#janet. world tour

[janetjacksonarchive]

[queam]

Cloud guy and Janet

[53v3nfrn5]

Janet Jackson ‘janet.’ World Tour Shirt (1993)

[king-trollex-fangirl]

Janet Chain the Pop Rock ambassador

Voice actress: Avril Lavigne

[slaybebe]

My pop art book collection! Which is your fave? Shop on thatsiconic(dot)com

[operafantomet]

I’m curious, what is the reason a production will give a Christine actress a blonde/different colored wig? I know smaller productions often have a blonde Christine (I think at least) but like- London for example, I thought they had a few Christine’s with a blonde wig, I assumed because the actress was a blonde but I swear there were some blonde Christine’s that also had a dark wig as well. Is there any reason for this? Or is it just random?

I the earliest days of POTO there was a will to adapt the 'Degas' wig to whoever played Christine and Meg. Whereas all three original Christines in West End followed the Sarah Brightmanesque look with big brown curls, they did feature Patti Cohenour on Broadway with a much lighter brown wig, to adapt to her colouring. It wasn't blonde, but it was a light auburn / reddish brown:

For the original Toronto production they also changed Susan Cuthberg's wig from brown to blonde during her run, making her the first blonde ALW Christine out there. This too was due to it being closer to her own colouring:

Equally, Janet Devenish started out with a very red Meg wig in West End. Later in her run it was changed to a blonder one. It's the blonde look that's stuck on Meg, but interestingly she was a redhead first!

A final example from early POTO days is that original Australian Meg, Sharon Millerchip, started out as a blonde, but it was decided that a brunette wig looked better on her. Once again to adapt to the actress' natural colourings.

But later in the 1990s the general formula stuck. Christine as a brunette, Meg as a blonde. A handful of Christines in West End was featured with auburn wig to match their own colouring, and one or two Megs got a brown wig, but they were definitely the exception rather than the rule. Especially in the US and the World Tour the Christines has worn a general dark brown wig completely unrelated to what hair colour they have in real life. This is what is generally done for the replica production, as the design indicates brown curls, but with some exceptions here and there.

With the first ever non-replica production, in Hungary 2003, their Christines partly wore their own hair, braided, with extensions in the back. This meant that a variety of colours has been seen there: Vanilla blonde, darker blonde, auburn, brunette. Here's barbara Fonyo (auburn), Renata Krassy (blonde) and Andrea Maho (brunette):

The non-replica productions that followed chose different strategies:

The 2008 Polish production emulated the 2004 movie, with curly brown wigs

The 2013 Restaged Tour did a less curly, general brown wig

The 2014 Estonian production featured their Christines with their actual hair colour (one brunette, one blonde)

The 2014 Czech production stuck fairly close to the original design, with long brown curly wigs,

The 2015 Finnish/Swedish production tried out different shades of red; first strawberry blonde, then flaming red.

The 2015 Romanian production and later Norwegian/Greek/Tour version went blonde. The Romanian production featured the actress' own hair, while the others has done wigs. But there's been different shades of blonde, different lengths and different curls. Gaston Leroux has been mentioned as inspiration.

The 2017 Serbian production also featured their Christine with their respective hair, which gave one blonde and one brunette.

Ditto for the 2019 Bulgarian production, ranging from light brown to black hair.

The 2020 Swedish production first went red for Christine. I have read they thought it was never done before and that's why they wanted to try it out (but as seen above, the Finnish/Swedish production beat them to it). When a new principal Christine was cast they gave her a blonde wig, to better match her colouring.

The 2022 Sydney Harbour production did fairly classic brown curly wigs.

The 2023 new Romanian production also feature Christine with her own hair - like the original Romanian production, and incidentally the same actress. But it looks like there's a bit of extensions going on as well.

Last, but not least, the 2023 Mediterranean production premiering in Italy did somewhere between honey blonde and auburn.

So in large, a non-brown Christine wig seems to be a way of adapting the hair to the actress - whether a wig is in use or not. In some cases it's also a way of actively differentiate the look from Maria Bjørnson's original design (as well as the iconic Mary Philbin look).

In replica production the 'wildest' things they did in the 1990s and early 2000s was auburn Christine wigs, and primarily in West End. But in the later 2000s more variations started to appear. The very light brown wigs of Janine Kitzen in Stuttgart and Robyn North in West End comes to mind, and Anne Görner's fairly redhead wig. Then Harriet Jones' first auburn red wig in West End, and them going all blonde on Emmi Christensson. Again the overall strategy seems to be to match the actress' own colours and the wig. Left: Anne Görner in Essen, and right: Emmi Christensson in West End.

In recent years there's also been a will to adapt the texture of the curls. From recent West End examples there is Lucy St Louis, Beatrice Penny-Touré, Paige Blankson and Chumisa Dornford-May with afro-textured hair. Ditto for Emilie Kouatchou on Broadway. Here's Lucy St Louis with Killian Donnelly:

And then the recent wig change for Eve Shanu-Wilson in West End, which is meant to closer reflect on her heritage. Though the Phantom historian in me also thinks it brilliantly reflects on the 1990s West End wigs, so I'm doubly happy...

So yeah. Usually the variations in wig colour and curls is due to a will to reflect on who the actress is and how she looks in real life. But the wig is of course also a tool to create a certain look for a certain role. Which means that every wig is an interpretation, and a negotiation between wanted look and the many possibilities for adaption.

[iwillnotdieamonster]

"This is a beautiful letter from Fiona Apple explaining to her fans why she must postpone a concert date. I am impressed at the way she was instantly able to make the decision to choose love over her career. Indeed, the world needs more of this.

It's 6pm on Friday, and I'm writing to a few thousand friends I have not met yet. I'm writing to ask them to change our plans and meet a little while later.

Here's the thing.

I have a dog, Janet, and she's been ill for about 2 years now, as a tumor has been idling in her chest, growing ever so slowly. She's almost 14 years old now. I got her when she was 4 months old. I was 21 then — an adult, officially — and she was my kid.

She is a pitbull, and was found in Echo Park, with a rope around her neck, and bites all over her ears and face.

She was the one the dogfighters use to puff up the confidence of the contenders.

She's almost 14 and I've never seen her start a fight, or bite, or even growl, so I can understand why they chose her for that awful role. She's a pacifist.

Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact. We've lived in numerous houses, and joined a few makeshift families, but it's always really been just the two of us.

She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head.

She was under the piano when I wrote songs, barked any time I tried to record anything, and she was in the studio with me, all the time we recorded the last album.

The last time I came back from tour, she was spry as ever, and she's used to me being gone for a few weeks, every 6 or 7 years.

She has Addison's Disease, which makes it more dangerous for her to travel, since she needs regular injections of Cortisol, because she reacts to stress and excitement without the physiological tools which keep most of us from literally panicking to death.

Despite all this, she's effortlessly joyful & playful, and only stopped acting like a puppy about 3 years ago. She is my best friend, and my mother, and my daughter, my benefactor, and she's the one who taught me what love is.

I can't come to South America. Not now. When I got back from the last leg of the US tour, there was a big, big difference.

She doesn't even want to go for walks anymore.

I know that she's not sad about aging or dying. Animals have a survival instinct, but a sense of mortality and vanity, they do not. That's why they are so much more present than people.

But I know she is coming close to the time where she will stop being a dog, and start instead to be part of everything. She'll be in the wind, and in the soil, and the snow, and in me, wherever I go.

I just can't leave her now, please understand. If I go away again, I'm afraid she'll die and I won't have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out.

Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes just to decide what socks to wear to bed.

But this decision is instant.

These are the choices we make, which define us. I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love & friendship.

I am the woman who stays home, baking Tilapia for my dearest, oldest friend. And helps her be comfortable & comforted & safe & important.

Many of us these days, we dread the death of a loved one. It is the ugly truth of Life that keeps us feeling terrified & alone. I wish we could also appreciate the time that lies right beside the end of time. I know that I will feel the most overwhelming knowledge of her, and of her life and of my love for her, in the last moments.

I need to do my damnedest, to be there for that.

Because it will be the most beautiful, the most intense, the most enriching experience of life I've ever known.

When she dies.

So I am staying home, and I am listening to her snore and wheeze, and I am revelling in the swampiest, most awful breath that ever emanated from an angel. And I'm asking for your blessing.

I'll be seeing you.

Love,

Fiona"

Credit goes to the respective owners.

[musings-from-an-elder-goth]

Lisa Frankenstein Filming Locations

“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

As promised, here are some of the filming locations for Lisa Frankenstein. As I just saw Kathryn Newton at Spooky Empire in Orlando this past weekend, I decided to stalk filming locations for some of her cooler movies. Or you can just watch the video I made, which covers all the locations but it goes into much less detail:

I found most of the locations on my own, but then received a location list from a person on the film's production team which confirmed the ones I'd already found and gave me the ones I was missing. Big thank you to that person!

***Spoilers below***

We'll start with Lisa's home which is located at 2552 Cypress Lawn Dr, Marrero, LA 70072. The shed in the back yard for the tanning booth is really part of the property, & can just be seen from the street (circled in red in second image).

Now, if you go there, remember, THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. Perfectly fine to admire it from the street, but do not trespass, do not knock on the door, do not ask for a tour, & do not ask if Lisa is home. Please. Now, if the folks living there say 'Hey' & invite you in when they see you in the street taking selfies with the house, that's another thing entirely - but otherwise, low profile it.

Although they filmed a little bit inside the real house, at least for the scenes where Creature first arrives, most of the house interiors were filmed on a sound stage which I know thanks to Zelda Williams posting this photo:

And that sound stage is The University of New Orleans Nims Center Studio located at 800 - 824 Distributors Row in New Orleans. I know this because of this picture from a behind the scenes video showing the entire cast & crew taking a group photo with two distinct architectural features circled. The next image is a Google street view of the same location with those features also circled.

Per the locations list, the party house Lisa & Taffy go to early in the film is located at 12565 Patterson Rd, New Orleans, LA 70131, which I've confirmed via location detail on Google maps:

And the high school is Belle Chase high school at 8346 LA-23, Belle Chase, LA 70037, which I've also confirmed via architectural detail:

The exteriors for Bachelor's Grove Cemetery & the woods around it, the wooded paths, & the bench scenes all take place in Brechtel Park, which is located in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

The park offers roads for driving scenes as well as thick woodland with vines & dense ground cover for the cemetery set - which, sadly, was entirely fake. Below is the exact location of Bachelor's Grove.

Bachelor's Grove is located at GPS coordinates 29.9100534 -90.0124431. The easiest way to get there is to take an asphalt sidewalk that you'll find about 100 feet to the right of the entrance. That sidewalk will take you around the north edge of the park and then turn left (south) where you will look for the 2nd marked trail. Follow that trailfor about 50 feet and you'll find a second marked tree, which I call the Twisted Tree, and you're in Bachelor's Grove.

Moving along, the scene at 1:17:37 in the film where Creature goes to retrieve Janet's (Lisa's step-mom's) car and kills the mean old man who is harassing the kid who can't start a lawn mower, was filmed at the south dead end of Dede Street in Marrero, LA at GPS 29.855776, -90.093451.

Rather pleased with myself for finding that one - not easy.

Creature then returns to just outside Bachelor's Grove, which again was filmed in Brechtel Park, with precise location circled in the third image.

Lisa & Taffy arrive there & Lisa psychs herself up to go into the cemetery to kill Creature at GPS 29.906104, -90.009096

This is still in Brechtel Park, they just moved the cars about 30 feet to the west & spun the camera around - the dead giveaways are those posts along the road & the two small hills in the background.

Lisa then runs down a wide, woodland path.

This photo of one of Brechtel Park's wide, wooded paths is the same path, located at GPS 29.908912, -90.011958.

And here's that spot circled below:

When Dale, Lisa's dad (played by Joe Chrest, who also plays the Wheeler's dad on Stranger Things), & Taffy visit Lisa's grave at the end, they are standing in the southern section of Carrollton Cemetery in New Orleans, at GPS 29.947097, -90.121813.

The reason they used this location is because Carrollton is one of the few New Orleans cemeteries that has a large section where all the graves are below ground, as this movie is supposed to be taking place near Chicago.

As for how I know they used this specific location, I have a wine bottle shaped tombstone to thank for that. In the below image, we see that odd tombstone from the front.

And here we see it from the back, as I wasn't able to get a clear image of it from the same perspective of the above image:

Also rather proud of that find.

And the final scene on the bench is also in Brechtel Park at the location circled on the map, GPS 29.909290, -90.010784.

So the only significant filming location I can't find is Michael's red brick colonial, but whatever. Found Michael's house, too!

Anyway, here's to hoping we all find that special someone who was reanimated just for us. 🦇🖤🦇

creaturesfromelsewhere 5-23-2024

[hunterthecharmer]

Unexpected - Part 1

Alright everyone, here is part one to my Glen Powell x Reader fic! I will start part two tomorrow, but wanted to go ahead and throw this up to get your thoughts. :) no Glen in this one yet, just setting the stage for reader's context/job and how the two will end up crossing paths. Feedback is welcome! Part two will be very long as I want to be sure to include a lot of Glen x reader scenes of course.

Love you all! xoxo

Word count: 2.3k

“Savannah, we can’t put this off to another day. We have to turn in our plans by Friday morning!” you sigh, massaging your temples. Savannah was a hard worker, but having her partner on this project go on maternity leave earlier than unexpected had really rattled her. She began twirling the ends of her hair as she chewed her bottom lip, your words going in one ear and out the other. You shake your head before stepping closer to your coworker, placing a hand on each of her shoulders to try to get through to her. 

“Sav, listen to me. Janet is going to kill us if we can’t prove to her that we can handle this event. The flights and talent are already booked, we just need to decide who we want to speak at this convention and nail down the catering. All the other little details, I will take on myself. Deal?” You shoot her a soft smile, her shoulders slouching into her olive green cardigan. She exhales deeply, eyes closing before opening them to meet your gaze. “Okay, deal. Let’s do this!”

“Have a great night, Sav! I’ll see you tomorrow.” You shout over your shoulder as you stride out of the office, waving to Savannah as she returns a smile to you, the humidity providing a slight fog to her glasses.

After hopping into your car, you crank up the AC and turn on your playlist before driving down Rodeo drive toward home. The palm trees gently blowing in the breeze, the lit up signs..it was quiet for a Wednesday night. Granted, it was only 8pm, but still. In the 6 months you’d lived in LA, you hadn’t been able to go anywhere without seeing some type of night life or large groups of people gathered, having fun in their shorts and Ray Bans. It wasn’t necessarily for you, but you had indulged in the lifestyle a bit. Going out for drinks with coworkers, seeing shows on the weekends, soaking up the sun on the beaches. It wasn’t home, but there are definitely worse places to live.

Working for Ignite Cons had been a dream come true. You started as an event coordinator in your hometown for tourists that would visit for shows that were filmed there, and ended up going viral online to catch the eye of the company. You loved working behind the scenes to make tourists and talent feel welcome, and their experience to go as smooth as possible. From tours, to dinners and even decorating and staging panel events - you had your hands in all of it. Immersing your mind into the world of these different shows or movies was never boring, and oftentimes challenged you to put your own personal interests aside to really think outside of the box about what fans or stars would want to see or do. 

You succeeded at this for 3 years before Ignite reached out, bringing you on to focus solely on Hollywood -esque events to be hosted by the company for different brand trips, special dinners in town or anything else they may want to host. You were quickly pulled away from caring for fans and tourists to being sent a dozen emails from publicists and assistants to ensure the talent attending these events had any and every possible thing they could need. Instead of focusing themed dinners around a tv show or film, you were setting up panels, teachings or classes for actors, singers, stunt doubles, etc. all across the world to attend in hopes to re spark that creativity or drive in them for an upcoming job. To ignite their love for their job and to bring in the money for the production companies and all involved, hence the company’s name: Ignite.

You turn the key to your apartment, the sweet smell of vanilla and sugar cookies filling your lungs as you toss your keys on the counter and mentally pat yourself on the back for setting your diffuser before you left this morning. You peel your high heels off your feet, stepping onto the cold hardwood floors and exhaling with a smile at how nice it felt on your sore feet.

After a shower and warm mug full of some tea, you drift off to sleep before another full day ahead.

“No, Thomas, that won’t be an issue. I’ll get a check in the mail to you by this afternoon. Of course! Oh, and do you guys have any special desserts you could prepare as well? Maybe a dairy, non dairy and gluten free option? Yeah…you know how we roll in California. Ha! Okay, perfect.” you smile while twisting the phone chord with your finger as you check ‘Find caterer’ off your to do list. Three knocks on your office door shake you from your concentration, turning your attention to your boss waving at you, motioning for you to meet her in her office when you are finished. You thank Thomas and hang up, smoothing out your dress before grabbing your notebook and heading to Anne’s office down the hall. 

“Ah, there she is! Please, have a seat.” Anne smiles warmly at you, gesturing toward the velvet armchair in front of her. You take a seat and cross your legs, opening up your notes in anticipation of her questions. “So, how is the project going? Is Savannah hanging in there?” She begins, clicking her pen as she shuffles some papers around her desk. “We are making great progress! I have already found a caterer, and Sav is supposed to be choosing from a handful of speakers as well as a paint and sip instructor. She’s hanging in there.” You flash your boss a sympathetic smile. Anne nods, scribbling on her paper and nodding slowly. “Good. I knew you two could do it. I really appreciate you stepping up with Leslie being out. I don’t know what I would do without you! I promise, once we get past this event in Tennessee, I will release you back to your regular tasks and behind the scenes zone.” Anne smiles at you once more before standing from her chair, mirroring her movement. “See you Friday morning!”

She closes the door behind you as you return to your own office, her words echoing in your head. Why did she say back to behind the scenes? Wasn’t this still behind the scenes work, technically? Maybe she didn’t mean anything by it…

The work day comes and goes, and next thing you know it’s Friday morning. You slip into your black work pants, heels and maroon blouse. You make sure to spend a little extra time on your makeup and hair today, as you and Savannah will be giving a presentation on the entire two week agenda for Ignite’s next convention you two named “Expressions”.

 Savannah had all but fought you on the name of the convention, having fallen in love with a couple of the activities and teachers she had found regarding actors wanting to expand their emotional range for different projects, specifically showing it in their facial expressions. Teaching them how to react in certain scenes while also showcasing how they can under react in some ways as well to let co stars and the sets built around them shine when and if need be. To not overdue a character or emotion.

You and Savannah gave a final wink to each other before standing before the executives, your boss included, to click through your slide show and pitch the theme, dinner menus, lodging and finalize the talent who were attending. The budget had been respected, and after the hour long pitch came to a close, applause was all you and Savannah could hear ringing in your ears. All the tension and anxiety melted away. The company officially gave you both the green light and outlined the responsibilities the two of you, as well as other staff would have for the convention. 

Among the laundry list of roles and requirements was physically being in Tennessee for the duration of the event, and helping to assist the talent in getting to and from their chosen activities each day. The resort would have golf carts for each person attending, and everyone would have someone from Ignite as well as other companies helping keep the talent on schedule and basically being their assistant for the two weeks they were away from their regular day to day schedules and teams. Suddenly, Anne’s comment from the other day finally made sense. Doing your best not to show your distaste in front of everyone in the conference room, you sign the contracts and shake hands with everyone before grabbing Savannah’s arm to pull her into the breakroom. 

“How’d I do? No, how did we do?!” Savannah excitedly asks, her voice low. You give each other a high five. “I think it went great! I’m so happy they liked our ideas and all the activities we lined up. But I have to be honest, I am not thrilled about the whole talent handler thing.” You scrunch up your nose as you grab a water bottle out of the fridge.

“Are you kidding? I was hoping they’d at the very least allow us to go see our ideas come to life in person, but this is even better! Can you believe all of the talent going? I wonder who we will be assigned to!” Savannah’s enthusiasm causes you to take a deep breath in and adjust your tone. “You know I’m just more of a behind the scenes kind of girl, not really a face to face person.” You sip your water, watching as her smile grows.

“This will be good for both of us! We’re in it together, deal? Think of it like a work vacation. We have two months until November to get ready for this- don’t worry!”

You pace your apartment, staring at your suitcase full of boots, sweaters and everything else you could possibly need for your two week trip to Tennessee. You had a week before you had to leave, and come tomorrow morning you would know who you were assigned to as a handler. You hoped it would be someone nice, maybe someone your age or someone you enjoyed watching on tv. Maybe it would be someone older, someone more established? Your mind was swimming with possibilities as you fell asleep.

“Alright ladies, here are your assignments!” Anne claps her hands together before handing you both a manila envelope. Savannah’s jaw drops, and she holds the portfolio close to her chest. “I’m too nervous to look! You go first.” She nudges your arm, and you let out a sigh. “Alright, let’s see who I’ll be carting around…” You flip open the folder to see a photo of a 32 year old male actor, with dark hair and brown eyes. 

“Dylan O’Brien? Not bad, not bad. I’ve seen him in a few movies!” You smile, before closing the portfolio and sliding your chair back in place as you glance to Savannah’s folder. “Okay Sav, your turn. Let’s see it!” 

Taking a breath, she opens hers to read, “Glen Powell?” she reads the name, a curiosity in her voice. “I don’t know who this is. Do you?” 

Anne shrugs, sitting back down behind her desk and reaching for her glasses. “You girls go home early for the day, time is ticking away and you need to be sure all your ducks are in a row!”

You take one more glance at the photo of Glen, heat rushing to your cheeks. You knew exactly who he was. In an effort to keep your composure, you quickly excuse yourself from your boss’ office, pulling Savannah with you. “Savannah..I know who he is. He’s one of my favorite actors! How have you not seen Twisters yet? Or what about "Set it Up?” You excitedly gush before Savannah cuts you off. “I’m sorry, but you got Dylan?! My celebrity crush? What! Not fair.” She pouts, crossing her arms as she follows you down the hallway to your office. Closing the door behind you, you sit her down in the chair. “Look, we are not going to be there as fans, we are there to work. We have to be professional, and I’d offer to switch with you but they’ve already been sent our names and photos- I checked. We have to forget that we’ve seen any of their work and strictly drive them around the property for the next two weeks, okay? Our jobs could be at stake if we don’t impress Anne and the company. Besides, this isn’t my job anyway.” You trail off, Savannah nodding slowly at your words. “You’re right. Okay, it will be as if we don’t know them. Got it. We can do this!” You both high five before heading home for the day.

On your drive home, your mind is going a mile a minute. Would Dylan be nice to work for, or would he be a total douche? And Glen…there will be so many people attending this thing, there’s no way your paths will cross. Right? Besides, this won’t be the time for photos or meet and greets. Glen, along with every other star there will be attending on their own accord, their own dime and will be looking to immerse themselves to try and hone their craft. You were not about to let your inner fangirl get in the way of that. They’re all just people like you, after all. You shake your head, smiling to yourself as you pull into your complex. This would be an interesting few weeks ahead.

[klbwriting]

Combining Two Worlds

Chapter 10: The Words You Use Are Important

Fandom: DCEU

Pairing: Ormxfemale!Reader

Warnings: some violence

Summary: Y/N thinks of a plan to get Lydia alone to talk and Orm really screws up

Note: May be the last chapter for a bit, I have other things to do today, but hopefully tonight I'll come back and write more

               “I know how to talk to Lydia, without having to be alone with her, and maybe get her to be honest about her family and their plans,” she said.  “We have a bachelorette party and invite her.”  She was looking at Mera who shrugged, not sure what she meant.

Janet went to bed early, leaving Mera, Y/N and Orm in the family room watching a movie.  It was some comedy about a wedding, Mera picked it hoping to make the other two laugh some.  Orm was sinking again, she could see it, and Y/N didn’t have the experience to know how to pull him out of it.  Her plan of the comedy seemed to backfire, however, until Y/N sat up straight, looking between them. 

               “What is a bachelorette party?” she asked.  Y/N stopped the movie where the women were in some kind of club, the bride wearing a cheap veil. 

               “That is a common one, the women of the wedding party all go out, drink, maybe have a male stripper do a naked dance for them, get penis shaped food and eat it, things like that” Y/N said.  Mera and Orm both looked confused and somewhat horrified.  “The men do something similar, called a bachelor party, and normally I wouldn’t want this kind of thing at all, but if you and I ask Lydia to join us for a girls pre-wedding night maybe we can get her to open up, see what’s been going on.” 

               “That sounds insane, where would you even have that at?” Orm asked.  Y/N thought for a few minutes.

               “Just the palace,” she said.  “We can set up, have drinks and snacks, music, play games, just stay in but just the girls, at least for the beginning, sometimes the men will join later, and it’ll turn into a party, you and Arthur can have Ludo join you guys to do something.  I know you won’t want me leaving the palace, but you guys could.  Then after a few hours you join us and we can see what happens, how they act when their parents aren’t around, and no one is watching them to keep tabs.”

               “I like this idea, at least for Lydia, I mean, we can make sure that Tom is with Atlanna, he will be safe with her, and then we will be watching the kids, but what about their parents?  What if they take that time to try and do something?” Mera asked.  “They don’t seem like they would care if their children were in the crossfire, would probably make them seem more sympathetic and less likely to have attacked.”

               “Can we arrange for their parents to be at your father’s kingdom?  Perhaps taking a tour to reintroduce them to our closest ally?” Orm suggested.  The movie was entirely forgotten now as the three of them sat close on the couch.  Orm and Mera were leaning towards the middle where Y/N was sitting back, one hand on her stomach, the other holding Orm’s hand.  He squeezed her hand and glanced at her, showing her a tight smile.  He still wasn’t back to the Orm she knew; he was still darkened by everything that was happening and she hoped that figuring out how to get rid of these banished royals would help him come back to her.

               “He would probably do that, keep them there for a night or two, give us an opportunity,” Mera said.  “He did not appreciate his grandson being poisoned, so we have to hope he doesn’t lose his temper.” 

               “This might work, maybe I can come home and stay there,” Y/N said softly.  She made a soft noise as the baby kicked.  Orm put a hand to her stomach and felt, leaning his head down after a moment, feeling his child move.  It was the first thing in weeks to make him feel anything but anger.  He would never let anyone hurt his wife or his daughter. 

               In the morning they all carted off back to Atlantis, Arthur hugging Tom tight to him when they arrived, pulling Mera in with them.  It was a sweet sight and Y/N couldn’t wait to have the same moments with Orm and Velka.  Orm was standing off to the side, peering out of the window of the sitting room.  He had barely spoken to Y/N since they had left California and it was eating at her now.  She couldn’t understand the distance he was putting between them, he had never done anything like this before. 

               “You need to stop this with her,” Arthur said, voice firm.  Orm frowned, his brother rarely spoke to him like a subject instead of family and he didn’t like it, it made him angry, and he was already full of rage at everything that had been happening the last few months.

               “Let’s get you guys settled and then we can start talking about this wedding,” Arthur said, hoping to bring some happiness back to his brother.  Orm offered a small smile and Y/N nodded, watching her husband more than Arthur.  Arthur walked them to their rooms but stopped Orm before he could go in. 

               “I don’t need relationship advice from you,” he snapped back, going to head inside.  Arthur pulled the door closed again.  “Don’t push me right now.”

               “You are driving a wedge into your marriage and you can’t see it,” his brother said, ignoring the face Orm was making.  He was barely holding it together.  “Your anger at Syfin and his family is making you blind to what damage you are doing to your wife, you have to let go of this anger…”

               “I will never let go of this anger,” Orm said.  “You may be fine at the thought of someone harming your wife and child, you may not care about them, but I actually care about my family, I’m not going to let her get hurt like you let Tom…”  He didn’t get to finish that sentence.  The door flew open.

               “Orm what the hell is wrong with you?” Y/N was saying just as Arthur’s fist connected with Orm’s face.  He was knocked back several feet and stared at them.  “Arthur, stop.” She got in front of Orm and held back Arthur, who looked ready to hit him again. 

               “You watch your mouth, don’t make me put you back in a cell right before your wedding,” Arthur said.

               “Just try it and see what happens half-breed” Orm said before he could stop himself.  The word was out before he realized what he said, how that word would hurt Y/N to hear more than Arthur.

               “If you hate half-breeds so much Orm why are you protecting me? Or Velka? Why not just let us go?” she said, voice soft.  She went back into the room, closing the door and locking it this time.  Orm stood there, dazed, he looked at Arthur who just shook his head and left.  He had really messed up this time and he wasn’t sure when he would get a chance to fix it.  He noticed Syfin and Hestia moving by then, smiling. 

[hello-nichya-here]

Girl.... Imma need all the tea abt Michael's brothers being leaches.

I do remember that one of them said that there wouldn't be no Michael Jackson without Jackson 5. BFFR. omg.

Just look at Spotify monthly listeners. I tend to compare artists who debuted at the same time and if they are still alive or not.

Marlon Jackson: 945

Jackie Jackson: 1'180

Tito Jackson: 15'148

Jermaine Jackson: 771'648

The Jacksons: 2'862'021

The Jackson 5: 8'607'046

Michael Jackson: 43'067'506

I know Spotify listeners aren't everything in terms of success or talent. Just look how Selena Gomez supposedly has more than Beyonce. But here I mean the gap is huge.

And the fact they NEEDED him for the Victory Tour otherwise no one would have showed up.

...Anon, I'm gonna be honest here, I completely forgot Jermaine wasn't the only of MJ's brothers to try and have his own solo career. And it says a lot that even though he was the most sucessful of MJ's brothers, he was nowhere near as relevant as he wanted to be - let alone as relevant as Michael.

Also, I know that showbusiness is cruel, especially to child stars, and the music industry is super unfair and buries really talented artists while promoting others that are not even good - but lets not kid ourselves here.

Like you said, the very fact that they had to drag him into that tour to make it relevant already says a lot - but there's even more to that. Michael decided, on his own, that this was going to be the LAST tour, and announced it at the last concert, without discussing it with anyone. He didn't just quit, he essentially ended the group.

They tried to carry on without him a few years later, and it went nowhere because nobody cared about them if Michael wasn't there. Meanwhile, he had random dancers/back-up singers stand in for his brothers whenever he'd ocasionally perform "his" old songs, and nobody except their mom ever complained. I strongly suspect some people didn't even notice - first time I watched some of the performances of the Bad Era, I sure didn't.

They had a reunion in 2001 - in some concerts to celebrate MICHAEL's career, with a moment dedicated to some Jackson 5/the Jackson's hits. They tried for a reunion and their own TV show in 2009 - the same time Michael's final tour was supposed to happen. When Michael died, all the interest in the projects of his brother's died too, with their proper reunion only happening a few years later... in a tribute to Michael.

But by far the biggest evidence that Michael didn't need them was Motown 25. He performed with his brothers, and even though he was obviously the star, they were still great, truly fucking awesome, you can clearly tell they are all giving it all their talent and energy.

Then he performed Billie Jean and did the moonwalk without a breaking a sweat and it was like his brothers never existed. Their big moment was Michael's warm up, and his big moment had him on stage by himself, singing the biggest hit of his SOLO career, overshadowing everything that came before it.

The only one of his siblings that ever managed to not be in his shadow was Janet. And even then, despite being HUGE, she was not KING OF POP huge. Probably because literally nobody else, before or since, could do what Michael did.

For fuck's sake, look at "We Are The World." Pretty much every famous singer of the decade was there, every single one of them giving it their all - and Michael is still clearly the star, because he wasn't just better than his siblings, he was better than everybody.

And I think that's the reason why his brothers never fully let go of all their envy. Pretty much everyone in that family exploited Michael for his money/relevance, but since his brothers were once his bandmates, they felt full on entitled towards not just Michael's money, but his career in general - because their time as a band was the most sucess they were ever gonna achieve, but it was quickly becoming just "Michael Jackson's early years, when he was not as famous as he is right now, but was already way more famous than his brothers will ever be." They were dependent on him, and were now being told "No, he won't let you all tag along forever."

Hence them demanding to be part of "Off The Wall" and getting mad when Michael didn't let them, making him tour with them singing the band's biggest hits instead of doing a tour for Thriller, fucking raiding his house for valluable stuff, using his money to buy mansions for themselves and raise their kids/pay child support, claiming that if things had been just slightly different their own solo careers totally could have been just as big as Michael's, etc.

It wasn't just that their sibling slowly became way better than them and eventually didn't need them to be sucessful. Michael NEVER needed them. He was always the star, the one people were more interested in, the one with the most talent, and eventually he realized that, if he continued letting his family pressure him into ignoring his own goals and focused on "paying his debt to his siblings (and father)" he was at best going to be held back forever so his brother's could stay relevant at his expense, and at worst he'd ruin his own career completely just so they could all fail together and his brother's egos would be spared.

Again, see how HE basically ended the band (or at least the version the public actually cared about). To them, it wasn't Michael going solo, it was him kicking them out. Like they would have TOTALLY made Thriller with him, or could have each done it on their own. Like his solo works are theirs by extention just because they used to do things as a group, and therefore they deserve the profit and the credit for something they were not involved in.

Joseph, of course, did not fucking help make the situation any better. I already mentioned all the physical abuse he put his children through during reharsals, but there's one more thing: he'd sometimes deliberately compare his other sons to Michael when they made a mistake while dancing or singing, to make them feel worse about themselves for not being as good as their brother. OBVIOUSLY that led to a ton of misplaced resentment towards their sibling for them, and to Michael feeling guilty about something that wasn't his fault.

Joseph is also the person who taught them their very warped idea of "family." He had always said that family was the most important thing in the world - because he was one of these parents who believed that, since he was responsible for them being alive, they owed him literally EVERYTHING and thus had to put up with EVERYTHING.

He wanted to beat them with a belt whenever they did anything wrong? They should just shut up and endure it, it's just discipline, and they wouldn't be going through that if they could just do what they're told.

He wants to control their careers, have "his share" of their money, and then use said money to cheat on their mother? Doesn't matter, he is still the man of the house if he's not the one making the money, and thus they owe him respect and shouldn't meddle on what he does with his life.

Michael is clearly depressed about all the trauma he was put through and the childhood that was stolen from him? Oh please, he should be thankful that he was made to work like a dog for most of his life, it's the thing that has allowed the whole family to live not just comfortably, but luxuriously - with his money. That he totally only made because of Joseph, so they really don't owe anything to Michael.

It's really no surprise that, after being raised by that man, Michael's brothers turned out the way they did. Their complaints were "God, he told me to buy a smaller house since I can't afford a mansion instead of buying said mansion for me, the watch he gave me for my birthday is only worth ONE million dollars instead of two, and he will only let us do a medley of our Jackson 5 hits during his show, not tour with us again, how selfish!" meanwhile Michael was complaining that since everyone, including his own family, was only ever thinking of how being close to him would benefit their image/lead to them making money, he was incredibly lonely and miserable.

Nine times out of ten, Michael helped his family out of "obligation" - because that's what they turned their relationship into. A transaction, a contract. Michael "paying his debt" to people that cared about his money and fame so much that they often forgot he was a person that, even after all they did, STILL loved them.

But I guess "We are totally responsible for his sucess, and in fact could have totally been just as famous" is a much more pleasant version of the story than "We completely failed our brother, and we should thank God everyday that he never fully broke free of this AWFUL family, because otherwise we'd be broke and even more irrelevant."

[mzminola]

Because something superhero comics, noir, and fanfic all have in common is leaning into soap opera convolutedness, @alexmaybe & I have come up with the Bruce Wayne Spawn Shell Game AU, in which the middle kids are all biologically Bruce’s.

(Dick really is John & Mary Grayson’s, and Damian is Talia’s direct clone.)

No one finds this out until Batman!Bruce & Robin!Damian are fighting a magic user who has heard rumors that Robin is Batman’s son (rumors started by Damian’s not so quiet comments about being The Blood Son). The mage gloats that they’re going to use a “teleport everyone with X trait to me” spell to yank Robin over, and use the disorientation of teleportation to take him hostage. “I will summon Batman’s direct blood descendents! Mwa ha ha ha!”

Cue Damian staying firmly at Bruce’s side, while Cass in street wear with bubble tea, Jason doing gear maintenance, a random college student studying for exams, and Tim in his pajamas pop out of the ether all within a yard of the mage.

The mage regrets their life choices.

~

Now, how did we get here?

Firstly, during the years Bruce is doing his world tour of Learning Batman Skills while still swinging in and out of Gotham, Bruce is seeking physical activity to make his brain shut up, and also seeking intimacy but keeping too many secrets to let himself actually get close to people, so he is sleeping with Even More People Than In His Batman Years. He remembers condoms but always doesn’t use them perfectly.

Bruce meets Sandra & Carolyn Wu-San at their dojo in Brooklyn. Some time later when David Cain coerces Sandra into reproductive sex, she seeks out every male martial artist she vaguely respected or thought had potential to sleep with them too as a Fuck You to undermine Cain’s scheme without openly breaking their deal.

Bruce has a one-night stand with pre-transition Willis Todd, both of them just giving their first (legal) name, no contact info. Figuring out several months later that he’s pregnant but no clue how to find the other father, Willis, who does want kids someday, weighs the pros and cons of “having trouble making ends meet right now, can I support a kid?” with “everyone says pregnancy would be harder later in transition,” and opts to have Jason now.

Sheila Haywood is either a friend or a bribable hospital worker (or both) who agrees to put her name down as the mom so Willis can legally be his kid’s dad without any complicated paperwork. Willis and Catherine never got around to telling Jason before both of them died. When Jason showed up at the camp thinking Sheila was his bio-mom she rolled with it, figuring she could get details of why he thought that later, and then unfortunately [canon ensued].

It won’t be until the spell incident happens that Bruce puts together one night stand Wilhelmina with Why do the pictures of Willis Todd look kinda familiar? Because he definitely never slept with Catherine or Sheila.

Bruce meets, befriends and sleeps with Janet Drake while going on an archaeological research binge. He’s also still having a lot of random bar and nightclub hook-ups.

Some months later, while Jack is out of town on a business trip, Janet complains to Bruce that Jack really wants a son, but the latest ultrasound shows a female fetus. Janet really doesn’t want to deal with pregnancy ever again, but Jack isn’t open to adoption, and ugh if only Janet could just swap this one for a male infant. It would be so easy to nudge Jack into an archeology dig closer to the due date, he’d never have to know!

(No, neither Bruce nor Janet have thought maybe Bruce got Janet pregnant instead of Jack.)

“You’ve got this knack for finding odd things at just the right moment, Brucie…”

Janet knows it’s a long shot, and dubiously ethical because adoption records exist for good reason, and if they can’t find a baby that works she’ll just have to dig her heels in with Jack against trying for a son, but if Bruce could find a baby…

Bruce makes no promises other than keeping an eye and ear out.

Anyway, Bruce isn’t Batman yet, but he’s home between tutors on his World Tour and venturing into the city in various disguises to learn more about Gotham’s underworld, and getting into trouble. So it is Bruce Wayne with a fresh concussion, not a drunk Brucie, who stumbles into an alley to vomit and finds a baby in a dumpster.

It’s a very full dumpster, one half of the lid broken off. An orange cat (who may or may not be Teekl returning a future favor) is curled around the newborn baby boy. The infant has a shock of hair as dark as Janet’s.

Concussed Bruce walks all the way to the Drake townhouse marveling at the tiny hand gripping his finger so tight.

Janet schedules a C-section. Bruce forges Timothy Jackson Drake’s birth certificate and arranges the adoption of Janet’s daughter by a family in Oregon. He keeps tabs on them over the years, preparing a Wayne Foundation scholarship to the college of her choice someday.

~

Back to the magic incident: Nightwing and Batwoman were on their way there as back-up when the mage cast the summoning spell, so Dick is able to hug Damian as the kid bluescreens about Not Being The Blood Son.

Bruce awkwardly explains that yes, he ran Damian’s DNA when Talia dropped him off, but when he realized Damian was Talia’s direct clone, he also realized Talia was taking steps to ensure her child escaped the League of Assassins, by attaching him to one of the few people on the planet who can go toe to toe with (and even defeat) her father. Bruce opted to go along with Talia’s choice.

Kate has gotten popcorn from somewhere, munching on it while Bruce desperately thinks back to his Mega Ho Years to figure out how everyone else happened.

Cass is feeling a vindictive sort of smugness about not being David Cain’s bio-kid. He’s still her dad, but he only got part of what he wanted from Shiva.

Jason is pissed at Bruce for not figuring it out earlier, but kinda relieved that Sheila wasn't actually his mom.

The freshman college student from Oregon is really annoyed, she was at study group and she CANNOT fail this class!!! Now she’s on the entire opposite coast???

Tim is having some feelings about how fucking soap opera his origins turn out to be. Bruce slept with his mom Janet, but also she wasn’t his birth mom, he was adopted and no one told him??? Who the heck is his other birth parent??? What were the odds of his apparent bio-parent Bruce being the one to find him??? Wait, was finding baby Tim in a dumpster why younger!Bruce suddenly had Wayne Enterprises put money into improving and proliferating Safe Drop-Off Sites in Gotham???

(He is Not Thinking About his complicated relationship with Jack.)

~

Tim, when things are just starting to quiet down: “Wait, so does Talia have XY chromosomes, or does Damian have XX? Because I’ve done a lot of of cloning lab work, and—”

Damian: “Don’t talk about my mother’s chromosomes, dumpster baby.”

Tim: >:(

Bruce, very tired: “Damian, don’t call your brother a dumpster baby.”

Damian, indignant: “But you just told us you found him in a dumpster as an infant!”

Freshman college student: “Dude, it’s still fucking rude? Like how would you like being called a test tube baby?”

Damian: /draws sword/

Dick, pushing sword back into sheath: “No drawing weapons on civilians. Or calling Tim rude things. Tim, I think any chromosome questions are Talia and Damian’s personal medical business, so please don’t speculate on them.”

Tim, sarcastically: “Sorry, I forgot medical privacy exists after how you all reacted to the spleen thing.”

Freshman college student: “Spleen thing?”

Tim: “Don’t worry, it’s not genetic. Speaking of, B, you’re gonna have to update, like, all our medical history now.”

Bruce, even more tired: "Hn."

[thechanelmuse]

Janet MF Jackson...Ma'am 🤨

So Janet is now on the second leg of her Together Again World Tour. Prior to beginning this leg, she said she was gonna switch up the show from the first leg. Cool. I'm hype to see what's new. I love the song selection, arrangement, and transitions of the first leg. 40+ songs, barely an intermission. She had me dancing all night at her show at the Garden in NYC. So I just knew this second leg was gonna be sick.

Now..

One song I've always wanted to see her perform live is "Someone to Call My Lover." When I tell you that has been my mf jam since she dropped it when I was in high school. Fans have been begged her to perform it every time she has gone on the road. She hasn't done it since the All For You Tour. Just defiant.

So...

Tell me why...I'm looking at the new setlist for this second leg that I can't attend this time...and that lady done added "Someone To Call My Lover." Bitch, I...I'm crying on the inside 🙃

[loveryss]

~Embracing Erin~

Speed dates 1/3 - world tour edition 🌎

Activities in Brindleton Bay - Erin took Harley bowling! Though the location could've been better; Harley prefers the outdoors, the two had a great time and Harley even won the bowling game! - Erin knows gaming isn't her strongest suit but considering there are no computers at the bachelorette farm, she wanted to give Janet a bit of something she enjoys the most! Of course, Janet was a pro and won every game they played!

[operafantomet]

...here, in this room, he calls me softly...

Ellie Waite and Claire Lyon, World Tour

Cho Ha Rin and Song Eun Hye, Busan

Carolina Puntel and Sara Sarres, Sao Paulo

Unidentified and Ryoko Nomura (?), Tokyo

Cat Lane (?) and Claire Lyon (?), World Tour

Alexandra Young-Schmidt and Luzia Nistler, Vienna

Cat Lane and Magdalene Minnaar, Johannesburg

Mio Ogawa and Sae Yamamoto, Yokohoma (?)

Marni Raab and Jee Hyun Noh, World Tour

Claire Lyon and Hillary Reiter, World Tour revival

Claudia Cota and Silvia Tordente, Buenos Aires

Sarah Brightman and Elisa Heinsohn, Broadway

Sarah Brightman and Janet Devenish, West End

Valerie Link and Theano Makariou, Hamburg revival

Marina Prior and Sharon Millerchip, Melbourne

Asami Iwashiro and unidentified, Japan

Sandra Joseph and Kara Klein, Broadway

Sibylle Glosted and Imogen Lily Ash, Copenhagen revival