#also poppy is a virgin right. we can all agree on that

[queenhawke]

Mythic Quest 2x01

[stevebabey]

I'm the first anon, thank you so much for understanding. I have those feelings for months now and I'm going crazy lmao.

I wish I could get into character x character stuff, but unfortunately, my stupid brain loves to consume stuff through self insert, so x reader is my preferred outlet for everything :/ I just feel like I don't belong anywhere in this fandom rn in terms of content creation. I'm not into most x reader stuff and I like to explore more character things, but I also don't really belong in there because I'm not a shipper.

It's just so frustrating to see, and the other anon was right. The tiktokification of media and fandoms in general is insane to watch. Like I saw a tiktok that complained that the Poppy War by Rf Kuang was boring because it had no spice. M'am, this is a book about war? 😭 Or, like everything is described in tropes (that's a problem for books, not fanfic per se) for fast consumption, the plot doesn't matter if certain scenarios are not ticked off. Not to mention AI and things like characterAI where people just get quickly what they want without using really their imagination (plus them not caring that this is stealing from real people).

And yeah, the whole minor part. It's insane to tell 12 year olds, that virgins write the best stuff. I'm reading and writing fics since I was 14, and I'm "lucky" I wasn't really exposed to those things until I was 16. English isn't my first language, so fanfics were a bit limited, I guess (plus having a very nieche interest that didn't reach international fame and fandom). Also, I mostly consumed stuff from friends I know irl and we had a few spicy scenes because we were curious, but we never got exposed to hardcore smut. I'm not saying there should be no smut at all, everyone is free to express themselves. It's a problem if the fandom is only that because it creates a space not everyone has access to or gets messed up. Fandom is community and everyone should feel welcome. If I was a minor and all writer blogs tell me to fuck off because they only write mature things, idk if I would even wanna stay. Which is also another problem because fandoms die out so quickly as it is.

Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this exactly because you already said everything and I agree with you. <33

omg you say you don't know where you're going with this but brought up so many good POINTS

you're not crazy and you're definitely not the only one feeling that way!! i understand completely and it's infuriating that the topic of it is almost tongue in cheek in this fandom and lots of people feel they would be better off biting their tongue than expressing that frustration ://

character x character is something that takes a hot minute to get into i've found, i've honestly only just gotten into it within the last year or so (because i also struggle with like ocs and the like) but i am a long lover of the self insert i can't even lie <3

but there's like a difference between the way you describe this!! i think you're very much like me and it's like a genuine love for a character that drives your desire for writing self-insert- its like i love this dude so much and i want them to be happy and i want to be that source of happiness, i want to be that first kiss or gentle touch they need :D

andddd that's my problem with so much of the smut-leaning fics. where's the soul!?! where's the driving heart of the story? the best fics are the most self indulgent because you can see the best parts of someone in them !!!!

i'm really sorry that you feel like you don't have a place in this fandom but you do definitely belong here honey- fandom is supposed to be a community and there's no prerequisite to existing here at all and the fact there feels like there are certain amounts you have to succeed in to be a writer is so just bleh

tiktok is a goddam brainrotting place lmao and every day im not on it is a great one! the trope shit is SO true, like the idea that if you can check a few boxes (one of those things being smut) its the thing that makes a piece good instead of how it's written and the passion for the story like ugh and don't even get me started on ai 😭 that is a shitshow in itself and anyone who uses that to write fics or complete other peoples fics are absolute garbage people

the minor thing is yeah completely fucked and you raise SUCH a good point about how it limits the spaces that they can occupy which is so fucking stupid cos how many of us started in fandom at young ages??? everyone should feel welcome! and god the thought of someone trying to so hard to avoid nsfw content but just to have it shoved down their throat in every other post and also having so many writers telling them to fuck off ur so right, i wouldn't wanna stay either!

and it's just so so so sad because there are a thousand people who i WISH would write their ideas, write their fics, whether its bad or good first time around because THAT is the point of fandom. love for the source! new ideas! people's new takes on old tropes over and over :D

ah you opened the floodgate in me.... you didn't ask for advice but truly, write the most self indulgent stuff ever and it can't lead you wrong. i hope the culture of fandom changes and every time you ignore the urge to write for what u think people will like and just write what you want, we all get a little bit closer to that change :")

[araby-bizarre]

keep your name

In reaction to the secret revealed in 2x10. Nicole may not be hiding any revenants in her closet, but she does have skeletons of her own.

Unpacking Nicole's marriage, and why she chose to keep things hid.

“What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?”

The question is barely out of Waverly’s mouth before Nicole realizes that she should tell her. She thinks about the adrenaline of scaling a rock face, of falling from the same height. She thinks about prairie fire shots and Britney Live and unashamed declarations of love in a hotel stairwell. Being honest for the first time in lying to herself. Kitschy Vegas chapels--

She wonders if she’ll ever get the timing right, because now isn’t it. Not with Waverly smiling up at her for the first time since Willa and that night at the Wainwright. Let’s play twenty questions, she’d suggested, desperate for a distraction.

Every time Nicole tries to give her one, really, something else seems to come up. Kidnappings, long-lost sisters, revenants. Her own skeletons feel so pedestrian in comparison that she’s not sure they’ll ever fully have a place here. That she’ll ever have a place here. But she’ll be damned if she doesn’t at least try.

(Unlike the last time. A morning after in Nevada with the imitation of affection already paling in the light of the dawn.)

So, instead, she rolls up her sleeve and shows Waverly the poppies tattooed on the inside of her right bicep. She tells her about her grandmother, and the one time in her life that her grief felt so massive that she needed a forever reminder inked into her skin.

The truth will come eventually, she tells herself, though her heart doesn’t walk back from its nauseatingly erratic beat.

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Her sister has a proper wedding. She’s married by a priest in one of the small, ornately decorated chapels of their youth. The pews creak and the windows are stained with the images of saints. Hayley wears white like the good Christian virgin her parents believe her to be. Nicole, on the other hand, is forced to wear a monstrosity of a peach-colored dress that she’s honestly considering burning by the night’s end, as well as a pair of cowboy boots that her sister had absolutely insisted on (for the pictures).

She wanted to protest, but she knows how much this all means to Hayley. And she is maid of honor. Nicole couldn’t deny her even if she wanted to.

It’s selfish, but the whole time, she can’t help but notice the way her parents refuse to look at her. No doubt, they’d argued with Hayley over Nicole’s place in the wedding in the first place. But at the end of the day, they couldn’t deny their firstborn anything either. She was the favorite, after all.

She drinks a little too much at the reception. One of the other bridesmaids had promised to drive her home afterwards, so it’s no worry. It’s just not really her style--getting blind drunk at family functions, tripping over herself on the way to the bathroom. She’s always maintained more of a sense of decorum than that. But when she stumbles through the door and her mother is there washing her hands, unable to even pass her a glance--she just can’t help herself.

They’re throwing rice at the beaming newlyweds when it dawns on her, drunk or not: she really did make a mistake.

Nicole doesn’t need the church. She doesn’t need a white gown or a big party. But she does need someone who can love her the way she’s always dreamt of being loved: nice and gentle, without any of the perfunctory bits. Nice and earnest.

She sends a text to Shae later that night.

           This isn’t going to work, is it?

The text is read. Three dots bubble up at the bottom of the screen, then stop. After a long moment, she responds.

           Probably not.

Then, just as quickly.

           Do you regret it?

Nicole hesitates. She knows it was a mistake. She used to think two years was too soon to get married to somebody. But she and Shae had barely known each for two months when they ran off to Nevada together.

Nevertheless, she’s surprised by the clarity of her answer.

           No, I don’t.

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Nicole tells herself she is very drunk that night after the show, but the truth is, she isn’t. She’s had a few shots of tequila but not nearly as many as Shae. She abstains on purpose, because she wants to remember what it’s like to be touched by a beautiful woman in public with a clear head.

Every time Shae places a hand on the small of her back or her thigh, or weaves her fingers through her hair during a dizzying kiss, she can’t help but think of everything she’s left behind to have this.

It’s confusing. Equal parts anger and resentment at her parents for casting her aside the moment she came out, for telling her that she was wrong and that she’d failed them and tarnished the Haught name. But there is also the thrill of doing something she’s always been told was wrong. The sadness of realizing the fault in that logic to begin with. And the residual fear of being seen.

All these things at once. Feelings she’s tried so desperately in the past year to escape. Moving in with Hayley had provided temporary shelter. Acceptance into the academy had helped more, given her an out and something to be proud of at the same time. But nothing has been more of a salve than Shae.

Being admired by Shae. Appreciated by Shae. Touched by Shae.

Her head is swimming. They’re pawing at each other in the hotel stairwell, bathed in an unflattering and painful fluorescent light. She reaches for the hem of Shae’s skirt and the other woman stills her wrist, smiling gently.

“I have an idea.”

She knows Nicole has something to prove. She’s a bit lonely herself, a bit out of place. But she can count on the fact that Nicole Haught isn’t a quitter. That she isn’t a coward and she doesn’t like to be told how to live her life.

“We can prove everybody wrong,” she’s whispering to her in the taxicab. “Nobody gets to decide how we feel.”

It’s a silly thing. A simple thing. But nobody had ever really told Nicole she was allowed to think for herself before, let alone feel.

That notion alone is enough to spark a flame.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hadn’t she told Wynonna she couldn’t lie to Waverly? She has to wonder how things can fall apart so quickly.

It happens like this:

There’s panic first. Waverly tries hard to hide it, but she lets her guard down late at night. In the dark, in Nicole’s bed.

“Ward never loved me,” she says with absolute certainty. “I don’t know that he hated me, but he definitely didn’t love me.” Nicole holds her tighter. There’s so much she wants to say. Sometimes, she waits and waits for her turn, but she feels like it doesn’t arrive. Waverly’s confessions often come with a heaviness that leaves little room for her own secrets. She holds them inside, instead. Allows them to smother her.

“What Willa felt--that was hatred.” Her voice is so small and shattered, Nicole feels herself splintering beneath the implication. I won’t add to this, she tells herself. Not now. How could I?

After the panic, there is false bravado. There is the best of intentions.

The DNA results arrive at the police station and the envelope is an oppressive weight in her hand. She thinks of the way Waverly’s heart is already so broken, before she’s even gotten her answer. She thinks of how Wynonna might react. How there’s already so much wrong happening.

I need to know how to make this better, she thinks. Because Nicole has let a lot of people down in her life. She’s still letting them down, whether they know it or not. And she wants to do just one thing right. But the only way it seems she can do that is by opening that envelope.

It feels immediately wrong. Like that morning after, with a ring on her finger. Except the enormity of this particular mistake makes her feel like that same finger might remain bare for a long time to come.

She debates resealing the envelope, but remembers that Waverly is entirely too smart for that. Instead, she tucks it into her purse, puts on a brave face, and resolves to deliver the news when the moment is right.

Of course, something comes up. (Something always comes up.)

Nicole is suddenly helping to plan a baby shower, hanging the piñata and sampling cocktails, and it’s just too normal. Too normal for the envelope that’s hidden in her purse. Too normal for the way her heart clenches and sings liar liar liar.

She hates herself when Waverly walks out on her. Hates the way she seems so made for mistakes.

Later on, alone in her bed, she thinks her parents were wrong about many, many things. Their ideology and their prejudice, undoubtedly. The way they clung to their own marriage, duty-bound, though the love had left them so long ago. They were wrong about all of it.

But maybe, she worries, they weren’t entirely wrong about her.

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“I have to ask you something.”

“Well, that sounds important.”

Nicole sits in her cruiser, picking nervously at a loose thread sticking out of the seam of her pants. The heater blasts, reddening her cheeks and nose.

“It is.”

“Then, of course. What’s up?” Shae has that tone--friendly and warm, yet still mildly professional. Clinical. She always sounds that way on the phone, as if every call were something of a business call.

“Is it wrong of me, to start seeing someone else?”

“What?” Nicole can picture the look on her face perfectly, brow all pinched in confusion. “Why would it be wrong?”

“Because we’re still married.”

“Separated, Nicole,” Shae sighs.

“Yes, well. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t actually. It’s all on paper now. We agreed to that. It’s normal to see other people.”

“Right.”

There’s more that she wants to say. Shae, distant as she may be from her now, can still sense it. She never did have trouble reading her, even in the very beginning. (Or the very end--they were one in the same.)

“Why are you really asking?” Her voice is softer this time, less the doctor, and more the ex. More the friend.

“I don’t know,” Nicole huffs, frustrated with herself as always. “I guess I just felt like I needed your permission.”

There’s a long pause. Nicole worries that she’s said the wrong thing--not for the first time. She’s been saying a lot of the wrong things lately. Between her family and her soon-to-be-ex-wife and the girl she’s patently not-dating (her reason for calling today).

Shae is a little bit quieter then. There’s a bite to her words, but it isn’t aimed at Nicole. “You don’t need my permission, Nicole. You don’t need anyone’s permission. I wish you would understand that.”

The embarrassment hits her first. Shae isn’t wrong, she knows. But old habits die hard.

There’s a long moment of silence before the other woman asks, more curiosity than anything else, “So, who is she?”

There are so many heady adjectives that cross her mind, though none of them seem to fit. She catches herself smiling softly in the rearview as she simply answers, “She’s something else.”

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The haze of the venom coursing through her veins is unrelenting. It makes her feel like her entire body is being turned inside out, all at once. There’s so much pressure in her head, behind her eyes. Nicole didn’t even realize pain like this could exist.

Yet in spite of the heaviness of it all, some things appear so clearly now.

“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”

Thoughts like too much and too soon no longer seem to matter. Because this is the end, isn’t it? And if it is, she needs Waverly to know--there would never be anybody else for her.

Waverly caresses her cheek, fingertips cold and eyes fraught with fear. Her touch is sheer ruination. Nicole has never felt anything so liberating in her entire life.

There are worse ways to go, she’s sure. It’s what she tells herself as she slips under, Waverly’s promises resting squarely in the cradle of her chest.

She’s there waiting for her, when Nicole comes to later. Disoriented, at first, and with a confusing lack of pain. That must be what comes after, Nicole realizes: relief. Except that that seems far too nice compared to what her parents had told her she should expect.

“Waverly?” Her voice is groggy, throat a little achy still from the Widow’s iron grip, but she feels blessedly okay otherwise.

Waverly cries happy tears, and despite what she keeps referring to as a miracle, Nicole still feels too fragile not to cry herself. Death wasn’t as scary as she’d thought it would be (a realization that’s a bit alarming in and of itself), but it had been lonely in its own way. She’s not sure she’s ever been so grateful to have Waverly holding her hand.

With all the shock and happiness and relief, she’s not sure what to make of it when Wynonna bursts into the room brandishing her cure, somehow an hour too late, and the mood in the room grows so immediately cold that Waverly runs from it, from them both.

The older Earp stands there for a few moments, jaw clenched tightly, before tossing the vial at Nicole. Caught off guard, she just barely manages to catch it, bandages all on display.

“You know I wouldn’t have let you die, right?” Wynonna’s voice is gruff. But there’s a despairing sense of insecurity hidden beneath the edge of it that leaves Nicole at something of a loss.

“You did save me, Wynonna.” It’s a dumb thing to say, she supposes. But Wynonna came through for her. She would’ve come through for her, had the venom finished the job.

“I tried,” Wynonna replies, voice tight. “But I guess I was a little too late. Again.”

She’s out of the room so quickly then that Nicole couldn’t stop her even if she tried. Instead, she settles back into the bed, confused and a little anxious over this unexpected change in mood.

There’s really no such thing as miracles, Nicole knows. Especially not in Purgatory, where even the plainly unexplainable seems to come with thorough cause and effect.

She’s struggling to come up with an appropriate text to Waverly--What happened? seems far too vague and Are you okay? far too obvious--when there comes a knock on the doorframe.

Shae was never one to look sheepish or uncertain, but she does appear somewhat awkward standing there now.

“Are you waiting for an invitation?” Nicole teases, though her heart isn’t in it.

Shae takes a few long strides into the room, keeping a respectable distance between herself and the bed. “I heard you were awake. And cured.”

Nicole meets her quizzical gaze. “Miraculously.”

Shae frowns. “As a doctor, I find that a little hard to believe.”

The anti-venom is still clutched in Nicole’s fist. She holds on a little tighter and lies. “I’m kidding. There was an anti-venom.”

She doesn’t look any further convinced, but wisely chooses not to comment. Shae has always been good at that--better than Nicole. Stepping forward, she asks, “What kind of trouble are you getting yourself into up here?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Nicole.” Shae is too smart for her own good. Like someone else she knows. She does have a type, after all. “I know you’re something of a magnet for this kind of thing, but couldn’t you at least try to keep yourself safe? We may not be together anymore, but I don’t relish these calls from the hospital.”

“You really didn’t need to come,” Nicole tells her, voice quieter. She’s having troubling meeting Shae’s eyes, all of a sudden.

Shae chuckles in disbelief. “I did.” She takes one step closer, placing her hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “But you’re okay now?”

Nicole swallows. “I think I am.”

Shae’s stubborn, in her own way. She hates not knowing. And it’s hard for her now, Nicole is sure, sensing that there’s more to the story but instead ceding to her own ignorance. “I should get going then. I can’t be away from work any longer than necessary.”

“I understand,” Nicole nods.

“Just… text me when you’re home, so I know there were no complications.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

Shae squeezes her shoulder one last time and heads for the door. She stops before leaving, and turns. “You were right, by the way.”

“Hmm?” Nicole asks, her mind already elsewhere.

“Waverly,” she smiles approvingly. “She is something else.”

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Nicole bites back a curse as she rifles through her top dresser drawer, searching for a matching pair of socks. As of late, Calamity has taken to stealing them out of her laundry basket and hiding them around the house, leaving her drawer a mismatched hodgepodge of orphaned socks.

It’s too early in the morning for this kind of hassle. She was feeling particularly bitter about leaving her bed to begin with, given who had been sleeping beside her. But she’d known it would be like this last night when they weren’t sleeping. She only has herself to blame.

Finally, Nicole spies what she hopes to be a matching pair. They are, to her relief, but as her hand closes around them, she feels a small bulge in the toe that gives her pause. Confused, she shakes it out into the palm of her hand, the memory coming back to her.

She stopped wearing her wedding band the day she accepted the job in Purgatory. Yet there it had sat, on the bedside table of the old apartment for weeks. Nicole hadn’t a clue what she should do with it.

She considered pawning it but eventually settled against it. It was a bittersweet token and a reminder of her own foolishness, but not necessarily something she wanted to forget. During the move, she’d hidden it in a sandwich baggie and stuffed it deep into one of the boxes marked bedroom.

The day she arrived at the new house, she was fairly overwhelmed. Not just by the newness of this small town or the anxiety of starting in a new position fresh out of the academy, but by the scope of making this place a home, all by herself.

Nicole drank too much wine, as she was sometimes wont to do. By the time she got to the bedroom, she could only partially remember how things had been organized. And the ring? She couldn’t remember finding that (or losing it) at all.

She’s a little shocked to see it now--an intruder in this comfortable bubble that she and Waverly have come to inhabit. For several moments, she can only stare at it, then back over her shoulder at the girl sleeping soundly in her bed. Nicole hadn’t necessarily been trying to keep these two worlds, these two parts of herself separate. But she’s surprised to find now that this overlap, minor as it may be, is somewhat comforting.

Calamity Jane meows just outside the doorway, impatiently waiting to be fed.

“Calm down,” Nicole mutters. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Satisfied, Calamity pads away as Nicole places the ring back into one of her misfit socks. She finishes dressing with an odd sense of calm before sitting at the edge of the bed. Very gently, she leans down to press a kiss to the crown of Waverly’s head.

Immediately, the other woman stirs, as if from some sort of sixth sense. She glances up at Nicole, all sleep mussed and red in the cheeks, eyes barely open.

“Work?”

“Mhm. You should go back to sleep though. I just wanted to say bye.”

“Okay.” Waverly already seems to be drifting off again as she pulls Nicole down for a short kiss. “Bye.”

“Bye, baby.” Nicole hesitates for a moment, hand in Waverly’s hair. She thinks about the ring again, about the mistakes that she’s made. She’ll learn to right them, in time. But for now, this will more than do.

“I hope you make yourself at home,” she says quietly, getting up to leave. She really means it.

[broken-girl]

Dirty Dancing Remake Review

So I've got to write a review about the remake. Before I start, let me preface by saying I adore the original, it's one of my all time favourite films (and I'm a huge cinephile). When I find out they were remaking it I was sceptical. Remakes tend to be awful, aside from Hairspray (2007) that is. Dirty Dancing is a classic, no matter your age. Anyway, on to my review. First off I'd like to start by saying I saw the ending first. I was at a client's house and I saw from Lisa playing the ukulele with Marco right through to the end. I did have to think, 'What is this shit and why on earth have they added this piece of crap ending onto it?' But then I thought, I need to see this all the way through. Fast forward to 5 hours later, and I'm fully prepared for a shit show that is going to waste 3 hours of my life with the only saving grace being that Colt Prattes aka Johnny Castle might just be the most beautiful human being I have ever seen. Imagine my surprise though when I realised, 'you know what, I actually really enjoy this'. Now, I still find the ending awful, and it breaks my heart that these writers don't believe Johnny and Baby end up together. But, the rest of it isn’t so bad, and let me tell you why.

The casting and characters: 

First, I’ll start with Abigail Breslin as Baby. This was the biggest WTF for me. When I saw they’d cast her I was like ‘why?’. Don’t get me wrong, I love her as an actress. Little Miss Sunshine is a fantastic film and really showed her acting chops at such a young age. But as Baby, I was like ‘no!’. I have to say though, I was wrong. She was similar in age to what Baby is supposed to be, and she portrays Baby as a fierce woman who knows her own mind and what she wants. I particularly love the scene in which she’s learning to dance, and Johnny tells her to pretend like she has rhythm. The way she keeps dancing before realising what he’s just said, and then turns to look at him with almost a glare on my face is great. I also love the scene after Johnny rebuffs her in the dance hall, and she goes to his cabin to give him what for. She has this raw intensity, and I as the audience truly believe that she’s so heartbroken that she’s given herself to this guy and he’s just brushed her off like nothing happened. 

Next, Colt Prattes as Johnny. I didn’t know who he was before this movie, and I was a bit like ‘oh, typical, a hot guy to play the lead who’ll be absolutely rubbish but nobody will say anything because he’s hot’. How wrong was I?! I loved Colt as Johnny. He’s roughly the same age Patrick Swayze was when he played Johnny in the original, and he’s also super talented. Not to mention, he’s a massive fan of Patrick Swayze and has said he’s watched the original approximately 40 times. He played Johnny in a slightly different way than Swayze did; he wasn’t as willing to admit how he felt about Baby as much as OG Johnny was, and when Penny told him to end it he did, unlike Johnny in 1987. Also, he paid Baby’s dad back the money Baby had loaned, and let her dad talk to him like utter crap without being so passive aggressive about it (I’m talking about the scene where Johnny visits her dad in the original and he makes a snarky comment about how Johnny knocked up his dance partner and then moved on to another one). I also have to say, Patrick Swayze was to die for in the 80′s, but Colt Prattes truly is a beautiful man, and I’d happily look at him in that lake for hours. Plus, his voice is just wow. Nuff’ said.

Finally, Nicole Scherzinger as Penny. Although Cynthia Rhodes was an amazing dancer, and fantastic as Penny, I found her character quite mean and rude to Baby at the beginning. It’s only after she learns to dance with the help of Johnny and Penny to do the show at the Sheldrake does Penny actually warm to her. Nicole Scherzinger is a genuinely nice person in real life, and she brings that into her portrayal as Penny. When Johnny is mean to her, Penny is nice and all but reprimands Johnny for his behaviour towards Baby. Plus, she’s the one who suggests that Baby do the show in her place, and even though she tells Johnny to end his fling with Baby, she gives a rather good reason as to why. 

I have to give special mentions to Katey Segal as Vivian Pressman, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman and Sarah Hyland as Lisa. These three improved on the original characters massively. Katey Segal oozed sex as Vivian, and she was much more attractive than the original lady who played her (sorry!!). Debra as Marjorie was also amazing, and I loved that they expanded her storyline as the lonely housewife who felt abandoned by her husband. But the real star of the show has to be Sarah Hyland as Lisa. In the original she’s a sycophant who decided to lose her virginity to Robbie even after something happens on the golf course that she doesn’t agree with and he’s rude to her. Also, she has a go at Baby when she tries to warn her off Robbie, saying that Baby doesn’t care about her at all. Hyland’s version of Lisa is much better in my opinion. She starts off as being someone who just wants to get married, and makes no apologies for it. But she grows as a person in the film, not letting anyone take advantage of her and supporting her sister when she finds out what has been going on with Johnny.

The story:

I love that they don’t really change the plot, except for the end. It’s still the same story, a dancer from the wrong side of the tracks and a young innocent girl who fall in love through dance. But they extend on that, giving more screen time to B characters and highlighting certain issues. 

The two major side plots: Robbie and Lisa and Marjorie and Jake are two of the things I love most about this film. The fact that they actually show what happens to Lisa when she’s with Robbie, rather than brushing over it, is something I was really impressed with. It’s something that happens all the time, a guy tries to take advantage and when the girl says no and wants to report it, there’s always some reason why she won’t be believed. In this case Robbie tells Lisa she was basically asking for it by coming onto him and bringing wine. Like, so she showed an interest in you, and brought something to drink. That is never a good reason to sexually assault a person. Also, the fact that this Lisa doesn’t go back to him to try and lose her virginity is something I like. I never understood why in the original Lisa still wants something to do with him, rather than kicking him to kerb after he hurts her. Plus, her little attraction with Marco is so fricking cute, and the way it’s played out stays true to the era. She’s a white girl from a privileged background, while he’s black and has to work at a holiday resort and take shit for fancying ‘the little white girl’. He’s warned off by Tito, and the reason being that the colour of his skin isn’t white. It’s perfect, and truly is what would have happened in the 60′s.

The Marjorie/Jake plot is good too, and Debra Messing is truly splendid as the lonely housewife who asks her husband for a divorce. I love how they both sing the same song, but in different ways. Hers is in front of a huge band on a stage with an audience, and his is a little acoustic set alone in the dance studio. The greatest part of it is that Jake’s eyes are finally opened when Baby gives him her speech after he sings, and then he goes to eat and realises that nobody is coming to join him. The rawness of Bruce Greenwood’s performance when he’s in the boat with Marjorie is beautiful, as the tears well up in his eyes and he apologises to her, not trying to make excuses for his actions but instead admitting he was wrong. I also particularly love at the end when they do the final number, and he turns to her and sings the song the way Johnny sang to Baby. This truly cements how much he does love his wife, and her reaction is so amazing.

Another special mention to the way they handle the topic of Penny’s abortion. It really hits home just what it was like in the 60′s, when abortion was illegal. Penny has to deal with it all on her own, and accused of sleeping around because she ends up pregnant. It’s a heartbreaking thing in both the remake and the original where she feels the need to explain herself to Baby, and then  admits she’s scared. You can see it on Nicole Scherzinger’s face, that she has a bad feeling about what is going to happen, and as we all know she is right to be worried.

The singing:

Personally I love a good musical, and I feel in making some of the soundtrack be sung by the cast in the actual film, they stayed true to the original while having elements of the stage show. Plus, they picked people who can actually sing. Need I remind people of the woefully cast Les Mis where we had the evil singing voice of Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. Two men who are fantastic actors but can’t sing for shit. I do have to agree with other reviews though, some of the songs on the soundtrack have been ruined by autotune and ultra poppy backing tracks. My least favourite being ‘She’s Like The Wind’. That scene, where Johnny is leaving and he hugs Baby is completely ruined by that shite played over the top. In my honest opinion that is the one song that should not have been messed with. Wouldn’t it have been lovely to have Patrick Swayze honoured by playing his version as the new Baby and Johnny are saying goodbye, or is that just me? My favourite song though has to be the final song, just because of the different characters singing it and what it means. Jake singing to Marjorie, Johnny singing to Baby. It’s special, and I do love.

Special mention to the acoustic song Marco and Lisa sing. I love it. I do. Nothing more to be said on this.

Now for the bad points:

This isn’t a totally unbiased review, I’m not swayed by a gorgeous face that easily. Let’s start with the thing we all hate, that framing story. First, what’s why the green screen? Could they not have shot it in NYC? I do like that they have her going to the theatre to see the musical and then it plays the film, but I still don’t see the point. Why did she write a book? What happened to her and Johnny? Did she become a doctor? None of this is explained at all. If you’re going to have a framing story, give it a point. I’d much rather have had a ten minute epilogue explaining it all (and them being together) rather than that. I read another review that said the original always suggested that Johnny and Baby was just a summer thing, whereas the remake hints that it’s real, they’re in love and it’s not going to end. I truly agree with this, so why the hell do they have her married to someone else? Not to mention, and again this was said in another article, she’s married yet it’s plainly obvious she is still totally in love with Johnny. She doesn’t even seem that interested in her husband, and almost looks embarrassed that he’s there while she’s in the middle of talking to Johnny. Plus, they have Abbie Breslin playing an older Baby (she still looks the same) and then they have this guy who looks like her dad playing her husband. That was some seriously bad casting in my opinion. Plus, they totally ripped off the end of La La Land. I hate the framing story, it’s actually the only real letdown I have with the remake. I can forgive some of the shitty covers, but not having Baby and Johnny end up together is the biggest no no ever. 

If I had to write what had happened, I’d have kept it all the same right up until Johnny comes in. She’d have ran into his arms, saying how amazing the show was and how proud of him she is. Then the little girl would have ran in, and the babysitter would have apologised to both of them saying she’d gotten away from her. Johnny would have picked up the little girl and she’d have called him daddy, and they’d have walked off as a family together. Then they would have met up with some of the other characters, like Lisa and Penny who’d also come to watch the show. Why was it just Baby when Penny was practically his best friend? Like I said, complete rubbish.

Another bad point, I’m not too fond of the way they changed the final dance scene. I would have loved to see Johnny dance in this version the same way he danced in the original, with Penny and the other dirty dancers backing him up. Plus, as much as I love her, Abbie Breslin is stiff as a board. She gets some rhythm, and then she seems to lose it again. I do however think she nailed the lift, unlike what she was doing in the lake with Johnny. I like how they saved it right til the end, where nobody thought she’d do it, and then she did. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s so stiff, and nothing at all like Jennifer Grey in the finale. Like I’ve said though, I love the singing.

Finally, I totally agree with what people say about the dancing not being that dirty. In the original, where Baby helps Billy carry the watermelon, they walk into a room packed with people. Baby almost gets knocked over a few times, and quite a few people look at her funny. Plus, everyone is really sweaty. It’s nothing like that in the remake, and I know exactly the reason for this. ABC is a family company, and they took a film that was a classic, and reworked it into a family film. Sure, they still have the scene in Johnny’s cabin with Baby and Johnny, but it’s much tamer than the original. You see Baby’s bra strap, and that’s it. Plus there’s no clips of them actually in bed, it’s just implied that they have sex. Another thing is that they layer Abbie Breslin in so many clothes. In the original, when they’re in the lake, Jennifer Grey is wearing this ultra thin top and bra that you can practically see through when wet, and when they’re practicing dancing she is wearing a leotard with fish nets and a crop top. I don’t know if this is because Abbie Breslin is more curvy than Jennifer Grey or not, but it doesn’t really stay true to life. You wouldn’t practice dancing in a shirt, tank top and jeans. You’d literally be a panting sweaty mess by the end.

All in all, like I said earlier, I enjoyed the remake way more than I thought I would. Yes, I’d do away with the framing story, or change it completely, but if you just switch the film off at the end of the final dance sequence we can just pretend it doesn’t exist.

Overall, it gets a 7/10 from me

[alisonfloresus]

UK’s Quiet Mark comes to America alongside the Premiere of documentary film: In Pursuit of Silence

In Pursuit of Silence to open in theaters June 23rd – (Trailer)

New York, June 19th, 2017: Quiet Mark, the international award programme for excellence in low-noise technology and solutions to unwanted noise, today announced the company’s focus on North America timed to the U.S. theatrical premiere of director Patrick Shen’s feature documentary film In Pursuit of Silence, a critically-acclaimed, meditative cinematic exploration of our relationship with silence and the impact of noise on our daily lives. Leading film distributor Cinema Guild will present the U.S. theatrical premiere of In Pursuit of Silence, with openings in New York on June 23 at Cinema Village and in Los Angeles on June 30 at Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre, followed by a release in select cities across the U.S.

The pioneering work of Quiet Mark, associated with the U.K. Noise Abatement Society charitable foundation founded in 1959, encourages companies worldwide to prioritise noise reduction within the design of everyday machines and appliances, providing consumers and industry with a trusted mark of approval to help transform the aural environment for the benefit of all. Quiet Mark is already working with many leading U.S. and Global brands including Electrolux, Bosch, Dyson, Interface, Logitech, Samsung, Siemens. Quiet Mark is featured in the film, which was independently produced and financed by filmmakers Patrick Shen, Andrew Brumme and Brandon Vedder.

Quiet Mark is a commercial company which shares the same charitable remit as the Noise Abatement Society and financially supports its work. The company is now starting award approvals within the U.S. partnering with business and civil society to help improve the aural environment for Americans.

In Pursuit of Silence was a critical hit at festivals around the world, including SXSW and Sheffield Doc Fest. Kate Muir of The Times of London wrote, “Patrick Shen has made a fascinating documentary…which stops the viewer short in the horrendous cacophony of the modern world. As much an aural as a visual experience, it shows that the healing powers of silence are not about soundlessness (impossible with the beat of your own heart), but the right sort of sound, displayed in various forms.” The documentary looks at how, in society’s race towards modernity, amid technological innovation and rapid urban growth, silence is passing into legend. As much a work of devotion as it is a documentary, In Pursuit of Silence is set to change the way we think about our aural landscape.

Quiet Mark, also featured in the film, is recognised for its groundbreaking award programme with noise and pioneering sound-quality testing, as well as its development of a clear award-system for quietest products and efforts to establish noise reduction as a key consideration in new product development. The distinctive purple Quiet Mark symbol, which was launched in the U.K. in 2012, is awarded following rigorous testing and approval from their team of principal acousticians.

You wouldn’t think that the soundscape around you could pose a serious enough threat to garner the attention of groups like the World Health Organization (WHO) and National Institutes of Health. But, as the film highlights, global noise pollution is so severe that WHO has labelled it as the second-most pressing threat to public health after air pollution.

The Quiet Leaders The independent filmmakers behind In Pursuit of Silence do offer some hope to those overwhelmed by the noise pollution problem. Brands investing in acoustic engineering to improve the aural environment are paving the way for industries around the world to meet society’s need for quieter living environments.

Each company agreed to take part without contributing payment and gave exclusive interviews and insights into their R&D facilities, including:

BMWi’s ‘Sound Cathedral’ and pioneering electric cars; Virgin Atlantic’s ambitious noise-policy target to reduce its noise footprint by 50% by 2020; Dyson’s multi-million investment in sound-engineering of its products; and Miele’s decades of leadership on sound quality as a core value.

Poppy Szkiler, founder and managing director of Quiet Mark and Executive Producer of the feature film, comments “In Pursuit of Silence has been a labor of love. It brings together Patrick’s profound talent, sensitivity and courage to expose, for the first time, one of the most serious health issues facing society today.

“Quiet Mark’s independent role was invaluable, thanks to our unique position of working on behalf of consumers to identify the best noise reduction from industry available, whilst underlining Government policy to drive awareness and support the reduction of noise-related issues. We strive to bring insight to technology brands who are already doing their best to reduce the noise levels of their products. They are playing an important role in creating a more healthy aural environment by improving the quality of sound and impact of noise in people’s lives.

“As consumers we have a choice and can stop the runaway train of demanding technology, and the fast pace it creates, which robs peace and quiet; to instead ask it to support our health rather than subtly deplete it. Industry can collectively solve the problem by simply prioritising the development of quieter technology and solutions to unwanted noise.”

Patrick Shen, director, In Pursuit of Silence, comments, “Technology grows exponentially more advanced by the week and promises to make us more efficient, green, productive, connected. With every new gadget we introduce into our lives, so expands our daily soundscape.”

“In Pursuit of Silence explores the implications of this for a hunter-gatherer species that has been conditioned for over a million years to react instinctively to sudden, loud events. In the midst of all this we struggle to hear ourselves think, imagine and connect with ourselves. And what possibilities lie in silence, when we are given room to think, reflect and imagine? These are some of the questions that lay at the heart of my inquiry into silence.”

Images available on request.

To download press materials for the film, click here: http://www.cinemaguild.com/theatrical/ipos_press.htm

Ends

Quiet Mark Press contacts Liberate Media Lloyd Gofton – +44 (0) 7919 353484; Email: lloyd@liberatemedia.com Catherine Goddard – +44 (0) 7720 635048; Email: catherine@liberatemedia.com Justine Holman – +44 (0) 7808 608416; Email: justine@liberatemedia.com

About Quiet Mark In our stressful lives, we are surrounded by a cacophony of sound that we have little power to stop. The louder the noise around us, the more energy we waste to overcome it, and it is getting worse day by day. If we don’t do something about this soon, our ability to hear the subtle sounds around us will disappear. Quiet Mark has embarked on a journey to transform the situation, to create a demand for the use of quieter technology in our homes, workplace and outdoor environments.

Quiet Mark, associated with the Noise Abatement Society charity, sprang from the response to public complaints received b

Source: RealWire

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from JournalsLINE http://journalsline.com/2017/06/19/uks-quiet-mark-comes-to-america-alongside-the-premiere-of-documentary-film-in-pursuit-of-silence/ from Journals LINE https://journalsline.tumblr.com/post/162006550965