No, Stephanie is not an abuser or a bully. I think tumblr throws around the word abuse far too casually. At most, Steph teases Tim, but never to a malicious or purposefully hurtful extent. She pokes at him, just like you would with a best friend. He barely even protests. A simple "Steph..." every now and again, but he even teases her back often and jokes with her. She's not an abuser, in fact, she herself is a victim of severe abuse in her childhood. Her flirting at the beginning of her and Tim's relationship is a bit intense, but she's 15, and doesn't know how to catch his attention. Her boyfriend was clearly way older than her and did not treat her well, her father abused her mother, and she was sexually harassed by her father's friends. She's never seen a healthy relationship to know how to act. Once they get together, she mellows out and is actually very compassionate and kind with Tim, and especially supportive.

A lot of haters throw around all this terrible stuff she did.

They say she stole Robin from Tim. He stepped away from the mantle, and she thought she caught him cheating, and Bruce opened up the opportunity for her.

They highlight a time when she almost blew Tim up. Bruce told her to do something drastic to force Tim to be a better Robin. Should she have thought it through? Yes. But she was young, and still desperate to prove herself.

Steph is a loose canon throughout a lot of her appearances. She doesn't always think before she acts, and that is one of her major flaws. She gets into trouble often, and that causes a lot of tension between her and Tim, often from him becoming overprotective of her.

Steph starts out fairly cynical in the beginning and softens up over time. After the explosion stunt with Tim, she does get her act together and she goes through a fantastic character arc where she really improves upon herself. She becomes a beacon of hope, but she really already was one. She's always been a source of light for Tim. She's a constant tether for him throughout their relationship, and she constantly bringing him back to reality. I think their dynamic is really great, and it does hurt me a lot how often she gets dragged through the mud now. It's tumblr, what can you do?

It's also interesting to me how often Steph is called out for being the unhealthy one, and they never talk about how Tim was the shitty boyfriend way more often:

Kept his identity from her but didn't respect keeping hers private

Kissed her when he was dating someone else at the time (he's actually kinda known for subtle two-timing, but this is hardly brought up by fans)

Essentially stalked her for a while

Often told her she needed to stop being Spoiler (overprotective nature yes...but still)

Interesting how the relationship is only toxic because of Steph. Hell she even gets shit for getting upset that Greta straight up tried to kill her in Young Justice, because they think it was selfish of her that she was desperate to learn Robin's identity. Yeah sorry...murder vs wanting to know your crushes name? Which is worse?

I'm also not going to sit here and demand that everyone love Steph. It's ok that people don't like her, I could give 2 shits, but if they're gonna spew hate, I'd prefer it be rooted in truth. Some of what I see written about her is just so so wrong...there's a trend in anti culture to even write her as Tim's rapist which YIKES. That's so beyond a healthy amount of dislike for a character.

Anyway, comic recs!!!

Detective Comics 647-648. (First appearance of Steph/Spoiler with classic "love at first brick" moment.)

Robin 57-65 (First date issue which is the cutest thing ever. Robin does a little flip at the end because he's so happy. And the chronology of Steph being pregnant which Tim was supportive of the whole time. Super sweet)

Robin 100-104 (Steph gets sick and Tim brings her soup. Lots of cute domestic moments, and you get more into Steph's past)

Robin 111 (more about Steph's past with Tim being super supportive, also the infamous piano issue which is a personal favorite of mine)

Robin 116 (very cute moments after Tim forgets his bday and everyone, Steph included, surprises him)

Robin 119 (supportive bf Tim, strikes again)

Robin 120 (Steph being an amazing supportive gf)

Batgirl 8 (Steph's run, where she and Tim collide again for the first time in a long time. Awkwardness and tension ensues, Tim tries to make a move)

Red Robin 10 (more crossover, very fun. More awkwardness and tension)

Convergence Batgirl (Not the best run, but a nice bit of closure for the pre flashpoint universe. Very sweet and wholesome.)

There's way more that I could list but I'm awful with issue numbers tbh. I know the stories, but I don't have the catalogue memorized. Better people than me have probably made a masterlist of TimSteph comics lol

I don't think you should let any blog turn you away from any particular series. I think if you wanna try out the new YJ, go for it!! I'm very cynical to anything published post 2011, but YJ is the only thing I've consistently read that's NEW, in years. I find it fun. Is it the best? No, not by miles, and it gets stuck with a lot of nonsensical filler often. But it's still a very cute and fun run.

I hope this ask gave you a lot of good info! I also recommend the very long post that should be just below this that goes into a lot of fandom misconceptions about Stephanie brown with more picture examples to highlight everything. Thanks for the ask, anon! I hope you have a lovely time reading these comics and hopefully many more!!

🖤💜❤😊😊😊❤💜🖤

#TimSteph #stephanie brown #tim drake #robin iii #robin iv #spoiler #batgirl #red robin #dc comics #batfamilly #batfam #personal #ask tbp

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codenamed-queenie · 5 years

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Who do you think has the best voice in batfam? How do they all sound like? Who has the best soprano voice and who has the jazzy baritone? Who has the customer service voice nailed? Spare voice headcanons please?

Alrighty, now this is my kinda ask!

(I’ll just apologize now for the length...)

I love the idea of a singing batfam, so here are my (long rambly) headcanons:

Bruce: As Batman, he sounds like a chain smoking grizzly bear gargling nails. But as Bruce Wayne, his voice actually isn’t bad. Singing-wise, he was one of those ‘prodigy’ children, growing up. Martha Wayne was best friends with a famous opera singer, so she insisted on teaching Bruce everything she knew about vocal performance. As a result, he has a beautifully rich baritone voice, and a pretty freaking incredible range. And as far as any member of the League or general public are concerned, Bruce/Batman doesn’t sing at all, so don’t ask. But with his family? Bruce has been known to crack a smile and sing a few lines on occasion. When he’s on his own? He lets loose. Sounds like Hugh Freaking Jackman.

Kate: Her voice is very clipped and to-the-point, which kind of fits with her personality. Could not carry a tune in a bucket, but that’s fine by her.

Dick: Dick sings second tenor. He didn’t sing much as a kid, coming from an acrobat family and all. But after Bruce took him in, Alfred took it upon himself to change that. He’s got a pretty great range, all things considered, and once Alfred got him hooked on singing, the boy does it nonstop. He’ll sing on patrols, he’ll sing as he fixes himself breakfast…basically anytime, anywhere. Songs off the radio, songs his friends introduce him to, that annoying jingle for a car commercial that’s this close to driving Tim insane? All fair game. Bruce once walked in on him while he was doing a dramatic rendition of Sia’s Chandelier–while literally swinging from the manor’s crystal chandelier. (Musicals are probably his favorites to do, though, btw.)

Jason: This boy has a deep voice. Definitely a bass. When he talks, it’s a little raspy, but not in a bad way, and he’s also got a bit of a Bowery accent. It especially comes through when he’s tired or ticked off. When he sings, though, he can go higher, all the way up to baritone if he wants. But while he’s been known to sing soulful, heartfelt pieces when he thinks no one’s watching, his true passion is for rap music. On Gotham’s streets, it’s pretty common for street kids to have impromptu rap battles, and you’d best believe Jay could hold his own.

Tim: Let’s face it. His parents were the kind of folks who signed their kid up for every activity under the sun. Soccer, Lacrosse, Underwater Basket Weaving, you name it. Why not vocal lessons? And Tim, ever the perfectionist, worked at his voice until he was satisfied with his own ability. His voice is higher than his brothers’; he sings first tenor, and can go up to second alto if he warms up enough. (I feel like he’d sound like Sam Tsui–check him out on Youtube!) A few years back on patrol, he was a little too close to an explosion, and suffered a bit of hearing damage. So when he talks, Timmy’s just a little louder than everyone else, unless he works really hard to bring his volume down.

Barbara: As far as anyone else can tell, she’s never taken a voice lesson in her life, yet for whatever reason, this girl is just naturally gifted. (It frustrates the heck out of the others.) Her voice is a smooth alto. She almost never sings, though.

But being both the Oracle and a librarian in her off-time, she deals with dozens upon dozens of frustrated heroes and bookworms on the regular. Her customer-service voice is eerily on-point. So she either sounds pleasantly ‘eager to help’–or vaguely threatening. If she uses it on any of the Bats, they’re 110% more likely to do anything she asks. Especially Dick and Jason.

Stephanie: Huge musical theater kid growing up. When someone’s singing through the comms on patrols, if it’s not Dick, it’s definitely Steph. She’s a soprano, but has the best range out of anyone (aside from Bruce). Because of this, she’s always trying to imitate the others. To their surprise (and chagrin) she’s getting pretty good at it. So far, Steph has Tim, Damian, Cass, and Dick down to a T. She’s still working on the others, and someday hopes to achieve Bruce’s Bat Voice.

When she sings, she loves to initiate duets with her siblings. Tim and Jason will indulge her, more often than not. Sometimes Cass and Barbara will join in. Bruce has only caved once (and if asked, he will deny it). But Dick? He’s her go-to choice, since he’s DTS (down to sing) all day, every day. Once these two get going, they don’t stop until one of them loses their voice or the entire family shouts them down.

Cassandra: Cass has a very clear, soprano tone. It’s absolutely gorgeous, but she’s very shy and sensitive about her voice, and rarely sings. Whenever one of her siblings is injured and/or laid up in bed, though, she’ll softly sing them lullabies while they recover.

When she chooses to speak, Cass is very soft spoken, but has ways of making herself heard if need be.

Harper: She has a thick Jersey accent, and a no-nonsense tone of voice. No one has ever heard her sing, though. (She would not sing if someone put a gun against her head, tbh.)

Duke: Everyone figured he’d be into rap like Jason, since they came from roughly the same part of Gotham, but Duke’s true passion is jazz. His dad was in a jazz group, and Duke inherited his father’s smooth jazzy baritone. Low-key, he has the best voice out of all of them, and he’s super passionate, since music was a huge deal to his biological family. He loves singing during quiet nights in the cave, or on patrol. He’s gotten the most standing ovations from random cops and citizens, and even the mayor asked him to perform for a charity event once. (An offer Duke respectfully declined.) Out of all the others, he was voted ‘Most Likely to Burst Into Brooding Song On A Rooftop Somewhere’. Bruce is so proud.

Damian: Everyone hoped he’d inherit his father’s golden vocal chords, but for now, he seems to have taken after his Aunt Kate. This frustrates Damian to no end, and for a long time, he hated listening to any of his siblings sing, knowing full well that he couldn’t join them. After months of watching the kid shrink away from anything musical, Jason had enough. He sat the youngest Robin down and taught him an art form he’d picked up from the streets of the Gotham City Narrows: beatboxing. At first, Damian thought it was crass and inelegant, but he eventually got into it. Now? He’s very good at it. The kid has mad skills, and more often than not, his siblings’ll ask him to back them up during rap battles or musical numbers. Maybe he’ll grow into his voice someday, but for now, he’s totally fine with just ‘dropping a beat’ for the others.

Alfred: Has a very thick cockney accent, but can mimic just about any other British accent whenever the fancy strikes him. Like every other aspect of the butler’s life, his singing career is an enigma. The others have heard him sing before, and he’s actually pretty good. But sometimes, random people will come up to him on the street, gushing and screaming his name while they beg for an autograph. There’s a running bet amongst the batkids as to what that’s all about, but so far? It’s anyone’s guess.

Headcanons are my favs, guys, so feel free to ask!

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dcarevu · 5 years

Text

The Batman the Animated Series Theme Song

Animated tv shows that went on throughout the 80’s and early 90’s were known for having a really great theme song and animated intro to go with it, but rarely did this quality remain once the song ended. Look up “crazy stupid pranks h3” on Youtube sometime to get what could be considered a hilarious parody of this, even though he was actually parodying something completely different in this video. But back then, budgets were tight, and more money was spent on the theme song to get people hooked in. A lot of the time with theme songs, it wasn’t only the animation quality taking a dip once the episode started. Sometimes the tone would change as well. One example of this (although from later in the 90’s) is Pokémon, at least when it comes to the English dub. This is a masterpiece of an intro, but when the show starts, the tone is vastly different, focusing more on comedy a lot of the time (old Pokémon has more of a comedic focus than I feel a lot of people actually remember). Batman was one of the shows that changed the game in this aspect (and in many other aspects as well), at least when it came to action shows. This was no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The show was every bit as dark, brooding, and menacing as the intro was, and there was no deception when it came to advertising what you were about to watch. Now, the intro did obviously have a pretty damn good budget. It looks beautiful, and TMS were the ones that animated it, a top-notch studio known for some great work on this show and others. So to get around a major quality/tone shift, the intro was heavily stylized, as was the show. It was a representation of what you were about to watch as opposed to a supposed sneak preview. I think anyone could see the opening sequence and automatically assume that the episode following wouldn’t have as much ambiguity. It was almost like a super stylized movie poster, doing its job of getting you excited, but never letting you down. I am very overdue on talking about all of this, so I figured it would be better late than never to go through this sequence and analyze it a little bit, just for fun. I probably should have done this before the first episode!

Right away we start by actually integrating the Warner Brothers logo. This could have been really cheesy, but that chilling score mixed with seeing it immediately makes me feel like I’m watching a Batman film rather than a TV show aimed at children. The logo shifts to a police blimp, something made up for the show, and we immediately get a sense of the Batman TAS world which we are about to dive into.

Some really nice background work that we get to pan through. This serves as our establishing shot, showing us as much as it can in the time provided of where our Batman resides and looms. It’s like a gargoyle’s playground, and already we can tell that this isn’t your average Saturday morning cheeseball.

Two sinister figures step into the shot. Notice the lack of any real texture or line work. This leaves so much up to the imagination and further sets up the tone. The production company behind the show has stated that when the intro was initially animated, it was done in full detail, but it was sent back and redone because they wanted this vague, mysterious aesthetic. I’d absolutely love to see the initial version, but I am more than happy with what actually became the sequence.

The music creates some tension, and then it is relieved by an explosion that cuts through the darkness. It almost makes you jump right out of your seat. Imagine seeing this in a movie theater. This scene also confirms your suspicions about the two figures. Their intentions cannot be good.

Wow, the music chugs right along here, almost taking your heartbeat for a ride along with it. Then we get a shot from behind the Batmobile. It blasts to life, and we see one red section amongst all the black colors. It’s almost like Batman’s version of the bank-explosion, and equally as threatening to the men he’s about to hunt down.

There it is. I’d love to know what show people thought this was if they happened to flip to Fox right as this show appeared. Would they have known it was Batman immediately? The Tim Burton movie had been out for a bit at this point, so I would assume that many did.

And here we see the villain’s parallel situation, rushing to the same spot that Batman is, little do they know. We barely see any background details, leaving all of the focus to the darting feet and gaining police car.

Boy, they sure do make it up that building quickly. Everyone loves to point this out, and I’ll admit that it’s something I’ve always noticed. But it’s also something that you don’t dwell on because, well, who cares. We see a dead end, and know there’s only so much further they can run until they become prey to the knight. We also see a really cool red skyline, which honestly wasn’t common to see in Batman the Animated Series until much later after the resurgence (TNBA). I’ve been kinda unsure of why people treat the red sky thing as if it’s an issue. I always loved how it looked, personally.

The look on their eyes says it all. At this point our fists are clenched. “C’mon. Show us what show this is!”

The menacing silhouette drops down. I loved this stylized look they they often do in the show, where all you see is the shape of a giant bat and some white, glowing eyes.

And there he is. Everyone watching immediately knows what they’re watching now. Here is the best-looking Batman that anyone had seen on tv thus far, giving that intimidating glare. We do see three dots of cell dirt, and it’s too bad that the crew never got around to editing these out before the first episode. Imperfections on an otherwise perfect looking shot.

The baddies were spooked, but now it’s clear that they’re aggressive and have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. We also see that they’re holding firearms, something that was not as common at the time (and definitely not as common now).

Batman, as always, a perfect shot with the batarang. This really has to be seen in motion to be appreciated. It looks so clean, and here you realize that there is no escaping for the thugs.

Batman leaps up, looking like a supernatural being. This is possibly my second favorite shot in the whole sequence, just because of how demonic Batman looks. If you saw this coming at you, you’d probably assume that you’d be sleeping in your death bed that night. I like to imagine that because of fear and the darkness, this is genuinely how criminals remember Batman looking.

Out cold. You don’t necessarily see what batman actually did to him. Before watching the show and knowing Batman’s philosophies, you’re not even sure if the guy is alive. You just know that Batman seems fascinating, and that you cannot wait to learn more about him, and possibly feel the same sense of mystery that you would feel if you were actually on that rooftop.

The way Batman bends here is again how I picture thugs remembering him. He moves way faster and a lot different than people usually picture humans being able to. And with the adrenaline rush, your mind can play tricks on you, man. Try staring at your reflection in a dark room sometime. Our minds aren’t always as straight forward as we assume.

Batman took care of them before the police could even get up to the top of the building. You know how effortless this fight was. For the dark knight, it’s just another workday. For everyone else, it’s something unforgettable and unworldly. Everything is relative.

Here we see that the two men are fine, when Batman easily could have ended their lives. We know now that Batman isn’t a cold-blooded killer, but a protector of the night. A twisted guardian angel.

Here we scale up, and the shot melts into another section of the city. We get a taste of the heights of Gotham City here.

This couldn’t get anymore awes-

Whoa. Um. I was saying. A section of the music that played before repeats (my favorite section, with my favorite shot), and we get that flash of lightning. No need for a title sequence. This speaks for itself. Text would have cheapened it.

And that is the intro to Batman the Animated Series. I’ll likely be going over every intro we come across throughout the DCAU, so hopefully look forward to that! I’ve also decided to mix things up sometimes with posts like this and not just stick to episode blogs. As long as I have something to talk about, anyway! I’m hoping that more people find the blog this way. If you liked what you read, check out more! I’m not necessarily the fastest at posting, I am a busy, busy college student who sets schoolwork as priority. But I do posts for every single episode of the DC Animated Universe! I also take submitted questions, and would love to start discussions!

Also, check this out:

youtube

#batman tas #batman #batman the animated series #dc animated universe #dcau

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ncfan-1 · 5 years

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ncfan listens to The Magnus Archives: S4 EP123, ‘Web Development’

We have further insight into the way the Archival staff is just completely falling apart, my suspicion that the other Powers were taking shots at the Institute (specifically, the Archival staff) is confirmed, and we have the third statement in a row to provide us with a parallel to Jon. I begin to suspect some sort of external influence on the kinds of statements he’s getting his hands on.

- We open with Jon grumbling to himself about his office has been rearranged while he’s away, only to hear Melanie out breaking stuff in the hallway.

- That Melanie responds so poorly to Jon, his return, and just… him in general, doesn’t really shock me. She’s just so badly destabilized, and the idea that Tim and Daisy both died* while Jon gets off incredibly, implausibly lightly by comparison, suffering apparently no ill effects from having been in a coma for six months, would upset someone who wasn’t already halfway down the slippery slope into Slaughterville. Just… what are consequences? Something that matters very much to Melanie King, and rather less so to Jonathan Sims.

And Jon is just thinking very shallowly about Melanie’s situation when he thought that getting Elias out of the picture would make everything be hunky-dory with her, because Elias is a big symptom of Melanie’s problem, but far from being the root cause. If Melanie is falling apart, I think that is happening in large part due to the fact that she is still bound to the Institute. She’s still trapped. She can’t leave. She’s a prisoner in a supernatural box, and in the absence of Elias, I’m honestly not surprised that she’d zero in on Jon as being to blame for everything, especially everything that’s going on with her.

Because if you think about it, Melanie wouldn’t be in this situation if not for Jon. She would never have crossed paths with the Magnus Institute in any meaningful way if Georgie hadn’t pointed her towards Jon. I don’t think it’s entirely fair to blame him for the breakdown of Melanie King’s life, because she would have become a laughingstock in the paranormal YouTuber/podcaster community with or without him, and would likely have had to find a different line of work anyways. But I don’t need to be halfway to Slaughterville to see where she’s gotten the idea that Jon is to blame for everything. Jon is a symbol; that part of what being an avatar is. He’s a symbol for the Archive, a symbol for the Beholding, and a symbol for the forces at work that have destroyed Melanie’s life.

And the worst thing is, it sounds like Melanie, even if she wanted to, wouldn’t have had the luxury of trying to pull herself back from the influence of the Slaughter. Because as I mentioned up above, the other Powers have been taking potshots at the Eye, and the Archival staff have needed someone a halfway-to-Slaughterville skillset just to stay safe. So we have Melanie, having to sacrifice bits and pieces of her sanity just to stay alive, just to keep Basira and Martin safe, and as I’ll talk about more in just a little while, I wouldn’t be shocked if she thinks Jon has had it entirely too easy by comparison.

*I still say I’ll believe Daisy’s dead when I see a body. I honestly think that by the time she killed whichever half of Breekon & Hope she killed, she had become like Jon: too inhuman to die. And when the explosion happened, I think that she, like Jon, made a choice, and walked away from it changed.

- That said, I also think Melanie is justified in her distrust. As I have emphasized before, it is not natural to walk away from a six-month coma as cleanly as Jon did. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you.” He just waltzes back into the Archive, apparently completely fine after having been in a coma for six months, that just screams supernatural bullshit. As Georgie said, we can think that this is a miraculous second chance for Jon all we like, but it is probably not anything so positive.

- I no longer think Basira’s behavior is just a matter of her not being sure she can trust Jon. She’s so detached, so impersonal. She defends Melanie to Jon, but even when she’s talking about how she was attacked and almost killed by the Flesh, it’s like it was happening to another person, and she was just an observer. In any other series, I’d say that’s down to trauma, but here? That’s got the fingerprints of the Beholding all over it.

But I think another part of it may be that Basira is just done with Jon? Because let’s talk about what I just mentioned: the Archival staff were attacked by the Flesh. Like, some of my favorite episodes are the ones with the Flesh, because they’re so entertainingly weird, but the Flesh is probably the worst Power you could ever be attacked by, because unless you’re being attacked by cannibals, it’s just going to be something so bizarre, so alien, that you just have no frame of reference for what you’re dealing with. You can’t discern pattern or motive, and that makes it very difficult to find a way to effectively deal with it, unless you have a Hunter with you, or someone in the process of succumbing to the Slaughter. (Since the Hunt and the Slaughter seem to derive from the same source, is a human agent of the Slaughter able to kill monsters like Hunters can? I’d be interested to know. I’d also be interested to know whether or not it’s true that only Hunters can kill monsters.)

Though this was the worst incident, Basira (to me) implies that it wasn’t the only one. I think it would have taken more than one attack to convince Melanie, of all people, that she needs to stay in the Institute most of the time for her own protection. And meanwhile, we get no indication that Jon was ever in any danger from agents of other Powers for the entire six months he was in the hospital. He was comatose on a hospital bed for six months, and doesn’t seem to have been in danger from any of the other Powers even once. If I was Melanie, or Basira, or Martin, for that matter, I would probably have a hard time looking at Jon and not thinking about how much better he seems to have had it. And now he’s come back, only dubiously human? I’d be ready to be done with him, too. I mean, I love Jonathan Sims the Disaster Man, but if I was occupying the same universe as him, at this point I’d have serious reservations about whether or not I’d still want to be associated with him.

- I’m at the point where I think I can construct a timeline of events regarding the teaser. I think the teaser took place right after the attack by the Flesh two months prior to this episode. Martin’s been made an offer by Peter Lukas: work for me more closely, and I’ll guarantee you and your coworkers a certain level of protection. He’s thinking it over at Jon’s bedside, Peter calls, and Martin accepts the offer. Martin, like Melanie, makes a choice (though probably more consciously than Melanie’s choice, since it is to me at best unclear as to how much Melanie understands about what’s happening to her) to work outside the system of the Eye to protect his coworkers. And if it doesn’t bite both of them in the ass, I will be amazed.

- Peter Lukas being an absentee boss does not surprise me. Peter Lukas disappearing staff does not surprise me. Whoosh makes me snicker.

- Can we just stop with the assumption that all laughter is a response to finding a situation humorous? Seriously, I think laughter as an involuntary response to culturally-inappropriate stimuli is a widely-known enough thing that we can stop snapping at people to stop laughing and take something seriously if they suddenly burst into laughter at the wrong time. If you snap at someone that “it isn’t funny,” you just look ignorant. Just. Saying.

- Here’s something from my notes: “Tape recorders really do just pop up out of nowhere; I begin to understand why we meet so few human agents of the Beholding.” Like, seriously. It fits pretty well with the Beholding, which is cruel, voyeuristic, and honestly kind of ineffectual, to just spawn tape recorders instead of putting too much effort into growing a large body of human/monstrous ambulatory agents. It’s almost funny, it’s so pathetic.

- Basira’s “play dead” is another reason I think she may just be done with Jon.

- I won’t go into quite as much detail about the statement. It is pretty distinctive for a few reasons. One is that the statement subject (but not the giver, since the subject is too passive a guy to even take the step of talking to the Institute), Gregory Cox, provides another parallel for Jon. This time, we see a parallel for Jon in the form of a man who got sucked into supernatural shenanigans unawares and was after that point unwilling to really think about what that meant, and what he was involved in. Even when confronted with someone in the process of turning into a spider and begging him for help, he seriously tries to play it off as the person having had “an unfortunate condition.” That’s Jon’s S1 “willful ignorance that flies in the face of all logic” to a tee. And Jon, as best as I can tell, hasn’t really thought much about what it means that he’s involved with the Beholding, that he’s responsible for hurting people in the name of the Beholding. He’s quite like Cox, in that respect.

- So anyways, Cox is an incredibly passive man who is hired by a woman who, from her description (very thin, has clearly suffered grievous head trauma at some point in her life) and her association with the Web, is almost certainly Annabelle Cane, to make a website. A very basic, very simple website with weird coding that includes strings of people’s names, and a very long, impossible to memorize url name that changes every few weeks. A website called ‘Chelicerae.’

@agnesmontague and @flo-nelja have clarified both the spelling of ‘chelicerae’ and what they are. They’re the mouth parts of a spider. They’re the jaws of a spider. So when you enter this website, you are entering the jaws of the spider.

You tell a story to the “story-spinner”, about the worst event of your life. And if your story satisfies the story-spinner, you will be rewarded with the death of someone you have singled out. We don’t know what happens if your story doesn’t satisfy. It probably isn’t anything good.

Every few weeks, Cox was asked to code strange things into the website. Strings of meaningless words, bits and pieces of poetry, and a different name, every time. With everything taken in context, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that he was literally coding someone’s horrific death into the website.

Eventually, it gets out that Cox has some involvement in this lethal urban legend, and he starts to get emails begging him to make it stop, demanding to know what’s happening to them, pleading for forgiveness and mercy. The “Bring them back” especially stuck with me. Cox has become the instrument of so many people’s suffering, and he refuses to face it, refuses to face up to what it means that he’s become involved with something very weird, and very dangerous. Like I said, he’s very like Jon, in this way.

- Cox has since vanished, almost a year after the statement was given. As this statement took place before Gertrude died, and would have been fairly current and potentially urgent, I do wonder at her not doing anything about it—especially since the presence of a story-spinner potentially suggests an overlap with the Beholding. I guess it may be like Jon thinks, and Gertrude never knew it had been given.

- The real kicker of this statement, though, is the supplementary document attached to it: a list of the names of the people Cox added into the website’s code. Several of them are the names of statement-givers, including Carlos Vittery. Yeah, suddenly what happened to him doesn’t seem nearly as random as it used to.

- Jon is finally facing up to the fact that he was always a bit of a shitty boss. Whether or not he actually learns something from it is anyone’s guess.

- My verdict: unless whatever Peter Lukas and Martin are working on is literally a plan to stop the Watcher’s Crown, these people do not have a chance in hell of stopping the Watcher’s Crown. They literally cannot pull themselves together fast enough. The Watcher’s Crown will go through, and we’ll see what the world is like when one of the Powers has come through the interstice—and dragged hangers-on with it. Then, the Archival staff, if they’re still in any state to do so, will go about trying to mitigate or reverse the effects. Should be fun.

#ncfan listens to The Magnus Archives

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justreviewingokay · 5 years

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D.C. Beetlejuice Review

Let me cut to the chase. I know what you’re gonna ask, is Beetlejuice “good”? Now I have a very complicated answer, but I will say this: if a Tim Burton styled stage show is what you’ve always wanted, then should probably be off to see it as soon as you can. Hold your sandworms, I’m not done yet. Beetlejuice may be a visual masterpiece, but it is also a work in progress. If you’re looking for more than high caliber Broadway comedy actors and half-baked humor, it may be better to wait and see what the move to the Winter Garden Theatre has in store for us.

Now for the complicated answer. If spoilers aren’t your thing, turn back now, for the surprises of Beetlejuice are extremely rewarding.

Making it Beetlejuice’s given job to usher the dead into the netherworld is an excellent addition to the character, except there isn’t very much character to begin with. The opening makes the blind mistake of relying on the audience already knowing who Beetlejuice is. A newcomer to the show might find him confusing or vague. “The Whole Being Dead Thing” is an explosively entertaining number where BJ bashes some funeral goers. Cutting in half way is Lydia mourning with “Invisible”. Although the long arm gag is good and the bus driver costume from the film is much appreciated, the big B is introduced all too soon. The buildup is killed rather quickly and consequently, the anticipation. Alternatively, since the scene starts off with a dirge, Lydia could plunge right into “Invisible” with Beetlejuice popping out of the casket and delivering the brilliant line “a ballad already?” The audience cheers as he climbs out and begins “The Whole Being Dead Thing”, uninterrupted. Act One’s pacing is quite tangled, so this jumpy establishing song is important. Alex Brightman is an absolute tour de force and does his best with the often immature dialogue. It’s obvious that Brightman is doing a good job of balancing the voice, but it’s still a bit much when he’s singing. His vocal talents are betrayed in this respect and some of the lyrics are hard to understand because of it.

The Maitlands are brilliantly portrayed by green clad Rob McClure and Kerry Butler, known for Something Rotten! and Little Shop of Horrors, respectively. “Ready, Set, Not Yet” is funny, but far too frantic to be endearing. Contrary to the writers’ belief, Adam and Barbara can be thoroughly lame and likeable simultaneously. In the following scenes one could argue that too many pelvic thrusts are performed. The scene progression is quite choppy, with so many reprises that one wonders if the song ever ended in the first place. “Fright of their Lights” has a weird 1980’s sound and it has a great joke where Adam informs BJ that they can still hear him, with BJ responding “Well that was a soliloquy, so you’re the one being rude.” BJ’s interactions with them are typically crass, but not in a clever adult way, an almost childish mentality instead. Many of the jokes end with an unnecessary “F You,” which often feels like it’s only there to keep children out of the theatre.

The show really begins to pick up when the Deetz family begin to move in and Lydia sings “Dead Mom,” easily one of the best numbers. Sophia Anne Caruso plays the iconic goth girl in a way that doesn’t leave you cringing at all. As the show progresses, Lydia upstages everyone. An odd thing to note though, Lydia comes downstairs to dinner wearing a yellow dress to confuse her dad, which is exactly what Wednesday Addams does in the Addams Family Musical.

Slapstick is the name of the game, considering BJ himself isn’t given many witty lines in the first act. The sight gags are what work best, so you’d assume that the iconic Day-O scene would be the hit. Instead of ascending to a new level of ridiculousness, it stays at relatively the same length. A puppet roasted pig is added to the song which is funny by itself, but they didn’t stop there. The pig’s male organ begins to invade Delia’s personal space. Leslie Kritzer (a delightful scene stealer) appeared to be having troubles realistically interacting with it, awkwardly thrusting herself into the pig’s appendage for the remainder of the song. Even though it garnered some laughs, initially it was a distraction from more clever effects such as the shrimp hand. This is a perfect example for most jokes in the show; something clever is undermined by something vulgar. They say a funny person can make a good joke, but a comedian can take it to the next level.

Act Two is significantly better than the first, giving the ghost with the most just the right edge. “That Beautiful Sound” is my personal favorite, showing off the comedic prowess of Beetlejuice and Lydia as a pair, only seen before during “Say My Name.” Casting actual teenagers as the girl-scout and Lydia was a great move, considering the big concern among fans after the misfires in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

“Children We Didn’t Have” is a wonderfully somber piece, (beautifully sung I might add) but would have made a larger impact if the audience had learned to see the Maitlands in a more positive view throughout the first act. If any song is to be removed, I hope that this one survives instead.

Otho’s lines aren’t too brilliant, but luckily for them, they’ve got Kelvin Moon Loh to deliver. Brief as the character is in this version, Kelvin’s comedic talents make the scenes memorable. His days on SpongeBob SquarePants especially prove that he deserves a bigger spotlight.

“Everything is Meh” by Boy Inferno is quite brilliant considering… well… boy bands are dead. The netherworld has a well-designed look and the characters are quite faithful to the film, including Mrs. Juno Shoggoth exhaling smoke through her neck, Miss Argentina, a shrunken headed hunter, (the effect works surprisingly well) and that one guy who appears to have been run over. “Running Away” has a nice tune to it and its enjoyable right up until the “woah-oh’s” start off. This trope feels almost anachronistic and quickly evokes the desire to attempt Miss Argentina’s “little accident” on yourself. It does end up being a good moment though, with character development for Lydia and Charles.

The ending is hilarious and pretty unexpected. Beetlejuice’s exit is somewhat delayed though; every time you think he’s done, he turns around and delivers another cheesy one-liner. BJ being carried off into the netherworld was quite enough. Even though it doesn’t really make sense, (does Lydia somehow have a karaoke record?) it is indeed surprisingly pleasing to hear the cast sing “Jump in the Line”… and the levitation effect is flawless.

In fact, probably the best aspect of the show is special effects and scenic design. David Korins has done an absolutely astounding job of fulfilling Tim Burton’s vision, all while presenting his own take. Michael Curry’s puppet design is not to be missed, with smooth movement and grand scale. Enough cannot be said about the visual aptitude of Beetlejuice.

The music by Eddie Perfect is ironically not… perfect. Sorry. Rock and Roll style ballads may be a good choice for the musical, but a few things it still lacks. Remnants of Danny Elfman’s original score are always welcome and can be heard during some cues. After all, the music is half of what makes Beetlejuice feel like Beetlejuice. Thankfully, the keys and trumpets are pretty prominent in Perfect’s score, which helps greatly to set the tone. It’s important to mention that one thing is missing… strings. Violins are either utilized very little or are nonexistent. Sound design should be looked in to, most of the time the music overpowers the voices or the voices hide the music. Even though I have no hearing problems whatsoever, the lyrics were frequently hard to understand. (I do realize that this could entirely be the National Theatre sound system’s fault) When you come down to it, the music needs beefing up. Giving it a fuller, more orchestral sound to complement the rock instruments is the exact way to accomplish this. (See Hans Zimmer, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Kansas, or Foreigner with the David Eggar Orchestra)

Overall, Beetlejuice is a spectacular show with immense potential. That fact is, frankly, quite enough to satisfy considering it could have been a huge misstep, similar to the fate of Moulin Rouge. With the fabulous cast and crew carrying it through, Beetlejuice could be an absolute Broadway hit in the making.

We’ll see at the Winter Garden Theatre on April 25th, 2019.

#Beetlejuice #Lydia #betelgeuse #TimBurton #Broadway #Theater #Theatre #Musicals #Netherworld #Spoopy #BeetlejuiceMusical #StrangeAndUnusual #AlexBrightman #RobMcClure #kerry butler #KelvinMoonLoh #TheBox

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themutantunderground · 6 years

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Let Your Heart Be Light Ch. 6

John is home on leave from the Marines and Clarice is home on winter break from grad school. While they used to date in high school, Clarice and John haven't been together in a long time... But it's Christmas time, and it seems like everything and everyone in their small, holiday-obsessed hometown is trying to get them back together. Modern Thunderblink AU!

AO3 | FF.net

"Stay still for five seconds, Riles."

Clarice glanced over at John, who was trying to wrangle a wriggly Riley into her winter gear. The kid was so tired she was actually in an energetic mood, so she was making things difficult by moving around and talking to anyone who walked by and trying to practice her Tiny Tim hobble. Clarice had to bite down on a smile as John tried to put Riley's hat on her and missed as she swooped under his arm and toward James, who was standing nearby.

"She's being so silly," Norah said. Unlike Riley, she was sitting on the edge of the stage, coat on and ready to go.

"No kidding," Clarice said, raising an eyebrow as James swiped up Riley and literally tossed her to John. Clarice sucked in a breath but quickly remembered this was just how they were and Riley liked being thrown around like that. She shouldn't be worried, it wasn't as if either of them would ever drop Riley. Still, her eyes followed the seven-year-old as John tossed her into the air twice, making her shriek with giggles.

He caught her and set her on the ground, rapidly plunking her hat down on her head and then holding her in place with his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, kiddo."

"I can't help it, I gotta run," Riley said, trying to pull away but John had a firm hold on her. She sighed and slumped back against his legs, looking over at Clarice. "Claaarice, make him let go."

Clarice shook her head. "No can do." Not anymore, at least. She had a feeling that Riley sometimes forgot that Clarice and John weren't actually dating anymore. They weren't enemies or anything, they just weren't…things weren't the same. But they had dated some in high school and a year after that, and Riley probably just thought of them that way.

"Are we still going to drive by the lights?" Riley asked, craning her head back to look up at John. "You said maybe we could."

"I said if it wasn't too late, and it's already nine."

"It's like four hours past your bed time," James said, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. Ali had already left with one of her other friends, so now he had time to spend with the rest of them. Fancy that.

Riley made a face. "Is not, I don't go to bed that early."

"Aunt Evelyn changed your bedtime," James said, "You go to bed at sunset now."

"Do not!"

"She told me, it's the truth. When the sun goes down, you go to bed, so it's way past your bedtime."

Riley made a wild attempt to push James, but she couldn't get away from John. "She did not tell you that!"

"Did so."

"Not!"

"So."

John sighed. "James…"

"Oh my gosh, you're both acting like preschoolers," Clarice said, rolling her eyes at James, who looked very pleased at aggravating Riley. "I think we could go past the lights on the way home, if that's okay with the driver?" She looked over at John and raised an eyebrow.

He nodded. "I think we could do that if someone would chill out just a little bit." He gently squeezed Riley's shoulders and she made a whiny noise. "Agreed?"

"Yeaaaah," Riley said, raising her shoulders and nodding.

John squeezed her shoulders again and then let her go so she could dash over to Norah. The two of them headed off down the theater aisle toward the back doors, James following after them so they wouldn't get into too much trouble. Clarice stuck her hands in her pockets and looked over at Kurt.

"Hey, we're heading out," she said, interrupting his conversation with one of the other actors, "You've got our numbers, right?"

"I think so, unless you changed them," Kurt said with a grin. "Which wouldn't do without telling me, of course?"

"Of course not," Clarice said, rolling her eyes. The fact that she had somehow kept the same phone number all these years was a bit of a miracle.

"You guys have a good night," Kurt said, giving a little wave, "Don't get into too much trouble."

"Because there's so much trouble to get into in Westchester," Clarice said, "We'll just go climb the water tower or something."

A half-smile darted across John's face as they walked up the aisle side by side, their elbows carefully not brushing. "You still remember that?"

Clarice smirked. "I moved away, I didn't have my memory wiped," she said, hoping it came across more as teasing than snarky. But judging by the quick flash of uncertainty that crossed John's face, it hadn't entirely worked. She quickly backtracked. "It's still one of my favorite memories."

John's eyebrow shot up. "We got arrested."

"But it was worth it."

That got a reluctant laugh out of him. "I had community service for two months!"

"You worked at the wildlife center, it wasn't like you hated it," she said, "Remember that hawk that tried to adopt you?"

"Terrence? Yeah, I think he still lives in the woods around here."

Clarice started pulling on her gloves, getting ready for the explosion of winter outside. There were at least a many old memories they had together, gathered from years spent as friends and then something more. She still remembered way back when she first met him, that shaggy-haired ten-year-old boy who didn't have a bike and always frowned. He had been sitting on his aunt's front porch, having gotten sent outside after breaking a lamp inside. Clarice and Marcos had ridden up on their bikes and Marcos had offered to steal his brother's bike for John and the rest was history.

"Hold on." John reached past her as they stepped up to the door, his fingers resting on the worn wood, keeping it closed. He looked down at her, his brown eyes full of sincerity, his gaze searching hers. "Are you really okay with this?"

"With the lights? Yeah, it's not a problem." She pulled her toboggan on her head and shrugged. "I wanted to see them anyways."

"That's not…no, I meant the play. The parts we have." He shifted, looking uncomfortable, and he sucked a breath in through his teeth. "The whole married thing."

A shiver went down Clarice's spine because once upon a time, this wouldn't have been a big deal. Actually, once upon a time, she would've assumed she would have been married to John Proudstar by this point. But that was her eighteen-year-old self, who hadn't known anything about the world except a tiny town and a little community. And she had been the one to break things off, thinking the distance would be too much, that it was too much when they were both young…

"It's just a play," she said, trying to be nonchalant, "It's not a big deal, right? And we're doing it for the kids."

"Right." John smiled, but she knew it was forced. Had she said something wrong? Had she…was that the wrong thing to say? Sometimes it was so easy to be around him, like no time had passed, and other times the tension was thick and awkward between them.

"Are you okay with it?" she asked.

"Yeah, no, it's fine. Except I'm going to completely ruin it," he said, making a face, "I'm not exactly an actor."

"I think you'll manage." Clarice reached up and grabbed his hood, flipping it up over his head. "Don't want your ears to get cold."

"Thanks," he said, his eyes lingering on hers. After a long moment, he shifted his hand and opened the door for her. She slipped out past him and was instantly grabbed by Riley and Norah. Riley bounced on the balls of her feet while Norah simply tugged Clarice down the path toward the truck.

"We have to go down Carter Street," Norah said, "It's sort of on the way, and they have the best lights this year."

"That's just 'cause our street isn't finished decorating yet," Riley said, "We'll beat 'em."

Clarice shook her head. "I wonder how much money this town shells out in electricity bills this time of year."

"Bazillions of dollars," Riley said in a serious tone, "Like kajillions."

"Wow, that's so much money," Clarice said with a grin.

Behind them, James must have said something that John disagreed with because John grabbed his younger brother and put him in a quick headlock. James was laughing, so it wasn't like it was serious fight. Besides, wrestling was sort of just a thing between them. Clarice had seen Riley try to join in before, and it was cute seeing two powerhouses being super careful yet still trying to make it seem like she was wrestling, too.

James fought back, but John had a good grip on him, and he couldn't get free. They scuffled a little while longer until John dropped James into a bush and caught up with the rest of them.

"So Carter Street," John said as if he hadn't missed a beat, "We could do that."

"And that road with the sleigh? The big one?" Riley grinned, mischief in her brown eyes.

John shook his head. "Just Carter Street." When Riley started to pout, he arched an eyebrow. "You do actually have a bedtime, remember."

She crossed her arms with a huff and marched ahead of the others. "Fine…"

Carter Street wound up being even more over the top than Clarice remembered. She pressed a hand to the window, an incredulous laugh escaping her, as they drove past a yard with an entire Santa Claus vs. Krampus scene out front. "That's just…so extra."

"Right?" James said, rolling his eyes, "Paul is actually proud of it. It's his dad's house, he's the football coach."

"Do the elves have a papier-mâché cannon?" Clarice asked.

"I think it's plastic," John said.

"It's wooden," James said.

Clarice sat back in her seat as they rolled slowly down the street, the girls in the backseat chattering away across James. Some things in Westchester never changed, like the Christmas light displays and knowing that practically everyone in the town knew each other. She looked over at John, who was grinning, the colorful lights casting a glow across his face. Their hands were both on the console but they were carefully not touching. Her favorite stations weren't saved on the radio. She wasn't wearing his jacket and he wasn't wearing her scarf.

Some things stayed the same. Others changed.

#thunderblink #john proudstar #clarice fong

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fussingoverfassbender · 6 years

Link

An old interview from 2011 about Jane Eyre

BY EDWARD DOUGLAS ON MARCH 4, 2011

Actor Michael Fassbender may have first found his way onto filmgoers’ radars as Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (or Zack Snyder’s 300if you were paying attention), but before then, he had already established himself as one of the stronger dramatic actors of the decade with his unforgettable performance in Steve McQueen’s Hunger. He’s kept fairly busy since then with similarly stirring performances in Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tankand a few movies that slipped under most radars… and at least one that probably should have (Jonah Hex). Regardless, he’s poised to become a household name with his upcoming appearance as Magneto in X-Men: First Class and with his casting in Ridley Scott’s return to science fiction with Prometheus.

In Cary (Sin Nombre) Fukunaga’s take on Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Fassbender gets to play the iconic literary role of Edward Rochester, a character previously played by the likes of Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, William Hurt and Timothy Dalton. This Jane Eyre is played by Mia Wasikowska, her second iconic literary character after starring in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and for those who haven’t read the book, the movie follows the life of that title character, an impoverished young woman trying to find herself a life without love who ultimately becomes the governess for the troubled Rochester, who falls in love with her. Fukunaga has taken a far more realism-based approach to the material which has been adapted many times previously, this time with a cast that includes Jamie Bell, Dame Judi Dench and Sally Hawkins.

Having spoken with Fassbender just last year, we already had a fairly comfortable rapport when we sat down with him a few weeks back, making it much easier to get right into a fairly freeform chat about the movie as well as other things he has going on.

ComingSoon.net: Obviously, “Jane Eyre” is a classic piece of fiction so when somebody sent you the script, you must have known at least the title. Did you have any sort of connection to the book at all? Michael Fassbender: Yeah, I had read the book I think six years ago or so, because I was involved in perhaps doing this thing called “Wide Sargasso Sea,” which is the idea of what would have happened in Jamaica before the Brontë novel. It wasn’t Brontë who wrote it, but (Jean Rhys’) take of what would happen in Jamaica and Rochester as a young man and what happened with Bertha the wife and all that. I read that and I read “Jane Eyre” at the time, and obviously I read it again once they offered me Rochester this time around. My sister and my mother were big fans when I was a child and when I was in my teens as well, they were always talking about it because my sister was reading it. That was the reason why I wanted to do it, so they could take a look.

CS: They must be thrilled. Have they seen it yet? Fassbender: They haven’t, no, I haven’t seen it yet! I’m waiting for the premiere to have the nerves and just to experience it for the first time with an audience.

CS: I don’t want to embarrass you but everyone I’ve talked to–men, women, gay, straight–they all have the hots for you after seeing this movie. Fassbender: Oh, really?! (laughs)

CS: Even though you already were a sex symbol, I think this movie is going to put you over the top. Fassbender: Oh, fantastic! (laughs)

CS: Rochester is almost as an iconic character as Jane Eyre herself, especially to the women who read the book who must have great expectations of what Rochester would be like. Fassbender: Yeah, that’s the thing, and I did watch all the previous versions as well, a lot of them I could get my hands on.

CS: Wasn’t Orson Welles one of them? Fassbender: Yeah, I watched that and at one point, I was supposed to be doing “Wuthering Heights,” about three years ago I think it was now, so I watched Laurence Olivier do his “Wuthering Heights,” and I was like, “Woah, it’s so overdramatic,” and the same with Orson Welles, it’s like (doing his impression of Welles) “Jaaane… Jaaaaaaaane…!” I think Toby Stephens was my favorite – he did it for ITV, one of the British channels, it was a six-parter for television. Then I threw it all away and then I sort of concentrated on what was in the book and what was in the script. By treating him as the Byronic hero, which Brontë wrote him like, that gave me all I needed and then I thought, “Okay, he seems a bit bipolar as well.” His moods sort of swing and it’s because of all the sh*t that’s going on in his head and the fact that (SPOILERS!!!!!) he’s got this woman locked upstairs in the attic that’s always with him in a way that’s almost like he’s carrying a weight with him as well.

CS: It must be tough, because he’s supposed to be the perfect romantic lead but he does have all these secrets and flaws, which slowly start to come out as Jane gets to know him. Fassbender: Definitely flawed, yeah, and at the beginning, and you think, “God, this guy is an ***hole.” He’s sort of manipulative and cruel and charming and you realize that he’s just been putting up all these fronts and layers and protections. I mean, as a young man, this sh*t happened to him, and he started off his life I always imagined bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to have a go at life and then BANG! He gets knocked on his *** and so, because of that, he doesn’t trust people, he doesn’t trust relationships. He’s been burned. So when Jane comes into the house, she just starts peeling away one layer after the other and in the end, she sort of heals him.

CS: When I talked to Mia and Cary a couple of days ago, they were saying they both had books with copious notes in them and had been referring back to the book and having all these meetings to discuss it. Did you have to go back to the book a lot yourself for reference? Fassbender: Yeah, I don’t really take a lot of notes. I’ve noticed that my scripts are usually quite empty of notes to be honest. I’ve scribbled down a few things, but I read the script over and over again a couple hundred times, it must have been. That’s the only way I kind of prepare, I just sort of read it and read it and read it, till you’re absolutely sick of it, and then you read it again. Then when I’m on set, it’s sort of in my skin, so I can then go anywhere I want with it and feel free to allow things to happen, as opposed to making sure I’m hitting all the points.

CS: The words from the novel especially for your character are great, some of the lines he says you kind of want to keep them in your head to use as pick-up lines. Fassbender: “Right, that would be a good one! That’s a first date line!” (laughs)

CS: Exactly, but you can only use those lines as long as the woman hasn’t read “Jane Eyre” and know where you stole them from. But was it Cary who wanted to make sure that some of Rochester’s best lines from the book remained in the film? Fassbender: Yes, I mean I didn’t change the script. It was so well written and it’s finding those little moments in the book. You’ve got a book and how do you condense it into a script and that’s the really fine art there, so everything that’s in there, every sentence, is there for a reason, because it’s been filtered down to what is absolutely necessary to have. That’s why I was saying that there was a precision that I wanted to find with him, so that I’m not just brush-stroking over stuff, that it’s more finite and sort of detailed.

CS: Were you able to use anything from the other script you had read that involved the character? Fassbender: “Wide Sargasso Sea”? That’s one way of going about it, and I tended to not go that way. The whole idea… I mean, I did often think, “Oh, God, poor Bertha. She might have just been a horny lady. She might have just enjoyed sex and back then, it’s like ‘Whoa, you’re enjoying this sh*t, you must have the devil in you or you must be crazy.'” So there is that take on it, but I kind of went along the lines that she was insane and it was a hereditary thing, her mother before her had mental problems, so that’s kind of the line I took.

CS: Let’s talk about Mia. I met her for the first time a couple of days ago, and she’s really quite amazing in terms of being 18 and really having it together. Can you talk about what makes her such a perfect Jane Eyre, and why she embodies that character? Fassbender: Yeah, it’s just because she’s such a gifted actress, really is. Once I found out she was playing Jane Eyre, and I got “In Treatment” and I watched her episodes on that.

CS: I assume this was before “Alice” and “The Kids Are All Right”? Fassbender: Yes, I haven’t seen “Alice” yet actually, but I was like “Oh My God, she’s got so much maturity.” There was this 17-year-old, or 16 as she was then, and I was like, “Wow, who is this girl?” Her choices are so interesting and she’s got a real connection with the camera. You’ve seen her as Mia and also the fact that she comes from this dance background. She’s got this great physical authority and command of her physicality that is brilliant and also a discipline that she’s brought from that dance world into the acting world. I just sort of had to try and keep up with her. She’s I think the future, she’s like Meryl Streep class.

CS: You’re also working with Carey Mulligan who is another one of those impressive young actresses. Fassbender: I know. That’s the thing. Once you’re put amongst a high caliber of talent, it raises you.

CS: Oh, and of course, the girl from “Fish Tank.�� Fassbender: Yeah, Katie (Jarvis), wow, what an explosion she is. She’s not an actress, she’s just Katie. I’ll be interested to see what she does next or if she wants to act at all, I don’t know.

CS: Have you seen any of the Cronenberg film you did yet? Fassbender: I haven’t seen it. I don’t really see the films until there’s an audience. What do you say about David Cronenberg? Other than as a man, obviously his talent is clear for everyone to see. He’s a real master and a real technician, as well as being an artist, but he’s just such a nice guy and such a light personality and very warm, and funny. We had a good sense of humor on set, and then Viggo is obviously a big hero of mine, and Keira is going to make a lot of people sit up and what she does in this film is going to be really impressive.

CS: How’s it been going working with Steve McQueen again on “Shame”? Is this a little more conventional since you’re shooting in New York? Fassbender: (shakes head) No, it’s all the things you expect from Steve. It’s intense. There’s nothing left on the floor at the end of scenes. Everything goes into the camera. We improvise, we take risks, and it’s exciting and Sean Bobbit behind the camera again, it’s sort of dancing all together. We often say that, Steve and I, it’s like musicians and when the timing’s right, you can feel it, and when the timing’s off, you can also feel it. I’m back to working with him tomorrow so I’m trying to make sure I’m well prepared really.

CS: So is he doing a lot of location stuff here in New York? Fassbender: Yup, all location.

CS: How has he been adjusting to shooting here versus Ireland? Fassbender: Well, I think he went to film school or art school here, so he’s familiar with New York and always had the idea of setting this story in New York, so he’s been in and out of New York for the last couple years. When he first mentioned this idea to me in 2008, he’s been coming back and forth since then.

CS: It’s great that he’s shooting in New York. We really appreciate when filmmakers bring their films here. Fassbender: There was a time when there was loads and then there was a time when there wasn’t any, and now it’s sort of coming back again, which is great, because it’s such a fantastic setting to make films.

CS: Can you tell me anything more about the movie? Fassbender: I can’t really.

CS: I know that you have a history of sex. Fassbender: Yes…

CS: And that Carey Mulligan plays your sister. Fassbender: Yes…

CS: Is there anything else you can say about it? Fassbender: No! (laughs) But it’s a beautiful script and I have to say that it’s a very relevant topic and we’ll see, we’ll see.

You can also read what Fassbender said about taking on the role of Magneto, the Master of Magnetism in Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class over on SuperHeroHype.

Jane Eyre opens in select cities on March 11. Look for our video interview with director Cary Fukunaga very soon.

#Michael Fassbender

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junker-town · 5 years

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Jimmy Butler and the 76ers need each other, now more than ever

This is a gamble that both sides needed to take. It’ll either succeed wildly or fail horribly.

Late in the summer of 2016, Joel Embiid was fuming. According to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, Embiid was stomping around the Sixers’ old practice facility, at one point chucking a basketball across the hardwood. He had a workout scheduled with a marquee college big man prospect, but it got cancelled at the last minute. Instead, he had to face off against a 37-year old Elton Brand who was on the last legs of his NBA career.

”The night before, I’d been watching Shaq’s highlights, and I wanted the competition,” Embiid told Arnovitz. “I needed someone to go back at me.”

It sounds like he needed a competitor like Jimmy Butler, but Butler was 750 miles away at the Chicago Bulls practice facility, busy exchanging profanities with Rajon Rondo over who got to defend Isaiah Canaan, the hottest scorer on the opposing scrimmage team.

Two years since then, the number of people the business end of a Butler profanity-laced rant has gone up, ranging from teammates in Chicago and Minnesota -- who he chastised in private and in front of cameras -- to the Wolves’ front office. When he first returned to practice after demanding a trade from Minnesota, Butler challenged Karl-Anthony Towns to post him up, schooled the starters, and turned to GM Scott Layden.

“You fucking need me!” he screamed. “You can’t win without me!”

Meanwhile, Embiid got paired with Ben Simmons, who sat out a season due to injury and then won Rookie of the Year. In 2017, the 76ers drafted Markelle Fultz at No. 1 by trading the No. 3 pick — who became superstar-in-waiting Jayson Tatum — to Boston, in hopes of rounding out a homegrown Big Three. A shoulder injury held Fultz out most of his rookie year and infamously prompted the destruction of his once-perfect jumper.

Sam Hinkie, who led the Sixers into the Process era, was forced out, and Bryan Colangelo was ushered in. At least three burner Twitter accounts, an internal investigation, and an exhausting search for a replacement later, Colangelo was fired and Brand, now a front-office executive, was promoted to the big job.

Butler and the 76ers both had to take their hits. On Saturday, they merged out of necessity.

The Sixers traded Jerryd Bayless, a second-round pick, and two Process babies who had been handpicked by Hinkie -- Robert Covington and Dario Saric — to the Timberwolves for Butler and sophomore Justin Patton. Despite their meticulous planning, the multiple draft picks, and reserved cap space, the Sixers still needed a third star, so they took a gamble on the 29-year-old Butler, who is a free agent at the end of the year.

They didn’t trade for him to put the sputtering Process era to an end, but to refuel it.

Built unconventionally around a 7-foot shooter in Embiid and two point guards who can’t shoot in Simmons and Fultz, the 76ers are prone to bouts of offensive malaise, compounded by envelope-pushing plays that too often end in multiple turnovers. They needed Butler, a nightly 20-point scorer and stabilizing on-court force.

And Butler, whose reputation for being old school has teetered into infamy over the past few months, needs a team like the 76ers — modern and analytics-obsessed, but also defensively inclined — to drag him into a version of the 21st century that aligns with his values.

Butler was consistently at odds with Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the young pillars of Minnesota’s rebuild. That’s why it came as a surprise when Embiid told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that he discussed his new potential teammate with them and “they thought we were definitely going to get along.”

It makes more sense if you separate personality from persona.

The kid from Tomball, TX -- who used to strut around Chicago in cowboy boots, blast Garth Brooks from the locker room, stan Taylor Swift, and imitate wrestling moves on his teammates -- is more famous for his 5 a.m. workouts, locker room tirades, and throwback attitude. Meanwhile, Embiid, the NBA’s best tweeter and troll, is known as the class clown.

But it’s easy to forget how serious Embiid is and how funny Butler can be. At their core, they’re both hard-boiled workers with a nose for mischief. There’s a reason why Butler is arguably the NBA’s most meme-worthy star, and why Embiid relishes roasting big men on the floor as much as he does online. Their jokes don’t offset their intensity. Instead, the jokes are an extension of that competitiveness.

After getting blown out by the Raptors on the eve of Halloween, Embiid stewed in his own frustration. The Sixers’ new switch-happy defensive scheme was out of sorts.

“I’m the guy behind, so if I call something, my teammates gotta respect it and they gotta honor it,” he told me that night. “We have a lot of communication problems. That’s the key to a great defense.”

Later, he added, “I gotta communicate better. “If our defense is not good, I feel like I’m not doing a great job so I gotta do a better job. I don’t ever allow someone to give up 129 points. That’s bad. I’m pissed about it.”

The message was not dissimilar to what Butler has tried to get across in Minnesota: stern, public, focused on effort, disappointed in the gulf between who they are and who they could be. But Embiid has a less explosive (read: less profane) way of communicating, and he put himself on the list of people who needed to be held accountable.

And unlike Minnesota, where Butler was supposed to imbue work ethic by osmosis to a franchise that hadn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade, Embiid isn’t alone.

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

When 76ers head coach Brett Brown took over in 2013, he deliberately hung posters all over the walls of the practice facility that read, “Philly hard, Philly real, Philly edge.” The goal was to constantly remind the team what it meant to be a 76er, evoking memories of Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, or Charles Barkley crashing against floorboards for loose balls. A few days prior to the Raptors game, after the 76ers dropped back-to-back road contests against the Bucks and Pistons, the coaching staff convened with the players, hoping to remind them who they were supposed to be.

“They didn’t call out anyone as a person but they called us out as a team,” T.J. McConnell told me. “We all took it personal and decided it’s not good enough and that we need to be better.”

In Butler, Embiid now has an aid and kindred spirit: a dogged, prideful defender who will call out perimeter switches and funnel opponents into his towering 7-foot frame. A core of Simmons, Butler, and Embiid could wreak havoc defensively for years.

But Butler will have to adjust to Philly’s culture.

Simmons and Embiid are not Towns and Wiggins, but they’re still young players: prone to inconsistency and still figuring out who they are on the court. When things momentarily go off the rails, Butler will have to be patient and measured, especially if Fultz — whose road to reclaiming his potential, let alone tapping into it, looks long — sticks around. And if Butler chides, he must do it behind closed doors. The microphone never helps him.

Butler is a rare combination: an open book, easy to read, but hard to manipulate. His intensity does not flood onto the court and blur his decision-making ability. Instead, it is defined by Butler’s need to assuage his anxieties. When something is wrong, his first impulse has always been to consider what more he can do.

Butler’s instincts turned him from a near-homeless 13-year-old to a JuCo standout to a first-round draft pick to an NBA All Star, so you can see why he hangs onto them. But in the fragile ecosystem of a locker room, Butler’s aggression rarely translates positively to others.

He has always known that, even if he hasn’t been able to help himself. When I profiled him at the 2016 All Star game in February, he joked that he had to stop telling the truth (i.e. criticizing his teammates) in the media, because it always got him in trouble. He led the NBA in minutes at the time, and he liked presenting himself as an archaic heel, the foil to a league charging in the direction of rest and injury prevention. That didn’t lend much credibility to his insistence that he was sitting out games in Minnesota because his body needed it.

But even back then, he admitted his own intensity wasn’t healthy.

“I say that I don’t wanna sit down, I wanna play all those minutes, but I really be tired of playing like I’m Superman or something” Butler told me then. “They hit me with Kryptonite, then I hurt my knee.” He hurt his knee again last year, tearing his meniscus and missing almost two months.

Butler’s mentality may run in opposition to the way analytics have transformed the game, but he isn’t ignorant to their benefits. The question is whether he can lean into those moments of rationality. The Sixers, a numbers-obsessed franchise that wants to hang their hats on being tougher, longer, and grittier than their opponents, could provide the happy medium that allows his aggression to thrive and his joints to heal. At the very least, they’ll field one of the most intense locker rooms in the league.

Butler’s favorite pop star put it best: It’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames.

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betweenthenotesblog · 7 years

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Just What The World Doesn’t Need - Another Top 10 Band List

For going on two years now, since I first started this music blog, I’ve been fighting the urge to publish my all-time top 10 favorite artist list.

There are many faults in publishing a favorite artist list. First off, when the entity doing so (me), doesn’t have the street cred, a favorite artist list can fall flat. Let’s face it, I’m no Pitchfork or SPIN Magazine columnist. Also, such lists are very subjective. Finally, proclaiming a top band list can be seen as a tad narcissistic because who really cares what a blogger like me thinks?

That said, I’ve often wondered how I’d rank my favorite artists/bands. When I think about that, I can certainly come up with a few top candidates right off the bat, but after the first three or four obvious artists come to my mind, filling the list out seems difficult. I also struggle with how to rank those bands I loved when I was young versus those I gravitate to as I am close to entering my sixth decade of life.

Answering this question really isn’t as easy as it might seem.

But recently, I attempted to find my answer. I tried to do so as objectively as I possibly could. This is where my long-time, trusted friend comes in - “The Weighted Average.”

In an attempt to objectively determine who my top 10 favorite artists are, I did what I often do when making a big decision, things like purchasing a car or changing jobs. I developed a weighted-average spreadsheet to help bring objectivity to the answering of this question.

The spreadsheet I built involved quantifying the number of iTunes songs I have in my catalog for each artist, along with the breadth of each artist’s overall number of published songs and finally, and most highly weighted, I tried to rate the amount I listen to each artist at the present time. I weighted this factor more because I believe that anyone’s favorite artists can fluctuate based on their current listening habits. What I mean by that is if I were doing this list when I was 18 years old, Led Zeppelin and The Police would have made the cut. Now? Not a chance because I rarely listen to either of those bands, despite the respect I have for each.

Anyway, I used those factors to create a weighted spreadsheet using a 5-to-1 scale to try to officially quantify my top 10 favorite artist list. Those ten artists with the highest average score made the cut.

Without further explanation for how I got there, here is a look at my current Top 10 favorite artist list, subject to change.

# 10 - J Cole

I can thank my son Jonathan for bringing J Cole’s music to me. That boy has been singing J Cole’s praises for the last few years. I find myself listening to J Cole’s 2013 release Born Sinner constantly and his newer stuff is almost as good. Considering I’m an older Gen-Xer who missed the rap revolution by about five years, I was surprised and somewhat delighted to see a rap artist make my top 10 list.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Born Sinner, 2) 2014 Forest Hills Drive

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/j-cole-mn0001089515/discography

#9 - Husker Du

I am definitely a product of the mid-to-late 1980s pre-alternative music explosion and in my world, Husker Du was a big part of that. I still listen to their albums fairly regularly, especially their 1987 swan swan song double-album Warehouse: Songs and Stories. Most of their catalog still holds up, if you can get past the poor production quality that makes virtually every song sound like it was recorded inside an extra large tin can. I never saw them live, but have seen their lead singer Bob Mould play countless times.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Warehouse: Songs and Stories, 2) New Day Rising, 3) Flip Your Whig

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/h%C3%BCsker-d%C3%BC-mn0000639053/discography

#8 - Pixies

See my Husker Du commentary for why a guy like me might fall in love with an awesome band like the Pixies. The Pixies changed the college music game for my generation like few others. I still listen to their albums quite often. There might not have been a Nirvana without these forebears who hit the scene a few years prior to the Grunge movement. They reunited a couple of years ago and while the new albums don’t move me as much as the older stuff, it is good to see them be able to still put out quality music.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Doolittle, 2) Trompe le Monde

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pixies-mn0000895136/discography

#7 - Wilco

Where do I start with Jeff Tweedy and his revolving door of mates? As I reviewed my spreadsheet findings, I quickly realized that this band would have been in my top three just five years ago, as I really don’t listen to them as much now as back then. But, I certainly have a lot of their songs in my iTunes catalog and that counts for a lot. I have also seen them live 5+ times and although I’ve passed on doing so that the last couple of Kansas City tour stops, they are a great live band and definitely worthy of being in any top 10 artist list.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2) Summerteeth, 3) Sky Blue Sky

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/wilco-mn0000254215/discography

#6 - The Good Life

I would not have guessed that this Tim Kasher side-project would make my top 10 list. But indeed, the spreadsheet tells me they are worthy. The Good Life, which doubles as the state motto for Kasher’s (and my) home state of Nebraska, has been described as the “softer-rock” side of Kasher’s artistry. Tim Kasher’s primary fame (if you can call it that) is for the work he has done with his band, Cursive. He started The Good Life in 2000 and they still put out great music out as evidenced by their under rated 2015 release Everybody’s Coming Down.

Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that The Good Life made the list. After all, they are one of only four bands, the others being Husker Du, The Afghan Whigs and Radiohead, for which I have adorned a band sticker on my car. Currently, a The Good Life sticker is attached to my Volkswagen GTI.

Their 2003 release Album of The Year is considered their finest work. It is a story of a lost soul, played out on the streets of Omaha and Council Bluffs. Just the recipe for a guy like me who grew up in Nebraska.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Album of the Year, 2) Everybody’s Coming Down

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-good-life-mn0000059700/discography

#5 - The Afghan Whigs

Oh yes. The Afghan Whigs.

There was a time in my life when this band meant everything to me. While most people have either never heard of, or are only vaguely familiar with, The Afghan Whigs, there are those among us who just can’t get enough of them. This is evidenced by the 1,384 ardent members of “The Congregation” a very active Facebook group for hard core fans like me. I never saw them live during their heyday, but when they reunited in 2013 after a 12-year hiatus, I flew to Atlanta with my college buddy and fellow Whigs disciple Tim, to see them play. That show and that album Do to the Beast proved that The Afghan Whigs are one of the best bands and live acts around, even as they enter the AARP zone. The Afghan Whigs will release a new studio album later in 2017 and I can’t wait to listen to it.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Gentlemen, 2) Black Love, 3) 1965

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-afghan-whigs-mn0000602859/discography

#4 - Cursive

Cursive is another former alt-music media darling that has never had legit mainstream success. But, that doesn’t diminish their greatness. These Nebraska natives and flag bearers for the critically acclaimed Omaha music scene have made a national impact and still sell out clubs all over America.

There are two main reasons why I love this band. First, there is Tim Kasher’s lyrics. This guy can tell a story like few others and it is usually a very twisted one. Several of their albums are concept works in nature. Secondly, the sounds this band creates using dissonant guitar chord progressions is very unique. Their sound is an acquired taste, for sure. This is one of those bands that I absolutely love, but that few of my contemporaries have ever gotten into.

Despite that, I always feel solace when I either attend one of their shows or I read that they’ve sold out famous clubs in Chicago, LA or New York. This underscores the fact that there are others who also see this band’s brilliance. I find strange comfort in that.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Happy Hollow, 2) I AM GEMINI, 3) The Ugly Organ

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cursive-mn0000138271/discography

#3 - Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

Make no mistake. I’ve had a man crush on Stephen Malkmus and his guitar work for over a decade. It all started in 2003, when I saw Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks open for Radiohead in St. Louis.

I didn’t even know Malkmus’ name prior to that evening. I knew of his ‘90s band Pavement, but never really listened to them.

It is pretty rare for an opening act to make an impact, but I was immediately struck by the sounds Stephen & The Jicks made that night. From there, I purchased a couple of his solo albums and eventually became hooked.

While Stephen Malkmus is most known for fronting the 90s alt-rock band Pavement, I would say that his post-Pavement solo albums have showcased his guitar playing more than much of his Pavement work.

Beyond the excellent guitar sound, his unique song structures and quirky lyrics make him an acquired taste. But if you like excellent alt-rock guitar and unconventional lyrical structures, this guy just might be for you.

Jim’s Favs: 1) Real Emotional Trash, 2) Wig Out at Jagbags, 3) Stephen Malkmus (self-titled)

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stephen-malkmus-the-jicks-mn0002016143/discography

#2 - Pavement

If you’ve gotten this far, you know that I knew of the band Pavement before I ever knew who their frontman was.

And when I say I “knew Pavement,” I really didn’t really know them when they were an active band. Pavement was a living, breathing thing from 1992 to 1999 but my only real knowledge was their radio hit “Cut Your Hair” which I never really cared for.

But after seeing Malkmus live, I went back and started listening to Pavement’s catalog, the whole time wondering what the hell I was doing in the 1990s to have not listened to them when it was all actually happening.

I love Pavement for many of the same reasons I love Stephen Malkmus. It is the unique song structures combined with the incredible guitar playing. This band also had a penchant for long guitar outros, always a plus in my book. But something else that I found enduring with Pavement was the low-fi sense about them. Many of their early albums sounded like they were produced in a garage. The music was almost Guided By Voices-esque (another band I truly adore).

Low-fi or not, Pavement is a great, great band. One that I wish I had gotten into when they were still producing albums. Luckily, they made Kansas City a reunion tour stop several years ago and played an excellent sold out show at The Uptown Theater.

JIm’s Favs: 1) Wowee Zowee, 2) Brighten the Corners, 3) Slanted and Enchanted.

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pavement-mn0000752314/discography

#1 - Radiohead

To give you a sense for how much I love Radiohead, here is a stat for you. As I dug into my iTunes library to see how many songs I had downloaded for each artist, Radiohead’s total number came in at 181 songs, including bootlegs. The next closest band, Wilco, was at 105 songs. These 181 Radiohead songs did not include the countless dozens of songs I’ve downloaded that pay tribute to Radiohead. Compilations and albums like Radiodread, Strung Out On OK Computer “Radiohead Dubs” AmpLIve’s RainyDayz Remixes, etc.

The sheer number of Radiohead or Radiohead inspired songs I own is maddening. Combine that, with the fact that the only time I have ever gotten choked up at a concert was when Radiohead played “How To Disappear Completely” the first time I saw them play live. That happened despite me being a guy who never cries. Yet there I was, getting all kind of the feels.

Knowing that Radiohead is my all-time favorite band is the easy part in my mind. The hard question I often ask myself is why? Why do I love Radiohead so much?

A skeptic would tell you that their songs are depressing, that many of their albums sound the same, that they’re a bit pretentious. And those observations aren’t necessarily off base.

So why do I love them? As I thought about this more, there are a myriad of reasons:

Radiohead aren’t has-beens. Instead, they have constantly worked to re-invent their sound, the way they release albums, how they do business.

They are arguably the best live band in the world.

They are all incredible musicians. Listen to their “The King of Limbs” album (my least favorite of theirs, by the way) and tell me that these guys aren’t world-class musicians.

They are nerdy, in the coolest way possible.

The sound of Thom Yorke’s vocals. Oh, that voice. It speaks to my soul.

Jonny Greenwood - He is timeless in every imaginable way. The creativity he brings to making interesting sounds is unmatched.

Longevity - They’ve stayed together, while remaining relevant for going on 26 years.

Tonight at Sprint Center will be the fifth time I’ve seen Radiohead play live.

Great bands like Radiohead don’t last forever. I don’t foresee, nor do I even want Radiohead to hang on like The Rolling Stones or The Who. The reality is that I am getting older. And they are getting older. I get the sense that this may be one of, IF NOT THE last time, I’ll ever see them play. That is why I plan on getting as close to the stage as I possibly can this evening.

It’s not every day you get to see your all-time favorite band play music. So I’m going to make this count.

Jim’s Favs: 1) OK Computer, 2) In Rainbows, 3) The Bends, 4) Kid A

Discography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/radiohead-mn0000326249/discography

#JCole #Pixies #huskerdu #radiohead #stephenmalkmus #cursive #AfghanWhigs #pavement #TheGoodLife #Wilco

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