sunnysynthsunshine · 6 years ago
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A “Ted Talk”/Analyisis of what it means to be a “Peoples Poet” and why Rik Mayall means so much to me.
It’s like Alice in Wonderland constantly travelling through worlds.
When I enter “the realms” the galaxies I can see in my dreams and music hallucinations.
My childhood is like a cloud sometimes I like a colourful rainbow of positive nostalgic memories, rainy cringe-worthy memories and then there are the thunderstorms that are the memories I don’t want to think about.
I’ve always been fascinated by what I’d see in Films, TV Shows, Musicals, Songs, Video Games and books but not many really connected with me.
I am a complicated person,I can go from being cheerful, relaxed and happy to being dazed and clumsy or cynical or entranced and hyper-fixated to Pessimistic and Cold to Quiet and Timid to Mellow and Loud,my personality is all over the place with fiction I could only partly relate to certain characters or worlds either because we liked a few of the same foods or films or because we simply looked alike, I’ve had my role models,idols and inspirations sure but I didn’t really realise their full importance in my life until recently and while I loved writing about fiction and imagining myself in fiction I would be the person with the quill, not the damsel or leading man.
I’ve always been interested in Media and Theatre but the latter I couldn’t pursue as far as I wanted to,
I’ve had goals and ambitions but they always kept changing in a way some of them are the same they just ended up being expressed in ways I didn’t expect,
Ever since I studied English I’ve been in love with poetry and literature
When I saw him….his voice was familiar it was a sort of high pitched English sounding male voice..sometimes sounding low toned and posh other times not.
As a kid who watched lots of cartoons, films, adverts and public information films I was exposed to lots of familiar sounding voices in characters on silver, big and animated screens
I recall a cartoon I’d sometimes watch about a knight always trying to win over Queen Guinevere, the cartoon was like Shrek because it satirised fairy tale tropes but in the medieval world of King Arthur.
In Between that would be adverts for cleaning products, one with a golden labrador puppy playing with some toilet roll, an animated duck and villains in the Domestos world that would put the villains of Flushed Away to shame.
He was a voice,I didn’t know his name then even though his name was in the credits of the cartoon mentioned prior but there were so many names in my head at the time (Ant and Dec, Spice Girls, Horrid Henry, Shrek, Toy Story etc.) that his name got lost in translation.
Then years later I got interested in film critique and learned about a film,a film that was considered very bad by the American box office about a peter pan esque imaginary friend...it was then that I heard his voice again but I didn’t know at the time that they were the same.
Since I couldn’t form my own opinions much I went by what the critic said and avoided that film afterwards.
I wouldn’t hear his voice again until 6 years later….
By that time I was about to start college, after leaving secondary school, I was in a bit of a dark place,I had been in some drama,and often when I’d see movies I’d remember the panic attacks rather than the movies themselves due to the experience being ruined by idiots making noise and causing all sorts of nonsense.
I could still laugh at times but usually only in a self-deprecating way, I barely left the sofa and just felt like I was drowning in a void of nothingness.
One night changed that, I was about to start college in a few days, I was in the living room with my mother switching channels when on BBC2 there was a special programme on.
Some bloke named Ben Elton was on a podium talking like a university lecturer about the intellectual aspects of the sitcom format of entertainment, while also paying homage to the late great Ronnie Barker a second generation British comedian I adored the work of when I would watch Open All Hours and Porridge.
When near the end of the lecture, Ben mentioned a show, a show I had never heard of before from the 1980s, called The Young Ones and then proceeded to show clips of it, I kept seeing this pigtailed character in a fringe and this orange-haired punk argue and fight only for one of them to give a detailed tantrum about some show called “The Good Life” and the other to fall down the stairs knocking over the bannisters and ranting about some actress named “Felicity Kendall”.
After quickly researching I became intrigued by this show, I had seen the character’s faces before in two places,one was on Amazon while looking for comedy DVD's and on a dodgy “meme” site called Encyclopedia Dramatica which referenced the scene where the orange haired punk loses his head after sticking  it out a train window.
I then looked up the first few episodes and I was hooked, but it wasn’t like other sitcoms where I’d simply laugh at the stupidity of the gags and characters although that was one aspect of it.
The characters felt relatable while it was in the same nihilistic way I saw myself and some of humanity, that’s how I perceived it, at first I didn’t like tantrum throwing Rick I thought he was too whiny at times and I was drawn to Vyvyan and Neil first,Vyvyan because he felt like the side of me that I rarely showed, the side of me that had a dark sense of humour,  had a sort of free-spirited attitude and liked mild,playful slapstick type of violence, I did have a softie side too but I rarely showed my “Vyvyan” side, now though I couldn’t be prouder to show my “ Vyvyan” side I used to dislike it when I’d walk along my school playground only to see random fights breaking out that would block my walkway but on the inside when I’d watch Japanese cartoons I’d laugh at some fight scenes and I realised there was a side of me that did sort of like violence when it would be in a playful context.
After rewatching and rewatching and thinking back….I grew to like the “Rick” character a bit more, I related to his at times timid social awkwardness, his hypocritical attitude and the questioning of his sexuality.
I had then realised….he acted a bit like I how I did back in secondary school,always being overdramatic if I wasn’t quietly timidly working or being cynical, going on about socialism and the importance of it despite hanging out with problematic internet bloggers at the time who was the complete opposite,I would be lowkey interested in poetry and literature and the fact that at the time he hated Thatcher while I despised Theresa May, who was just starting to use her power to control the UK,I vaguely knew who Margaret Thatcher was because I was in a production of Blood Brothers and before we performed the play we had to research the background history of the play’s setting that’s when I found out about the miner strikes and how the way Thatcher was acting was similar to how Teresa was today.
I also kinda had my own gang in my final years of secondary school but we didn’t go anywhere, some of them stayed in touch others just moved on with their lives.
We would play card games, I’d rant about politics and “Tumblr Aesthetics” and sometimes one of my pals would play metal and pop-punk music in the background, we were the cool kids.
I realised I related to both the “Rick” character and the “Vyvyan” character, after months of not writing stories based on the media I liked,I started writing (again) short stories about “The Young Ones” my ideas for episodes if more than 12 episodes were made,how I would interact with the characters if I lived with them or in the stories case the “alternate universe” version of me.
I’d draw them, I’d write about them, I’d think about them when I’d listen to music, but that wasn’t all.
I had started my Performing Arts course and was learning what skills you’d need to be in “Theatre”.
At the same time I was watching a bunch of the other shows the actor who played “Rick” had been in,sometimes I’d realise I had a lot in common with not just “Rick” from The Young Ones but “Richie” from Bottom,”Richie Rich” from Filthy,Rich and Catflap,”Lord Flashheart” from Blackadder and even the horrific  “Alan B’stard” even though I disagreed with tories despite still hanging out with bad internet “skeptic” people and being raised conservative.
For someone who used to be a massive “weeaboo”, I was becoming quite the Britcom enthusiast
Yeah at times I would mimic his and Ade’s character voices,facial expressions and actions but other times I didn’t need to copy him because we already acted similarly and even if we didn’t I’d realise later in life I did have those other traits It just took a long while before I could proudly express them.
In Between Drama class, I had met some new people and if I was having a day where I felt low, I could just put on a show he was in and cheer up.
That was when I realised his voices and the voice from the bad movie about the imaginary friend and the voice from the cartoon and adverts from my childhood were of the same person.
The person I had finally figured out the name of after all those years.
I had fallen in love, the same love I would’ve had for musicians and fictional Japanese cartoon boys I had for him
His charisma, his looks, his characters, his wise words, his personality, his iconic moments, his variety of facial expressions, his creativity, his eclectic work from Sitcoms to Dramas to Theatre to Video Games to Music.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him...at first, I thought it was going to be like all the other “role models” I had….that changed in 2018.
2018 certainly was a year...I went through my first work experience in a local theatre production,I had met more new people some of which I had met because of our love of him and his work,I took up a new course and even when I did my old drama course,I got to write my own monologue for our final play and I had gotten back into the activity I used to only do when I was an “emo”.
“Poetry!”, the art of putting together multiple rhyming sentences that are all relevant to a certain emotion, feeling or topic.
I was always into literature and English but I was more the type to write stories and read poetry not read stories and write poetry.
After having some big life realisations I decided to pour all of that into a big poem in February,some of my friends read it and loved it,this convinced me that not only were these amazing friends that I will love and cherish to this day but that poetry was something that with a bit of work I could be quite good at….
So I wrote and wrote and wrote I got better with each one, my dreams when listening to music got more vivid than before, so vivid they were almost real like I was visiting another universe.
like an out of body extraterrestrial/paranormal experience.
I had finally moved on from my drama of the past, Self Reflected on my actions learning how to change for the better and I took that punk “free-spirit” of mine and learned how to fully express and how to be more accepting of myself and others.
I got into new and old music, tv shows, films and books...but he was still there
As I went through each show or film of his that I hadn’t watched yet, the love just kept blossoming whether I was laughing my arse off or grinning at a relatable moment from one of his interviews.
It was soon Christmas, a few weeks before, my lucid dreams had a new feature,my Wiccan powers of communication with spirits had gotten powerful enough to the point that when I’d listen to some music I’d hear voice waves in between, voice waves of people I looked up to who unfortunately are not physically with us, I recall it was My Generation by The Who that triggered it,that was a song he performed once on the Young Ones live events,I had interacted with the dead in dreams before,but this was different when I had heard his voice in the dreams where I thought of his characters or of himself, the voice would be vague and barely audible, but this time the voice was more clear and natural almost like he was actually talking to me.
Then Christmas happened, it was a mixed day but I got good gifts and I stood up for my political beliefs for the first time.
Some of the gifts were related to him like his book, box sets of some of his work and…...a red hat
A red hat just like the one his young one's character had on.
A took a few photos and loved the way it looked on me with the blazer I had on, a black blazer similar to the blazer he had on the first few episodes of The Young Ones.
In the middle of the night, I got an idea for a poem, I had written a poem about his show before but this poem was different.
It was a tribute a poem dedicated specifically to him, yes it would reference his characters, but the poem was mainly about him, the impact he made the world and how I felt this amazing ethereal, psychological and philosophical connection to him.
The Lord of Misrule, one of the best poems I’ve ever written, the days after I uploaded photos of me in the hat, and almost everyone I knew loved it,even the friends of mine who didn’t know the young ones but knew the name and look because of me loved the hat and pictures of me in the hat.
It was a sign, my lucid dreams got more vivid than ever and his face became more visible. sometimes when I’d dream about him it wouldn’t be the usual dream of me being in the young ones or me filming a comic strip presents episode or me going to a Ziggy Stardust concert with his teenage self,it would be dreams where I’d be travelling through the galaxies only to end in his place,it looked like something out of the grand Budapest hotel with how well it looked with the pastel-toned colours and minimalist decor and there he would be,he wouldn’t always be in a Jesus esque robe like before,he would be chilling on his sofa, looking exactly like how he looked before in the early 2010s, wearing a plain sweater or dressing gown his long grey hair flowing like an angel, waving and sometimes talking with me,it felt more clear than before it was probably a response from all those times before when I was learning how to spiritually communicate where I was usually the one doing most of the talking,
Usually I’d see him as an idol, icon, deity, legend, role model of sorts but now I started seeing him as a mentor and grandpa sort of figure,his mantras stick with me to this day, we have enough in common to be good pals from other dimensions but such a difference in age and living status that he can be a grandpa figure to me,the angel cheering me on before and after an exam,allowing my spirit third eye self to stay over at his place when I’m feeling low and lost, tickling me, offering advice and I love being able to have these abilities, I’ve always loved astrology and anything to do with ufos, magic or “other worlds”.
He is my guide and I am his apprentice, in my poems and philosophy, I say most of us are peoples poets because of our strong free-spirit opinions and attitudes even if we don’t all have a quill to write those opinions with.
But in the context of his young one's character and the traits of his(him and the character) that I already shared and the traits I overtime learned to accept. 
From the poetry to the similar personality and interests to the spiritual connection,
 to the times my friends and comrades had said that “he would be proud, that I even looked like him and I carried his “energy”, one of them referring to me as a “People's Poet”.
I’ve now realised after all these years that I’ve finally found my meaning, to bring Art, peace and love into the world.
When his character gave that speech about his revolutionary life and how the new generation would gather round for their fallen leader only for  a  sensitive and articulate teenager to say “How can he be dead if we have his poems?” (or shows in this context)
I was a sensitive and articulate teenager as we are all.
I am also the next People's Poet
Step aside,  let’s share the rikosophy by carrying on his legacy into the 21st century 🌈🖇🏴⭐🌠
I shall produce art for the world to see, teach them how to see it in new perspectives, and I shall guide us while we try to stop fascism for good,
let’s be free!
you and me!
Thank You, Doctor.Richard Rik, Michael Mayall  you’ve changed my life  
It is an honour to carry on from where you left off, bringing joy back into the world, inspired by your art while creating my own experimental ideas, I know your listening from the heavenly afterlife clouds and all those galaxies beyond.
Now let’s share that wonderful energy in the ruddy 21st century.
While I’m not the man himself Rik Mayall, I just share his energy and personality 
I am Kelsey….and I am bloody brilliant    
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yourprayer · 6 years ago
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pop culture chapter 8
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“Adulthood in a town like Derry is even worse than childhood. The listless, empty ramblings of days dragging on in a town that felt like one-size-too-small-shoes sat heavier on the recently graduated than the younger children. Before you were eighteen and responsible for your own lunch money, you could spend your interminable afternoons exploring the surrounding environment, friends of friends abound. Escaping to the arcade and seeing the same films six times at the same theater was an acceptable amount of nothing to do at twelve years old. But when nineteen years hit Bill Denbrough and college acceptance letters didn’t, the sudden, overwhelming, nothingness of Nowhere, Maine became too heavy to bear.”
chapter 8 (wc: 4k)
chapter list here
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“Someone’s knockin at yer back door, Stanny.”
“Couldn’t kill you to answer it?”
“Not my house.”
“Well you’re not getting any of my pizza, then.” Stan griped as he marked his place and set down his novel before crossing the room.
“Wait, you ordered pizza?!” Richie extracted himself from his position on Stan’s bed, where he had been reading comics upside down.
“You’d know if you got the door.” Stan called over his shoulder as he descended the stairs. Another knock rang through the empty house.
“Coming dear!” Richie yelled with a ridiculous trill as he attempted to slide down the bannister.
“Don’t break yourself. I don’t want your blood on my carpet.” Stan yanked Richie’s sleeve, returning the wily boy to his feet.
“Buzzkill.” Richie muttered, crossing his arms as he followed Stan sullenly.
“Reason you’re still alive?” Stan quirked an eyebrow, walking backwards with a finger pointed at himself.
“Touche, douche.” Richie rhymed under his breath as they crossed the kitchen.
“Heard that.” Stan commented as he opened the door.
“Hey.”
Stanley and Richie’s eyes went comically wide as they took in the sight on Stan’s back doorstep. Before them stood a disheveled Mike and Eddie, both sweaty and breathing like they’d ran all the way there. Eddie was holding the collar of his shirt to split and bleeding skin of his chin, droplets of the blood escaping and dripping down his neck, leaving dried trails like lay lines. Mike was smiling almost apologetically, like he was sorry to have stopped by.
“Got a first aid kit?” Mike broke the silence, smile almost manic as he joked.
“What the fuck happened?!” Stan inquired, pulling Mike in the room and out of the way before Richie practically launched himself at Eddie, who he promptly shoved over to the sink so he could begin cleaning his wound.
“It’s a pretty, uh, funny story actually.” Mike said with a strange, nervous laugh. Stan studied him crossly between cupboards he opened in search of some bandages. “Mind if I have a glass of water?”
“Go ahead.” Stan replied warily, watching Mike grab a cup out of the cabinet to his left with trembling hands. Richie moved Eddie away from the sink as Mike came over, meeting Stan at the kitchen island and grabbing the box of band-aids he’d successfully scavenged. Mike drank three full glasses while Richie diligently attended to Eddie’s chin. Stan and Eddie caught each other’s gazes just once, and at Stan’s questioning eyebrow Eddie only shook his head. Stan waited a moment more before starting in on Mike again. “You gonna tell this funny story?”
“It’s a real doozy.” Mike braced his hands on the sink, back facing the others.
“I think I can handle it.”
Mike took a deep breath before turning.
“You want the long or the short of it?”
“Dealer’s choice.”
“I think I just controlled fire with my mind.”
Richie dropped the bandage he was opening.
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah. That’s the short.”
“Does the long explain this?” Richie pointed at Eddie’s band-aid clad chin.
“If I tell you it involves Hockstetter and Belch, does that answer your question?”
“Shit. Yeah.” Richie adjusted his glasses reverently, eyes downcast as his mind easily grasped the general specifics.
“So you what, turned his flamethrower contraption off?” Stan crossed his arms and leaned against the pantry.
“More like turned it around.” Mike paused to drink more water. “It didn’t burn me.”
“It touched you?” Mike nodded. “And it didn’t burn.” Another nod. “And you’re sure it was real fire.” Richie continued incredulously.
“It was. A whole lot of it. And it couldn’t touch me.”
“Bullshit.” Richie said with awe.
“You literally turned invisible a couple days ago.” Stan glared at Richie.
“Yeah, but- that’s nuts!”
“More nuts than your thing?”
Richie qualmed. “No…”
“So shush. Let the man continue.”
“That’s pretty much all there is to it.” Mike shrugged. “I guess fire can’t burn me anymore.”
“Let’s test it.” Richie pulled a lighter out of his jean pocket. “Experimentation.”
Mike spoke at the same time as Stan, his acquiescence overlapping Stanley’s protests.
“It’s fine, Stan.” Mike repeated, stepping over to Richie with an outstretched arm.
“What if it was just a fluke?” Stan folded his hands in concern.
“It’s just a tiny little Bic, what can it do?” Mike said casually as Richie flicked on the flame.
“You sure?” Richie asked, lighter in one hand and Mike’s arm in the other.
“Go right ahead.”
Richie watched Mike’s face with pinched eyebrows, disbelief and uncertainty on his face. He titled the flame to touch skin, eyes going wide as Mike did not flinch.
“Nothing?” Richie pressed the flame into Mike’s skin, which was not burning or bubbling as all laws of physics deemed it should.
“It feels like hot wax, but not super hot wax.” Mike took another sip of his water with his free hand.
“Are you the wax in this equation?” Richie questioned as he moved the flame up and down the length of Mike’s forearm.
“I think so?”
“Fucking hell.” Richie sighed as he let go of the trigger, pocketing the lighter once more. “Of course you get a useful power.” He complained as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“The fuck do you mean?”
“I mean that’s what this whole thing is, right? We’re all getting superpowers or something! And I get this bullshit where some of my organs go see-through, and it hurts like a bitch, mind you, and you get to be fire-retardant! Stan can fuckin’, I don’t know, levitate things, which is helpful-”
Stan and Mike spoke over each other again.
“Stan can what?”
“You’ve been reading too many comic books.”
Stan looked guilty after he realized what Mike had said over his comment.
“Oh. Uh, yeah. Last night. My book was floating.”
“That’s it?”
“I made it fly into the ceiling.”
“Did it stay there?”
“No, it fell.”
“Who cares if it stayed up there? Point is Stanley actually gets something that doesn’t suck-”
“Eddie, you’ve been weirdly quiet. Are you okay?” Stan interrupted Richie’s rant, desperately wanting to shift the subject away from himself. Eddie blanched at the sudden question, shuffling his weight awkwardly on his feet. He thought for a moment about saying something, but settled on a shake of his head. “What’s up?” Stan pressed.
“I’m with Richie.” Eddie said after a moment, voice unsure. Richie definitely didn’t dig his nails into his legs from where his hands were clenched in his pockets in response to the thoughts Eddie saying the phrase I’m with Richie conjured. “I got dealt a really shitty hand.”
Richie swallowed, wishing away the heat in his cheeks. “How so?”
“You know how so!” Eddie went from reserved and shaken to bitterness teetering on the edge of rage in a matter of seconds. “The only ‘power’ I got is being scared so shitless I can’t even fucking move every time something goes wrong!”
“Eds.” Richie pleaded softly, hoping to head off the explosion he knew was coming.
“You should have seen me today, Richie. I was fucking useless. Mike was about to get barbequed and I just fucking laid there!”
“Belch was holding you down Eddie, he had his boot in your back-” Mike protested.
“Wait, Belch had his boot in your back? That son of a-”
“The point is that I’m useless now! Who am I if I can’t protect my friends?!”
“Eds, you are not useless-”
“Richie’s right, Eddie-”
“You don’t get it, Stan-”
“Eddie, I don’t think you have a super power.” Mike said firmly, breaking through the chaos of everyone’s voices overlapping.
“Excuse me?” Eddie blinked at him.
“I don’t think you have a ‘super power’.” Mike air quoted, glancing at Richie. “I think you have a panic disorder.”
“Mike.” Richie warned quietly, almost subconsciously raising a hand as if to placate a wild animal. Stan stared at him shocked, genuine surprise and fear overtaking him as he worried over the results of the statement.
Eddie went white, his whole body eerily stilling. His eyes started out laser-focused on Mike’s face but began to dart around the room. He tried to form words, his brain working in overdrive as he scrambled over a response. To Richie it looked like he’d short-circuited.
“I- you- how dare-”
“Eddie, I’m not trying to offend you-”
“How dare you, Michael.” Eddie spat. “You have got to be fucking kidding me right now.”
“I’m not.” Mike stood his ground.
“If I wanted someone to stand here and list a bunch of fake illnesses I don’t have, I’d be at home!” Eddie nearly screamed. Stan clasped a hand over his mouth. Richie swallowed again before laughing nervously with the teasing, though-”
“Shut UP Richard. I’m not fucking around.” Eddie rounded on Mike again. “I can’t believe you, one of my best friends treating me like my fucking mother, trying to find some fucking disease you can blame me on-”
“I am not acting like your mother, Eddie.” Mike yelled back, surprising Stan and Richie with his intensity.
“You know what hurts the most about it?” Eddie pushed on, apparently unaffected by the bite back. “What really gets me about being told I’m sick all the time? She says my behavior is what makes me sick, the things I do or like or say. It’s not my temperature or my complexion or whether or not I throw up, it’s my fucking personality! To her, I’m the disease! And I thought you of all people would see me differently. But it’s clear now you don’t. I’m something you want to cure too.”
“Eddie-” Mike protested feebly, shocked beyond belief.
“I am sorry I was such a useless pile of shit today.” Eddie said through angry tears forming in his eyes. “I feel terrible about how I acted. But you don’t have to be so vicious about it. You don’t have to treat me like a germ.”
With that, Eddie was turning on a heel and leaving, storming out of Stan’s back door as the other’s scrambled after him, Richie yelling for him to come back.
“Let him go.” Mike said calmly, a hand on Richie’s shoulder as the three stood in the doorway. They watched Eddie storm out of the garden, the brand new and almost frighteningly large cactus plant near the door escaping their notice.
______________________________________________________________
“I’m the world’s worst boyfriend.”
“Oh come on, Ben.”
“No, I really am. I mean, absolute shit.”
“Th-there are p-p-plenty worse boyfr-friends than you out there.” Bill clapped a hand on Ben’s shoulder, smiling at the sight of Ben idly fretting.
“What kind of asshole waits until a week before an anniversary before they even start thinking about a gift?” Ben put his head in his hands, soda and fries forgotten on the bench next to him. He and Bill were on one of their regular excursions to the downtown district of Derry, where they would both get a coke and fries to be eaten as they walked around and windowshopped for all the things they couldn’t afford.
“S-some people forget the d-day entirely.” Bill pointed out, popping a french fry into his mouth. “I did.”
Ben looked up at him incredulously. “You forgot yours and Bev’s anniversary?”
“She b-broke up with me for a reason.” He joked, taking a drink of his soda. Ben laughed at his casual admission.
“No offense, but I’m glad the bars not so high.” Ben said through giggles.
Bill snorted. “Wh-what bar?” The two broke into fits of laughter, trying their best to contain themselves in public.
“Well, shit.” Ben leaned back, picking up his styrofoam cup of cola and taking a sip. “Guess I’ve only gotta do something mildly impressive.”
“What k-kind of gift are you th-thinking?” Bill tucked a leg under the other as he ate more of his fries.
“It’s cliche as shit, but I was thinking jewelry.” Ben scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, it is only our six-month, but still…” Ben trailed off, Bill watching him intently as he continued to eat. “I’m really fucking serious about her. I wanna get something that says I am.”
“Jewelry is good, then.” Bill said seriously.
“What do you think she would like?” Ben asked, vulnerability and desperation clear in his eyes as he locked them with Bill’s.
“C-can’t go w-w-wrong with a n-necklace.” Bill took another drink.
“Yeah…” Ben sighed, contemplatively taking a bite of one of his fries. “That doesn’t feel like… special enough though.” He finished the fry. “I feel like it should be something, I don’t know, more. She deserves it.”
“Yeah she does.” Bill agreed sincerely as he took another drink. The boys sat in silence for a few moments, watching Derry townfolk shuffle around on their nameless errands.
“Would it be the most embarrassing thing in the world to get her a promise ring?” Ben said after the silence had stretched too far. Bill shook his head, swallowing the fry he was on.
“Nu-uh. I think sh-she’d love that.”
“Really?” Ben asked nervously.
“Sh-she told me sh-she did s-s-so, yeah.” Bill grinned.
“Oh. I didn’t know you guys talked about…” Ben fiddled with his fingers nervously.
“Y-you guys?” Bill supplied. “B-b-bev and I are still fr-friends, Ben. We talk ab-bout all kinds of stuff.”
“I just didn’t think you’d want to hear about it.” Ben looked at his feet. “I wouldn’t want to if I were you.”
Bill was silent for a beat, thinking. “You l-liked her when we w-were dating, d-d-didn’t you.”
“Yeah.” Ben admitted after a breath. “I’ve liked her since we first met.”
“Th-then you really should get th-that ring.” Bill ate his last fry, wiping the grease from his fingers on the corner of his flannel. Ben watched Bill nervously, almost as if he were afraid he’d angered him. “You kn-know I’m not huh-hurt over you g-g-guys dating.”
“You’re not?”
“No. B-bev and I have always b-b-been better off as fr-friends. You guys were suh-supposed to be tog-gether.” Ben’s jaw dropped slightly at the statement as Bill stood up from the bench, garbage clasped in one hand.
“Bill, it really means a lot to hear you say that.” Ben admitted as he stood as well.
“Sh-shoulda said it s-s-sooner. It’s always b-b-been true.” Bill shrugged, looking up and down the street at the row of stores. His eyes landed on a pawn shop nestled at the end of the block. “Now c-c-c’mon. Let’s go g-get your girlfriend a pr-promise ring.”
______________________________________________________________
“Well that sure was swell, Mikey.” Richie commented bitterly as he paced the Uris living room, a slice of pepperoni pizza in each hand. He had been alternating between the two, taking an angry bite out of one, then the other, then back again. These are technically his third and fourth slices, Stan thought after a brief glance at the pizza box.
“Richie, don’t get pissy with me. If you’re worried about him, go take it up with Eddie.” Mike tore off the end of his breadstick and ate it.
“You’re the one who pissed him off.” Richie took a bite from the left slice, speaking before swallowing. “You should apologize.”
“For what? Looking out for his best interests? And you should chew with your mouth closed. God, what are you, five?” Mike grumbled before finishing off his breadstick.
“Je-sus, Micycle. Bee in your bonnet?” Richie teased, proceeding to take a bite out of the right slice.
“Forgive me if I’m not in the mood, Tozier.” Mike glared at him.
“Would you two cut it out?” Stan cut in, depositing his pizza crust in the lid of the box. “If you’re gonna keep bickering like this, I’m gonna kick you out.”
“On what grounds?” Richie squinted at him.
“The ‘no-whiny-assholes’ clause.” Stan returned the look as he went for another slice.
“Sorry.” Mike mumbled as he grabbed another breadstick.
“I will not yield.” Richie said with a stubborn flourish, polishing off the left slice. Stan rolled his eyes as he shook his head.
“Of course you don’t. Mike, do you think we should have another meeting and tell the rest about what happened?”
Mike looked contemplatively at the carpet. “I’m not opposed to it, but don’t we have a movie night in a couple of days?”
“We could wait till then if you want.”
“That’s probably best. Oh, and Ben got those pictures developed. He’ll probably want us all to take a look at them.”
“What for?” Richie muttered to himself, finishing the crust of the right slice, his now pizza-less hands he wiped off on his jeans. “Said it yourself, won’t do any good.”
“Ben’s peace of mind will probably appreciate it.” Mike quipped. “Besides, he was gonna give a bunch to you.”
Richie folded his arms and turned to look at Mike, who even while sitting on the floor with Stan, still seemed tall, immovable.
“You shouldn’t have said that to Eddie.”
“I’m not wrong.” Mike rebutted, unphased by the quick turn of subject.
“That doesn’t matter. You know he hates being told he’s got something wrong with him.”
“I never said having a panic disorder is wrong.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not going to jump to that conclusion.”
“That’s on him.”
“You hurt his feelings, Mike!”
“I was being honest!”
“That’s not always what Eddie wants.” Stan cut in. “We’ve been friends with him for a long time, Mike. He’s always preferred easy lies over hard truths.”
“It’s how he was raised.” Richie muttered under his breath as he fiddled with the carpet with his bare toes.
“So you baby him and tell him what he wants to hear? How is that any better than his home life?”
Richie and Stan remained silent.
“I’m not going to patronize him. I know he hates that shit even more. I’m going to be honest with him because he’s my friend and he deserves that, even if it makes him angry.”
“That’s fair.” Richie aquiesced after a beat. “But he’s still gonna be pissy with you if you don’t apologize. And he probably won’t listen to your reasoning if he doesn’t like your accusation.”
“He’ll come around.”
______________________________________________________________
Ben arrived home a little later than usual, pocket heavy with the weight of what he’d decided to do that evening. His whole demeanor was effected by the choice, his smile giddy as he unlocked the door. His mother was waiting with freshly reheated dinner, a telltale sign she was near the end of a pay period. The sight of the cheap, frozen meals steaming in their plastic wrap on the table made Ben feel a little sick, and abruptly wish he hadn’t just spent so much of his money. It was supposed to help with groceries you idiot, Ben chastized himself.
“Hey sweetie. Dinner’s on the table.” His mother greeted as she entered the room, smiling at Ben as he shed his shoes.
“I saw, looks delicious, thank you.” Despite his reservations about the situation, Ben would not refuse a meal from his mother, no matter the context. He knew he should sometimes, knew her constant over feeding was an almost exclusive reason for his issues with weight as a young man. But he was also aware it was one of her ways for making up for his father’s absence. She used food to show her love, and if he said he wasn’t hungry, she took it as rejection. Ben may not always be hungry, but God did he constantly love his mother. So frozen dinners it is.
“You look particularly at peace this evening, Benny.” His mother commented as she crossed to the sink and began washing her hands. “Anything exciting happen today?”
Ben smiled shyly to himself as he got a glass and poured some juice from the fridge. “Uh, yeah actually.” He leaned over and set his cup down at his seat, then raised the jug of juice so his mother could see. “Want a glass?”
“Sure, thanks. Tell me about this excitement!” She pressed, drying her hands before sitting down.
“So, remember how I told you Bev and I’s anniversary is next week?” Ben couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he returned the juice to the fridge. “I got her gift today.” He beamed at his mother as he handed her her cup and sat down.
She returned his grin. “What’d you get her?”
Ben looked around conspiratorially, preening when it made his mother laugh. They loved to joke that others might be around, that things must be secret, ever since Ben was a child and loved playing spies. When he deemed the coast was clear, he pulled the small ring box out of his pocket.
“I got her this promise ring.” Ben said as reverently as he held it out under the light. His mother took it in hand, regarding the ring in awe.
“Oh Benny, this is gorgeous.” She breathed.
“Think she’ll like it?” His tone betrayed his nervousness. “Bill helped me pick it out, I was so unsure.”
“Honey, she’ll love it.” She smiled and returned the box to him. “It’s perfect.”
“I sure hope so.” He pocketed the ring box and picked up his fork, using it to tear back the plastic wrap over his food.
“Sorry it’s not plated, I wasn’t sure how late you’d be and I wanted it to stay warm.” His mother said as she took a drink.
“Oh no mom, this is fine. I don’t mind a bit.” Ben shook his head.
“Oh, and speaking of miss Beverly, she left a voicemail for you a little while ago.” She added, cutting into her meatloaf.
“Thanks, I’ll listen to it after dinner.”
They ate in silence for a bit before she spoke again.
“I like that girl, Benny. I like her a lot. Think someday you’ll put a real ring on that finger?”
Ben smiled down at his food.
“I sure hope so.”
______________________________________________________________
“Georgie, can you get the door for us?”
“Sure momma.” Georgie Denbrough responded with a smile as he jumped down from his makeshift vegetable cutting station. His brother, who was tenderizing meat next to him smiled as he watched his brother happily run off.
The doorbell rang again as Georgie rounded the corner. “Coming!” He called sweetly, beaming as he reached the door. He pulled it open easily with his one arm.
“Oh- hi Georgie.”
Georgie squinted at the sight before him, happy but perplexed. Eddie Kaspbrak was on his doorstep, which he was excited about, because Eddie was his friend and he loved seeing him. But Eddie also looked hurt, his chin covered in bandaids and spots of dried blood on his yellow tee shirt.
“Hi Eddie.” Georgie kept his smile plastered on his face, reminding himself of what his mother always tells him; don’t ask people invasive questions, Georgie.
“Is your brother home?” Eddie asked nervously, wringing his hands on the bottom of his shirt.
“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen.” Georgie gestured across his body, jerking towards the kitchen with a thumb. “Are you staying for dinner?”
Eddie gave a short, airy laugh. “I’ll have to ask. Can I talk to him?”
“Billy!” Georgie suddenly switched to his outside voice. “Eddie’s here!”
Eddie gave Georgie a slightly surprised expression, impressed by the kid’s volume. A moment later Bill arrived in the doorway, chiding Georgie about yelling in the house. He stopped abruptly as he caught sight of Eddie in the doorway.
“Ed-eddie.” He crinkled his brow. “You alright?”
“Uh, sorta. I’m- can uh, can I stay over tonight?”
“Yeah, of course. W-we’re just making-”
“Dinner, yeah, I’ll help.” Eddie scurried into the house, not bothering to give Bill a chance to finish the thought. The boys shared a look as they left the doorway, its meaning indecipherable to Georgie. He huffed to himself, feeling a bit angry about once again being left out of things, and went to close the door. He stopped his motion at the sight of the edges of their front garden, his gaze on the bushes that came up to the side of the doorstep. The small yellow flowers that usually bloomed on its stems in spring were opening up, unfurling at an unnatural speed, leaving the bush covered in fresh blossoms before it stopped. Georgie watched with wide eyes, confounded by the sight before him.
Momma’s right, he thought as he finally willed himself to close the door. I’ve been watching too many cartoons.
______________________________________________________________
authors notes: sorry this took forever to come out! i told myself i’d put it up on wednesday. i did not accomplish that lmao. anyways he’res another installment, things are really starting to pick up! in the pop culture universe georgie has one arm; the denbroughs were in an accident when the boys were young, where georgie lost his arm and bill sustained the brain damage that causes his stutter. also no one is more of a benverly cheerleader than bill. 
tagslist: @s-s-stutteringbill @gazeboseddie @misssiriusblack @mythgirl96 @crackhousetozier @reddieaddict @wincestklaine @beepbeep-losers @ayyyymichele @megelizabethvh @tapetayloe @flickerflies @ghostbustermike @i-is-gazebo @reddiesetrichie @wyttolff @gayzier @kaspbrak-is-our-king @mikedenbrough @28shoes @nicoperryy @kinghanscom @eddiecare @shadysandi @fyeahreddie @reddieforlove
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pretty-chuckalicious · 7 years ago
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Okay so nobody asked for this but here are some Losers Club Art School!AU hcs??
By their second year they’ve all moved into apartments together. Richie, Bev&Ben and Mike share a three bedroom, second floor apartment and that’s where they throw all of their get togethers/parties. Stan, Bill and Eddie live on the first floor, which in hindsight was not the best arrangement because they’re the quieter household and they have to listen to all the noise that the group on the second floor is always making. However the whole group is usually all hanging out upstairs anyway and the only time noise is actually a problem is when Bill or Stan or Eddie are trying to get work done.
Richie would be a Film Major, Eddie would be in Art Education, Bev in Fashion, Ben in Architecture, Mike double Majors in Photography and Art History, Bill is in illustration and cross registers at other colleges to get a minor in Fiction Writing, Stan is in Industrial Design.
Richie can be sort of pretentious about his major but he’s actually one of the more likable film kids? Most of the stuff that the film majors produce is super dark or surreal or like lynch/kubrick-esque but Richie tries to put as much comedy into his stuff as possible? And normally this would be a turn off but his craft is so fucking good that his work is really respectable?? He collaborates with animation majors whenever he can and he does his own music for his films.
Eddie is like??? The sweetest art teacher you’ll ever meet? Generally speaking art education majors are some of the sweetest most compassionate people and Eddie just really really wants to help people express themselves through art. He might not be super proud of the actual art he produces, but he’s really not that bad and he’s good at communicating and connecting with the students that he assistant teaches. He helps the other Losers with constructive criticism and teaches them how to give and take critique.
Mike is in his studio 24/7 and honestly the other Losers don’t even know how he manages to function in his double major? He’ll have like three studio reviews and two twenty-page papers due in one week and he’ll get it all done and still manage to work part time and eat and sleep and bathe????
Bill is always writing stories and drawing them out and all the other losers love to read them. Bill and Richie get together and talk about composition and framing and pacing and story telling and their work always improves so much when they give each other feedback??? His and Stan’s and Eddie’s apartment is covered with his artwork and he’s like super humble about it but whenever guests are over Eddie and Stan will always gush and brag about their very talented roommate.
Okay so if Stan was an industrial design major he would design a lot of toys/gadgets/appliances for children with disabilities or mental illnesses. The craftsmanship in everything he does would be impeccable. He would get Eddie to help him with a lot of his primary research because Eddie is assigned to work with children a lot. Eddie even manages to have Stan be allowed to prototype and get feedback from the kids directly.
The Architecture Majors and Industrial Design Majors share a lot of the same space so Stan’s and Ben’s studios would be right next to each other. They’re always sharing tools and materials and they can be found in the computer lab working on rendering projects together for like days at a time??? Ben likes to cook in the spare time that he does have and makes dinner for all of the losers at least once a week and for some of them (cough cough Richie) it’s the only real food they ever get to eat. Also Ben and Mike do a lot of their academic homework together in the library and spend as much time there as possible.
Bev makes a lot of her own clothes and has a lot of friends who are Fibers majors that she colabs with sometimes. When final reviews roll around and she needs a model for her menswear project, Richie is the only one of them who is tall enough and he gladly agrees to model Bev’s clothes for her. Speaking of Bev and Richie they always smoke on the back porch together and crash any parties that they hear about together and basically do any stupid stuff together that none of the other losers would agree to do. Bev is literally in every one of Richie’s film projects. Ben and Bev??? Have the cutest???? Relationship??? Ben makes dinner for Bev whenever he gets home before her. Bev is always decorating their bedroom and bringing home little surprises for Ben. They go grocery shopping together and do laundry together and it’s just so domestic and cute????
SPEAKING OF RELATIONSHIPS??? ART SCHOOL REDDIE??? Richie always films Eddie when he’s not looking and when Richie shows Eddie a project he’s working on he’s always like ‘when did you get that shot of me??? how did you get into my apartment??? you CANNOT just FILM me getting out of the SHOWER AND CaLL iT ArT???’ Eddie and Richie study sessions are like the cutest goddamn thing in the whole world? Richie will come downstairs when he needs some peace and quiet and just chill on Eddie’s bed and play soft music that he will recommend to Eddie and do work in a comfortable focused atmosphere with the other boy. Eddie helps Richie focus and keeps him on track with his assignments and helps him a lot especially with time management. Eddie is always so helpful and supportive and Richie always tells him how great of a teacher he’s going to be? Richie buys Eddie those ‘world’s best teacher’ gifts like magnets and mugs and Eddie pretends to think they’re dumb but he actually loves them so much?? Eddie will let Richie show him all of his’s favorite movies and talk over every minute of it? Richie gets so cute and enthusiastic about film and movies that Eddie doesn’t even care that there’s no way he could possibly follow the plot with how much Richie is talking.
Bill and Stan are like the freaking class couple everybody thinks they’re so cute together and perfect for each other. Neither one of them know much about the other’s major so they don’t colab together as much as they do with the other losers but they still like to listen to the other talk about their work. This is a good thing because they can keep their school/work lives out of their relationship generally and that works really well for them. Most of the time they just sleep in Bill’s room so they just kind of turned Stan’s room into an in-house studio. BILL ILLUSTRATES AND HAND-BINDS A BOOK OF ALL THE BIRDS THAT STAN HAS SEEN????
Honest to fuck I could keep going but this is so goddamn LONG
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blackkudos · 8 years ago
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Rashida Jones
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Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) is an American actress, comic book author, producer, singer, and screenwriter. She is known for playing Ann Perkins on NBC's comedy Parks and Recreation, Louisa Fenn on Fox's Boston Public, Karen Filippelli on The Office, as well as a small role in the TV show Freaks & Geeks. She has had film roles in I Love You, Man (2009), Our Idiot Brother (2011), The Social Network (2010), The Muppets (2011), and Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012), the last for which she also wrote the screenplay. She now plays the lead role in the TBS comedy series Angie Tribeca, and co-wrote the screenplay for Toy Story 4.
Early life
Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actress Peggy Lipton and musician/record producer Quincy Jones. She is the younger sister of actress and model Kidada Jones, and half-sister to five siblings from their father's other relationships. Jones' father, who is African American (with Tikar roots from Cameroon), also has distant English and Welsh ancestry. Her mother is Ashkenazi Jewish (a descendant of immigrants from Russia and Latvia). Jones and her sister were raised in Reform Judaism by their mother; Jones attended Hebrew school, though she left at the age of ten and did not have a Bat Mitzvah.
Jones grew up in Los Angeles' Bel Air neighborhood. She has said of her parents' mixed-race marriage: "it was the 1970s and still not that acceptable for them to be together". In his autobiography, her father recalled how he would often find the six-year-old Jones under the covers after bedtime, reading five books at a time with a flashlight. She has said that she grew up a "straight-up nerd" and "had a computer with floppy disks and a dial-up modem before it was cool".
Jones displayed musical ability from a young age and can play classical piano. Her mother told Entertainment Tonight that Jones is "also a fabulous singer and songwriter".
Jones attended The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California, where she made the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely To Succeed" by her classmates. Jones was involved with theatre at Buckley, with tutelage from acting teacher Tim Hillman. She went to the same school as socialites Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Kim Kardashian. Jones' parents divorced when she was 14 years old; her sister subsequently remained with their father, while Rashida moved with their mother to Brentwood.
In 1994, Jones garnered attention with an open letter responding to scathing remarks made by rapper Tupac Shakur about her parents' interracial marriage. After high school, she left California to attend Harvard University.
At Harvard, Jones was a resident of both Currier House and Eliot House, and belonged to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Opportunes, Black Students Association, and the Signet Society. She was initially interested in becoming a lawyer but changed her mind after becoming disillusioned by the O. J. Simpson murder trial. She became involved in the performing arts and served as musical director for the Opportunes, an a cappella group, co-composed the score for the 149th annual Hasty Pudding Theatricals performance, and acted in several plays. In her second year at college, Jones performed in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, which she said was "healing" because she had been seen by many blacks as not being "black enough". She studied religion and philosophy and graduated in 1997.
Career
Jones made her professional acting debut in The Last Don, a 1997 miniseries based on the novel by Mario Puzo. She next appeared in Myth America, East of A and If These Walls Could Talk 2. In 2000, she guest starred as Karen Scarfolli on Freaks and Geeks before landing the role of Louisa Fenn on Boston Public. Between 2000 and 2002, she appeared in 26 episodes, earning an NAACP Image Award nomination in her final year. Although she had a minor supporting role in the series, film opportunities quickly surfaced. She had a small role in Full Frontal, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starred in Now You Know, written and directed by Kevin Smith regular Jeff Anderson. She also starred in the short film Roadside Assistance with Adam Brody.
After Jones left Boston Public, she appeared in Death of a Dynasty, directed by Damon Dash, and two episodes of Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central. In 2004, she was cast in Strip Search, an HBO film directed by Sidney Lumet, but her scenes were cut from the final broadcast version. Later that year, she played Dr. Rachel Keyes in Little Black Book and starred as Edie Miller in British drama series NY-LON. In 2005, Jones played Karen in the Stella pilot on Comedy Central and special government agent Carla Merced in the TNT police drama Wanted.
Jones was considering leaving the acting profession and pursuing a graduate degree in public policy before she was offered the part on The Office. She joined the ensemble cast in September 2006, playing the role of Karen Filippelli. She appeared regularly during the third season, returning as a guest star for two episodes in season four and another in season five.
Jones also played Karen in the February 2007 Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Rainn Wilson, appearing briefly in the opening monologue's Office parody. Jones filmed cameo roles in The Ten and Role Models, both directed by David Wain, with the latter appearing on the Blu-ray release. She co-starred in Unhitched, the short-lived 2008 comedy series produced by the Farrelly brothers. She also appeared as the love interest in the Foo Fighters' music video "Long Road to Ruin".
In January 2009, Jones voiced several characters in an episode of the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken. She played Hannah in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, an independent film by John Krasinski that screened during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. She co-starred as Zooey Rice in I Love You, Man, a DreamWorks comedy with Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.
Jones accepted a role in Parks and Recreation, a mockumentary-style sitcom on NBC. The show was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, with whom she previously worked on The Office. She played nurse Ann Perkins from the show's debut until midway through the sixth season, and reprised the role for the final episode of the series.
Jones had a small role in the Kevin Smith film Cop Out. She appeared in The Social Network (2010), alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, which is set at Harvard. She played Marylin Delpy, a second-year legal associate assisting with the defense of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Jones starred opposite Chris Messina in Monogamy (2010), a drama directed by Dana Adam Shapiro. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2010 and was released theatrically in March 2011.
Jones' other 2011 films were Friends with Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis; The Big Year, with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black; The Muppets, with Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper; and Our Idiot Brother, with Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer. In the latter she played a lesbian lawyer named Cindy, the caring girlfriend of a bisexual character played by Zooey Deschanel. Jones also has a cameo in the Beastie Boys' short film Fight For Your Right Revisited, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Additionally, Jones appeared on an episode of Wilfred as Lisa, a hospice volunteer. The episode aired on July 21, 2011 on FX.
In 2012, she starred opposite Andy Samberg in the film Celeste and Jesse Forever, which she co-wrote.
Along with Danny DeVito, she was a voice guest star in The Simpsons episode "The Changing of the Guardian" (season 24, episode 11).
In 2015, she produced the documentary film Hot Girls Wanted, which examines the role of teenage girls in pornographic films. Netflix acquired the film after the film's premiere at Sundance Film Festival; it premiered on May 29, 2015.
Other work
Writing
Jones created Frenemy of the State, a comic book series about a socialite who is recruited by the CIA. The comics are published by Oni Press and co-written with husband-and-wife writing team Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. In October 2009, before the first issue had been released, Jones sold the screen rights to Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. Brian Grazer and Eric Gitter produced the film, and Jones co-wrote the screenplay with writing partner Will McCormack.
Jones sold her first screenplay, a comedy titled Celeste and Jesse Forever, in March 2009. She co-wrote the script with McCormack and was attached to star in the film. It was released in 2012.
In 2016, Jones co-wrote the teleplay of "Nosedive", an episode of the television anthology series Black Mirror with Michael Schur from a story by Charlie Brooker.
Jones and McCormack are writing Toy Story 4 for Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Studios for a prospective June 2019 release.
Jones has been published in Teen Vogue magazine, where she worked as a contributing editor. She wrote chapter 36 of her father's biography, Q: The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones (2001).
Music and related videos
As a singer, Jones has provided backing vocals for the band Maroon 5. She appears on the tracks "Tangled", "Secret" and "Not Coming Home" from their debut record, Songs About Jane, and on "Kiwi" from the follow-up album It Won't Be Soon Before Long. Jones was a guest vocalist on the Tupac Shakur tribute album, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, released in 2000. The track, "Starry Night", also featured her father's vocals, Mac Mall's rapping, and her half-brother QD3's production. Jones also contributed vocals on the song "Dick Starbuck: Porno Detective" on The High & Mighty's 1999 debut Home Field Advantage.
Jones contributed vocals to songs on The Baxter, The Ten and Reno 911!: Miami soundtracks. She sang in some episodes of Boston Public and for charitable events such as the What A Pair Benefit in 2002 to raise money for breast cancer research. in May 2015, Jones released a song titled Wanted to Be Loved alongside Daniel Ahearn, the song was used in a documentary titled Hot Girls Wanted which Jones produced.
In 2001, Jones appeared in the video to "More Than A Woman" by Aaliyah alongside her sister Kidada Jones and then-boyfriend Mark Ronson Jones has also appeared in music videos for the The Boy Least Likely To song "Be Gentle With Me", and the Foo Fighters' single "Long Road to Ruin". In the latter she was credited as Racinda Jules and played the role of Susan Belfontaine. In 2013, Jones directed the music video for Sara Bareilles' song "Brave". It marked her debut as a director.
Online comedy series
Jones has appeared in several online comedy series projects. She starred in Funny or Die's Speak Out series with Natalie Portman and guest starred in two episodes in the first webseason Web Therapy with Lisa Kudrow. Due to other commitments, Jones was unable to reprise her role for the second, third and fourth seasons, provided voiceover work for an off-screen appearance in the show's first TV season (containing her appearance from the first webseason) and was able to make time to reprise her role on-screen for an exclusive appearance in the second season finale of the show. She also played David Wain in disguise for an episode of My Damn Channel's Wainy Days. In 2008, Jones appeared with several other celebrities in Prop 8 – The Musical, an all-star video satirising California's anti-gay marriage initiative, written by Marc Shaiman From 2013 to 2015, she provided the voice of Hotwire on the Hulu comedy series The Awesomes.
Modeling and advertising
In 2011, Dove selected Jones as its spokeswoman for its Dove Nourishing Oil Care Collection.
In 2015 she began starring in a series of commercials for Verizon FiOS.
Personal life
Jones became engaged to music producer Mark Ronson in February 2003. He proposed on her 27th birthday, using a custom-made crossword puzzle spelling out "Will you marry me?" Their relationship ended approximately one year later.
Though raised Jewish, Jones began practicing Hinduism in her early teens with her mother, after the two visited an ashram in India. As an adult, she practices Judaism. She told a reporter:
On her multi-racial identity, she has remarked "I have gone through periods where I only feel black or Jewish. Now I have a good balance."
Philanthropic efforts
Jones has worked to promote Peace First (formerly Peace Games), a nonprofit that teaches children to resolve conflict without violence. She has been a board member since 2004 and holds several annual benefits to raise money for the organization. Jones has participated in Stand Up to Cancer events, EDUN and ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, and The Art of Elysium's volunteer program, which runs artistic workshops for hospitalized children. In 2007, she was honorary chair of the annual Housing Works benefit, which fights AIDS and homelessness in New York City. She has helped fundraise for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the EB Medical Research Foundation, and New York's Lower Eastside Girls Club.
Political work
Jones has campaigned in the last three cycles for Democratic Party presidential candidates, including for Barack Obama during the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. In 2008, along with Kristen Bell, she visited college campuses in Missouri to discuss the candidates and to encourage voter registration for the Democratic Party. In 2012, she campaigned in Iowa along with co-star Adam Scott. Jones previously campaigned for Democratic candidate John Kerry during the 2004 election, speaking at student rallies and a public gallery in Ohio.
Filmography
FilmTelevision
Accolades
2002: Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Boston Public
2011: Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for Celeste and Jesse Forever
2012: Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Parks and Recreation
2012: Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Parks and Recreation
Wikipedia
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