#brittain's voice for some reason just

[dolokhoded]

say what you want about great comet and its flaws as an adaptation but i will NOT be taking criticism on the FACT that it has the best casting.

[my-darling-boy]

What’s the main thing you find yourself liking about WW1 over WW2?

I’m often asked this, as it happens, since people find it odd I have a high preference for learning about one over the other and especially since I’m fiercely anti-war.

This is the main reason why I study WWI.

Sure I like the niche period male affection and the surrounding era, and I hate this it’s just an ad for a corporation, but this will ALWAYS ultimately summarise why I favour my studies towards WWI.

In WWI, there was no real enemy, only those fabricated by corrupt men in power. A good majority soon realised they had no reason to fight and yet were forced to. Horror had been experienced at such a magnitude by mass quantities of people for the first time that they could see war itself like a caricature, this raw and horrific hyperbole, and know to feel fear towards it, and know that to feel that fear was human. It was a needless and unjustifiable conflict that saw the manipulation of society and acted as a catylist to further the endless cycle of violence and abuse of political power; it played a critical role in desensitising the modern world to cruelty and pointless death. And it’s heartbreaking to know what people endured on all sides.

I’m fascinated by human connection and the power of kindness and love—and like I mentioned in another ask—learning about the war which forever altered our modern ways of experiencing and mirroring that deep and nurturing connection teaches us what horrible things happen when it is severed or lost because of fear, and why it is SO IMPORTANT to have empathy and avoid war at all costs.

Reading accounts of the Christmas Truce moves me so profoundly each time I always cry. Unity, kindness, and love is inherent in some way shape or form to all human beings before cruel men in power order that humanity to be stripped from us and be replaced by weapons and lies.

WWI makes me so upset because I can feel the fleeting humanity like an unnamed song on the wind haunting the fingers on triggers and drifting through the trenches steeped with gas and among beautiful embodiments of life now laying motionless and scattered across stretches of mud. It was still there, always there, the loving energy that links one human being to another, and would have had millions of men all throw down their weapons, but war drowned out the unified metaphorical hymn with machine guns, shells, and threats of imprisonment or execution. I believe what kind acts like those shown on Christmas Day 1914 between all who were affected by the war were the last notes in a song of compassion now lost to time, like a last goodbye before one fades away into the darkness. And even when this tune resurfaces in future conflicts, it’s all the more sorrowful because its presence reminds us that it continues to be forgotten and continues to grow weaker as time goes on.

It brings me to tears to think about the amount of boys behind guns and bayonets still hearing the melody and feeling so terrified of what punishment would await them if they gave in and stood down that they felt forced to ignore it. To think of the friends, secret lovers, and brothers each man held in their arms as they watched their lives slipping away knowing pieces of metal and promises of false glory would never bring their loved ones back. To think of the terror one must have felt to breathe poison gas or see a body mauled by a machine gun before knowing of such things’ existence. To think of the 15 year old child who was blindfolded against a post and shot because he was afraid of guns. It absolutely SHATTERS my heart.

In one fell swoop, universal respect and care for human lives was truly changed forever among the masses. And it still drives me to tears, looking at their faces, their stories, their graves, listening to their voices, standing below their names no one even bothers to stare up at anymore.... because I can see all too well, framed perfectly, plainly, and concisely before me the remains of a lost generation whose desperate grip on humanity was destroyed in one blow. And that generation who can no longer speak for itself is constantly twisted by conservatives on political platforms today to fit their hate-charged agenda or to serve as a false symbol of their nonexistent empathy, i.e. they wear poppies when they couldn’t give less of a damn about anyone who died and would gladly start a war if they could

“Lest we forget”, “remember them”, “never forget”.... these words have no meaning if we don’t truly know what they stand for. Not for their “sacrifice” or empty honour, not for boasting toxic nationalism or power in violence, not for disgusting imperialists, but for their ghosts in all their youth or ardency and laughter to remind us of what life was lost and what price we truly paid when we created hideous machines and monsters to permanently silence the nameless song which connects us all.

Too much research at one time gives me panic attacks, handling my genuine helmet makes my chest tight, writing about it gets me choked up more often than I wish to tell. I’m actually petrified of both gas and guns! And yet despite all the heartbreak and nightmares I am constantly subject to, I feel that if I can’t immerse myself in learning about it or the surrounding time period, I feel “lost”. That era plays such a part in my life and interests that it would be a deal breaker for me in a relationship if my partner didn’t care about the war or had no interest in the Edwardians. It also ties in to other interests of mine like the women’s rights movement during the Edwardian era, early 20th century LGBTQ+ community and views towards such following the Wilde Trials, the changing of male affection, learning to identify the ways in which conservative and insensitive Western values damage the world, and, as of course I’ll always recommend it, Testament of Youth, one of my favourite books, which is the memoir of feminist, pacifist, and former WWI VAD nurse, Vera Brittain.

In short, the way I feel about WWI actually overshadows the way I really feel about any other period in history. And I have a number of reasons I can’t get into learning about WWII, but I won’t get into them now :’) Main difference is: they’re both equally devastating in their own ways, but WWI sadness just Hits Differently and I’m more drawn to learn about that type of sadness? I hope I even described this all right??

Thanks for the interesting ask!

[musicalexplanations]

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

A song-by-song explanation of The Great Comet!

Broadway Recordings Spotify Link

Lyrics

Cast members are listed as those in the Broadway recordings!

Prologue: this song is almost exactly as it sounds. A prologue. It sets the stage for the rest of the musical. It’s sung by the whole cast, with introductions to each of the main characters, including Pierre, Natasha, Andrey, Sonya, Marya, Anatole, Hélène, Dolokhov, Bolkonsky, Mary, and Balaga. It goes like this:

Pierre (Josh Groban): Pierre is the sad guy who basically narrates the whole thing. Natasha (Denée Benton): Natasha is the main character. She is engaged to Andrey, who is away, fighting in the war. She goes by Natasha, Natalie, Natalya, etc. Andrey (Nicholas Belton): Andrey is the man Natasha is engaged to. He’s away fighting the war. Sonya (Brittain Ashford): Sonya is Natasha’s cousin and closest friend. Marya (Grace McLean): Marya is Natasha’s strict godmother. Anatole (Lucas Steele): Anatole is a major playa.  Hélène (Amber Gray): Hélène is married to Pierre. She is also Anatole’s sister. She’s a slut (as labeled by this song). Dolokhov (Nick Choski): Dolokhov is Anatole’s good friend. Bolkonsky (Nicholas Belton): Bolkonsky is Andrey and Mary’s father. He is old and rude. Mary (Gelsey Bell): Mary is Bolkonsky’s daughter, Andrey’s sister, and Natasha’s future sister-in-law. Balaga (Paul Pinto): He is literally just for fun. He’s just there. He drives a troika for part of the musical.

Pierre: This song is mostly just here to introduce Pierre a little more. The gist of it is that he’s sad and rich and lonely and drunk most of the time. He feels guilty that his friend Andrey is off fighting the war and he’s sitting at home wallowing in his wealth. 

Moscow: While Natasha waits for Andrey to return home from the war, her and her cousin Sonya go to stay with Natasha’s godmother Marya in Moscow. This song is basically just Marya welcoming Natasha and Sonya to Moscow. Marya also has a conversation with Natasha about how Bolkonsky doesn’t like that Andrey is engaged to Natasha, but if Natasha can make a good impression on Mary that all will be well. 

The Private and Intimate Life of the House: This is a look at what goes on in the Bolkonsky household while others aren’t around. The elder Bolkonsky is kind of a meanie, not gonna lie. It’s obvious that Bolkonsky definitely does not like Natasha right from the start, just like Marya predicted. Mary feels bad about her father’s declining mental state.

Natasha & Bolkonskys: This song is the initial meeting between Natasha and the Bolkonskys. From the very start, both parties do not like each other. Founded in jealousy and outdated prejudices, Natasha and Mary fight. There is some BEAUTIFUL dissonance between Natasha and Mary which is some really fun tone painting in the actual music. Also mentioned: Bolkonsky meeting Natasha in his underwear because he does not feel like she deserves the privilege of seeing him fully clothed. 

No One Else: In my opinion, this is THE song of the musical. After Natasha is finished meeting the Bolkonsky family, she longs to see Andrey. It’s a pure and elegant song of love and longing and it’s stunning melody will make you feel just like the lovesick girl that Natasha really is. 

The Opera: Natasha and Sonya go to the opera and everyone is shocked at the presence of two pretty girls in Moscow. Here we’re introduced to Dolokhov, Anatole, and  Hélène. Natasha is instantly impressed with Anatole and it’s obvious he’s impressed with her. 

Natasha & Anatole: This song is about Natasha and Anatole’s first meeting. Anatole invites Natasha to a costume ball that’s happening and there’s obvious attraction. Enough said. 

The Duel: This song is a bit confusing, but it’s basically a fight (duel, hence the name of the song) between Pierre and Dolokhov over Pierre’s wife Hélène. Hélène and Pierre are having marital problems (but let’s be real, when are they not?) and Dolokhov gets involved in the wrong moment. In a gunfight, Pierre fires a gunshot at Dolokhov and hits him, although not fatally. People leave the room, and come back in, and eventually it’s Anatole telling Hélène how infatuated he is with Natasha. Hélène tells him (in true slut-Hélène fashion) that he’d better wait until she’s married. He ends the song by proposing he ask her to dinner.

Dust and Ashes: This song is sung by Pierre, a lamentation of how depressing his life is. It ends on a positive note, however, with Pierre committing to making his life better. 

Sunday Morning: Natasha longs to see Andrey and Marya takes Natasha to church with her. Natasha, Sonya, and Marya talk bad about Bolkonsky after church is over.

Charming: This song is sung mostly by Hélène and a little bit by Natasha. Here, Hélène convinces Natasha to attend a costume ball at her house that night. (She definitely WASN’T commissioned to ask Natasha to the ball by her brother Anatole ;) )

The Ball: Here is Natasha and Anatole’s first ‘real’ date. It is, namely, at the costume ball held at Hélène and Anatole’s house. Natasha and Anatole kiss, say I love you, blah blah blah UNTIL Natasha mentions her engagement to Andrey. Anatole pushes it aside and they pledge their undying devotion to each other (despite only having had one real conversation).

Letters: This song is performed in almost the same manner as Prologue, with the whole cast on the main part and solos given to the main characters. Natasha struggles, starting and restarting a letter to Andrey over and over throughout the song. Anatole writes a love letter to Natasha and convinces her that he loves her. The song ends with Natasha falling asleep as Sonya arrives and reads Anatole’s letter. 

Sonya & Natasha: This song is a conversation between Natasha and the only true voice of reason in her life at the moment, Sonya. Natasha is ecstatic to hear that Sonya read Anatole’s letter, as she feels that she has hid her love for Anatole for far too long. Sonya, being reasonable, says ‘girl, you’ve only known this guy for three days, you can’t possibly be in love with him,’ and Natasha counters with ‘well it FEELS like I’ve known him for a hundred years’. Sonya has to make the decision between saving Natasha from the mistake of marrying Anatole but losing her friend, or keeping her friend but allowing her to make the mistake of marrying Anatole. The song ends with Natasha sending a letter to Mary, breaking off her engagement to Andrey. 

Sonya Alone: This song is sung by Sonya (alone), really as a type of platonic love song to Natasha. She is committed to protecting Natasha, even if Natasha will never say her name again. 

Preparations: This is an important song. It starts off with a conversation between Pierre and Anatole. Anatole tells Pierre that he and Natasha plan on eloping in Poland. HOWEVER, Pierre calls Anatole a fool, as he is already married. On the day that Sonya plans to save Natasha from this mistake, Anatole and Dolokhov plan to kidnap Natasha before Sonya can get to her. Dolokhov, however, starts to think a little more, and talks about the risks of the plan, including but not limited to: the fact that Anatole is married, the potential of the elopement not being valid, etc, all of which Anatole blatantly IGNORES. The song ends with the arrival of the troika driver, Balaga. 

Balaga: This song is really just for fun. A conversation between Anatole, Dolokhov, and Balaga on the way to go get Natasha. 

The Abduction: Here is where the aforementioned abduction plan takes place. Well, almost takes place. Anatole and Dolokhov are blocked from entering the house by the heroic Marya.

In My House: Marya is upset. Understandably, I would say. Despite the reason, Natasha is upset that Marya got in between her and Anatole, and sits by the window, waiting for her love to return. 

A Call to Pierre: This song is a conversation between Pierre and Marya, where they fill each other in on all the gaps in their collective knowledge. The biggest bombshell that is dropped is that Anatole is already married. Marya suggests that Andrey may be killed after a duel between him and Anatole when Andrey returns home from the war. 

Find Anatole: Here, everyone is looking for Anatole, Anatole is looking for Natasha, and Marya tells Natasha that Anatole is married. Hélène wants to have a conversation with Pierre, but he refuses, knowing that she was, at least in part, a piece of the relationship between Anatole and Natasha. The song ends at the beginning of a conversation between Pierre and Anatole. 

Pierre & Anatole: Pierre and Anatole fight over how Anatole has treated Natasha, mostly in that he is already married and planned to also marry Natasha. Pierre basically threatens Anatole, telling him to leave Moscow and never make contact with Natasha again. Anatole ends up leaving for Petersburg. 

Natasha Very Ill: This is sung by Sonya, telling of how Natasha has poisoned herself with arsenic. She told Sonya what she did and became very ill. The doctors gave her the antidote and she’ll be fine, but it’s still upsetting to Sonya, as she hates seeing Natasha this weak, and she dreads the return of Andrey. 

Pierre & Andrey: Andrey finally makes an appearance! He has returned from the war and this song is showing his reunion with Pierre. Pierre updates him on the status of Natasha and Andrey states that he cannot ask for Natasha’s hand in marriage again. 

Pierre & Natasha: Pierre comes over to Marya’s house to deliver the news to Natasha, that Andrey is not going to ask for her hand in marriage again, and to return his letters. She begs Pierre to ask Andrey’s forgiveness through him, and doesn’t expect anything from him, just hopes for him to forgive her. Pierre reveals that, in another life, he would ask for her hand in marriage. Having cleared the air, Pierre and Natasha both end the conversation on a positive and almost joyful note. 

The Great Comet of 1812: Pierre walks out of Marya’s house, onto the street to see the Great Comet of 1812 passing in the night sky above. For most people, they believed the comet to be a sign of the end of the world, but Pierre took it as a new beginning, a sign to finally start living life honestly. 

BONUS - The Epilogue: A hopeful ending (added later) to a dramatic story.

[smarti-at-smogwarts]

The Venturi Family

I wanted to make a post about my MC’s family, since their reactions to some parts of the gameplay have been noodling around in my brain. Only the immediate family though. 

Jacob Derek Venturi

FC Michael Seater 

Jacob was the first born son of Abigail Rowle and George Venturi, and the older brother of Edwin and Marti Venturi. He was the one out of his siblings to spend the most time with his parents together and while their separation was hard for him to deal with at first he started noticing his mother was in a better mood and overall better to be around after the separation.  Jacob was four years old when his little brother Edwin was born and ten years old when Marti was born, as such his relationships with them were different. With Edwin they were more brothers than anything and often he teased him as much as played with him and bossed him around. Marti however due to him being younger and their parents separating when she was still in diapers he became much more a doting older brother. He did however care about and was protective of both his siblings. 

He had a good relationship with his parents though he was a bit closer to his father because of him keeping custody of him and his siblings. Abby visited and kept him for weekends so overall he was fairly affectionate and close to both of them. He knew he could get away with more with his father since out of the two, he was a bit more lax in parenting and could often take advantage of that though  since the separation was civil they tended to stick together when he was -inevitably- punished for something [ ‘’why can’t you not get along like most divorced parents..yeah i know grounded.’’]

Personality-wise Jacob was charismatic and outgoing, which gained him a lot of friends wherever he went. Having been an only child for four years and then still the eldest, and been born to fairly young parents  who could be said to be a bit soft on him, he grew up with the mentality that he could get get away with things if he just figured out how to get what he wanted. He was sneaky and a bit snarky and was known for pulling pranks and getting in trouble but it was mostly kid stuff..until his alleged involvement with [Redacted] after his disappearance came through. He was known in his time at school as an affable and charismatic kid,  if a bit known for getting Howlers and well acquainted with the detention process.

Due to how long he has been missing. ( he was sixteen when he went missing and would have been twenty one as of Marti’s first year.)  The case of his disappearance has more or less gone cold. 

George Antonio Venturi

FC:  John Ralston 

gif by yours truly 

George works as an wizard attorney. He’s an alumni of Hufflepuff house and married one of his closest friends ( Abigail) straight out of Hogwarts. This was done partly so that Abigail could escape an incredibly toxic home. However, if you asked him he’d say at the time he did love her. 

It became apparent however as time passed ( and three children were born) their marriage seemed to become strained. They separated with George keeping custody of the kids. 

Due to his own strict upbringing, he has a very lax style of parenting, often trying to be their kids friend as well as parent: ( More so with Jacob than Ed and Marti since Jacob caught him younger) an approach he also takes with his step children.  While this can often catch him criticism there’s no question his children adore him. 

He was really close to his son Jacob and losing him was absolutely devastating to him. If it wasn’t for his other two kids he might as well not have been able to keep going. 

His dating and marriage to Nora was something he was hesitant about ( not in the least because there were children involved on both sides but also because of how badly losing his son had hit him)  but it  has helped him move forward after all the grief he experienced.

Abigail Leticia Rowle

FC :  Amy Adams

Abigail comes from a highly extremist and toxic family. The Rowles affiliated with Voldemort during the first wizarding war and had very high expectations of the children of their house. For Abigail, Hogwarts was an escape; one that she knew wouldn’t last long as she would have to leave upon graduation. This is something that she knows influenced her decision to marry one of her best friend from Hogwarts who ( as a pureblood wizard) was also acceptable for her family and so wouldn’t bring retribution for them.

There’s no doubt she loved George but as time passed she realized she was’t happy. She had spent all her life in survival mode due to her parents and now that she was out she was starting to realize how much it influenced her decision. She loved her children, but she slowly realized she could not be a good parent to them in the state she was in. 

She separated from George ( after making sure her family could not contact her about  it) and more or less gave him full custody of their 3 kids with her doing visits to spend time with them. 

Her friendship with George survived this and they were still friends as exes and able to coparent ( though undoubtedly George did more as he had full custody, this was okay with both of them) However, Jacob’s disappearance put a strain in it neither one has been able to mend. Like George, Abby blames herself for how things with Jacob turned out and when things were at their worst they couldn’t help but project that blame to each other. She still visits Ed and Marti but her interactions with George are much more brief and cold. 

Edwin Alphonse Venturi 

FC : Chris Wood

Jacob and Marti’s middle sibling and George and Abby’s middle child. Edwin was born when Jacob was 4-5 and is also 4-5 years older than Marti ( so is in his 5th year as of her first year and graduates after her second year) He’s a Ravenclaw and a foil to his extroverted outgoing little sister. Edwin is  much more likely to be found buried in books than around people. Due to Jacob’’s loss ( which happened in when he was 10-11)  and how much it affected him he is fiercely protective of his family. ( which Marti sometimes finds annoying though she is just as protective of him even if it shows less/differently ) 

He and Marti have a very “dork” “brat” relationship though they also have each other’s back unconditionally as they share the title of “Jacob’s sibling”

Unlike Marti tough, the wants to move on from Jacob and all the pain it caused him and as the game progresses is likely to react Badly to her thinking she can find him. Their beliefs about Jacob and reactions to his disappearance and rumors thereafter are already a strain between them as of year one. (Considering Plot happens from then on it’s safe to say it’ll only grow. )

10 facts about Edwin

Elizabeth  Blair -Lizzie- Mcdonald

FC: Jordan Todosey

Lizzie is a Hufflepuff and also Marti and Edwin’s step sister and George’s step daughter. She is Nora’s youngest daughter and how Nora met George. She’s the only witch in her family and became best friends with Edwin shortly after their  families blended ( actually George and Nora met Because they were both school shopping and Nora looked understandably lost ) She also has a pretty good big sister/little sister relationship with Marti. She’s in Edwin’s year and like him will have graduated as of Marti’s second year. 

Lizzie’s the embodiment of Hufflepuff’s traits of kindness and tolerance ( and patience, enough to befriend Edwin at his angriest) .She’s supportive of her family and friends and tends to be the voice of reason for whichever sibling she’s with. Her two main loves are animals and quiditch. She plays as a beater for the Hufflepuff team. She also has enough pets ( both magical and not) George jokingly got her zoo sign to put on her bedroom door. ( Marti liking snakes is absolutely her influence) She’s likely to wind up working in Magizoology. 

Nora Jean Mcdonald.

FC: Emily Deschanel 

The stepmother to Edwin and Marti Venturi and wife to George Venturi. Nora was introduced to the magical world when her youngest daughter turned 12 and received her Hogwarts letter. She started dating George when Edwin and Lizzie were 13 and Marti was 8. She adores her husband and his kids and from the get-go made a point to treat them as her own. 

Cassandra Imogen Mcdonald 

FC: Cassidy Freeman 

Nora’s first daughter. Her mother married George Venturi when she was 17-18. Went to an all girls school while her sister went to Hogwarts. As such she doesn’t have much interaction with the magical world or her stepsiblings, though she was exposed to it before moving out of her parent’s house. She does keep in touch with them though even if she’s more distant. She lives with her girlfriend Emily Davis ( fc Madeleine Mantock)  in muggle Brittain. She cares a lot about her mom and little sister, and is happy they have people to help them through everything that comes from navigating the magical world. 

Pets 

Ozzie the Owl

Ozzy belonged to Jacob and was named after a musician he liked.  After Jacob’s disappearance he was almost given away by a grief stricken George but was saved by Edwin. He resides with Edwin in Ravenclaw tower and is for all intents and purposes his owl. 

Mickey the Snake

Mickey is a grass snake ( a smooth snake specifically) that was found hurt by Marti on one of her visits to her mother. After he was nursed back to health Marti decided to keep him. He lives in Marti’s room. Marti’s very attached to him. 

Ignoring Lizzie’s pets because as said before that would take a whole nother post.

[kurtty-drabbles]

I'll be waiting in the shadow of the sun. (Evil Wizard AU)

@djinmer4  @dannybagpipesarecalling @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336 N/A: I love this Evil Wizard and I was thinking of putting a new form of Swan au here. Ok, explanation, in this AU many magical animals can turn into humans as they pleased(look at the boto, a Brazilian legend) as they are considering having far too high magical levels, yet, Kitty does not trust people to know about her past or this little fact as many magical animals have been prey to greedy of humans. Again, she has the conscience of a human and animal at the same time. She´s a magical(and sacred) animal.

Captain Britain is not sure about making deals a necromancer, no, he´s unsure about making deals with a man like this. The man is a leecher and charges far too much. And has the arrogant smile on his face as if knowing Excalibur can´t do anything unless they want Hellfire to win.

Meggan frowns at the Necromancer and even morphs to a bear warrior, the necromancer does not seem to mind as his eyes travel to Rachel who is gross-out (“you don´t have the right parts to attract my attention”) and before goes to Cerise. A new voice pipes in.

“WAIT” the other members look at Kitty in confusion “I can do it” Captain Brain looks confused as Meggan and the others go to talk to Kitty, ignoring the Necromancer for a solid minute.

“Shadowcat, can do it?” Cerise is a new member and does not know much about Kitty.

“Kiddo, you don´t need to do this, that man "Rachel look at Kurt who may or may not be hearing the conversation amused ” is gross, please don´t do this"

“What? No, I ´m not going to sleep with him. I can destroy the coup or at least, I can stop its power” Captain Brian and Meggan have questions and all Kitty offers as a reply “ when I use such ability It makes me weaker and you all know how I hate this…” Gloriana seems to understand the message “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I don´t want. I need to do it” Kitty offers this as a response and even mentioned that once she does it, Excalibur will have one shoot to stop Hellfire. It´s decided.

“Necromancer, we don´t need you, It seems you have some better” Cerise unwisely told and now the man is not so amused. Stalking towards the team, either to ask or intimidate them, fails as Kitty grab his robes forcing his golden eyes to meet with her does eyes. They are on the same eye level.

“Thank you for the hospitality, maybe, in the future, we can make deals, for now, see you later, Oh evil Necromancer,” she said sarcastically and let the man go as the team leaves.

Kurt would laugh and call it a day, except, Logan after a few days saying their mission was a total success. “Poor Kitty, she uses too much magic and is still resting” and Kurt now demands to know more about this woman. Only Kurt can destroy the coup …as he is the one who created.

________________________________________________________________________

Excalibur is fated to meet him again. And this proves to be true as in their next mission, Kurt is there as well. Magneto pays a good amount of gold for Kurt to kill Maximilian(“A very long and complex family´s story”) as Excalibur receive a mission to assassinate the king´s consort for political reasons.

Kurt is a bit shock to see only Kitty to be set in such mission, for a moment, Kurt thought in berate Captain Brittain. How dare he sends such petite woman to a mission as dangerous as that, yet, the woman does not seem scared.

“Well, since we are going to kill different people, there´s no reason for us to be hostile, Hello, Necromancer” Kitty waves at him. Kurt only realizes why she was chosen for this mission as Kitty, in order to enter the city of Maximilian, have to take all her weapons and…how such a petite woman can carry such weapons.

As Kurt kills Maximilian there´s a sense of surprise and shock to know Kitty already did that and was waiting for him.

“You take a while, old man, but, is ok. Let´s hope our next meeting is nicer than that” Kitty then waves goodbye at Kurt who is dumbfounded. A simple intimidation tactic and Kurt found out Kitty has the best record on assassinations than all X-men…not even Logan.

And she destroyed my coup. Who are you, Kitty Pryde?

_________________________________________________________________________Their next meeting was purely by accident. Kitty returns to his place asking for help, not minding the zombies or animals there(no, Kurt saw, she was morbidly fascinated by that, how…odd)

“Kurt! came with me, the X-men need your help” Kitty has urgency in her voice and Kurt is feeling a bit petty. “Are sure you need my help? Last time you did manage fine on your own”

If the idea was to make Kitty beg or even ask “nicely” to Kurt, the plan fails to flatter, as Kitty once again grab his scarlet robes and look into his eyes(soul, for a moment, Kurt is sure she´s looking at his soul)“Listen here, you daughter Talia is a member of the X-men and Selene along with Blop are ready to kill all of them along with my friends, you´re evil and old as dirty to know they won´t be kind to an enemy, so, move your butt and go save them now” Kitty is practically growling like a wild beast and Kurt never  meet anyone like her.

Of course, this can wait, as Kurt has to save his daughter. Selene did have a bad day along Blop. Kitty is healing some of the most injured ones. She puts Talia´s head on her lap and removes the venom of her body.

The ones around mentioned they never saw such technic before. Talia opens her eyes, a bit confused and fearful and looking at Kitty only says “Oh, an angel! please take pity of my soul” and kissed Kitty´s neck as she´s back to sleep.

“This is normal, the antidote makes the people go a bit crazy? that´s the word? the last person tries to bite me” Kitty confirms. Salamander, her brother, was out with the others members of X-men and is now thanking Kitty for saving his sister “thank your evil asshole father, not me, my powers wouldn´t be enough against Selene”

_______________________________________________________________________

After that, Kurt makes his mission to know who this woman is and have her on his side. The few times watching her doing magic…her magic is different from everyone else, including him, sometimes the words of his daughter come to play"an angel" No, that´s just a myth. Said looking to the nearest temple of Zaorva.

Ok, let´s work with this hypothesis if she´s an angel. What does she want?

____________________________________________________________________-

“Katzchen!” Kurt greets and Kitty stops her chores to greet him, waving at the same way as always. Does she want to fly? Is Excalibur forcing her to work for them? No, her magic is far too superior for that and they don´t like slavery. “What are the odds to meet you here?”

“Doing chores? Pretty high, now, meet you doing chores that are not common, I always picture you as making your dumb and vile …animals work for you” her face change when she said that and for a moment she feels ashamed of herself “I don´t like them and I know they would hurt me and some did in the past, yet, I can´t help to feel bad for saying that”

“Why?”

“They did hurt in the past, but, they are just hungry” her response makes him even more confused “Katzchen, my animals wouldn´t attack anyone without my saying so”

“I know, that happens before you meet the wolf”

Now Kurt wants answers.________________________________________________________________________

Talia invites Excalibur to her birthday party and Kurt is invited out of fear. The man notices Kitty looking at the swan sculpture of ice and has a disturbing smile as Bobby is showing off his skills with ice.

“Oh, you just drawn the blind swan perfectly, Bobby, the blind swan was a creature cursed by God to never be able to see beauty and in such state, as many swans would feel, it breaks his mind and the blind swan starts to collect eyes, human eyes, like yours, Bobby” Kitty has such evil smile and Kurt is loving the expression.

(A petite woman smiling like that gets 100% more attractive)

“That´s…not funny” spoken Bobby believing in her words. “is not a real…”

“Oh, but it, "Kurt joins the conversation "The blind swan is real and likes pretty eyes, Bobby, someone ever told you had pretty eyes” Bobby run for his life. Now, Kurt whisper in her ear kindly “Is the blind swan related to you?”

“…sort of”

“Are you turned into a human or you are one of them?”

“The latter option” and adds “you won´t control me

"I don´t control you, I want you” Kurt stated wisely and Kitty blushes wondering how her heart is beating like that.“Keep trying”

“I´ll, Katzchen”

[recommendedlisten]

Year-end list season may have concluded on this end, but that doesn't mean you need to stop discovering. We're fortunate enough to be living in a time where there's no shortage of great music to be heard, and as much as this one-human operation tries to stay atop of properly recognizing it all, the reality is that there isn't always enough time and brain space to let everything that comes out sink in fully before December rolls around. The release calendar is finally slowing down its gears until the ball drops on 2019, however, and probably won't be in full operation until February (although this time last year definitely kept these final few weeks on its toes...,) so if you haven't already, give listen to these 10 recommended albums from 2018's final quarter. Whether you're looking for that winter magic of the solstice sky brings, or just something to cozy up next to indoors, these make for good company as cold darkness slowly fades to warm light. Adrianne Lenker - abysskiss [Saddle Creek]

Though we know her voice best as the fronthuman of Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker’s career as a solo artist precedes that of her folk-faceted indie rock band by a couple of years. abysskiss is her second album under her own name alone, and it gets to the foundation of her skill, pointing directly to many of the fascinating details we hear spindled out by six strings and her lyrics set to pen even if the gentle hum of electricity isn’t in supply to reverberate between the walls of the room..For that reason, this collection of songs feels more intimately constructed from Lenker’s creation even if the stories she weaves from words and ornate arpeggio lean more heavily into symbolic prose and transcending timelines. That Lenker allows emotion to lead the way of abysskiss’ sound around the room without having to commit to anything of the concrete world makes it no less a wonder from one of the craftiest songwriting hands of the now. AFI - The Missing Man EP [Concord Music Group]

In the 27 years that AFI have been a band, one thing that hasn’t escaped the SoCal punk scene flag-bearers is there insatiable thirst to draw new blood, and their latest effort, the The Missing Man EP is evidence of that. It’s their first release in the extended play format since their days of the phoenix rising as underground darlings on Nitro Records, and suits what they’re trying to get across here perfectly in the short amount of time they have to do so. Across five songs, they pressurize their brand of hook-heavy pop-punk with a restless energy (”Trash Bat”, “Get Dark”,) experiment with textures of emo and post-hardcore (”Back Into the Sun”) as well as heavy and soft goth rock theatrics (”Break Angels”, “The Missing Man”.) Davey Havok’s vocals, be it wailing on edge or caressing every corner with a kiss of death, feels right at home in any setting, while guitarist Jade Puget, drummer Adam Carson and bassist Hunter Bergeron get equal time in AFI’s dark spotlight to showcase their contributions, in gut-wrenching rhythm and razor sharp scales. At this stage, should we be considering the possibility that AFI are ageless vampires? Antarctigo Vespucci - Love In the Time of E-mail [Polyvinyl Records]

DIY scene heroes Jeff Rosenstock and Chris Farren came together as Antarctigo Vespucci five years ago in a Brooklyn apartment following the end of their own respective punk bands, and only knew that they shared similar ethos and a love of rawking out without much of an ulterior motive to it other than building community and art. A lot has happened in each of their lives as far as solo careers go in the years since, but having found their way back together with their third full-length effort Love In the Time of E-mail, a combination of knowing themselves better, knowing each other better, and just straight up being better at what they do has easily made this the duo’s most memorable effort yet. The thing with these two is that they’re both so great at writing a timeless hook , regardless of whether they’re bashing it into the ground or letting it ride out on a new wave of synthesizer keyboards, while their lyrics have a way of becoming basement anthems being screamed into the late hours of the night by a generation living their experiences of (dis)connection right along with them. It’s only fitting that Love In the Time of E-Mail finds a home as its first for Polyvinyl Records as well, seeing as though one thing about the indie label’s legacy are releases like this that warm the soul with the way they’re cobbled together with pure homegrown emotion. Basement - Beside Myself [Fueled By Ramen]

Seeing how far Basement have come this year as a band has been one of the more remarkable, yet less talked about stories in the rock underground. The Ipswich, England emo rockers were a darling of the scene on the indie label Run for Cover Records, where they released their first three full-lengths, and while their efforts there promised everything you could hope for in a collision of dreamy, melodic drifts, grungy riffs, and sky-soaring anthems, it’s Beside Myself, their major label debut for Fueled By Ramen, that has brought them from the, er, basement, to the main stage as the opening act for scene bearers Weezer and the Pixies with their forthcoming spring tour. It’s fitting, too, as Beside Myself carries with it a perfect balance of radio-friendly hooks and polished arena production (credit the big band board hands of Colin Brittain and Rich Costey for that look...) reminiscent of Jimmy Eat World during in their mainstream breakout without abandoning any of the coming-of-age tales their listeners grew up alongside with. Drug Church - Cheer [Pure Noise Records]

Drug Church have been around for the better part of this decade, but it’s on their third studio effort Cheer where it looks like more people are finally paying attention to the band as being something more than just a sideshow for its lead singer. That would be the always provocative punk lifer Patrick Kindlon, a prolific scene creator known primarily for his time in the cult experimental punk collective Self Defense Family, a.k.a. your favorite band’s favorite band. What’s probably the greater part of the whole behind Cheer’s hardcore glory is that it’s the Drug Church’s most focused album yet, with its production embossing the details of grungy static and ripples of synths in between all the way to the front, as Kindlon’s vocals reign in their aggression with a hook-heavy savviness  that puts the quintet on the same plane of perfection as their subterranean guitar heroes in the ilk of Seaweed and Sugar. Top it off with Kindlon’s acid tongue sing-talking social commentaries of the modern social conscience, and Cheer makes a resounding noise. Kelly Moran - Ultraviolet [Warp Records]

If you’re looking for your own musical equivalent of the Northern Lights during these winter months, then look no further than those illuminated through the sounds of Ultraviolet, the breakout third studio effort from Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist Kelly Moran. Signed to Warp Records -- the longstanding electronic label that has long been a haven to some of the more esoteric sides in that universe of music -- Moran’s instrumental compositions are an outlier in any of those those worlds, and even the classic ones which she has been schooled under for that matter. At the foundation is her perfecting experiment using the  prepared piano technique while bringing in MIDI effects and synthetic production (in part, by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin) to create one of the more adventurous examples of synesthesia-inducing listens in quite some time. Song titles such as “Water Music” and “Halogen” induce feelings in just the manner that they suggest, bringing the senses to a whole never level with her singular sound. Mister Goblin - The Final Boy EP [Exploding In Sound]

The stammering post-hardcore intellectualism of Two Inch Astronaut has found a suitable afterlife in their demise on The Final Boy, the debut EP from Mister Goblin, b.n.a. the solo project from the now-defunct Baltimore rock band’s frontman Sam Woodring. The intricacy in the way he writes music isn’t lost in his malleable indie rock formula, one which can equally hum melancholy in the vein of Elliott Smith’s folkish finger-picking as much as it can reverberate with strange twists in the static as J Mascis’ pseudo metal theatrics. The substance between each winding time sig and chord progression tells of an internal dialogue between that of a dude finding his footing again in a DIY scene that has (rightfully) shifted from being a bro-down to one that’s finally allowing voices other than that of its male creators to share their experiences (hence the EP’s title The Final Boy.) Woodring reexamines his inventory in a world where hopeful signs of progress are being found, but so are ones where darkness and death still threaten to undo it all as well. In survival mode, he’s finding his way into the light. Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel [RCA Nashville]

Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angeleena Presley are three of the best storytellers in modern country music right now, yet when the three best friends come together as the Pistol Annies, their songwriting takes on a whole new life of its own. Interstate Gospel, the trio’s third effort to date, is their strongest yet, expectantly at that considering Lambert, Monroe and Presley only keep getting better at what they do individually (Monroe, for instance, put one of the year’s best country albums in Sparrow...) That they’ve each given themselves caricaturized nicknames (”Lone Star Annie”, “Hippie Annie”, and “Holler Annie”) isn’t just for show either, as they’re certified extensions of each musician’s personality in being part fact and mostly part fiction which helps dole out some relatable, small town tales filled that are either full of whip-smart humor or the desperate empathy for their fellow women. Maybe there’s some truths to be revealed about the three in those stories, too. The mark of a true wordsmith is making you wonder so... Super Unison - Stella [Deathwish Inc.]

There isn’t a piece of the puzzle that is out of place with Super Unison. The trio -- which features vocalist Meghan O’Neil, formerly of PUNCH, drummer Justin Renninger, a remnant of emo act Snowing, and former Dead Seeds guitarist Kevin Defranco -- went into the studio with alternative engineer great Steve Albini and Deafheaven mixer Jack Shirley to record their sophomore effort Stella, and just as its title might suggest, the listen not only reaches for the sky, but takes you beyond the earth’s atmosphere with their post-hardcore fury. Guitars crackle and whirr through stardust, and their energy is a non-stop cosmic collision as O’Neil cathartically screams into black holes so loudly that they manages to echo right back at her. The aggression is obvious amid its rocky crater surface, yet so is an astounding melodic wind in Super Unison’s aura that radiates beneath candescent moon light even in the coldest, darkest air. Thom Yorke - Suspiria: Music from the Luca Guadagnino Film [XL Recordings]

The soundtrack to Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the 1977 cult horror classic Suspiria is arguably one of those instances where its score bests the actual film itself, and you really don’t even need to see it in order to hear that. Behind the soundtrack is Thom Yorke who has created a haunting cinematic topography that floats through the atmosphere with only fragments of his other lives as the frontman of Radiohead, Atoms for Peace and his own solo work in tact. Though there are moments of mournful, ethereal balladry where Yorke presence is made known, his voice is only but a spectre in the far off distance of an another dimensional plane. What’s more so captivating across his score, however, are in the way Suspiria’s otherworldly elements enter his soundboard through buzzing synths, the breaths of alien beings, and new outlines in electronic experimentation that work perfectly not just to conjure up the film’s supernatural energy, but ones in Yorke’s own self as well.

[cockvengers]

Final Great Comet Notes (2/2)

So as I mentioned in Part 1, I was fortunate enough see Comet on September 2nd (matinee) and September 3rd (closing) with a friend. In Part 1 I covered mostly the 9/2 matinee but there may be a few leftover notes interspersed.

September 3rd:

So first we actually went to the stage door to drop off some candy before the show. We went the day before with baked goods from a local bakery and gave them to Alex Gibson who was super nice.

I usually don’t do pre-show stage door because I don’t necessarily want to interact with people on my way to work but since they prefer you don’t bring food food into the theatre it is what it is.

Lauren was signing things for fans when we got there and since I hadn’t had the chance to give her the drawing I got to do that and she signed my book which was really generous.

One fan had a rose for each cast member that came by and idk if they’ll see this but I thought it was a very classy move.

Moving on, we headed back around to go in only to be stopped by the massive line around the block that would eventually lead into The Imperial

We were in line behind some ladies in their mid-sixties who were complaining about the show closing. It was something I heard a lot of whispers between fans about. Obviously we’re all upset. I could write essays on my feelings about the whys and hows and the disappointment but no one wants to hear it. It led to such a negative atmosphere on what I had hoped would be a going away party of sorts (ala The Abduction)

Luckily we went separate ways once in the theatre and the atmosphere was much improved.

Unlike our stage seats last time we were in the front of the rear mezz (2C) along the aisle closest to the center. It was a few rows forward from where I had seen Comet the first time and I’m fond of that area for that reason.

We had another friend (and their friend) in Row C of the front mezz and said hi to them before the start of the show

When Rachel and Sam came in and sat on the stage there was much applause. We actually missed it them sitting down because we were prepping our drinks

We saw Scott and Celia in the doorway to the mezz before the start of the show and I gave Celia her drawing since I hadn’t been fast enough to yesterday and I know that during normal show days she often leaves early if she’s not on

Andrew gave out dumplings. My friend got one and was kind enough to share with me.

After the warnings it was time for Dave to come out. That was a standing ovation that lasted maybe a minute.

Natasha chases Andrei and there is applause for her entrance.

The Prologue starts and at this point I feel sorry for anyone who hadn’t seen the show. That includes a person behind us. Hopefully you got something out of the show because I’m pretty sure there was no way to figure out who’s who over the applause.

Natasha is Young... *LOUD APPLAUSE*

Sonya is Good... *Applause* The audience hadn’t decided if we planned to applause for everyone at that point so Brittain didn’t get as much applause. We made up for it when she sand Sonya Alone.

After that we had figured it out and we continued to applause for every character

At that point we already could feel the energy in the room. Things were electric.

Brad walked by at some point and sung “everyone has nine different names” and I held up 9 fingers and he nodded.

Literally if there was a spot at the end of a song to applause we were there. By the end of Pierre I already felt like my hands would fall off.

During most of the songs in the first act I really tried to take in the costumes and movement because it would be my last chance.

During Private and Intimate Life Blaine starts to sing in his old man voice and the girl sitting in the banquettes across the aisle from Bolkonsky  waved and he flirted and waved back.

He also was all over the woman he picked to be the “Cheap French Thing”. At least from our angle he looked like he was halfway on top of her.

During No One Else the guy sitting near Denée nodded  at her during “We were angels once. Don’t you remember.”

Was there applause and a standing ovation at the end of No One Else? You know there was.

During The Opera Dolokhov just kind of lets Helene go to Natasha with a shrug like “Kuragins gotta hit on pretty girls” kind of a shrug. He’s used to it.

I always love the black cloaks and candles part of the opera. The whole thing makes no sense

The Duel is always exciting to me because the lights hide some naughtiness. I believe Katrina was dry humped by Cathryn. There were definitely piggyback rides happening on the stage.

Also, I had never realized that Brad wears the same outfit as Sumayya and Cathryn and a few others and tthose shorts... that’s some equality right there.

Also during the Duel Paul did the Denisov lisp that Dave mentions in the book (and I think on the genius) that they had tried but people found distracting. It was subtle until the end.

So, Dust and Ashes got the LONGEST standing ovation during the show. Two minutes by my estimate.

Did Charming get applause? Was the entire audience in love with Amber Gray? You know we did and we are.

I love the Ball. I get distracted watching the ensemble dance.

I loved watching Helene’s glee at when her plan to throw her brother and Natasha together came to fruition.

The Natasha and Anatole kiss was wow. Normally Natasha leans into it but today Denée really took over the kiss.

Act II. Begin Letters. Who do we spot coming to the rear mezz but Kennedy and Celia. We later learned at stage door that stage management approved them to come out and do the second half of the show as additional tracks so they covered the rear mezz during letters. It was outstanding.

The woman who gave Natasha The Letter was there for it. I have never seen someone get on the stage so fast.

Just says “yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssss” was longer than normal

As I said Sonya Alone got major applause. What I forgot to mention was something I noticed during the day before. As Sonya marches off the stage while Dolokhov starts Preparations she is pissed as hell at him.

“Was ruining this family once not enough for you?” her look conveys.

Glad to hear Nick Choksi’s “NO” off mic again when Lucas explaining the argument for the hundredth time.

Balaga. Who got shakers? You know our row did. It was my first time getting a shaker and I was so excited when Brittain handed me the basket.

Our friend in front mezz row C said she had a good feeling about getting shakers and she was right as we all got shakers that night.

Did we singing along? Of course. The entire audience did.

Balaga and the Abduction were a non-stop party. Brittain held my shoulder and comforted a girl across from me who was crying as the ‘Goodbye my g*psy lovers’ portion began.

Anatole’s WOAHHHHHOOOOAHHHHHhhhhHHHHHhhhhHHHH was longer as expected for the final show. Lucas held all his really great notes for as long as possible.

Sometime around here you could hear Lucas trying to hold it together.

When Pierre did his WOAHHH. The audience did a standing ovation. The cast was sweaty as usual. Nick Gaswirth was on the floor in front of the mezz stage door panting. Everyone went all out.

Dave had to motion for us to stop twice before we actually did.

The song continued as usual. As you know the triangle strike was a miss. He hit it in the end.

Also a note from the day before actually being able to see Natasha pour the arsenic into the drink was helpful. The first time I didn’t see that and I thought when she poisoned herself with a “bit” of arsenic it was just a ton of arsenic in the whole glass.

The Petersburg Note was long as expected.

I really liked Blaine’s emphasis on “If you want to be MY FRIEND, Never speak of that AGAIN.”

Natasha and Pierre is wear things started to get awkward. I don’t really cry much over these very emotional things (luckily my friend doesn’t either) so while the audience was sobbing (some of you sobbed loudly) I kind of kept glancing at her for reassurance I wasn’t alone.

The last two songs of Comet are always so hopeful in message despite the melancholy tone and even during it’s closing their beauty fills me with such joy.

Denée was folded over and crying and it took her a little bit to recover. Then you could hear it in Dave’s voice that he was crying. Amber and Grace were both wiping their eyes from the tables.

There was so much love in that theatre at the end.

During bows Paul came out beardless and many I spoke to at stage door commented that they almost thought the beard might not have been real and that Paul was just so committed by doing stage door with it before logic won them over.

Bradley King runs down from the front mezz to make it to the stage.

Or Matias, Rachel Chavkkin, Sam Pinkleton, Badley King, Paloma Young, Mimi Lien, and Nicholas Pope all came on stage for Rachel’s short speech.

Erica Dorfler dame up as well and I saw Paloma Garcia Lee at the stage door at one point but I don’t think I saw her on stage.

Josh was there as well in the banquettes but he kept a low profile and I feel like that was probably the right move given how much hype his appearance would have caused during the show as a whole’s moment.

I was one of the first five or so people out the door from rear mezz and even the people from orchestra were just coming out. Normally that would have put me front row for stage door but today the first row was already full which was a little tragic.

While we were waiting for everyone to come out Sam Pinketon, Paloma Young, and a few others threw shakers at us. I caught one in the opposite color scheme from the one I had gotten from the basket. I was very excited.

Everyone was so kind at stage door. Most everyone who came out signed things. Or Matias, Nicholas Pope, and Paloma Garcia Lee did not but everyone else who is or was involved in the broadway run did.

People had been asking if Josh Groban would sign and they initially said no. Josh’s car was already waiting and everything but he went down the whole line and signed and took photos, etc. which was very nice of him.

I enjoyed talking to everyone and I was able to give out most of the drawings. I only had Brandt, Denée, and Amber left at the end of the night.

Since our friend in the front mezz talks with Nick Choksi every time she sees the show he stopped to talk for a minute or two longer than normal given the line size and I got to ask a very important question about his serving plate spinning while shot pouring skills. He said he came up with it at Ars Nova and asked for something that spins so he could use it to pour the shots. It seems like an important life skill we should all learn

That’s all I got right now (aside from a brilliant side story of what happened in the theatre while we were at stage door but that’s not mine to tell) but I’m sure I’ll think of more and maybe I’ll make a post for that later.

[shotbyafool]

reasons why brent is the most relatable and BEST character in ghost quartet:

edgar yelling “family meeting!” and brent just as a matter of factly saying “family meeting.” to the audience 

“but the falconer’s only in town until the end of festival–”

“uh, if this is just about rose, can I go?”

roxie saying “oh, get over yourself, mom!” and him quietly going “ooooooooh...!” 

the fact that he just deadass stays silent as his seven-year-old sister talks about “crossing over” before calling out their parents and yelling “why don’t you just have another fucking drink and shut the fuck up!”

“when I was poor and lonely / I'd put you in a jelly jar / put you in the pocket of my old trench coat / and sneak you into the bar” is, in fact, a mood.

the way his voice curves and flows during “and if anyone pushes me / I'm gonna push them back / and if anyone pushes me / I'm gonna push them back” 

“WHERE IS MY BROTHER?” “...I’m right here.”

(Brent grunts)

the low gentle vibrations of his voice during The Photograph, somehow both very calming and unsettling at once

the entire Shah section in Bad Men, but especially: “and I'll drink all alone in my room / and I'll cry like a baby / and I'll drink so much I’ll get sick / and I'll lie on the bathroom floor / and I'll drink some more”

the fevered tone with which he sings ”IF YOU CAN LOSE YOUR TEMPER, THEN I CAN LOSE MY MIND!” 

“I am not a murderer, or a crazy person– I just like honey!”

overall just the fact that he made rose go thru several lifetimes to get some various assorted objects (which results in the death of a young girl and the literal murder of another person) when he really just wanted the pot of honey

the frantic and sort of delighted way he says “and the pusher couldn’t help himself...!”

him being silent for the entirety of midnight except for, upon being told that these people also existing in a weird subspace are going to have sisters, thus continuing the cycle of the pearl/rose plotline and making the show truly circular, saying “weird.”

the lowness of his voice. wow.

the general fact that brittain and gelsey are going through all of these wild iterations of themselves and they’re killing each other and loving each other and dave keeps on ending up tied with them as a love interest of some sort, but brent is just kind of just chilling.

[pronouncingitwang]

for the end of year asks, 1, 19, and 23! ily

I love you too; what a coincidence???

1.  Song of the year?

I mean... “Mystery of Love.” We all know it’s “Mystery of Love.” Even aliens who have never heard of Sufjan Stevens have to say it’s “Mystery of Love.” There is no other option.

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

Hmm, okay, I feel like there are more things I’m terrified for next year (college apps and all my current senior friends graduating, here I come), but I am applying to some summer programs that I think I’ll enjoy, and I’m starting my Feminism in the Bible and Women Writers courses next semester, both of which I’m pretty hype about!

23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

Oh, boy, okay, I think it’d mostly be:

- If you think the world is ending, it isn’t. Breathe.

- That crush you’re gonna develop on You-Know-Who is just a manifestation of your loneliness at a new school. Ignore it. Talk to the cool people in the grade above you instead, and go to the library more.

- You and your parents’ relationship is going to get better later. Remember that they do, in fact, care about you, despite them being not too good at a lot of things.

- You’re going to try writing poetry in the summer, and it’s going to be really nice, so look forward to that! (The experience, not the poetry.)

- Don’t overshare. Please. I’m begging you. (If you do, though, everyone’s going to forget about that in a week, so it’s no big deal and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it.)

- You can, in fact, just go and cut your hair. Cut most of it off! It’s so much easier to take care of, and you’ll feel more like yourself, and again, there is literally no reason why you can’t just go and do that!

- Speaking of things you can just go and do, there’s a park near your school with a swingset, and nobody is stopping you from going there after school whenever you want.

- Wow. Aren’t your friends the literal best?

- That juice place near your school also sells boba. Please take that information and use it at least once a week.

- You should listen to Ghost Quartet and/or anything else that involves Brittain Ashford’s voice.

(Thank you so much

Ask me an end-of-the-year question!

[marybeatriceofmodena]

You know what? I’m pretty sure it has been said ad nauseam, but I’ll say it again myself: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 should have won. Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, all three of them.

You can just tell it’s a labor of love. The book is about a seventy-page segment of one of the longest novels of all times, War and Peace. It manages to stay faithful to Leo Tolstoy’s novel, but Dave Malloy, Rachel Chavkin, and the rest of the cast and crew have actually managed to add their own unique spark to it. The score is a mix of rock, folk, soul, jazz, electro pop, traditional Russian music, classical Broadway musical, and it ACTUALLY WORKS AND HOLDS TOGETHER PERFECTLY. The songs are catchy af and will stay in your head. The musical WAS original and innovative. The cast is diverse, it interacts with the public during the entire show, they play instruments, I mean it’s like there’s nothing they can’t do. Each person in the cast has a very unique and distinctive voice you can’t confound with another’s, and frankly, they’re all people who could have pretty solid careers as indie singers.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 was everything Dear Evan Hansen wasn’t.

(No, do not come and yell at me because this post showed up in the Dear Evan Hansen tags, because I will ignore you. And anyway, why would you care? Your musical won anyway.)

If Dear Evan Hansen had come out during the time Next to Normal did, then yes, it would have been interesting and innovative. And the problem is that psychological musicals like DEH, N2N and Fun Home always have pretty solid chances of winning at the Tony Awards.

The problem is that DEH brought nothing new on the table.

Next to Normal was revolutionary for its time; and I’m not the biggest fan of Fun Home, but I do agree that it was a powerful and important musical, that was its own thing and succeeded in it. Look, I’m not big on contemporary musicals in general – Hamilton and The Great Comet are an exception – but I think I’m capable of saying that, you know what? Dear Evan Hansen was just bland.

And before you lift your hand and tell me that it’s because I just can’t identify with the struggles the musical represents, I’ll stop you right there: I actually have social anxiety. Obviously, it’s not as severe as what Evan has, but still. And it might not look like it on the Internet, but I’ll tell you one thing: writing and expressing my thoughts here on Tumblr or in fanfiction is just one of the ways I use to fight against my social anxiety. I work as a cashier and talking to someone different every minute, saying “hello”, “did you find everything you needed”, “heard it was hot outside”, “have a wonderful day” is just another way.

So you know what? When I first heard of the musical, and saw it was about a guy struggling with social anxiety, I was willing to give it a chance.

And yeah, I watched it, and I thought it was just bland.

The music is just generic contemporary musical style songs that are not memorable at all, and there’s Ben Platt’s big number that’s basically there to show that he has da singing chops, I just didn’t warm up to the characters, it just didn’t work for me. The musical was missing that one little spark that could make it stand out from the others.

I’m not saying that social anxiety and bullying aren’t important issues: the problem is that the musical relied a lot on those issues, and it thought it was enough for it to be The Best. Musical. EVAR. And for some reason… it worked. 

And where the musical tried to be deep, it just ended up being pretentious.

I knew Ben Platt was going to win Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. That dude basically had the Tony in his hand the minute he opened his mouth for the first time for DEH. But I can’t believe that Rachel Bay-Jones, as good as a performer as she is, won while people like Brittain Ashford and Amber Gray weren’t even nominated. And before you object, watch this video and this video and come back and explain to me why they didn’t even get a nomination. Heck, I’m even angry about Anastasia: they got a grand total of two nominations and they didn’t even get to perform at the Tonys.

I’m sorry, I just get the impression that Dear Evan Hansen won just because it was the season’s darling, and not necessarily the best or most innovative show. It’s honestly disappointing, especially when you think about how a show as revolutionary and as diverse as Hamilton won last year. Heck, Come From Away wasn’t as innovative as The Great Comet of 1812 was, but at least it was its own thing and it had middle-aged and older actors of various ethnicities in it, unlike DEH.

Long story short, why did Dear Evan Hansen win? Because it’s your generic white contemporary musical with a topic that’s shoved in our faces just to show how super special it is. And because of that, it’s the American Theatre Wing’s darling.

[hamletsocialist-blog]

so i saw the great comet on august 20th...

I went during Shoba’s last show as Natasha, with Scott Strangfeld as Pierre, and here’s a (very shortened) list of all the reasons why it was wonderful! 

- At first, i was a little let down not to have seen Denee, but Shoba blew me away. She embodied such youth and naïveté, it just made the story all that more heartbreaking. She also has a very similar voice to dennee’s, and her performance was stellar.

- The audience was Amazing!!! I was alone in my banquette seating and the people next to me were the sweetest; we started bitching about the American Theatre Wing, and multiple people joined in, which was wonderful.

- Ben Stiller sat in front of me, he apparently sees the show a lot, nbd 

-There was a 16 minute pause because of a technical difficulty during In My House, but the cast was so sweet, they chatted with the audience, who started singing Balaga’s theme and doing the wave.

- Lucas Steele really does sing at members of the audience, he’ll just lock eyes with you, it’s electrifying.  He’s also got an amazing stage presence: during the silent time in the Abduction, he sat on my banquette, and everyone had to move over for him, it seemed like such an Anatole thing to do. Also he steals a fur coat from a girl by making out with her?

- THE SET DESIGN!!!! OHHH MY GOD!!!!!! It was so amazing!!!!!! Even outside the room, it looks like a shitty 80’s nightclub entrance. Mimi Lien is a genious, you literally feel like you’re going back in time, but into several confounding eras. Hard to explain, but seriously fucking amazing, and fiting with the various costumes the characters done. it’s a very immersive experience. 

- I never really understood who Bolkonsky was singing to/about in The Private And Intimate Life of the House, turns out Gelsey just picks a guy to be her Young Suitor and stands defiantly by him, while her father pics an older woman from the audience and kisses her hand.

- By the way Gelsey gave me chills during that song. I cannot stress her talent enough, except to say that she was still jet-lagged from Japan, but delivered a beautiful performance, AND came out at the stage door. she is an angel.

- Marya is actually mean and dismissive toward Sonya, like she often pushes her away in favour of Natasha.

- Also when Natasha says “No one can understand”, she pushes Sonya away and Sonya looks so sad my heart broke a little. I loved her even more after seeing the play.

- I wore a homemade off-broadway style Sonya dress, and Brittain Ashford noticed and smiled at me during prologue. She’s so talented and stunning i wanted to dig my grave right then and there.

- Ashley Perez-Flanigan is debilitatingly gorgeous. It’s a problem.

- Also Amber Gray. I stared at her a lot.

- Scott intones differently than Josh Groban during Dust and Ashes, so it was wonderful, but not what i was expecting.

- The club scene is amazing!!!!! The strobe lights are really intense though, because when the strobes aren’t shinning, it’s full darkness.

- The cast wears fluorescent outfits (Sonya even wears a shorter version of her dress, the bottom of which is dip dyed black), and Marya comes out in a fucking leather jumpsuit. It was a spiritual experience, and i may have lightly fallen in love with Grace McLean .

- Also, some ensemble members do fake coke on the tables.

- Stage seating was SO incredibly worth it, i got to see the actors gorgeous and moving facial expressions. It was the best theatrical experience I’ve ever had (along with, if possibly topping, the transformational experience of hearing Karen Olivo’s Satisfied live).

- Speaking of Karen Olivo, i have a problem where i get distracted by the beauty of actresses and miss parts of the plot…. Like when Amber and Grace made out right next to me during the Chaotic moment in The Abduction and i missed everything else that happened: danatole kiss, Natasha breaking a portrait over Balaga’s head, everything. But i can tell you that at first, Marya makes out with the side of Helene’s face, effectively leaving Helene with smudged lipstick on her cheek and a smug smile on her face for the rest of the song, so it was all worth it.

- When Andrei comes back from the war, Mary goes to hug him with a big smile on her face, he walks straight by her and she crumbles.

- okay this got really long sorry  - The stage door was AMAZING. So many people came out, literally most of the cast, and they were all gracious and kind. 

TL;DR: seeing this show was one of the best experiences i’ve ever had, and the fact that its ALREADY CLOSED (????!!!!!)  is fucking criminal. 

[swan-archive]

Okay so I said I wasn’t gonna do this but I have been REINVORGATED and REJUCINATED by the Oak boot of “Dust and Ashes” so here you go, more rambling than you require about the cast recordings of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Sorry, y’all.

Blease to keep in mind that these are all just, like, my opinions, man.

First off: not to be all I AM UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN WE ARE NOT ABOUT HAMILTON? but I really do wonder how many of my issues with Comet’s obcr can be traced back to Hamilton’s cast recording...

So, as we all know, Lin took pains to make Hamilton’s cast album sound as much like a hip-hop record as he could. This is there in the way the songs are composed and performed, and it’s very much there in the production—Questlove and Black Thought were co-producers on the album, along with Lin, Lac, and Bill Sherman.

Now, when I think of big-name modern rap and hip-hop records, I think high production value. At their best, you should be getting an incredibly well-crafted, slick, cohesive sound, vocals married to instrumentation and beats in a way that just works whether you’re listening track-by-track or to the whole album start to finish. And, most importantly, the work that goes into achieving that sound shouldn’t be audible. You should be able to listen to something like Lemonade or Coloring Book or My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy without getting tangled up in “oh, interesting eq going on there” or “what’s going on with that delay?” at first pass. Just let it be about the music.

This worked for Hamilton. It doesn’t work so well for Comet.

And, I mean, they tried. They worked very hard to polish things up, to make a Studio Album that stands by itself, bless ‘em, but honestly, I just wish they’d let the music speak for itself a bit more, just let it be a recording of a very good Broadway show. Because on Comet, that sort of tight-ship production value just reads as...overproduced. And it makes it a less enjoyable listening experience.

Now, music producers wear a hell of a lot of hats, so “overproduced” can mean a lot of different things. With this album, it takes the form of stuff sounding TOO clean, overpolished to the point of sounding artificial, and artificial is not a thing you want in a vocal sound in a genre based around showcasing, well, vocals. It’s mostly little things that I noticed, not anything that would ruin an album, but just things that might turn your head and make you go, “huh, that didn’t sound quite right.”

For example, I noticed a different treatment on certain phrase deliveries, exemplified by Grace McLean’s bit from “In My House” where she sings “Why didn’t he come to the house? / Why didn’t he openly ask for your hand?” as well as Amber Gray’s “Charmante, charmante” from (obviously) “Charming.” Both of these phrases end with a little descent that, on the ocr, sounds more like an interpretive/ornamental bit than anything; a sort of natural falling-off of the line that comes from an emotional rather than a technical place. On the obcr, both of these ornaments persist, but are “tidied up” for lack of a better phrase—both actors deliver them with significantly more weight, taking care to strike specific pitches. And it...well, in my opinion, it doesn’t work as well. It sounds like someone circled the bit in the music and went, “okay, let’s make those ornaments INTENTIONAL,” which removes the the charm of the unstudied voice and makes the part sound rehearsed.

At other times, they go too far in the opposite direction, pushing on the bounds of the written music in a way that simply doesn’t read on a recording like this one. I’m thinking in particular of Lucas Steele’s long notes at the beginning of “The Abduction” and at the end of “Pierre and Anatole.” Now, I’m not saying the album shouldn’t show off Steele’s vocal prowess; he’s an unbelievably talented singer, and he can do some Real Shit with his voice that is frankly terrifying and everyone should fear and respect him. What I AM saying is that a recording is a different format in which to hear those notes, as opposed to a live performance. When you’re there in the Imperial Theater, watching Steele sit on a C#5 for 45 consecutive seconds like it’s his fucking job (which...I guess it is), you can tell by dint of BEING THERE that there’s no artifice, just a skilled singer and his throat and his voice. And that’s part of the beauty of it, that you can watch it happen in real time and marvel at it. When you’re listening to a neat studio recording, on the other hand, there’s that level of abstraction, of knowing that between the note coming out and hitting your ears there’s been work done on it. And maybe Steele did actually hold it out that long in-studio (he probably did. The man isn’t human, I fucking swear), but you can’t know that. Cross-fades are a thing, and it is a fairly trivial task to knit together two long notes to make one biiiiiiiig long note, especially with a clear pure tone like Steele’s voice has. So it ends up sounding self-indulgent and gimmicky. Look how long we made this note. Such high. Very edits. Wow. Please clap. Lin got it when he said there’s some stuff that should stay unique and exclusive to the live performances, and these virtuoso showings definitely fall under that heading. Hint at ‘em on the recording, but their proper home is on the stage, in the theater.

(I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I AM UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN WE ARE NOT ABOUT HAMILTON!)

All that said: Comet has a very complex, group-oriented score, and everything I’ve been pointing out so far is fairly nitpicky. It’s subtle artistry stuff that will, by its nature, get lost when there is a lot going on, which there frequently is. Not to mention the score features long recitative-style sections, where the actors will deliberately use a more speech-like singing style to deliver exchanges between characters, quick exposition, etc. which does a lot to counter the “getting too technical and shoegazey” thing. People know what speech is meant to sound like! If you stray too far from that, you’ll undermine your listeners’ comprehension, as well as the whole uh...ACTING part of the PLAY. Which is important.

However, the whole play isn’t like this. You do have solo arias—broadly, major pauses in the action to expound on a single character’s emotional state. I’m thinking of three songs from Comet in particular: “Dust and Ashes,” “Sonya Alone,” and “No One Else,” standout showstopper numbers that are meant to drag the tears out of everyone in the audience. (Don’t worry, I love crying. It’s my favorite thing, next to dying and being dead.) Overall, these three songs are more delicately orchestrated, in order to showcase the unique voices of the soloists. Which would be great, if, you know, they’d managed to consistently mix the songs in a way that showcased the unique voices of the soloists! Fuck!

(“Charming” technically fits this mold as well. However, I would argue that it has more of a narrative action, i.e. showing Hélène’s beguilement of Natasha, not to mention that it is musically a very different song from any of the other ones I’ve listed above, faster-paced and with a more active accompaniment, which covers things that might otherwise give pause. Even so you can hear a few off-kilter things in it, as outlined above.)

“Dust and Ashes” (and to a lesser extent, “Pierre”) are difficult to compare between albums—obviously, because there’s no studio recording of the former (@DAVE! PLEASE SAVE MY LIFE), and because Dave Malloy and Josh Groban have such radically different voices. Let’s be very clear, I am not dunking on Groban’s prowess as a vocalist; there’s no question in my mind (and shouldn’t be any in yours) that, in terms of technical skill, he has a better voice than Dave in every way. To my ear, though, Groban’s recordings of Pierre’s songs sound almost unpleasantly slick, which I would guess is what you get when overproduced hypercleanliness meets vocal control that could knock an apple off someone’s head at forty paces without batting an eyelid. Especially next to the raw, almost painfully sincere delivery of Malloy’s versions, Groban’s sound sanitized, lacking in sincere emotion, just a string of notes with a vibrato as wide as a barn. It’s very disappointing, and makes me regret not watching the Groban boot all the way through for a better idea of how his Pierre comes across onstage.

“Sonya Alone,” luckily, manages to escape overproduction for several reasons. First off, it’s performed by Brittain Ashford on both albums, which presumably gave the production team a model for how to showcase her voice on the obcr. Secondly, the way the song was written and performed naturally resists this sort of treatment. It doesn’t have a virtuosic range—nearly the whole thing sits within less than an octave, and the one high belt note just kind of gets tapped briefly before settling back down. Hence, the emotional beats in it are a matter of performance, rather than technical prowess, and cleaning up too much of the natural wobble and waver of the voice in that range would make it sound absolutely lifeless and boring. Ashford also has that unusual, striking dark tone to her voice, which can already sound like an affectation to the first-time listener; placing too many effects on it would only exacerbate that. Hence, a reprieve. We get to enjoy Brittain Ashford’s voice showcased as it is. Nice.

Which leaves us with “No One Else.”

Oh, you guys.

You guys, I love “No One Else.” I think it is the second most perfect song Dave Malloy has ever written, only missing out on the top spot because he also wrote the ear worm from hell. It is PEAK F major aesthetic in every way. It is such a gorgeous, wistful, romantic piece, and couldn’t have hit more of my buttons even if Dave Malloy had literally come into my home and said, “hey, Swan, I’m trying to write a song that will knock you, specifically, on your ass, wanna give me some pointers so that I can more efficiently Kill you?” It is so good.

And this recording of it did Denée Benton SO. DIRTY.

Benton’s Natasha is necessarily a bit different than Phillipa Soo’s Natasha. Soo has a somewhat weightier voice than Benton, so her interpretation of the character seems to lean more on her vitality and spirit, whereas Benton reads as a very young Natasha, naïve but deeply good. (Margaux @likeniobe, I’m pretty sure it was you who pointed this out to me, thanks, you’re the real mvp.) I think both of these are perfectly valid character interpretations of Natasha as she appears in this adaptation, and based on what I’ve seen of the bootleg, Benton’s Natasha is lovely to watch onstage.

...However. The thing about that interpretation is that it requires a good bit of subtlety in order to come across as compelling and not saccharine. This reads onstage, but on this recording, very sadly, it kind of flops. Again, this strikes me as the fault of hewing too close to the written music, and ironing out too many of the natural kinks in a voice. Benton performs this song very delicately, with a light touch regarding theatricality; when overworked, this gives it an almost Disney princess-y feel, all fluff, no substance. It’s not as moving, it simply doesn’t do justice to Benton’s interpretation, and I’m mad about it.

There are also some technical...I wouldn’t call them errors, I guess, but interpretive things in this recording that just seem like sloppy mixing. The first one comes right on Benton’s first line, that beautiful fifth leap that sets up the airy space of the song as a whole. There’s reverb on her voice to mimic the atmosphere of hearing the song in a theater, but for some reason they don’t even give it time to fully die away before launching her into the first verse, and as a result she sounds rushed. This could work with a different vocal interpretation, but Benton performs the opening of this song with a very dreamy, mysterious approach (contrast Soo, who takes it more stridently), so it just comes off as sloppy and badly-paced.

Then, at the end of the song (and bear with me, folks, I’m about to get VERY nitpicky), Benton sings that wonderful ascending “you and I / you and I / you and I,” showing off her higher range and building suspense before the surprisingly tender and introspective ending of the song. Since she is singing high notes, an engineer mixing the song would most likely apply some compression to her voice to keep it sitting in the appropriate place in the mix, and to prevent the signal from clipping. I’m not gonna get into a super in-depth discussion of compression here, but in short it’s an effect that reduces the dynamic range (“loudness”) of a signal when it passes a designated threshold frequency, thus allowing you to get a more consistent dynamic range throughout, so your pianos aren’t inaudible and your fortes aren’t blowing out your speakers.

...It’s more complicated than that. Whatever. Don’t @ me.

Anyway, the way what I assume is compression has been applied to Benton’s vocal here sounds VERY sloppy in comparison to how Soo’s was treated on the ocr. A cool thing about many types of compressors is that you can control exactly how fast the compression kicks in, smoothing out the level changes so that you don’t have a track that’s pulsating wildly in dynamic range. Here, as Benton reaches each held note, her vocal ducks audibly before coming back up. This effect is audible in Soo’s recording of the song, but it’s MUCH more subtle and naturalistic, serving a technical purpose without distracting from the artistry of the song. So...either this was some very spotty compression work, or like, the engineer just went into the volume for her track and manually ducked it and brought it back up? I don’t know, but whatever it was, I don’t like it.

Now, in the end, Dave Malloy signed off on this album, and as long as he’s happy with it, that’s all that really matters. As an engineer, you’re (for the most part) there to bring your client’s vision to life, and if they like the product you put in front of them at the end of the day, then you’ve done your job. And there’s a huge chance that I’m just being all IT’S DIFFERENT SO IT SUCKS, given that I’m very sensitive to small differences in versions of a song.

But still. Still.

Denée, sweetie, you deserved better than this.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND April 12, 2019  - HELLBOY, LITTLE, MISSING LINK, AFTER

We’re almost midway through April (already?) but that also means that we’re one week closer to Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, which is probably the only movie everyone is really waiting for anyway, going by advance ticket sales.

For those who can’t wait for more super-heroics, Mike Mignola’s HELLBOY (Lionsgate) gets another go in theaters, this time played by David Harbour (Stranger Things) and directed by Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones). I wish I could say I was looking forward to seeing this, but frankly, I loved Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy: The Golden Army, and I have secretly wished for the last ten years that he would be able to continue that story with Ron Perlman, Doug Jones and the rest. This one has some interesting casting including Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich as the main baddie, Sasha Lane and Daniel Dae Kim. I guess with that cast, maybe it won’t be so bad? I expect the movie will be more geared towards the fanboys and girls rather than the mainstream audiences that have been flocking to other comic movies. (My review is now over at The Beat… and I hated it!)

Universal and Will Packer Productions are offering some interesting counter-programming to Hellboy in the comedy remake (of sorts) LITTLE, written and directed by Tina Gordon and starring Regina Hall, Issa Rae and Marsai Martin (from ABC’s Black-ish). This is the type of body-swapping comedy that’s delivered some great laughs in movies like both Freaky Friday, Tom Hanks’ Bigand others like Jennifer Garner’s 13 Going on 30. I mean, there’s still so much that can be done with this sort of thing as seen by Shazam!, and this sort of high-concept premise is also fairly easy to sell audiences. I missed the press screening of this, but if I have a few moments in April (it might happen!) I’d go check it out.

The other movie I saw that’s opening this weekend is LAIKA’s new stop-motion animated film MISSING LINK (Annapurna/UA Releasing), featuring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis. I’m not going to review the movie even though I generally liked it, mainly since it’s been a minute since I watched it, but if you like some of LAIKA’s other films (particularly director Chris Butler’s earlier film ParaNorman) then you should enjoy this one, and like with all of LAIKA’s movies, I

Lastly, there’s Aviron’s AFTER, another teen romance drama, this one based on Anna Todd’s fan fiction that pairs Hero Fiennes Tiffin (Ralph’s nephew) and Josephine Langford in the type of Y.A. romantic drama that has had mixed results in recent years. Sure, the recent Five Feet Apartdid fine but others, like last year’s Midnight Sun, released by the defunct Global Road, barely made $10 million. Since I haven’t seen the movie – honestly, I haven’t even watched a trailer -- I’m not really sure what the appeal of this is going to be except that some younger women may not have much interest on other options this weekend.

LIMITED RELEASES

Well, I totally screwed up last week… including one movie that was delayed until this week and neglecting a movie which I thought opened this week. (This is why you need to keep me apprised on date changes, publicists!)

Actor Max Minghella makes his directorial debut with TEEN SPIRIT (Bleecker Street), starring Elle Fanning as Violet, a young woman from the Isle of Wight who hopes to get out of her smalltown blues by performing on a popular talent television show called “Teen Spirit.” Helping her out is the scraggly Vlad (Croatian actor Zlatko Burik, who starred in Nicolas Refn’s Pusher trilogy) who was an opera singer in Croatia and offers to manage Violet and help her get to the finals of the show.  While Elle is no Aretha Franklin, I was truly impressed with her singing voice as well as Minghella’s screenplay and direction of the film which has a distinctive look and tone but is also a movie with quite a lot of mainstream appeal. If you like television shows like The Voice and American Idol, you might be interested in seeing one contestant’s (fictional) journey to get onto one of those shows.

You can read my interview with writer/director Max Minghella over at the Beat.

The movie I left out of last week’s column is HIGH LIFE (A24), the new movie and first in English from French auteur Claire Denis, which stars Robert Pattinson, André Benjamin, Juliette Binoche and Mia Goth. I saw the movie at the New York Film Festival last year, but I guess I never got around to writing about it, but I wish I did. Not that I particularly liked the movie, but if I wrote about it, at least I could remember what it was about. I know it takes place on a spaceship with a bunch of astronauts including Pattinson and his young daughter, all of them trying to survive.

But my absolutely favorite new movie of the weekend is Alex Ross Perry’s HER SMELL (Gunpowder and Sky), starring Elisabeth Moss as Becky Something, the lead singer of an all-girl punk band who have hit the big time but are about to implode due to Becky’s addictions and eccentricities. Becky also has a baby daughter who she is constantly neglecting and her bandmates (Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin) and everyone is worried about her. I’ve liked some of Perry’s past work, but something about this one really connected, maybe because I spent a couple decades working in the music business, so I can relate to the frustrated engineer in the recording studio section of the film.  Moss, obviously, is amazing as Becky, a role that puts her through all the highs and lows of success and fame, but I also liked the cast around her, actors like Cara Delevigne and Amber Heard who I barely could recognize in their respective wigs. I actually saw this at the New York Film Festival, and I liked it even more when I watched it again recently.  It opens in New York on Friday and in L.A. and other cities next Friday, and I hope to have an interview with Perry, probably over at NextBigPicture by next week some time.

A movie that I hoped would play the Toronto Film Festival in 2017, but instead got up in the Harvey Weinstein scandal was Garth Davis’ MARY MAGDALENE  (IFC Films), the follow-up to his Oscar-nominated film Lion.  It stars Rooney Mara as the title character and her real-life boyfriend Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus… and just hat last part gets me worried just because I remember Rodrigo Garcia’s Last Days in the Desert a few years back, starring Ewan McGregor as Jesus. This is being released this weekend into about 50 theaters in select cities after playing in just about every other country in the world last year as it sought out a new U.S. distributor.

Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone of Gamorrah fame returns with DOGMAN (Magnolia), a crime thriller set in a small seaside village where a dog groomer named Marcello (Marcello Fonte) is being coerced into committing petty crimes by an ex-boxer bully named Simoncino. Apparently, this is based on true events, and I generally liked it, particularly the performance of Fonte. It opens at the Film Forum and at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Friday, as well as the Landmark Nuart in L.A. It will expand to more California theaters on April 19.

Martial arts fans will want to check out master fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping’s latest The Ip Man Legacy: Master Z (Well GO USA), starring Max Zhang as Cheung Tin Chi, who is trying to make a life in Hong Kong with his young son after being defeated by Master Ip.  The movie also stars the legendary Michelle Yeoh (in a great sequence with Zhang), Tony Jaa (ditto) and Dave Bautista… yeah, well I guess two out of three isn’t bad, but Bautista is pretty terrible, and the movie is disjointed in its storytelling. But the action is cool, so there’s that! It opens in select theaters this weekend.

Eva Husson’s Girls of the Sun (Cohen Media Group) stars Golshifteh Farahan (Pasterson) as Bahar, commander of the “Girls of the Sun” battalion, who are set to free their hometown from extremists, while also freeing her son. Emmanuelle Bercot (My King) plays a French journalist who is embedded with the warriors during the mission. Husson’s film opens at the Quad,Landmark 57and the FIAF Florence Gould Hall (now showing first-run films) on Friday, as well as the Laemmle Monica Film Center in L.A.

A movie I sadly had to miss at this year’s Oxford Film Festival is V. Scott Balcerek’s doc Satan & Adam (Cargo), a movie that took twenty years to make, as Balcerek pulls together two decades of documentary footage of the blues duo that were a fixture in Harlem in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. “Satan” is Sterling Magee, who played with so many greats but felt exploited so he walked away from the music scene, before being joined by Adam Gussow, an Ivy league scholar…but then Magee vanished, and the film follows what happened after that.

I had heard great things about Kaili Blues director BiGan’s Long Day’s Journey into Night  (Kino Lorber), when it played a number of film festivals last year. It follows a man, played by Huang Jue, who is haunted by a woman from his post who he goes looking for her. And it includes a substantial single shot in 3D… for no particular reason that I could ascertain. To call the movie a “slog” would be an insult to actual slogs, and I barely could stay awake while watching it. It’s playing at the Metrograph and Film Society of Lincoln Center starting Friday.

Also now playing at Film Forum is Camille Vidal-Naquet’s debut feature drama Sauvage/Wild (Strand Releasing) following a gay sex worker, played by Felix Maritaud from BPM (Beats Per Minute).

Tim Disney’s William, opening at New York’s Cinema Village and L.A.’s Laemmle Monica Film Center, is a love story between two scientists who fall in love while trying to clone a Neanderthal from ancient DNA creating William, the first Neanderthal to walk the earth in 35,000 years. The film stars Will Brittain, Waleed Zuaiter, Maria Dizzia and Beth Grant.

Gilles de Maistre’s Mia and the White Lion (Ledafilms Entertainment Group) is an ambitious film about a ten-year-old named Mia whose family moves to Africa to manage a lion farm, bonding with a white lion she names Charlie. The film was shot over three years, so that the film’s young starsDaniah De Villiers and Ryan Mac Lennan could bond with their lion co-stars. The film also stars Melanie Laurent and Langley Kirkood, and it opens in select cities.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

I’m finally shifting my gaze over to Chicago where the 21stAnnual EBERTFEST kicked off yesterday with Alan Elliot’s Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace, as well as a special showing of the Wachowski’s Bound with special guests Jennifer Tilly and Gena Gershon. It continues through the weekend with showings of recent and older movies, including Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married and more.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Late Nites at Metrographwill screen Werner Herzog’s Bad Liuetenant: Port of Call New Orleans, starring the inimitable Nicolas Cage, while the Playtime: Family Matineesthis weekend is Danny Kaye as Hans Christian Anderson. Although I forgot to include it last week, Michael Blackwood’s 1968 docs Monk and Monk in Europe(as in Thelonious Monk) will continue for the next week, as does King Hu’s The Fate of Lee Khan from 1973. This Saturday night, the Metrograph is presenting a cast and crew reunion for Sidney Lumet’s 1988 movie Running on Emptywith Christine Lahti, screenwriter Naomi Foner and producers Amy Robinson and Griffin Dunne

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

L.A.’s hottest newish rep theater will show Michael Ritchie’s 1975 film Smile as well as his 1992 film Diggstownon Weds and Thursday (and apparently, Bruce Dern appeared in person on Weds!), Friday and Saturday are Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry  (1971) and Escape from Alcatraz  (1978), while Sunday and Monday screens David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai  (1957). This weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, while the midnight offerings are The Hateful Eight on Friday and The Blues Brothers (1980) on Saturday. On Monday afternoon, there’s a screening Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

On Saturday, Film Forum will screen Jaime Chávarri’s 1976 documentary El Desecanto, introduced by author Aaron Shulman, who wrote a book about the Spanish literary family, the Paneros, on which the movie is based. (FYI, Chávarri’s film was never released in the States, and there is only one screening on Saturday.) Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) will screen Saturday and Sunday as part of Film Forum Jr, and Francesco Rossi’s 1973 film Lucky Lucianowill screen a 4k restoration for a single screening on Sunday afternoon.

AERO  (LA):

The late Luke Perry gets a tribute with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) shown on Thursday, and then the Aero is doing its own Claire Denis tribute (cause everyone else is doing i!) with Salt, Sweat and Sunshine: The Cinema of Claire Denis with a double feature of her debut Chocolat  (1988) and White Material  (2009) on Friday, a screening of Beau Travail (1999) on Saturday, Nenette and Boni (1996) and 35 Shots of Rum (2008) on Saturday, and then Trouble Every Day  (2001)and Let the Sunshine In (2017) on Sunday. Most of those will be showing on 35mm and Denis will be there, at least for the first two nights.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: B is for Bacall continues with 1948’s Key Largo on Thursday and Jonathan Glazer’s Birth (2004) on Friday. The What Price Hollywood series will screen George Cukor’s Sylvia Scarlett (1935) and John Waters’ Female Trouble (1974) on Thursday, Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place  (1950) and Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess  (1973) on Friday, Mitchell Leisen’s Midnight  (1939), Clarence Brown’s 1931 film A Free Soul and George Cukor’s What Price Hollywood  (1932) on Saturday and Fritz Lang’s Clash By Night  (1952) and Joseph Lewis’ Gun Crazy  (1950) on Sunday.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The Quad begins its new series Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan, a tribute retrospective to a pivotal filmmaker in the French New Wave, which I know next to nothing about, so I won’t even try. Just click on the title to see the movies playing.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

This week’s series is The Anarchic Cinema of Věra Chytilová, a celebration of the filmmaker who emerged during the Czech New Wave, which I know even less about than the French New Wave. Just click on the link if you know who she is.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight screening is the ‘70s classic Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), starring Peter Fonda and Susan George. I’m not sure when was the last time I had a chance to see this movie but if I were in L.A., this is where I would be on Friday night.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Streaming on Netflix starting Wednesday is THE SILENCE, the new apocalyptic thriller from director John R. Leonetti  (Annabelle), starring Stanley Tucci, Kiernan Shipka and Miranda Otto. In this twist on Netflix’s hit Bird Box (and rip-off of A Quiet Place?), this one involves a world being terrorized by primeval beings with acute hearing and a family trying to survive. Also streaming Friday is the high concept teen rom-com The Perfect Date, starring Noah Centineo as a guy who is payed to take a friend’s cousin to the prom.

Next week, another horror movie in New Line’s The Curse of La Llorona, plus the faith-based drama Breakthrough from Fox and DisneyNature’s Penguins.

[davidcampiti]

A LIFE WITHOUT STAN LEE? -- Part Two

Ever wonder what it must have been like to BE Stan Lee over the past decade or two as the Marvel movies soared to prominence?

At 90 years old, he was still vibrant and funny and in good health, and he seemed to be having the time of his life just BEING Stan Lee. His final couple of years, with his wife Joan’s passing and so much behind-the-scenes wrangling to control his assets and access, were an embarrassment of greed from so many.

His detractors spoke of karma, of freelancers who worked with him and did not fare as well as he did as Marvel's editor-in-chief and icon/corporate spokesman, either in credit or financially. His biggest mistakes and, perhaps, regrets were there for the world to see.

And he had to sue Marvel for the $10 million in movie merchandise royalties he was contractually guaranteed. Wait, what?

Yup, even Smilin’ Stan had some bumpy rides.

Remember when I mentioned first meeting him in '78? Stan reviewed my friend Scott's artwork, dated and autographed the backs of his pages and paintings "to prove I saw these," and recommended that Scott submit his work to Marvel. Scott did so. Marvel's editor at the time rejected the submission outright with a terse note, "Stan has no power here."

That was a bit sobering. I stumbled over that sour sentiment a number of times across the decades.

Probably the oddest example? One day in the ‘90s, Stan Lee called me to say that Marvel asked him to write The Hulk vs. Superman cross-over one-shot, and he wanted to work on it with artist Mike Deodato, Jr. "Can Mike draw from a loose outline? You know how I like to work." I explained to him that the Brazil-based Deodato -- who was still learning English at the time -- didn't see himself as a writer and preferred to work from a page-by-page, panel by panel plot, if not a full script. "What if you and I talk out the idea, Stan?" I suggested. "I can then develop it into the full plot that Mike can work from, you review it, and he draws it from there?" "That'd be great, Dave! We've been talking about working together for awhile now. Let me give you the editor's name and number at Marvel. Tell him Mike's available to start, and we can get to work."

I called the editor and left a message. Then another. Nothing....although Stan and I had several quick conversations about it over the next few weeks. Finally, Stan called me again to ask if I've heard anything from the editor. "Nothing yet, Stan," I told him. "Fortunately, Mike Deodato has other work keeping him busy, but I don't want him to lose this opportunity." "O.K.," Stan replied. "Call them again today and let me know as soon as you hear anything."

Five more messages, an Email or two, and I forget how many days later, the editor finally called me back. "You must've misunderstood," the editor said, condescension in his voice. "Stan didn't mean to say he wanted Mike Deodato for The Hulk vs. Superman. He meant, in general, that he'd like to work with Deodato some day on something like that. You must've misunderstood." So I explained that I couldn't have misunderstood and, grabbing my notes, I began to quote Stan's exact words. The editor interrupted, "No, you must've misunderstood." And he hung up.

So I called Stan's office, and his assistant gave me Stan's cell number. Stan was in his car when I recounted that conversation with the editor. "What? I didn't 'misunderstand,'" said Stan, in a voice that went cold. "I'm going to Marvel in two days, and we are going to talk about a lot of things." He sounded sick of this. "Call me at Marvel's offices in the afternoon."

So I did. The gal who answered at Marvel told me, "Stan is still in his meeting. I can hear him yelling. I'll tell him you called like he asked." A few days later, Stan called me back, sorry that Deodato and I had been treated that way by Marvel. I sighed and said, "Well, I'm surprised and sorry they treated you that way, Stan." "Ahh, don't worry," he answered. "I'm fine." I later heard that this may have been the same visit to Marvel where Stan's contract got re-negotiated for a million bucks a year, an assistant and driver and he would only be responsible to Marvel for one day per week and could launch his own ventures. Soon he launched Stan Lee Media and, later, POW! Entertainment; Mike Deodato moved to DC and Dark Horse and Chaos! before spending the next decade back exclusively at Marvel, and The Hulk vs. Superman was eventually published with a very talented, very different creative team.

For Christmas that year, Mike Deodato created a drawing of The Hulk vs. Superman, and we gave the original art to Stan to commemorate the book that almost happened.

Stan has always put on a great face for the comics biz, endlessly energetic and upbeat about its potential. He's even been its apologist at times, such as when a comic book store owner, writing in CBG, demanded that Marvel apologize for destroying the direct sales market with its '90s era machinations and hurting his business -- and Stan called that store to apologize.

I remember walking down a Convention aisle at normal speed, and Stan and Max Anderson cut around me, one on each side, walking at twice my speed and out of sight before I knew it -- Stan being 88 at the time. I mentioned my surprised to Max the next day, and Max told me, "Stan saw me drinking a Red Bull, asked me what it was, and I told him it was to boost my energy. Stan said he ought to drink a few, and I said, 'NO! I drink these to keep up with you!'" We both chuckled over that.

So a few years later, I was certainly pleased to greet Stan at New York Comic Con so soon after his pacemaker was put in, walking and talking as fast as ever. It was amazing to see people crowding the aisles just to get a glimpse of him.

HIs life had certainly become meta, with a Fake Stan Lee on the payroll (I think) running around Conventions doing a riff on the '80s version of Stan. It certainly was fun for me to pose with the fake Stan Lee while holding a picture I'd just taken with the real Stan Lee.

Because of my decades of working with artists and teaching Creating Comics Seminars all over the world, Stan was happy that I accepted the assignment to write Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics based on those Seminars.

I wrote, assigned new art, and produced the entire 228-page book over a three-week span in the Philippines over Christmas. Stan reviewed the chapters, writing back comments like, "This is grrreeeeat!" and taking time at the end to send me a note about how well he thought it turned out.

He seemed quite pleased with what I did with it. And to his credit, even on a late-night talk show interview, he never claimed that he wrote it.

Tina Francisco, Katrina Mae Hao, and I came up with a whole pile of Stan caricatures for that book that didn't get used!  I hope to put them to good use someday.

Oddly, nobody told Stan how well the Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics book was selling.  He wrote me --

I had to admit nobody told me how it was selling, either.  (I later picked up copies of the book in Italian, so that was interesting!)

When Stan remembered that I was in the process of writing a How To Create Comics book under my own name, he wrote me a terse --

So I have his intro in my files.  I need to finish that book, and you know who I'll dedicate it.

Later on, I ghosted some introductions for Stan, on such books as JAPAN NEEDS HEROES.

I found it funny -- the editor of the JAPAN NEEDS HEROES book inserted two paragraphs of his own text into my introduction; not knowing someone else had penned them, Stan deleted those paragraphs entirely because they seemed unnecessary and simply didn't sound like him. Stan ended up changing just one word of mine, "harried" to "hassled," and the intro ran otherwise as I wrote it.  I later found that editor claiming, to anyone who would listen, that HE wrote that intro.

Just experiencing him BEING Stan Lee could be an inspiration, a learning experience.

Most telling might be a several years back when my sister-in-law's baby died in the hospital at only a month old, and Stan Lee was the FIRST person to contribute to a fund launched to help her with expenses. What’s more, he wrote her about how he and his wife had lost a child in childbirth, so they both understood her pain.

Or how about this one? It’s a Saturday in 2009 at Pittsburgh ComiCon, and something had gone wrong. Since we’d worked with Stan Lee on Who Wants To Be a Superhero? for his POW! Entertainment and we were about to start work on Stan Lee's How To Draw Comics, Stan suggested that I ask the Con to schedule us together for a few minutes, since he was booked wall-to-wall. The scheduled Friday night meet-up I’d arranged with the Con's owner for some reason didn’t happen. And by Saturday afternoon, it appeared as though Stan would finish his meet-and-greets upstairs in the Green Room, wrap his autograph session, and be whisked away two hours later for the airport without me saying so much as “Hello.”

Then: From our Glass House Graphics booth on the convention floor, my wife saw the Green Room door open at the top of the stairs, and she nudged me in its direction. “Go there!” she said. I did so, and she followed with our daughter Jasmine in tow and my photographer friend Paul Brittain right behind. Down came a couple of Security, then Stan, then the Con people. As Stan hit the bottom stairs, I stepped out, extending my hand. “Stan! David Campiti, Glass House Graphics!”

He looked up and, in true Stan Lee fashion, his face lit up while shaking my hand firmly. “Dave! Glad you made it! I was hoping to see you!”

The security guard stepped in to push me away. “Ya gotta go, keep moving.”

Throwing his arms wide, Stan said, “Wait — Dave’s a friend!” The guard glared at me, looked at Stan, back at me, then waved. “C’mon, then.”

Stan put his arm around my shoulder as we walked — briskly — toward his signing area in the next room. “Sorry it’s so crazy. How ya been?” he asked.

“We’re doing well. Glad you could spare me a moment, Stan,” I replied. “My artist Fabio Laguna and I did this up to give you, a nod to Disney buying Marvel.” The yellow package contained a 13” x 19” color print, a cartoon depicting Walt Disney wearing a Thor hat and costume and Stan Lee wearing a Mickey Mouse hat and costume, with a Disney logo emblazoned atop Marvel’s own logo. “This is CUTE!” he said. “Can I have this?”

“Of course!” I said. “There’s two of them. One signed by Fabio and me, and a smaller one unsigned. Hey, can we get a picture?”

“SURE!” Stan said. As we stopped in our tracks so Paul could take a shot, Stan turned to my wife. “Jinky! How ya doin'?” he asked, shaking her hand. Then he bent down to my daughter. “Jasmine! Nice to meet you. Are you four now?”

"Uh-huh. Are you Stan Lee?"

He beamed a high-wattage small at her, posed for the pic, then the guard pulled him away.

Carrying off the package, he said, “Thanks to much for this! Sorry we don’t have more time!” He waved, then he was off to sign for another line full of autograph seekers before racing to the airport.

Think about it: Despite a hectic schedule, Stan “The Man” Lee not only made me feel welcome, he had even recalled my wife’s name, my daughter’s name, and how old she was. (This from the guy people say has no memory!)

When I’m at a Con and flustered or crazy busy and someone wants to talk, this gave me something to aspire to. I'm much more concerned these days about giving each fan, each artist, his/her moment and my full attention.

Oh -- and that Walt Disney/Stan Lee piece we gave him that day?

Stan kept it displayed in his office.

So let me wrap this up by saying:  Everything in life builds on everything else. I ran into Al Williamson in a Boston bar back in 1982, struck up a conversation, and he suggested that I submit scripts to David Scroggy at Pacific Comics. That led to my first professional comics script sales.

When something as simple as a chance conversation in a bar with can affect one's life, you can only imagine how decades of Stan Lee affected my life without him ever knowing.

Without Stan Lee's "You're in the club" Mighty Marvel Manner version of Marvel Comics, I'd never have become such a comics fan. I never would have had the goal to work with him in comics and would likely have ended up a pharmacist like my Dad wanted.

I wouldn't have been inspired to read so much, get a communications degree in college, sell my first comics scripts, write for magazines and books, create multiple comics series, work in animation, become an editor and publisher, or become an international comics agent and meet thousands of wonderful creative people all over the world, many of who have become my friends.

That also means I wouldn't have gone to the Philippines to teach Creating Comics Seminars and wouldn't have met budding artist Meryl Calanog. So we never would've gotten married and had Jasmine.

Without the inspiration of Stan Lee, my life would be completely different and certainly not one filled with such joy.

Thank you, Stan Lee.

For everything.

-- David Campiti GLASS HOUSE GRAPHICS 12/28/18

[kurtty-drabbles]

Swan au (confrontation part3)

N/A: Yana is Yana! Kymri will show up here but she won´t be used as I often use her.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @sailorstar9 @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336

The Kingdom of Lunux is burden with a name that is linked to Xerox, as it was Rasputin´s family who funded this land to rule, the initial idea was to unite the lands, however, the people resist to such an idea, at time, Rasputin´s family was aligned with devious characters and the people of Linux didn´t want to be in the middle of such affair, in the end, independence was granted and now Linux and Xerox are political allies ...not by choice.

Courtney Ross is not exactly thrilled in having Linux as allies, however, is better be on their side than against. She married the king of Linux, a wedding many badmouth as being a means for the woman to rise to the throne, Kymri is sure that´s was Courtney´s intention.

Yeah, this is a political game. No time for love.

And when the king dies, everyone points fingers at Courtney, yet, it was Princess Yana with her demonic magic that proves who was the real killer, the king´s brother. Yana arrives at the right moment, otherwise, Courtney would be throw in the dungeons in the best case scenario.

Such help wasn´t offered for free and as Courtney look at the now Queen Magik, Courtney knows she´ll charge the favour.

"Magik" Courtney Ross greet politely and Magik has some social sense to greet in the same way, however, her devious smile speaks loudly. "I think you know why I´m here"

"A favour for a favour, very well, I´m here and listening, Magik" Courtney let the documents be on the second draw as Magik´s request is her priority number 1.

"How is Kymri?" Magik asked noticing the princess´s absence.  Courtney has no reason to lie here "when she accused me of murder her own father she was dead set in see me dead, however, when you prove it was her uncle...she didn´t take this very well, she joined Zaorva´s cult and wants to follow the God´s word, I told that girl...I forgive her, no reason for such extreme act...but she´s there with Zaorva now" Courtney explained with a certain sadness, few know but Courtney can´t have children(a mission gone wrong did take this choice from her) and Kymri was almost like a daughter, almost.

Magik nods, certainly storing that information for later, but, deciding to be straightforward "I´d have favour! Ask Excalibur to solve a problem, no matter what is, just call them" Magik speaks and Courtney frowns knowing there´s more here "and when they solve the problem make them be an arrest, not serious, Linux has many social protocols, you can be creative"

"I dated Captain Brittain, if I did that...people will think I´m a crazy ex." Courtney explains and Magik can only reply "be creative" replied with a smug smile and Courtney can´t give a snap reply(no, not with Magik, neve!)

"Very well, will they be here for long?" Courtney asked and Magik´s smug smile continues "No, Courtney, let them arrest until I come to save them, do that and the favour will be paid"

Courtney nods and she can ask Excalibur to deal with a situation that´s nagging Courtney´s mind for some time, bandits using invisible powers to steal money.

________________________________________________________________________________

Captain Brittain is surprised that Courtney is asking for his help, Meggan also shares the sentiment and is not exactly thrilled to work with one of her husband´s exes, however, she´d trust Brian and she´s a heroine, no time for being petty.

Kitty was invited to come as well, and Kurt, the Necromancer is not thrilled with that either and did tag along as well(is an awkward mood for everyone involved and Kitty is thinking in change into a swan and fly away)

The Necromancer didn´t do much as the invisible bandits are easy to fight and win(Kurt, thought for a moment, yeah...is too easy!) and once the bandits are under arrest, the Queen takes them to thank each member.

"Kymri usually would be here to grant the heroes, but, she´s with Zaorva now" Courtney explained and Kitty saw how the man shiver for a moment. Captain Brittain and Meggan are more than ready to leave...however, Queen  Courtney stops her speech and looks at the glass Kitty refuses.

"Refusing to drink our drink is an offence!" Courtney speaks angrily and soon guards point their spears at the Excalibur...even Kurt. "That´s a capital  crime"

"Refusing a drink?" Kitty asked and Captain Brittain is trying to argue the case. Kurt is silent...there´s something going here.

"As you´re not aware of the law, I can be lenient, however, you won´t be leaving the country today" Courtney answers, until, a new voice joins the conversation.

"Courtney? Really, is just a drink, such old laws need to be changed," Magik shows up with her committee, how interesting that the Queen choose today to show up to this country.

"But...Magik!" Courtney tries to argue but the blonde Queen waves her reply "let them go, Courtney, if I had to punish everyone who commits any misdeed...well, you wouldn´t be here"

Courtney watches as Excalibur is siding with Magik, a favour for a favour, and she is making a great villain.

"Very well, I ´d take Excalibur owns Magik favour then... Even archaic laws have power in the modern world" Courtney speaks looking at Captain Brittain.

"Excalibur does have a favour to pay to Magik" Brian and Meggan repeat those words. Kurt is frowning at such words and crosses his arm(a weak attempt to arrest, attempt to bring them here...something is wrong and he did use this plot before)

"This is a fake situation to force favour!" Kurt declares and no one pays attention to him, no one but Kitty.

Kitty looks at Magik talking friendly at Excalibur and at Kurt. "I´d believe in you, but, we can use this opportunity to watch what Magik wants, after all, she´s Belasco´s student"

Kurt nods but lets his tail wrapped around her waist as Magik waves at them...Kurt is not pleased with the blonde Queen and if Belasco´s student wants a fight....she may get one.

[maxwellyjordan]

Thursday round-up

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court remains front and center in the news. For The Washington Post, Amy Brittain reports that financial disclosures and information provided by the White House indicate that “Kavanaugh incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets.” For The New York Times, Katie Benner reports that “Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, has asked federal prosecutors to help review the government documents of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh,” and that the request “was an unusual insertion of politics into federal law enforcement.” For The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column, Salvador Rizzo examines speculation about “a past business relationship between Donald Trump and one of Kennedy’s sons” that some have suggested may have influenced the justice’s recent rulings or his decision to retire, giving the allegations four Pinocchios.

At CNN, Joan Biskupic analyzes Kavanaugh’s record, concluding that “he stands to be more than just a reliable vote for the right” and that “[h]e could powerfully influence the country’s legal agenda for decades.” For The Washington Post, Robert Barnes and Ann Marimow report that “Kavanaugh has only one major abortion ruling in his 12 years on the federal bench, but that forceful opinion will define the coming debate on what his elevation to the Supreme Court would mean for a woman’s constitutional right to the procedure.” At Bloomberg, Sahil Kapur and Greg Stohr report that “senators and activists on both sides of the debate” say “Kavanaugh’s views on gun rights may push the court to expand Second Amendment protections.”

Also at Bloomberg, Jennifer Dlouhy and others report that “Kavanaugh could add a powerful new voice on the Supreme Court to restrain what government agencies can do, ushering in a new era of tougher scrutiny of federal regulations loathed by businesses.” At Bloomberg Law, Madison Alder reports that Kavanaugh “would likely continue Justice Anthony Kennedy ‘s legacy of siding with the conservative justices in labor, employment, and benefits cases, though he may diverge from his predecessor’s views on gay bias.” Casey Quinlan argues at ThinkProgress that “Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court will be bad news for workers’ rights.”

At Education Week’s School Law Blog, Mark Walsh reports that Kavanaugh “has argued for allowing students to lead prayers at high school events and supported the inclusion of religious schools in voucher programs.” At Reason’s Hit & Run blog, Damon Root flags Kavanaugh’s “possible shortcomings on the Fourth Amendment front.” At People for the American Way, Devon Schmidt argues that “affordable health care for all will be at serious risk” if Kavanaugh joins the Supreme Court. At the Brennan Center, Ian Vandewalker suggests that a 2011 opinion casts doubt on “whether [Kavanaugh] believes that the Constitution blocks America’s elected leaders from protecting our democracy from foreign attacks.”

Kavanaugh’s record on environmental issues is the focus for Sofie Werthan at Slate, who cites his multiple rulings “against Environmental Protection Agency attempts to regulate air pollution and address climate change.” At E&E News, Amanda Reilly reports that Kavanaugh’s writings in environmental cases reflect his “emphasis on making sure agencies review both the benefits and costs of regulations.” Also at E&E News, Reilly explores Kavanaugh’s views on Chevron deference, the doctrine that requires courts to defer to administrative agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes, noting that although “Kavanaugh hasn’t called the Chevron doctrine entirely into question or questioned whether the law world would be better without it,” “he could side with other conservatives on the court in limiting its application.”

At Politico, Darren Samuelsohn reports that “Kavanaugh’s … writings and comments warning about the dangers of … sprawling probes [of a president] — including that sitting presidents should not be subjected to criminal investigations — … are already being weaponized by Democrats.” Additional coverage comes from Josh Gerstein, also at Politico. For The New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports that “Democrats who once saw health care and abortion as their best lines of attack against … Kavanaugh … are recalibrating their approach to go after him for his view that a sitting president should not have to answer questions in a criminal case, much less face indictment.” But in an op-ed for Bloomberg View, Noah Feldman argues that “[p]roperly understood, Kavanaugh’s expressed views actually support the opposite conclusion: that the president can be investigated and maybe even indicted unless Congress passes a law saying he can’t — which Congress has not done.” At Lawfare, Benjamin Wittes agrees, maintaining that Kavanaugh’s extra-judicial writings about presidential investigations, highlighting as a “salient fact … that Kavanaugh has articulated a vision of a legitimate and appropriate investigation under our constitutional scheme and that it looks so much like the Mueller structure—and that he believes that the president of the United States has no common-law privileges before such an investigation.”

In an analysis for The Washington Post, Elliott Ash and Daniel Chen maintain that “[a]ccording to a deep, data-driven survey of his writings from the bench, [Kavanaugh] is an uncommonly partisan judge, even compared to other federal appeals court judges.” In an op-ed for The New York Times, Leah Litman worries that the reconstituted court “will rarely act as a shield for groups — such as undocumented women — who are victimized by the political process.” At Rewire.News, Jessica Mason Pieklo argues that “[t]here is no liberal case for Brett Kavanaugh.” In a Washington Post op-ed, E.J. Dionne rejects the idea that “because Kavanaugh is qualified, well-educated, intelligent and likable, senators should fall in line behind him,” noting that “[i]n blocking [Judge Merrick] Garland, conservatives made clear that personal qualities have nothing to do with confirmation battles.”

At Politico Magazine, John Harris and Matthew Nussbaum remark that “Kavanaugh’s ascension would further ratify a trend that has been building for a generation: a court of careerists,” whose “members occupy an increasingly narrow strand of American life.” In an empirical analysis for The New York Times, Denise Lu and others confirm that Kavanaugh followed a familiar path to the nomination.

For the Associated Press, Lisa Lerer and Steve Peoples point out that “Democrats [have] struggled to unify behind a clear and coherent message to combat the nomination.” At The Nation, Joan Walsh looks at some lines of attack Democrats might pursue. In an op-ed for Roll Call, Walter Shapiro suggests that the Kavanaugh pick might not be as safe as it seems. At The American Prospect, Simon Lazarus explains why and how Democrats should “initially frame the debate” over “the nominee’s absolutist vision of presidential power.” At The National Law Journal (subscription or registration required), Tony Mauro reports that “Yale Law School professor Akhil Amar said Tuesday he will speak in favor of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee before the Senate Judiciary Committee if asked to do so.”

For The New York Times, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns report that “the long-awaited debate over replacing Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s swing vote is more likely to intensify the existing forces of the 2018 midterm elections rather than turn the campaign on its head.”

Briefly:

At the Cato Institute’s Cato at Liberty blog, Jay Schweikert remarks that what may be “the single most ideologically and professionally diverse amicus brief ever filed in the Supreme Court” urges the justices to “reconsider qualified immunity—a judge-made doctrine, at odds with the text and history of Section 1983, which regularly allows public officials to escape accountability for this kind of unlawful misconduct.”

At the Daily Journal (subscription required), David Boyle looks at National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, in which the court held that a California statute that requires crisis pregnancy centers to make certain disclosures likely violates the First Amendment, suggesting that the state may be able “to resurrect the unlicensed-disclosure requirement in the future.”

At American Thinker, Deborah La Fetra maintains that the “Gift Clause[s]” in state constitutions would prevent states from enacting “workarounds” to the court’s recent decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, which prohibits public-sector unions from charging nonmembers for collective-bargaining activities. [Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, is among the counsel on an amicus brief in support of the respondents in this case.]

In the latest episode of the Heritage Foundation’s SCOTUS 101 podcast, “John Malcolm joins Elizabeth Slattery to talk about attending the huge SCOTUS announcement at the White House.”

We rely on our readers to send us links for our round-up.  If you have or know of a recent (published in the last two or three days) article, post, podcast, or op-ed relating to the Supreme Court that you’d like us to consider for inclusion in the round-up, please send it to roundup [at] scotusblog.com. Thank you!

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