#square: lopez appreciation

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

The Only One Worth Posing For

Pairing: Matthew Gray Gubler x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.1k

Warnings: fluff

Summary: You're a famous photographer so you often get invited to red carpet events. Your best friend is an actor, and you've taken tons of pictures of him. The only problem is that he only poses for your camera.

Square Filled: ​“yeah, you’re cold. I’m giving you my jacket” for @spencerreidbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

Camera? Check. Extra lenses? Check. Press pass? Check. Supply bag? Check. Gorgeous pink dress you got just for this event? Check. You check the time on your phone to make sure you’re not running late, which you’re not. Your best friend should already be at the movie premier for his new movie, and you’re one of the photographers on the red carpet.

You’re a famous photographer that takes pictures of celebrities for events like movie premiers, the Met Gala, award shows, etc. Your career started in high school when you took almost all of the pictures for the yearbooks. Then, you took pictures of your friend’s graduation pictures and got paid less than one hundred dollars for it. Once in college, you took a lot of photography classes that allowed you to hone your skills and become better.

Someone saw your pictures on your college website and loved them so they got in contact with you, and that’s how you got your first job at a magazine. It took about a decade to get to where you are now and you couldn’t be happier. Along the way, you’ve met and hung out with a ton of celebrities including your best friend. You two met back when you were the photographer for the magazine, and you’ve been inseparable ever since.

Speaking of the devil, he texts you just as you are leaving the apartment.

Are you on your way?

just leaving now! be there soon xx

I can’t wait to see you :)

The message brings a smile to your face. He never fails to lift your spirits no matter how you’re feeling. He sent for a car to take you to the movie premier instead of you taking your own. When you get there, the place is packed with press, fans, and cars carrying celebrities. 

“Thank you,” you smile at the driver and get out.

You head to the booth to check in and present your press pass to her. She confirms you’re on the list before letting you inside the area where the press is located. You set your bag on the ground and take out your favorite lens to use in times like these, the kind of lens that allows you to zoom in clearly even from where you are. The more popular you got, the more expensive equipment you bought.

You got here at the right time because celebrities show up not long after you get set up. Much like everyone here, you call their names in hopes they pose for your camera. You get a lot of good shots of very iconic celebrities like Johnny Depp, Jennifer Lopez, Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts, and Sandra Bullock. The movie did so much press to make sure it is the most popular movie which is why so many celebrities are here.

You look to the left and see your best friend walk down the red carpet with a huge smile on his face. Matthew Gray Gubler. A man of many tricks. A man who never fails to make you smile. He looks past every person who calls out his name until he finds your camera. His eyes light up and begins posing for your camera and your camera only.

“Matthew! Look over here!” one of them says but he ignores them,

‘Stop it’, you mouth to him and his smile only gets bigger. What did you expect? He always does this whenever you’re in the crowd with a camera. He only cares about you and your career. If you can get good pictures of him, then you can sell them for a lot of money. People around you are frustrated with you and him but you don’t care about them.

Matthew leaves the red carpet and joins the group of celebrities who are hanging outside before they can go inside the theater. There are only a few more celebrities to capture, then you’re packing up your things. Apart from being part of the press, Matthew invited you as his plus one.

“Are you serious with Matthew?” one of the other photographers says.

“Sorry. Maybe next time,” you shrug.

You bring your case back to the town car that is still waiting for you, and you toss your press pass into the backseat. There is no reason for you to have two outfits when you can wear your red carpet outside as one of the press. You walk back over to the same booth and check in as a guest. She gives you your guest pass and you make your way into the area where all the celebrities are.

“I’m gonna slap that motherfucker when I see him,” you joke to yourself.

“Y/N! It’s so good to see you!” Shemar Moore smiles when he sees you.

“Shemar! I thought you were still filming S.W.A.T.,” you grin and hug him.

“I couldn’t miss this premier.”

“Where is Matthew?”

“Last I saw him was by the entrance to the theater.”

“Great. I’ll see you inside.” You leave his side and go find your best friend. He’s talking to one of the younger and newer kid stars, and you slink up to his side. “Excuse me. Mind if I borrow him for a second?”

“Sure. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

You pull him to the side and away from everyone for some semi-privacy.

“What the hell was that back there?”

“What?” he laughs.

“You can’t keep posing for my camera only.”

“You tell me this every time, and what do I keep telling you?” 

“Mine is the only one worth posing for.”

“See? It’s law at this point.”

He leans in and kisses you quickly. You two have been testing the waters for a romantic relationship for the last couple of weeks. It’s been going well because you’re taking it at your own speed without the public knowing. 

“You’re gonna piss off the other photographers.”

“I don’t care.”

He pulls you in and kisses you much deeper this time. You only allow two minutes to yourselves before you pull away from him. Goosebumps litter your arms and you shiver slightly under his gaze.

“You’re shivering. Are you cold?”

“That’s not why I’m shivering,” you say and shiver again.

“Yeah, you’re cold. I’m giving you my jacket.”

He sheds his jacket and slings it over your shoulder to provide you with warmth. He slides his hand into yours and pulls you toward the entrance to the theater.

“Let’s go watch this movie. Afterward, you’re gonna let me take you home.”

“We live together,” you giggle.

“Even better.”

“You’re a dork.”

“Only for you,” he winks and kisses your cheek.

x

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[triviareads]

i just finished a novel you recommended (bed me duke! excellent!) and moved on to my usual annual re-read of northanger abbey and do you have any recommendations for romance novels for each austen couple? i think that would be pretty cool!

I love that! the Bed Me series has never failed me so far, and I'm very excited for book 4, Bed Me, Baronet (the hero's a blond and possibly a virgin based on ALL his friends speculating about him in each of their books lol). As for romance novels based on Austen couples, I'm gonna be a little selective here because I haven't actually read Sense and Sensibility (but I vaguely remember watching the movie) or Mansfield Park:

Pride and Prejudice

There are lots of romance novel adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, and there are even more claiming to be inspired by the "enemies to lovers" aspect of P&P EVEN IF IT'S NOT AN ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANCE. So my best recommendation would be Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne; it's a modern adaptation set in Washington D.C.; Liza is a local radio DJ and activist who meets Dorsey (a Filipino adoptee) and realizes they're on opposite sides of the gentrification situation occurring in DC. I loved how the book dealt with the class difference along with the added layer of race. It also modernized the "proposal" aspect really well imo because randomly asking a gal to marry you without even dating wouldn't necessarily work in the modern era BUT the proposal Dorsey put out there still felt inherently degrading to Liza even if she'd hooked up with him already (another change from the original, and an appreciated one).

Persuasion

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas: I'll forever recommend this; McKenna and Aline were childhood sweethearts before they were separated by her father the earl, because McKenna was a stableboy. Now he's uber-wealthy and resentful about what happened all those years ago BACK for REVENGE and by revenge I mean he's going to seduce Aline and... that's about it lol. Never has a man come back with more loathing/self-loathing with a plan that's so half-baked even his drunk friend is like "but are you sure buddy".

Full Moon Over Freedom by Angelina M. Lopez: Another second-chance romance; Gillian asked Nicky to take her virginity when they were teenagers and teach her about sex stuff before leaving for college. Now she's back and divorced, and they're skirting around each other and having multiple clandestine encounters even though they think it's all temporary. While there's not much of a class difference, you get the sense Nicky thought of himself as her bit o'rough and she was an unattainable princess-type to him.

The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long: Second chance romance with love at first sight; There were a couple aspects that really reminded me of Persuasion; there's very similar language to Anne where Olivia is described as having "withered away" since Lyon left, and she refuses all other suitors. And! Lyon is a sailor like Wentworth except, well, not on the legal side of things lol. It's also just super romantic when they do reunite years later.

Emma

Bed Me, Baron by Felicity Niven: George and Phoebe are long-time friends who've known each other since she was a baby. She asks him for sex lessons so she can help her please her future husband who she's engaged to (not George lol). While there's not much of an age gap in this one (4 years), George Danforth is daddy so that should square you away there.

Olivia and the Masked Duke by Grace Callaway: Here's an Emma/Knightley-ish age gap, plus, Ben and Livy were family friends/friends since she was a kid. Later on, she sees him having sex with another woman in the stables and it's basically her sexual and romantic awakening, so she spends a lot of the book chasing after him while he's running for his life.... until he isn't. Sex-wise the vibes are daddy dom/mildly bratty.

Sense and Sensibility

The closest I could think of in terms of Marianne/Col. Brandon was Rosalind and Torrington from A Recipe for a Rogue by Kathleen Ayers. Like Marianne, Rosalind is initially horrified that an *older man* like Torrington might want to marry her (the number of old man-girdle and secretly balding hair jokes.... hilarious) and Rosalind avoids every attempt her mother makes to match them. Torrington is attracted to her from the get-go and slowly woos her by way of exchanging recipes, baked goods, and licking food off her thighs.

tbh I have no idea who'd fit Elinor/Edward's vibe.

Northanger Abbey

It's actually very hard to find heroes who have Henry Tilney's playful irreverence paired with Catherine's sweet naivete so I'm holding off on this one for now!

[hecckyeah]

Hi so you don't have to if you don't want to but. I'm curious about your thoughts on all the main characters of The Rookie. So, on a scale of one to ten (ten being you would die for them and one being you really dislike them) where would you rank the main characters (and anyone else you feel like talking about!)

DUDE are you kidding me?? I don’t think you understand how much I would LOVE to subject my weirdly specific opinions about The Rookie onto unsuspecting followers. Fair warning: this could get lengthy. I have a Lot of Feelings.

HERE WE GO!!

(disclaimer: I’m only rating the main characters that have stuck around until/are new in season 5. there are just too many temporary ones to keep track of everyone)

starting off strong with my best dude, my main squeeze… John Nolan himself.

Solid 12/10

1 point off for his current taste in women (see Nune, Bailey)

BUT a million 3 extra points for being the straight shooting square golden retriever dad we all know and love 🫶 He (along with Grey) is the most constant, reliable entity on this show and I really appreciate that about him. I think season 5 had so much potential in watching him grow and learn in a teaching role, but unfortunately the writers did him dirty. Between teaching Celina and dating Bailey (neither of whom have solid relationships with any other main character) he felt isolated from the rest of the team and therefore weakened; the opposite of what he’s been in seasons 1-4. I hope it’s something they change going forward. That said, I still adore this man. Nolan my absolute BELOVED

Lucy Chen

10/10

TEN out of TEN. This woman owns my heart, she’s way too good for this world, too pure. If the sun and the moon were one person, they would be Lucy Chen. I absolutely adore her tenacity, her scrappiness in a tough situation, and her insightfulness not just in her job but in all her relationships and especially with herself. It takes a quality person to have so much self awareness, and she is the master of that. Also she is a CINNAMON ROLL and we LOVE her for it. Top marks all around, no notes.

Tim Bradford

9.9/10

Bradford my BELOVED. Minus .1 point for making me low-key hate him in the first season by being such a hardass, but ultimately a million points for being just an all around really solid character. His characterization is spot on: consistent, layered, intriguing, sometimes surprising (coaching little league?? who would have thought), and the most fiercely protective and badass-est of them all. I LOVE how we get little glimpses at his softer side, mostly around Lucy but even with random kids and his sister and occasionally the rest of Mid-Wilshire. Him being Angela’s man of honor was ICONIC, and it seriously fit his character so well. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s easy on the eyes ;) I didn’t expect him to steal my heart like this but here we are!

Nyla Harper

Honestly? 8/10

I think she’s incredible and has the potential to be a really complex character, but something along the way fell flat. It's almost like the writers got scared of pushing the envelope with her too much. One of my absolute favorite scenes with her was that first time she quickly went undercover as Crystal in the laundromat and scared poor rookie Nolan half to death. We just haven't seen her like that in her element anymore, and her character feels shallow for it. Such a bummer, because she's awesome!

Angela Lopez

Also a good, solid 8/10.

I think her character has been WONDERFULLY done. She balances being the badass cop with being a no-nonsense, protective mother and wife. We get some really amazing insight into her backstory and a lot of her quirks (the part with her apartment being so messy made me feel SO validated lolll). I absolutely adore how close she is with her coworkers, especially Jackson and Tim. It feels natural and real, coming from years of trust and experience. I think where Nyla has fallen flat, Angela has really shined (shone? shin? lol). She's one of those that I wouldn't label as my favorite, per se, but I'm never mad when she's onscreen :)

Wade Grey

Grey, my man! 7.5/10

Listen. This man has almost retired at least thirteen times over the course of the show, and I'm pretty sure it's his insane dad instinct telling him to stick around and watch over his kids crew. He's predictable (in a good way), steady, unflappable... all the things a good sergeant should be. I love the subtle character development he's been through, mostly regarding Nolan and how he was so skeptical at first but now believes in him more than anyone else, basically. I love him for the glue that he is for the team, but he's not on an I would die for him tier. I'm honestly surprised he's lasted on the show this long lol but we LOVE Sergeant Dad around here

Wesley Evers

8.5/10, no hesitation.

Wesley is an ANGEL. I can't believe he and Lopez work so well together, but that just shows his incredible depth of character. He's a rich kid turned almost-philanthropist, who just wants to help people through his skills as a lawyer. He's real, with raw emotions guarded behind a wall of professionalism, that only slips once in a while... but when it does, it's heartbreaking. Ugh he's just SO good. A very very chewy delicious character, as some would say. I think there's a level of relatability with him that I've really become attached to. Incredible dude. Need more of this guy.

Aaron Thorsen

Amazing. 6/10

I think I feel sort of disconnected from Aaron, just because he's very much a background main character, if that makes any sense? His training was kind of breezed over, and so much of his introduction to the team/audience was based on the murder accusations and documentary that I feel like we never got to know the real Aaron aside from being rich and going through a tragedy. Kind of ironic and meta, eh? That said, I love him, he's absolutely awesome, and I REALLY hope he's okay :(

Tamara

Adorable. 7/10

I LOVE that they kept Tamara around after her first appearance. I love how much of a literary foil she is to Lucy. They’re opposites in a lot of ways, and she serves as that little sister figure, there for Lucy to protect and care for, but also she allows us to see the main cast and the police station through younger eyes. I think she’s a fantastic character, adorable and lovable despite all her Gen Z apathy.

Quigley Smitty

2/10

Plus 1 point for being comedic relief once in a while. Hard dislike. This dude is a waste of screen time.

Bailey Nune

3.5/10

I just. I WANT to love her, I really do. But as a character she’s just incredibly shallow. She’s disconnected from the rest of the team, and while I can see the value of having a main character who doesn’t work at Mid-Wilshire and isn’t a lawyer, the showrunners really dropped the ball with Bailey. She and Nolan have zero chemistry. It all feels extremely forced, that they’re pushing Nolan into a relationship simply for the sake of him being….in a relationship. And it pulls him away from the team, so we don’t see as many quality interactions with him and Chen anymore, even though Lucy is on record saying that the three OG rookies were inseparable. It also limits his interactions with everyone else, especially Bradford and the detectives. And it really hurts the quality of the show, with Nolan being the main driving character and all. Not to sound crass, but it almost would have been more poignant if Bailey died in the Rosalind tank and we had to watch Nolan grieve while still training Celina and walking her through her own lasting grief about her sister. It would have thrown a healthy wrench in the story, in my opinion. But aside from all of that, I wish I could like her…..but I just can’t.

WOW yeah so this has been initial thoughts on the main characters of The Rookie with yours truly 😂 I might come back and add a little addendum to this with some other thoughts, but for now!! this is what I’ve got!

[xtruss]

'Blue Beetle': Latino Culture Reigns Supreme in Long-Needed Superhero Departure

'Black Panther' proved there was an immense audience for movies based on diverse comic book characters. Will DC's latest also deliver at the box office?

— Steve Appleford | August 11, 2023

As a young comic book writer and fan in 2006, Josh Trujillo was immediately captivated by a new take on an old second-tier superhero, the Blue Beetle. Less important than the character’s powers and ancient scarab technology was the name behind the mask: Jaime Reyes, a high school kid from a Latino home in El Paso, Texas, grappling with his new capabilities amid the usual teen angst.

Traditionally, most superheroes from DC and Marvel were dependably square-jawed and Caucasian, but this was something different. “The fact that his name was Jaime —that’s something you rarely saw in comics at the time, and even now, it’s relatively rare,” says Trujillo, a Los Angeles-based creator who now writes the character for DC Comics. “I kind of became obsessed with learning everything I could about him.”

Now, the character is the latest superhero to lead a live-action feature film, Blue Beetle, directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, with Xolo Maridueña (the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai) in the title role. The August 18 release from Warner Bros. Pictures will face a variety of constituencies, including fans outraged by last year’s cancellation of Batgirl, which had been anticipated as the first superhero film starring a Latina actor, Leslie Grace. Blue Beetle also lands after disappointing box office numbers in June for The Flash, which some blamed on allegations surrounding its star, Ezra Miller. Others suggest, not for the first time, that the superhero genre is simply running out of steam.

For many of those eagerly awaiting Blue Beetle, its arrival as a commodity could not be less relevant to its value as a cultural statement, regardless of fallout from The Flash. Superhero fans from Latino neighborhoods across the country are openly anticipating the film, which stars a mostly Latino cast, including George Lopez and Adriana Barraza, with Susan Sarandon as a ruthless villain named Victoria Kord.

Ángel Manuel Soto, George Lopez, Xolo Maridueña, and Harvey Guillén. Instagram.Com/George Lopez

“Everybody’s really excited about this in the community,” says Frederick Luis Aldama, author and professor of humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches courses in comics studies and Latino pop culture. “The support is going to be because, for the first time, we have a Latino superhero who is the protagonist — he’s the one carrying the story. And we haven’t had that in the past.”

Aldama, who has adopted the nickname “Professor Latinx” (a takeoff on X-Men’s Professor X), noted his disappointment that the film relocates Jaime from the borderlands of El Paso for the fictional Palmera City. But he appreciates that in the comics, and in the movie trailer he saw a month ahead of the film’s release, Jaime “didn’t lose his Latino-ness” after being transformed into the Blue Beetle. “It was very much still a part of his identity and his struggle.”

Before Blue Beetle, the first major superhero film to feature a Latino lead character was 2018’s animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, winner of that year’s Oscar for animated feature, with a kid named Miles Morales in the Spidey mask. It was followed by this year’s sequel Across the Spider-Verse. Last year, Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness included a teenage Latina superhero named America Chavez. And in The Flash, the central role of Supergirl was played by Colombian American Sasha Calle.

Most likely, the castings aren’t so much about social justice as reading the room. In 2021, Latinos made up 24 percent of the U.S. moviegoing audience, according to a study by the Motion Picture Association. “Within the Latino community, there’s always been excitement for colorful characters and larger-than-life heroes,” says Trujillo, who also created an openly gay version of Captain America for Marvel. “You see that in luchador [wrestling], right? You see it in even telenovelas. There’s this larger-than-life element that people are really drawn to in our community.”

With the new DC Universe brand of superhero films, television, and video games still a full year away, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has declared that the movie’s incarnation of Blue Beetle is “the first DCU character” of the new regime. What exactly that portends for future films with Blue Beetle was left vague, but the film seems destined to rise and fall on its own, unconnected to any of the major DC heroes. It’s also arguable that Maridueña is much better known for Cobra Kai and better positioned to lead a film than The Flash’s Miller had been.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics

“He looks just like Jaime Reyes, and we all know he can act,” says Trujillo. “The special effects and the action, it feels very youthful. It feels very fresh. I think a lot of people who might be turned off by the heavier continuity of the superhero movies will be able to find something new and something they can really take ownership of in the Blue Beetle movie.”

The negativity emanating from Batgirl’s cancellation continues to resonate. The company line from the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery was that the film was unreleasable, though the move was widely seen as a Machiavellian choice by CEO David Zaslav in order to take an easy $90 million write-off, turning the mogul instantly into DC’s least popular supervillain.

Zoe Saldana, a star of three popular movie franchises — Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek, and Avatar — called the cancellation a “truly atrocious act from a studio.” And filmmaker Kevin Smith, normally a dependable booster for the comics properties he adores, noted that it was “an incredibly bad look to cancel the Latina Batgirl movie. I don’t give a shit if the movie was absolute fucking dogshit — I guarantee you that it wasn’t,” pointing to the sterling bona fides of the film’s codirectors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, on the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel.

The Batgirl cancellation drew the attention of U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, who was already critical of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Castro was one of four members of Congress in April to urge the Department of Justice to investigate the merger. “I don’t see how it’s been beneficial to many people,” Castro says.

That said, Castro is already looking forward to Blue Beetle and has met with the director and star, with plans to rent a theater in his working-class “bread and butter” district to share the film with members of his community. “I and many others were concerned at the time of the Batgirl announcement that the same thing would happen with Blue Beetle. I’m glad that it didn’t,” he says. “It’s important for the Latino community because Latinos have been excluded from Hollywood, by and large, in front of and behind the camera.”

Castro has also been active in promoting Eva Longoria’s streaming comedy-drama Flamin’ Hot and attended a screening at the White House. He says these films follow generations of Hollywood stereotypes of Latinos and other communities, if they’re shown onscreen at all. “So Blue Beetle, where you have a Latino who

is a superhero, is a striking departure from the usual Hollywood fare of Latino as gangbanger, as ‘illegal,’ as criminal. And that means a lot.”

The movie was already in production when Trujillo began writing his recent comic book miniseries Blue Beetle: Graduation Day, which is set for rerelease in book form in time for the movie’s debut. He says it is the first American mainstream superhero comic to be created by an all-Latino team, including Spanish artist Adrian Gutierrez. He was given bits and pieces of information from the movie to incorporate into his storyline but hasn’t seen the film. He hopes to attend the premiere and bask on the “blue carpet.”

“I’ll be there day one, regardless,” he says of the Blue Beetle movie. “I do think there’s a bit of a rising tide, and DC in particular has done a really good job of embracing the Latino community. I’m really grateful that DC’s been on board for it from the very beginning.”

[mediaonedesign]

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After making its grand debut at the The World Forever Changes Barbenheimer 7 21 23 Shirt But I will love this Cannes Film Festival, Wes Anderson’s new film Asteroid City made its New York City premiere last night—and the star studded cast came out for the red carpet affair. A listers such as Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks, and Scarlett Johansson all made a cameo on the glitzy step and repeat. But the night’s most head turning fashion moment came courtesy of Maya Hawke, who chose an unexpected accessory for her look A bejeweled swim cap. Hawke wore Prada’s black sequined dress with a square neckline and wide pleated skirt—but it was her embellished headwear that really made the look. Instead of a traditional chapeau, the fitted cap had her looking ready for a dip in the pool—yet she somehow totally pulled it off. Its shimmering treatment made the accessory feel elevated, and it added a dash of whimsy to her otherwise streamlined ensemble. It’s not the first time the swim cap has gone high fashion, either A few years ago, labels such as Dior, Chanel, and Valentino all sent them down the catwalk.

Photo Getty ImagesThe question is Would you rock an evening swim cap for your next gala or soirée? Only the The World Forever Changes Barbenheimer 7 21 23 Shirt But I will love this brave will attempt it. Clearly, Hawke gets an A for risk taking. And an A+ for somehow making it feel red carpet worthy, too. At this point, Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour is part concert, part extended exercise in seeing just how many custom looks one pop star can commission and pack. Queen Bey has upended the typical stadium show model and turned it into an ever changing format full of surprises and new looks. Nearly every tour stop so far—there are 51 dates on the books in total, as of right now—has featured a new never been seen look designed by some of the biggest names in contemporary fashion. Off White, Balmain, Brandon Blackwood, and on and on. What you may not have noticed, however, is that Bey often honors the country she’s in by wearing a designer who calls that nation home Jacquemus for Marseille, France (the designer’s hometown) Alexander McQueen, David Koma, Robert Wun, and Stella McCartney for the singer’s five night residency in London custom Fendi in Barcelona that featured designs pulled from Spanish artist Antonio Lopez. It’s the pop star’s version of fashion diplomacy. Using fashion as a medium to silently signal a connection and appreciation towards a culture or community is nothing new, but it’s more usually the territory of royals (see Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle) and political figures (first lady Jill Biden being one great example). But then again, Beyoncé, with over 300 million followers on Instagram, is her own kind of head of state. The full throated amplification of international voices feels even more poignant in a post COVID landscape. Only a mere few years ago, such a large scale world tour, bringing together thousands of people, was hard to imagine happening again.

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[awesome-en-vogue-craze-post-blog]

Part of Us: An En Vogue Fancast | An Interview w/ Frank Gatson Jr., Choreographer, Director & Creative Director

We had the opportunity to interview choreographer and director Frank Gatson Jr. During his career, Frank has served as the creative director for many artists, including En Vogue, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Destiny's Child, Toni Braxton and Beyonce.

Frank is now partnering with the YWCA Southeast Wisconsin to create a reimagined YWCA. The Intergenerational Performing Arts and Athletics Center (IPAAC), a 70,000 square-foot facility, will be located in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will offer movement & dance, athletics, singing, career expos and state-of-the-art studios.

In celebration of the center's launch, Gatson will host the YWCA Gala and Awards ceremony on Wednesday, December 28, at the Marcus Performing Arts Center to raise funds. En Vogue, Brandy and Luke James will be among some of the artists performing.

During our in-depth conversation, we discussed Frank's dance history and his involvement in IPAAC. We also discuss how he first met Cindy Herron, how he became En Vogue's longtime choreographer, the EV5 reunion, and so much more. This is only part one of our conversation. Keep an eye out for part two when Part of Us returns next year. We dive even deeper into everything En Vogue.

For more information on the Intergenerational Performing Arts and Athletics Center (IPAAC), visit ywcasew.org & isupportthemission.org and please consider donating.

We thank those of you who have rated and reviewed Part of Us: An En Vogue Fancast on Apple Podcasts. If you haven't already, please consider leaving a rating, a review and subscribing. Your support goes a long way in helping us to grow our community and reach more listeners.

For even more content on En Vogue, visit us on Twitter @PartofUsFancast and on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube @envoguecraze

Your feedback is always appreciated. Send comments, questions and topic suggestions to: partofusevf@gmail.com

Music by: Wolves and Vincent Tone

Produced & edited by Matthew at Culture Inject Studios.

Check out this episode!

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WARRINGTON VS. LOPEZ + UNDERCARD PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

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Published: December 08, 2022

Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport Chairman: “Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Leeds. After a rollercoaster year of Taylor-Serrano at Madison Square Garden, Leigh Wood against Michael Conlan one of the fights of the year, Canelo against Bivol, Canelo against GGG, AJ against Usyk, last week Chocolatito against Estrada – all around the world, it ends on Saturday night in Leeds with an unbelievable night of boxing. Josh Warrington, the IBF Featherweight World Champion, makes his mandatory defence against Luis Alberto Lopez. It’s a World Championship double-header – all-Australian female fight on the card as well, a tremendous fight for the IBF Bantamweight World Title – Ebanie Bridges against Shannon O’Connell. So much more to come. This is a night with a difference, not only is it the elite atmosphere of the Leeds faithful, but it’s England vs. France. We’re kicking off around 2pm in the arena on Before The Bell. 7pm we break for England vs. France, and then 9pm we kickstart again with Felix Cash, Ebanie Bridges and Josh Warrington. This is going to be a wild day of sporting drama. We cannot wait.” Josh Warrington: “It’s a very tough fight. Before we get going, I’d like to say thank you for the appreciation from the boys at the front – it’s nice to get a thank you for the opportunities that they’re getting. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do – put Leeds boxing on the map and give these younger fighters opportunities. So I do appreciate that lads. Moving onto Luis, he’s full on confidence isn’t he. He’s like a kid on whizz walking around like Ric Flair. He’s going to be full of confidence. He’s blasted out a few guys over in the States and in Mexico but I’m not them guys. "I’ve been in this position all throughout my career. I wasn’t meant to get this position. I wasn’t meant to win a European Title, I wasn’t meant to get a World Title. I’ve always been an underdog. Any fight at this level is always going to be a hard fight because he’s got himself into mandatory position. He’s beaten some decent guys along the way but I just don’t think he’s mixed in the same level that I’ve been in with. He’s certainly not had a fight like me. "He’s coming into the Lion’s Den. They can’t be in the ring with me, but it’s a f***ing hell of an atmosphere! I feed off that energy. Once I walk out into that arena I’m a man possessed and do what I have to do to keep hold of that belt. I’ve been around haven’t I. A lot of these young fighters are going to be full of confidence. They’re going to be excited. I think they forget, sometimes my name doesn’t get the respect it deserves. I’m not asking for it but I’ve been in with challengers all throughout my career. I’ve just got to concentrate on what I do best and I believe it will be enough to get me a win on Saturday night.” Luis Alberto Lopez: “Thanks for the opportunity. It’s great to be here once again, and this time to be facing a champion. I always come here as a warrior for war and I won’t be going home without that World Title. I come full of capabilities, full of confidence in my preparation. I come to do what I always do, turn fights on their head and beat opponents when I’m not expected to do so. I’ll be winning this title. I’m coming for the knockout, that’s what I’ve come for. He shouldn’t believe what he sees on the videos. I’m a completely different proposition when I’m in the ring and that’s what I’m coming to do, I’m coming to win.” Ebanie Bridges: “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you. She can say whatever she wants. I’ve been hearing it for years. It’s boring. It just bored me to be honest. All that matters is what happens in the ring on Saturday night. That’s when she’ll find out how serious I take this sport. I think Shannon O’Connell is my hardest fight and I’m taking it very seriously. I’m not underestimating her at all. I know that she’s a great fighter and I know that she’s going to come and bring it. She wants it. I’ve done everything that I need to do in the gym with Mark and Jimmy. I’m very confident in my skills, my mind and what I can do. I just know that belt is going to stay with me and it’s my destiny to continue to be a World Champion. I have faith in myself and in my team.” Shannon O'Connell: “I’m really happy that we’re finally here. It’s been a long time coming, a lot of dodging and trying to get around the fight but we’re here now and there’s no hiding. I don’t have a fake bone in my body. Everything I’ve said I’ve meant. Everyone you see on TV, do you like them? You don’t have to like everyone that you’ve met. She’s making herself a public figure and she’s putting herself out there to be judged. That’s just what happens. I’ve got morals. 100%, I’ve got everything it takes to become World Champion. She’s got nothing over me.” Felix Cash: “It’s been a long time coming so let’s hope that Saturday night actually happens this time. I’ll go in there on Saturday, get the ringrust off and then we’re going to have some big fights in 2023. I’ll get my hands on a World Title. It was tough to be honest with you – at one stage I was like, ‘f***k this’. I stayed in the gym and stayed focused and we’ve got out again before the year is over. We’ll make up for lost time next year by getting some big fights. I’ve got a job to do on Saturday night, I’ll get Neves out of the way and then we’ll get some big fights. Ammo Williams wants it. He’s got a big mouth. I’ll happily shut it for him.” James Metcalf: “I’m not overlooking him at all. We’ve seen he’s just come off a good win. He’s travelled all the way over and he sounds very confident but I’m confident as well. I believe I’m going to win and that belt is not going anywhere. I’m not taking my eye off the ball. I’m not going to overlook him. I’ve taken the fight very seriously. Everything that has been asked of me I’ve done. I’m just looking forward to the fight now.” Courtney Pennington: “I want to thank you for inviting me here – DAZN Boxing, Matchroom and especially JJ for taking this fight, because he didn’t have to. Thank you to my team for getting me here. Trust me, I’ve got it from here. I plan on taking this show over. This fight is going to be like a main event, with Josh Warrington and Luis Alberto Lopez as my undercard. I’m going to show you guys that I’m not going home without that strap. They have no idea. I’m one of the best Junior Middleweights in the world. I will show that come Saturday night. They don’t know that yet, but we’ve got two days guys.” Shannon Courtenay: “Obviously I’ve had a year out due to having quite a big injury – two operations. At one point I was told I’d never box again. To be back on the big stage straight away – I’m buzzing and I feel like I’m home to be honest. I’m not going to be ignorant and talk about World Titles just yet because I’ve got to get through Saturday and Gemma Ruegg is a good fighter. I know for a fact that 2023 is going to be a very big year for me and I’m just going to keep myself to myself. Let’s just get Saturday out of the way. I think it’s going to be an explosive fight. The styles will gel, just like mine and Ebanie’s did. It’ll be very explosive from start to finish. I don’t mind who wins. In an ideal world I’d get my WBA World Title back, Ebanie has her World Title and then we’d unify in another massive fight and a big pay day for the both of us. The first fight was a great fight and the second one would be even bigger. Let’s just see what Saturday brings first.”   Hopey Price: “It’s the final box to tick before a big 2023. I think this is my last 8 rounder. I’m looking to put on another statement performance on Saturday night and then I’m coming for all of the titles in the Super-Bantamweight division in 2023. I wanted to be boxing for a title this time but obviously we had a bit of activity and whatever else. Get this one out of the way and the in 2023 I’m definitely coming for those belts. I think I’m the best Super-Bantamweight in Britain – 100%. Josh has paved the way for us in Leeds. When he goes, who’s next? I believe it’s me. I believe I’m the next one to carry the flag for boxing in Leeds.” Junaid Bostan: "I’m delighted to be back finishing the year on a high. I’ve had four fights this year, and ideally I’d like to get a stoppage so it’s four out of four. That would be happy days. I’m ready to put on a clinical fan friendly performance. As much as I’m learning in the ring professionally, I’m learning just as much in the camps. I’ve been sparring Avanesyan, Troy Williamson, did a few rounds with Pat (McCormack) and Mark (Dickinson) the other week. I’m learning as I go. I’m delighted. I’m only 20 and with how I’ve been performing in the gym and in the ring I think I’m one of the best, if not the best, prospects you’ve got at the moment.” Rhiannon Dixon: “I’m just trying to get as much experience as I can in the ring and I’m just really looking forward to putting a performance on on Saturday. I’m just really enjoying keeping active. Obviously I had an injury at the start of this year so I was a bit inactive but I’m just looking forward to keeping active.” Cory O'Regan: “I was fortunate enough to be on in March as well when Josh won his World Title back. The experience is what you’d imagine – it’s the best stage to be on. I’m just proud to be a part of it again. I’m looking forward to putting another great performance on as well.” Koby McNamara: “I can’t wait for it. I’ve done over 500 tickets for Saturday so I’m looking forward to putting a good performance on. I can’t wait.”

(Featured Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

[quetzalcactus]

Lopez appreciation for red team with some google translate to keep in Lopez style!

[solo-ojo-jojo]

Chenford Fanfic - Ch 3: "Hold You in My Arms" from Santa Ana Winds now on AO3!

The Rookie Fanfiction | Chenford | WIP | 16 K words Rated M | AU - canon divergence starting 4x01 + Future Fic | Friends to Lovers

The next chapter is up!

This fills my square for Food Trucks, as part of @chenfordsource's Chenford Bingo 2021

You can start reading the first 1 K words below the break, then follow the link to the rest of the chapter over on AO3! Or simply jump ahead to the full chapter here.

Enjoy!

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When Tim asked her to save a dance for him at Angela and Wesley’s ill-fated original wedding, Lucy had a small flutter in her stomach that she tried to ignore. It was new and exciting. And confusing, if she was being honest. Because for 13 months her relationship with Tim had been one thing, but within the four weeks that had passed since then, there had been a shift in… something. Something that she couldn’t quite place her finger on.

Despite the warmth of the SoCal air, she felt herself shiver when Tim trailed a look down her entire body. And damn, he looked good. The tux he was wearing was cut impeccably well, and she knew that it had to belong to him. There was no way a rental tux could look that good. And—wait a second—was Tim flirting with her? 

Later that night, under circumstances she never would have asked for, she discovered what it was like to be held in Tim’s arms.

Angela was missing and Jackson was beaten within an inch of his life when he surprised her kidnappers. Tim didn’t think twice when he offered his shaken friend a place to stay for the night. They were both distraught and needed to be in the company of someone they trusted.

Since learning of the abduction, everyone at the Mid-Wilshire division had been single-mindedly focused on bringing Lopez and her baby back home. There was no time for either Tim or Lucy to think about the what ifs of the evening.

When she asked Tim for a hug, she did not expect it to be as distracting as it was. Tim’s hand stroked through her hair and his touch lingered on her skin. She felt an ember of something being lit up inside of her. Whatever it was, she wanted more of it, which was why she had been ready to go knock on his bedroom door. She needed to find out more.

“Captivated” may have not been a strong enough word to describe how Tim felt when he first laid eyes on Lucy in her dark green dress. She was some sort of ethereal being, floating towards him as rays of sunlight danced around her. He knew Lucy was objectively attractive. But there had been a litany of reasons over the past 14 months that meant he shouldn’t entertain any thoughts on her beauty any further, and he kept any appreciation of her beauty pushed to the back of his mind.

Tim was no stranger to the long stretches of time he would be out of contact with officers working undercover ops. He knew all the reasons he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help but worry about Lucy. She had been on his mind constantly, and then when he pulled her over for a traffic stop, it felt like he had conjured her. He got to set his eyes on her and see for himself that she was okay. He felt pride in the way she handled herself and gave him a coded message about her op. He should have been relieved that her mission was on track, relieved that his confidence in her abilities was not unfounded. Maybe it would all be over soon. 

But then she missed her check-in with Nyla, and he spent his entire night searching for her. 

“I thought you said she needed help,” he said as he tried to play off the worry that had crescendoed overnight. And he wondered if Lucy could read the relief on his face when he saw once more that she was safe.

The past few weeks without her by his side had made him realize that he missed her in a way he had never missed any of his other former Rookies. He had a want for her, to even just be near her, which had been growing, and had started from some nebulous time he couldn’t quite place. And though he had known the way her undercover persona had flirted with him wasn’t at all about him–it was about Nova getting out of a traffic stop–it also hadn’t felt unwelcome. In the back of his mind, he had wondered if he’d get the same kind of thrill if Lucy had been the one doing the flirting. 

That had not had anything to do with asking Lucy to save him a dance. Nope, nothing at all.

Unfortunately, crisis had struck before he’d had the chance to follow through with his request.

He wrapped her in his arms for only the second time since he had known her, the first time being immediately after she was pulled out of a barrel and he had breathed life back into her lungs. The situation that led them to this hug was, once again, far from ideal. And when they broke apart, he knew that if he looked in her eyes for too long, he’d do something he shouldn’t. He could feel the intensity of her gaze on him and when he dared to look back at her, he was filled with the notion that he should take her back into his arms.

Tim found himself restless in his bed, a small voice in his head whispering to him he needed to find out what the look meant. He had gone so far as to sit up and plant his feet on the floor, trying to gather up the nerve to go knock on the door of the guest bedroom where Lucy was staying, only to be disrupted by a call from Wesley about Angela’s whereabouts. And maybe it was for the best that he didn’t have more time alone with his thoughts about how the only thing separating him from Lucy was a single wall between their bedrooms.

[wits-writing]

What’s so Funny About Vengeance, the Night, and Batman? – Two Superhero Parodies in Conversation

Back in 2016, the first trailers for Director Chris McKay’s The Lego Batman Movie hit. A spinoff of the take on the iconic hero, voiced by Will Arnett, from 2014’s The Lego Movie. Those trailers spelled out a plot covering how Batman’s life of crimefighting is turned upside down when Robin unexpectedly enters the picture. It was a funny trailer, promising another insightful comedy from the crew behind The Lego Movie. A promise it handily delivered on when it came out in February 2017 with an animated feature steeped wall-to-wall jokes for the sake of mocking Bruce Wayne’s angst filled crusade that can only come from understanding what’s made the character withstand the test of time.

But there was a thought I and others had from seeing that trailer up to watching the actual movie:

“This seems… familiar.”

Holy Musical B@man! is a 2012 fan-made stage production parody of DC Comics’ biggest cash cow. It was produced as the fifth musical from YouTube-based cult phenomenon Starkid Productions, from a book by Matt and Nick Lang, music by Nick Gage and Scott Lamp with lyrics by Gage. The story of the musical details how Robin’s unexpected entrance ends up turning Batman’s (Joe Walker) life of crimefighting upside down. Among Starkids’ fandom derived projects in their early existence, as they’ve mainly moved on to well-received original material in recent years, Holy Musical B@man! is my personal favorite. I go back to it frequently, appreciating it as a fan of both superheroes and musicals. (Especially since good material that touches on both of those isn’t exactly easy to come by. Right, Spider-Man?)

While I glibly summarized the similarities between them by oversimplifying their plots, there’s a lot in the details, both major and minor, that separates how they explore themes like solitude, friendship, love, and what superhero stories mean. It’s something I’ve wanted to dig into for a while and I found a lot in both of them I hadn’t considered before by putting them in conversation. I definitely recommend watching both of them, because of how in-depth this piece goes including discussing their endings. However, nothing I can say will replace the experience of watching them and if I had included everything I could’ve commented on in both of them, this already massive piece would easily be twice as long minimum.

Up front, I want to say this isn’t about comparing The Lego Batman Movie and Holy Musical B@man in terms of quality. Not only are they shaped for vastly different mediums with different needs/expectations, animation versus stagecraft, but they also had different resources at their disposal. Even if both are in some ways riffing on the aesthetic of the 1990s Batman movies and the Adam West TV show, Lego Batman does it with the ability to make gorgeously animated frames packed to the brim with detail while Holy Musical often leans into its low-fi aesthetic of characters miming props and sets to add extra humor. They’re also for different audiences, Lego Batman clearly for all-ages while Holy Musical has the characters cursing for emphasis on a regular basis. On top of those factors, after picking through each of these for everything worth commenting on that I could find, I can’t say which I wholly prefer thanks in part to these fundamental differences.

This piece is more about digging through the details to explore the commonalities, differences, and what makes them effective mocking love letters to one of the biggest superheroes in existence.

(Also, since I’m going to be using the word “Batman” a lot, I’ll be calling Lego Batman just “Batman” and referring to the version from Holy Musical as “B@man”, with the exception of quoted dialogue.)

[Full Piece Under the Cut]

Setting the Tone

The beginning is, in fact, a very good place to start when discussing how these parodies frame their versions of the caped crusader. Each one uses a song about lavishing their respective Batmen with praise about how they are the best superheroes ever and play over sequences of the title hero kicking wholesale ass. A key distinction comes in who’s singing each song. Holy Musical B@man’s self-titled opening number is sung from the perspective of an omniscient narrator recounting B@man’s origin and later a chorus made up of the Gotham citizenry. Meanwhile, “Who’s the (Bat) Man” from Lego Batman is a brag-tacular song written by Batman about himself, even playing diegetically for all his villains to hear as he beats them up.

Holy Musical opens on a quick recap of Batman’s origin:

“One shot, Two shots in the night and they’re gone And he’s all left alone He’s just one boy Two dead at his feet and their blood stains the street And there’s nothing, no there’s nothing he can do!”

We then get a Bat-dance break as the music goes from slow and moody to energetic to reflect Batman turning that tragedy into the driving force behind his one-man war on crime. Assured by the narrator that he’s “the baddest man that there’s ever been!” and “Now there’s nothing, no there’s nothing he can’t do!” flipping the last lyric of the first verse. For the rest of the opening scene the lyrics matter less than what’s happening to establish both this fan-parody’s version of Batman and how the people of Gotham (“he’ll never refuse ‘em”) view him.

Lego Batman skips the origin recap, and in general talks around the death of the Waynes to keep the light tone going since it’s still a kids movie about a popular toy even if there are deeper themes at play. Instead, it continues a trend The Lego Movie began for this version of the character writing music about how he’s an edgy, dark, awesome, cool guy. While that movie kept it to Batman angry-whiteboy-rapping about “Darkness! NO PARENTS!”, this one expands to more elaborate boasts in the song “Who’s the (Bat) Man” by Patrick Stump:

“In the darkest night I make the bad guys fall There’s a million heroes But I’m the best of them all!”

Batman singing this song about himself, as opposed to having it sung by others aims the crosshairs of parody squarely on the hero’s ego. His abilities make fighting his villains effortless, like this opening battle is more an opportunity to perform the song than a life-or-death struggle. Even Joker’s aware of that as he shouts, “Stop him before he starts singing!” This Batman doesn’t see himself as missing out on anything in life, even if he still feels that deep down. Being Batman is the coolest thing in the world that anyone would envy. He’s Batman, therefore everyone should envy him.

The songs aren’t only part of the equation for how these two works’ opening scenes establish their leading hero. While both songs are about Batman being cool, they’re separated by the accompanying scenes. Lego Batman keep the opening within the Joker’s perspective until Batman shows up and the action kicks in. Once it does, we’re shown a Batman at the top of his solo-hero game. Meanwhile, Holy Musical’s opening is about B@man building his reputation and by the end of the song he has all the citizens of Gotham singing his praises with the titular lyrics. Both are about being in awe of the title hero, one framed by Joker’s frustration at Batman’s ease in foiling his schemes yet again and the other about the people of Gotham growing to love their city’s hero (probably against their better judgement.)

That’s woven into the fabric of what kind of schemes Batman is foiling in each of these. Joker’s plan to bomb Gotham with the help of every supervillain in Batman’s Rogues Gallery is hilariously high stakes and the type of plan most Batman stories, even parodies, would save for the climax. Neatly exemplified by how that’s almost the exact structure of Holy Musical’s final showdown. Starting with these stakes works as an extension of this Batman’s nature as a living children’s toy and therefore the embodiment of a child’s idea of what makes Batman cool, his ability to wipe the floor with anyone that gets in his way “because he’s Batman.” It also emphasizes Joker as the only member of the Rogues Gallery that matters to Lego Batman’s story, every other Bat-villain is either a purely visual cameo or only gets a couple lines maximum.

The crime’s being stopped by B@man are more in the “Year One” gangster/organized crime category rather than anything spectacle heavy. Though said crimes are comically exaggerated:

Gangster 1: Take these here drugs, put ‘em into them there guns, and then hand ‘em out to those gamblin’ prostitutes! Gangster 2: Should we really be doing these illegal activities? In a children’s hospital for orphans?

These fit into that model of crime the Dark Knight fights in his early days and add tiny humanizing moments between the crooks (“Oh, Matches! You make me laugh like nobody else!”) in turn making the arrival of B@man and the violence he deals out a stronger punchline. Further emphasized by the hero calling out the exact physical damage he does with each hit before warning them to never do crime again saying, “Support your families like the rest of us! Be born billionaires!” Later in the song his techniques get more extreme and violence more indiscriminate, as he uses his Bat-plane to patrol and gun down whoever he sees as a criminal, including a storeowner accidentally taking a single dollar from his own register. (“God’s not up here! Only Batman!”)

A commonality between these two openings is how Commissioner Jim Gordon gets portrayed. Both are hapless goofs at their core, playing more on the portrayal of the character in the 60s TV show and 90s Burton/Schumacher movies than the serious-minded character present in comics, Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and other adaptations. Lauren Lopez’s portrayal in Holy Musical gets overwhelmed by everything thrown at him, eventually giving up and getting out of B@man’s way (“I’m not gonna tell Batman what to do! He’s Batman!”) Hector Elizondo’s Gordon in Lego Batman clearly reached the “stay out of Batman’s way” point a long time ago, happy to have “the guy who flips on the Bat-signal” be his sole defining trait. While the characterizations are close, their roles do end up differing. Lopez’s Gordon sticks around to have a few more comedic scenes as the play goes on, where Elizondo’s exist to set up a contrast with his daughter Barbara and her way of approaching Batman when she becomes Police Commissioner.

These opening sequences both end in similar manners as well; the citizens of Gotham lavishing praise on their respective Batmen and a confrontation between Batman and the Joker. Praise from the citizenry in Holy Musical comes on the heels of a letter from B@man read out on the news about how much they and the city of Gotham suck. They praise B@man for his angsty nature as a “dark hero” and how they “wouldn’t want him any other way!”, establishing the motif of Gotham’s citizens in Holy Musical as stand-ins for the Batman fandom. Lego Batman uses the praise of the Gotham citizens after Batman’s victory in the opening scene as a lead in to contrast their certainty that Batman must have an exciting private life with the reality we’re shown. Which makes sense since Lego-Batman’s relationship to the people of Gotham is never presented as something at stake.

Greater contrast comes in how the confrontations with the Joker are handled, Lego Batman has an argument between the hero and villain that’s intentionally coded as relationship drama, Batman saying “There is no ‘us’” when Joker declares himself Batman’s greatest enemy. The confrontation in Holy Musical gets purposefully underplayed as an offstage encounter narrated to the audience as a Vicki Vale news report. This takes Joker off the board for the rest of the play in contrast to the Batman/Joker relationship drama that forms one of Lego Batman’s key pillars. While they take different forms, the respective citizenry praise and villain confrontation parts of these openings lead directly into the number one common thematic element between these Bat-parodies: Batman’s loneliness.

One is the Darkest, Saddest, Loneliest Number

Batman as an isolated hero forms one of the core tenants of the most popular understanding of the character. Each of these parodies picks at that beyond the broody posturing. There’s no dedicated segment in this piece about how these works’ versions of the title character function bleeds into every other aspect of them, but each starts from the idea of Batman as a man-child with trouble communicating his emotions. Time’s taken to give the audience a view of where their attitudes have left them early in the story.

Both heroes show their loneliness through interactions with their respective Alfreds. Holy Musical has the stalwart butler, played by Chris Allen, try to comfort B@man by asking if he has any friends he enjoys being around. When B@man cites Lucius Fox as a friend he calls him right away, only to discover Lucius Fox is Alfred’s true identity and Alfred Pennyworth was an elaborate ruse he came up with to protect Bruce on his father’s wishes. Ironically, finding out his closest friend was living a double life causes Bruce to push Alfred away (the play keeps referring to him as Alfred after this, so that’s what I’m going to do as well.) After he’s fired he immediately comes back in a new disguise as “O’Malley the Irish Butler” (same outfit he wore before but with a Party City Leprechaun hat.) That’s unfortunately the start of a running gag in Holy Musical that ends up at the worst joke in the play, when Alfred disguises himself as “Quon Li the Chinese Butler” doing an incredibly cringeworthy “substituting L’s for R’s” bit with his voice. It’s been my least favorite bit in the play since I first saw it in 2012 and legitimately makes me hesitate at times to recommend it. Even if it’s relatively small bit and the rest holds ups.

That disclaimer out of the way, that conversation between B@man and Alfred leads into the title hero reflecting on his sadness through the musical’s I Want Song, “Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight.” The song’s split into two halves, the first Alfred reflecting on whether he played a part in Bruce’s current condition and the second B@man longing for a connection. The song does a good job balancing between the sincerity over the hero’s sadness and getting good laughs out of it:

“Think of the children Next time you gun down the mama and papa Their only mama and papa Because they probably don’t have another mama and papa!”

The “I Want” portion of the song coming in the end with the repetition of the lryics “I want to be somebody’s buddy.”

Rather than another song number, Lego Batman covers Batman’s sadness through a pair of montages and visual humor. The first comes after the opening battle, where we see Batman taking off all his costume except for the mask hanging out alone in Wayne Manor, showing how little separation he puts between identities. Compared to Holy Musical where the equivalent scene is the first we see of Bruce without the mask on, which may come down to practicality since anyone who’s worn a mask like that knows they get hot and sweaty fast. Batman is constantly made to appear small among the giant empty rooms of his estate as he eats dinner, jams on his guitar, and watches romantic movies alone.

Ralph Fienne’s Alfred coming in at the end of this sequence witnessing Batman looking at a photo of himself as a boy with his parents for the last time. Alfred outlines Batman’s fear of being part of a family again only to be met with Batman denying he has any feelings ever. Pennyworth’s role as a surrogate father gets put into greater focus here than in Holy Musical, as we get glimpses of Alfred reading a book titled “How to Deal with Your Out-of-Control Child.” Also shown in smaller scenes of Alfred dealing with Batman’s insistent terminology for his crime fighting equipment, like calling his cowl an “armored face disguise.”

Batman’s denial of his pain contrasts how B@man wallows in it. Though he’s forced to confront it a little as the Joker’s plan ends up leaving him with no crimefighting to fall back on to ignore his issues. This montage gets set to the song “One” by Harry Nilsson and details Batman, unable to express his true feelings, eventually letting them out in the form of tempter tantrums. There’s also some humor through juxtaposition as Batman walks solemnly through the streets of Gotham City, rendered black and white, as the citizens chant “No more crime!” in celebration, while flipping over cars and firing guns into the air.

A disruption to their loneliness eventually comes in the form of a sensational character find.

Robin – The Son/BFF Wonder

Between both Bat-parodies, the two Robins’ characterizations are as close as anyone’s between them. Each is nominally Dick Grayson but are ultimately more representative of the idea of Robin as the original superhero sidekick and his influence on Batman’s life. The play and movie also both make the obvious jokes about Dick’s name and the classic Robin costume’s lack of pants at different points. Dick’s origin also gets sidestepped in each version to skip ahead to the part where he starts being an influence in Batman’s life.

Robin’s introduction to the comics in Detective Comics #38 in 1940, marking the start of Batman’s literal “Year Two” as a character, predating the introduction of Joker, Catwoman, and Alfred, among others. Making him Batman’s longest lasting ally in the character’s history. His presence and acrobatics shift the tone by adding a dash of swashbuckling to Batman’s adventures, inspired by the character’s namesake Robin Hood, though both parodies take a page out of Batman Forever and associate the name with the bird for the sake of a joke. Robin is as core to Batman as his origin, but more self-serious adaptations (i.e., the mainstream cinematic ones that were happening around the times both Holy Musical and Lego Batman came out) tend to avoid the character’s inclusion. These two works being parody, therefore anything but self-serious, give themselves permission to examine why Robin matters and how different characters react to his presence. Rejection of Robin as a character and concept comes out in some form in each of these works, from Batman himself in Lego Batman and the Gotham citizens in Holy Musical.

The chain of events that lead to Dick becoming Robin in Lego Batman are a string of consequences for Batman’s self-absorption. A scene of Bruce barely listening as Dick asks for advice on getting adopted escalating to absentmindedly signing the adoption paperwork. Batman doesn’t realize he has a son until after his sadness montage. Alfred forces Batman to start interacting with Dick against his will. The broody loner wanting nothing to do with the cheery kid, played to “golly gee gosh” perfection by Michael Cera, until he sees the utility of him. Batman doesn’t even have the idea to give Robin a costume or codename because he clearly views the sidekick’s presence as a temporary measure for breaking into Superman’s fortress, made clear by how he lists “expendable” as a quality Dick needs if he wants to go on a mission.

This makes Robin the catalyst for Batman’s shifting perspective throughout Lego Batman. When Robin succeeds in his first mission, the Dark Knight is hesitant to truly compliment him and chalks up his ward’s feats to “unbelievable obeying.” Other moments have Robin’s presence poke holes in Batman’s tough guy demeanor, like the first time Batman and Robin ride in the Bat-mobile together, Robin asks where the seatbelts are and Batman growls “Life doesn’t give you seatbelts!”, only for Batman to make a sudden stop causing Robin to hit his head on the windshield and Batman genuinely apologizes. They share more genuine moments together as the film goes, like Batman suggesting they beatbox together to keeps their spirits up after they’ve been imprisoned for breaking into Arkham Asylum. Robin’s representative of Batman gradually letting people in throughout these moments.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, B@man needs zero extra prompting to let Robin into his life. Nick Lang’s Robin (henceforth called “Rob!n” to keep with this arbitrary naming scheme I’ve concocted) does get brought into his life by Alfred thanks to a personal ad (“‘Dog for sale’? No… ‘Orphan for sale’! Even better!”) but it’s a short path to B@man deciding to let Dick fight alongside him. The briefest hesitance on the hero’s part, “To be Batman… is to be alone”, is quelled by Rob!n saying “We could be alone… together.” Their first scene together quickly establishing the absurd sincerity exemplified by this incarnation of the Dynamic Duo. An energy carried directly into the Act 1 closing number, “The Dynamic Duet”, a joyful ode between the heroes about how they’re “Long lost brothers who found each other” sung as they beat up supervillains (and the occasional random civilian.)

That song also ties into the contrast between the Batman/Robin dynamic and the B@man/Rob!n one. While Holy Musical is portraying a brotherly/BFF bond between the two heroes, Lego Batman leans into the surrogate son angle. While both are mainly about their stories’ Batman being able to connect with others, the son angle of Lego Batman adds an additional layer of “Batman needs to take responsibility for himself and others” and a parallel to Alfred as Batman’s own surrogate father. It also adds to the queer-coding of Batman in Lego Batman as Batman’s excuse to Robin for why he can go on missions is that Bruce and he are sharing custody, Robin even calling Batman’s dual identities “dads” before he knows the truth.

In the absence of the accepting personal responsibility through fatherhood element, the conflict Rob!n brings out in Holy Musical forms between B@man and the citizens of Gotham. “Citizens as stand-ins for fandom” is at it’s clearest here as the Act 2 opener is called “Robin Sucks!” featuring the citizens singing about how… well, you read the title. Their objections to Rob!n’s existence has nothing to do with what the young hero has done or failed to do, but come from arguments purely about the aesthetic of Rob!n fighting alongside B@man. Most blatantly shown by one of the citizens wearing a Heath Ledger Joker t-shirt saying Rob!n’s presence “ruins the gritty realism of a man who fights crime dressed as a bat.” It works as the Act 2 opener by establishing that B@man and the citizens conflicting opinions on his sidekick end up driving that half of the story, exemplified in B@man’s complete confusion about why people hate Rob!n (“Robin ruined Batman? But that’s not true… Robin make Batman happy.”)

Both Robins play into the internal conflict their respective mentors are going through, but what would a superhero story, even a parody, be without some colorful characters to provide that sweet external conflict.

Going Rogue

Both works have the threat comes from an army of villains assembled under a ringleader, Zach Galifianakis’s Joker in Lego Batman and Jeff Blim as Sweet Tooth in Holy Musical. Both lead the full ensemble of Batman’s classic (and not so classic) Rogues at different points. As mentioned before Joker starts Lego Batman with “assemble the Rogues, blow up Gotham” as his plan, while Sweet Tooth with his candy prop comedy becoming the ringleader of Gotham’s villains is a key turning point in Act 1 of the play. Part of this comes down to how their connections to their respective heroes and environments are framed, Sweet Tooth as a new player on the scene and Joker as Batman’s romantic foil.

Lego Batman demonstrates Batman and Joker are on “finishing each other’s sentences” levels of intimate that Batman refuses to acknowledge. Shown best in how Joker’s plan only works because he can predict exactly how Batman will act once he starts playing hard to get. When he surrenders the entire Rogues Gallery (without telling them) and himself to police custody, he describes it as him being “off the market.” He knows Batman won’t settle for things ending on these terms and tricks the hero into stealing Superman’s Phantom Zone projector so he can recruit a new, better team of villains for a take two of his masterplan from the start. Going through all this trouble to get Batman to say those three magic words; “I love hate you.” Joker as the significant other wanting his partner to finally reciprocate his feelings and commit works both as a play on how the Batman/Joker relationship often gets approached and an extension of the central theme. Batman is so closed off to interpersonal connections he can’t even properly hate his villains.

Sweet Tooth, while clearly being a riff Heath Ledger and Caesar Romero’s Jokers fused with a dash of Willy Wonka, doesn’t have that kind of connection with B@man. Though there are hints that B@man and his recently deceased Joker may have had one on that level. He laments “[Joker]’s in heaven with mom and dad. Making them laugh, I know it!” when recalling how the Clown Prince of Crime was the one person he enjoyed being around. This makes Joker’s death one of the key triggers to B@man reflecting on his solitude at the start of the play.

What Sweet Tooth provides the story is a threat to B@man’s new bond with Rob!n. Disrupting that connection forms the delicious center of the Candy King of Crime’s plan in Act 2. He holds Rob!n and Gotham’s people hostage and asks the citizens to decide via Facebook poll if the sidekick lives or dies (in reference to the infamous phone hotline vote from the comic book story A Death in the Family where readers could decide the Jason Todd Robin’s fate.)

With the rest of the villains under the leadership of the respective works’ main antagonists, there’s commentary on their perceived quality as threats. When Holy Musical has Superman talking to Green Lantern about how much B@man’s popularity frustrates him, he comes down especially hard on the Caped Crusader’s villains. Talking about how they all coast by on simple gimmicks with especially harsh attention given to Two Face’s being “the number two.” Saying they’re only famous because B@man screws up and they get to do more damage. Which he compares to his own relationship with his villains:

Superman: You ever heard of Mr. Mxyzptlk? Green Lantern: No. Superman: No, that’s right! That’s because I do my job!

Lego Batman has commentary on the other villains come from Joker, recognizing that even all together they can never beat Batman, because that’s how a Batman story goes. The other villains get portrayed as generally buffoonish, struggling to even build a couch together and described by Joker as “losers dressed in cosplay.” Tricking Batman into sending him to the Phantom Zone provides him the opportunity to gather villains from outside Batman’s mythos and outside DC Comics in general. Recruiting the likes of Sauron, King Kong, Daleks, Agent Smith from The Matrix, and the Wicked Witch of the West, among others. When I first saw and reviewed The Lego Batman Movie, this bugged me because it felt like a missed opportunity to feature lesser-known villains from other DC heroes’ Rogues Galleries. Now, considering the whole movie as meta-commentary on the status of this Batman as a children’s toy, it makes perfect sense that Joker would need to go outside of comics to break the rules of a typical Batman story and have a shot at winning.

The Rogues of Holy Musical get slightly more of a chance to shine, if only because their song “Rogues are We” is one of the catchier tracks from the play. They’re all still more cameo than character when all’s said and done, but Sweet Tooth entering the picture is about him recognizing their potential to operate as a unit, takeover Gotham, and kill B@man. The candy-pun flinging villain wants all of them together, no matter their perceived quality.

Sweet Tooth: “We need every villain in Gotham. Cool themes, lame themes, themes that don’t match their powers, even the villains that take their names from public domain stories.” (Two Face’s “broke ass” still being the exception.)

Both Joker and Sweet Tooth provide extensions of the shared theme of Batman dealing with the new connections in his life, especially with regards to Robin. However, Robin isn’t the only other ally (or potential ally) these Dark Knights have on their side.

Super Friends(?)

The internal crisis of these Caped Crusaders come as much from how they react to other heroic figures as it does from supervillainous machinations. In both cases how Batman views and is viewed by fellow heroes gets centered on a specific figure, Superman in Holy Musical and Commissioner Barbara Gordon (later Batgirl) in Lego Batman. Each serves a vastly different purpose in the larger picture of their stories and relationship to their respective Batmen. Superman reflecting B@man’s loneliness and Barbara symbolizing a new path forward for Batman’s hero work.

Superman’s role in Holy Musical runs more parallel to Lego Batman’s Joker than Barbara. Brian Holden’s performance as the Man of Tomorrow plays into a projected confidence covering anxiety that nobody likes him. Besting the Bat-plane in a race during B@man’s Key to the City ceremony establishes a one upmanship between the two heroes, like Joker’s description of his relationship with Batman at the end of Lego Batman’s opening battle. Though instead of that romantically coded relationship from Lego Batman, this relationship is more connected to childish jealousy. (But if you do want to read the former into Holy Musical B@man, neither hero has an onstage relationship with any woman and part of their eventual fight consist of spanking each other.)

B@man and Superman’s first real interaction is arguing over who’s the cooler hero until it degrades into yelling “Fuck you!” at each other. B@man storming off in the aftermath of that gets topped off by Superman suggesting he should get the Key to the City instead, citing his strength and longer tenure as a hero (“The first hero, by the way”) as justifications. This only results in the Gotham citizens turning on him for suggesting their city’s hero is anything less than the best, which serves both as a Sam Raimi Spider-Man reference (“You mess with one of us! You mess with all of us!”) and another example of the citizens as stand-ins for fandom. Superman’s veil of cocksureness comes off quickly after that and stays off for the rest of the play. Starting with his conversation with Green Lantern where a civilian comes across them, but barely acts like Superman’s there.

One of the play’s running gags is Superman calling B@man’s number and leaving messages, showing a desperation to reach out and connect with his fellow hero despite initial smugness. Even before the first phone call scene, we see Superman joining B@man to sing “I want to be somebody’s buddy” during “Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight” hinting at what’s to come. The note it consistently comes back to is that Superman’s jealousy stems from Batman’s popularity over him. This is a complete flip of what Lego Batman does with the glimpse at a Batman/Superman dynamic we see when Batman goes to the Superman’s fortress to steal the Phantom Zone projector. The rivalry dynamic there exists solely in Batman’s head, Lego-Superman quickly saying “I would crush you” when Batman suggests the idea of them fighting. Superman’s status among the other DC heroes is also night and day between these works. Where Lego-Superman’s only scene in the movie shows him hosting the Justice League Anniversary Party and explaining he “forgot” to invite Batman, Superman in Holy Musical consistently lies about having friends over (“All night long I’m busy partying with my friends at the Fortress… of Solitude.”)

Superman’s relationship to B@man in Holy Musical develops into larger antagonism thanks to lack of communication with B@man brushing off Supes’ invitations to hang out and fight bad guys (“Where were you for the Solomon Grundy thing? Ended up smaller than I thought, just a couple of cool guys. Me and… Solomon Grundy.”) His own loneliness gets put into stronger focus when he sees the news of Rob!n’s debut as a crimefighter, which makes him reflect on how he misses having Krypto the Super-Dog around. (The explanation for why he doesn’t have his dog anymore is one of my favorite jokes in the play and I won’t ruin it here.)

Where Superman’s a reflection of B@man’s loneliness, Rosario Dawson as Barbara in Lego Batman is a confrontation of Batman’s go it alone attitude. Her job in the story is to be the one poking holes in the foundation of Batman as an idea, starting with her speech at Jim Gordon’s retirement banquet and her instatement as commissioner. She has a by-the-book outlook on crimefighting with the omnicompetence to back it up, thanks to her training at “Harvard for Police.” Babs sees Batman’s current way of operating as ineffectual and wants him to be an official agent of the law. An idea that dumps a bucket of cold water on Batman’s crush he developed immediately upon seeing her, though that never fully goes away.

Her main point is that Batman “karate chopping poor people” hasn’t made Gotham better in his 80 years of operating. A contrast to Holy Musical’s Jim Gordon announcing that B@man has brought Gotham’s crime rates to an all-time low (“Still the highest in the world, but we’re working on it.”) She wants to see a Batman willing to work with other people. A hope dashed constantly dealing with his childish stubbornness as he tries to foil Joker’s schemes on his own, culminating in her arresting Batman and Robin for breaking into Arkham to send Joker to the Phantom Zone.

Barbara’s role as the one bringing grown-up attitudes and reality into Batman’s world does leave her in the role of comedic straight woman. Humor in her scenes comes from how she reacts to everyone else’s absurdity rather than anything she does to be funny. This works for the role she plays in Lego Batman, since she’s not there to have an arc the way Superman does in Holy Musical. She’s another catalyst for Batman’s to start letting people in as another character he grows to care about. Which starts after she lets the Dynamic Duo out of prison to fight Joker’s new army of Phantom Zone villains on the condition that he plays it by her rules. Leading to a stronger bond between Batman, Robin, Alfred, and her as they start working together.

The two Batmen’s relationships to other heroes, their villains, Robin, and their own solitude each culminate in their own way as their stories reach their conclusions.

Dark Knights & Dawning Realizations

As everything comes down to the final showdowns in these Bat-parodies, the two Caped Crusaders each confront their failures to be there for others and allow themselves to be vulnerable to someone they’ve been antagonizing throughout the story. Each climax has all of Gotham threatened by a bomb and the main villains’ plans coming to fruition only to come undone.

Holy Musical has Sweet Tooth’s kidnapping of Rob!n and forcing Gotham to choose themselves or the sidekick they hate sends B@man into his most exaggerated state in the entire play. It’s the classic superhero movie climax conundrum, duty as a hero versus personal attachment. Alfred, having revealed himself as the “other butlers”, even lampshades how these stories usually go only for that possibility to get shot down by Bruce:

Alfred: A true hero, Master Wayne, finds a way to choose both. B@man: You’re right, Alfred. I know what I have to do… Fuck Gotham, I’m saving Robin!

B@man’s selfishness effectively makes him the real villain of Holy Musical’s second act. Lego Batman has shades of that aspect as well, where Batman gets sent to the Phantom Zone by Joker for his repeated refusal to acknowledge their relationship. Where the AI running the interdimensional prison, Phyllis voiced by Ellie Kemper, confronts him with the way he’s treated Robin, Alfred, Barbara, and even Joker:

Phyllis: You’re not a traditional bad guy, but you’re not exactly a good guy either. You even abandoned your friends. Batman: No! I was trying to protect them! Phyllis: By pushing them away? Batman: Well… yeah. Phyllis: Are they really the ones you’re protecting?

Batman watches what’s happening back in Gotham and sees Robin emulate his grim and gritty tendencies to save the day in his absence makes him desperately scream, “Don’t do what I would do!” It’s the universe rubbing what a jerk he’s been in his face. He’s forced to take a look at himself and make a change. B@man’s not made to do that kind of self-reflection until after he’s defeated Sweet Tooth but failed to stop the villain’s bomb. He’s ready to give up on Gotham forever and leave with Rob!n, until his sidekick pulls up Sweet Tooth’s poll and it shows the unanimous result in favor of saving the Boy Wonder. Despite everything they said at the start of Act 2, the people want to help their hero in return for all the times he helped them. All of them calling back to the Raimi Spider-Man reference from Act 1, “You mess with one of us. You mess with all of us.”

Both heroes’ chance at redemption and self-improvement comes from opening themselves up to the people they pushed out and dismissed earlier in their stories. Batman takes on the role he reduced the Commissioner down to at the beginning of the movie and flips on signals for Barbara, Alfred, and Robin to show how he’s truly prepared to work as a team, not just with his friends and family but with the villains of Gotham the Joker pushed aside as well. Teamwork makes the dream work and they’re all able to work together to get Joker’s army back into the Phantom Zone but like in Holy Musical they fail to stop the bomb threatening Gotham. Which he can only prevent from destroying the city by confessing his true feeling to Joker

Batman: If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have learned how connected I am with all of these people and you. So, if you help me save Gotham, you’ll help me save us. Joker: You just said “us?” Batman: Yeah, Batman and the Joker. So, what do you say? Joker: You had me at “shut up!”

The equivalent moment from Holy Musical comes from B@man needing to put aside his pride and encourage a disheartened Superman to save Gotham for him. This happens in the aftermath of a fight the two heroes had where Superman tried to stop B@man before he faced Sweet Tooth, B@man winning out through use of kryptonite. That fight doesn’t fit into any direct parallel with Lego Batman, but it is important context for how Superman’s feeling about B@man before Superman finally gets his long-awaited phone call from the Dark Knight. Also, the song accompanying the fight, “To Be a Man”, is one of the funniest scenes in the play. What this speech from B@man does is bring the idea of Holy Musical B@man as a commentary on fandom full circle:

B@man: I forgot what it means to be a superhero. But we’re really not that different, you and me, at our heart. I mean really all superheroes are pretty much the same… Something bad happened to us once when we were young, so we dedicated our whole lives to doing a little bit of good. That’s why we got into this crazy superhero business. Not to be the most popular, or even the most powerful. Because if that were the case, hell, you’d have the rest of us put out of a job!

This speech extends into an exchange between the heroes about how superheroes are cool, not despite anything superficially silly but because of it. Bringing it back to the “Robin Sucks!” theme that started Act 2, saying “Some people think Robin is stupid. But those people are pretentious douchebags. Because, literally, the only difference between Robin and me is our costumes.” The speech culminates in what I genuinely think is one of the best Batman lines ever written, as B@man’s final plea to Superman is “Where’s that man who’s faster than a gun?” calling back to the trauma that created Batman across all versions and what he can see in someone like Superman. So, B@man sacrificing his pride and fully trusting in another hero saves Gotham, the way Batman letting Joker know what their relationship means to him did in Lego Batman.

Each of these parodies ends by delivering a Batman willing to open himself up to a new team of heroes fighting at his side, the newly minted Bat-Family in Lego Batman and the league for justice known as the Super Friends in Holy Musical. Putting them side by side like this shows how creators don’t need the resources of a Hollywood studio to make something exactly as meaningful and how the best parodies come from love of the material no matter who’s behind them.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

[ms-m-astrologer]

Transiting Venus enters Leo

Sunday, June 27, 04:27 UT - Thursday, July 22, 12:45 UT

Hot girl summer? With Mars already occupying Leo, and with the two planets moving toward a conjunction on July 13 (19:48 Leo), break out the margaritas and the crop tops, I guess!

The problem is that Venus has some trials and tribulations to maneuver through, before she hooks up with Mars: namely, a big fat fixed t-square in which she opposes Saturn Rx/Aquarius, and they both square Uranus/Taurus. My feeling about the Saturn-Uranus square is that it's pointing out the necessity of aligning ourselves more with Mother Earth, and of ensuring justice for all; Venus in Leo tangling with this could result in "let them eat cake" attitudes. Dates when this is in effect are July 5-9.

Another caveat is that although Venus-Mars conjunctions "reset" our amorous intentions - this isn't the beginning of a true Venus-Mars cycle. Venus stations retrograde on December 19 this year (ho ho ho, nobody is going to like their presents!), which means Mars will be able to "catch up" with her. They'll be conjunct twice more after Venus' direct station; it's the last one, on March 6, 2022, that "counts."

Art

When it comes to Leo, we're always looking at performance. There's the need not only to put yourself out there like a diva, but to have your efforts appreciated. Think of those two Leo front men, Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin). This is a good time to go to concerts, or it would be if COVID weren't still a danger. Why not put on a show of your own? We can pour our hearts (Leo) into what we paint, draw, compose, write, sculpt, etc.

Beauty

Well, blondes. The above mentioned Robert Plant is a Leo, famous for his luxurious blonde mane. Think also of Marilyn Monroe, who had Leo rising - her in-your-face beauty, zero subtlety, which also doesn't quite take itself very seriously. There's a bit of a wink with the flamboyance. Steven Forrest, in The Book of Fire, writes that Venus moving through Leo shows that "the risk we need to take" is "making a bid to be seen as attractive." Could be time for a makeover!

Love

One one level, we have as an example the spectacle of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, both Leos, rekindling their ancient romance. Performance, remember. Anyway: Venus moving through Leo will pull out all the stops in showering attention/affection on her loved ones. She's still performing - the bouquets, the jewels, the booze! We want to show and demonstrate our love, when Venus is going through Leo. Additionally, Steven writes that we should be "responding to people rather than simply reacting to them," which means we have to pay attention to them, too.

Money

Overspending is usually going to be a problem with Venus/Leo, especially if the money is getting spent on art, beauty, fun, or the loved ones. If Venus were making better aspects, I would also point out that there can be a real gift for investments - Leo takes creative risks with money. There could be an emphasis on and problems with "treating" people, "because they deserve it," regardless of whether the recipients of the "treat" are ourselves or our loved ones.

Venus exits Leo and moves into Virgo on Thursday, July 22.

[soyforramen]

Blame @sullypants for this one since weird dreams are a common theme lately:

“Hey, Jug.”

Shaken by some unknown force, Jughead groaned and nestled further into his arms.  

“C’mon, wake up,” Archie said, his voice coming from a universe away.  

Sleep was a dense fog that settled in behind Jughead’s eyelids and he couldn’t muster the energy to push it away.  He’d fallen asleep in school again, that much he could discern from the hard table beneath him.  But at least the desk was a lot more comfortable than the janitor’s closet had been.

“Dude, let’s go,” Reggie said.  

With a hard tug, Jughead was snapped awake.  With a wide yawn he stretched out, his back giving a satisfyingly loud crack.

“What’s up?”

“School’s over, Rip Van Jones,” Reggie said.  With a roll of his eyes, he ran a hand through his already slicked back hair.  “The girls are waiting for us at Pop’s.  Apparently we have to have a set list for Sunday and they wanted to go over it after school.  Or at least we were supposed to before this knucklehead got us detention from Grundy again.”

Jughead blinked, convinced he’d heard Reggie wrong.  Grundy was dead, murdered by the Black Hood.  Even if she had come back to life, what was she doing around high schoolers?

“How was I supposed to know she meant a rhyme scheme from Donna Sweet and not Saweetie,” Archie muttered.  “Besides, if we leave right now we still might make it before they ditch us.”

Wait, sweater vest.  Why was Archie wearing a sweater vest?  And was was Reggie acting so cordial?  

Certain that this was another weird dream, Jughead reached for his Serpent’s jacket and found that the back of his chair was empty.  Serpent’s jacket?  

“I still think that we should ditch Jingle Jangle,” Reggie said as he headed out the door.

“What?  It’s my best work,” Archie said as he followed him out.  

With another yawn, Jughead picked up his books and followed them out into the cool autumn air.  With a start, he realized that it was just a dream, a really weird dream to be exact.  There was no biker gang that gave out jackets to kids like candy.  He and Archie and Reggie had always been a strange sort of friends; and Grundy was never anything more than a septuagenarian determined to drive herself into an early grade by teaching high brow literature to idiot high schoolers.

On the way to Pop’s, Jughead ignored Archie and Reggie’s argument over some girl the next town over and worked to piece together the dream.  It had all been so real that it wasn’t a wonder he’d been confused.  Everything in Riverdale had been the same as it was now, except it was all off just enough to cast a dark shadow across their sleepy little town.  

Hiram Lodge, a well known philanthropist and entrepreneur who tolerated his daughter’s friends was not a corrupt Wall-Street con-man looking to rule the world.  The Coopers, an All American family, was not rife with dark secrets that would eventually tear them apart.  The Blossom’s, while certainly devious and conniving in their own ways, were not ripped from the pages of a gothic horror novel.

And the Jones…

Jughead shuddered at the thought.  Sure, they weren’t the perfect family.  But they loved each other, took care of each other, and were as normal as they could be.  That image of his family brought up a wave of guilt about how his subconscious had portrayed his parents.

(He couldn’t help but grin, however, at the idea that baby Jellybean could not only hold her own, but was a fan of Led Zeppelin.  It was a nice touch.  Maybe he’d roundup his mother’s old records tonight and he’d teach her to appreciate the finer things in life.)

But it wasn’t until they’d walked into Pop’s to find the girls seated at their regular booth that the realization that this Betty - sweet, caring, lovely Betty - wasn’t his that he felt a pang of longing for his dream world.  Despite how horrific that dream had been, Betty was the golden lining in that dark world, a comfort meant only for him.

The feeling passed quickly when Betty’s eyes locked on Archie.  Jughead couldn’t help but wonder, though, what if things had been different?

For the rest of the afternoon, the members of The Archie’s debated and argued over the set list, while Jughead did what he did best.  While Archie was arguing for the merits of Sugar, Sugar, Jughead polished off three baskets of fries and a milkshake.  When Veronica demanded to sing Bang-Shang-A-Lang solo, Jughead ate two and a half cheeseburgers and drank half a pot of coffee.  As Reggie was arguing for… well, whatever it was he wanted, Jughead nursed a chocolate milkshake and a basket of fries (extra chili cheese, heavy on the onions and cheese, add bacon).

Occasionally he inserted his own opinion - no he would not let Reggie ruin another drum set just so he could show off to Ginger Lopez, nor was it feasible for Veronica to burst out, and ruin, his kick drum at the start of the show.  But even as he played at normalcy, his mind kept coming back to that dream.  Detention with Grundy could never be long enough to contain an entirely parallel universe, and yet it was the most realistic dream he’d ever had.

“Earth to Juggie,” Betty said as she waved her hand in front of his face.  He blinked, his gaze centering on her, and she giggled.   “Anything you’d like to share with the class?”

He glanced around and found that despite his attempts to stay present, he and Betty were the only two left.

“Veronica roped Archie into installing shelves for her,” Betty explained with an over exaggerated pout.  She then pointed over to where Reggie was chatting a short, dark haired teen.  “And Midge came in without Moose, so you know Reggie’s not going to miss that opportunity.”

Midge.

The world around Jughead spun and he felt lightheaded when he stood.  He walked over to where the pair stood at the counter, and when Midge turned to him Jughead wrapped her in a tight hug, tears threatening to pour from his eyes.

“You alright there, needle nose?” Reggie asked, his eyes filled with concern.  

Apparently Jughead hadn’t been able to play as normal as he’d thought.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said, loosening his hold.  He stared at Midge, still trying to comprehend why he felt so relieved that it was all just a dream. “I’m just… happy to see you is all.”

“I’m always happy to see you, Jughead,” Midge said.  She placed the back of her hand across his forehead, the corners of her lips pinched.  “But maybe you should let Betty take you home?”

Jughead nodded as the surreal threatened to overwhelm him.  When he turned, he found Betty behind him, her arms full of their schoolbooks.  She set a hand on his arm and gave an encouraging, if worried, smile.  It was easy enough to let her lead him out of the diner.  That way he could remind himself that the world where Midge had been slaughtered wasn’t real.

“Penny for your thoughts?  Or maybe I should offer a nickel?” Betty asked.  When he didn’t respond, she bumped her hip into his.

The contact, friendly, playing, concerned, burned his side.  It brought up just how touchy they were in his dream world, along with false memories of things he’d never paid any attention to before (especially not about her).  He shivered and quickened his step.  Betty, ever the Teflon personality, matched his stride and slipped her arm through his.  

“Just a strange dream,” he muttered, far too distracted by how much heat she gave out to come up with a good lie.

“Sounds like a pretty intense dream if you’re still thinking about it this much.”

And with that simple statement, the entire thing tumbled out of him.  Nothing was left out, though Jughead did edit some of the more intimate moments they’d spent together in his dream.  He was so wrapped up in making sure to include all the details - the corruption, the ever-burning ember of hope, the rocket - that he almost missed the fact that Betty had guided them through the town square three times as he divulged the dirty laundry about the underground boxing rings and Maple Club.

By the time they’d reached his house it was twilight and he was telling her about the prep school murders and fake FBI stings.  His mother (his real mother, thankfully, and not the drug running mom that had run out on him) brought them out dinner just as he got to his own faked death.  

And for the first time in his life, Jughead’s entire focus wasn’t on getting seconds (and thirds).

When he was finally done with his tale, Betty let out a long whistle.  She pushed around the remaining bits of pie on her plate, lost in thought.  Now that his head was empty of that bizarre dream, Jughead’s appetite came back with a vengeance. He leaned over and snatched the rest of her pie crust and popped it into his mouth.

“Well?” he prompted, curious to get her take on his dream.  

“Do you think the fish Ms. Beezley served today was off?”

He rolled his eyes and grinned at her ability to lighten the mood.   Jughead leaned back and set his elbows against the porch step behind him to look up at the sky.  Betty set her plate down and sat down next to him, primly smoothing out her skirt before she spoke.

“Do you really think we …” she paused.  “My mother?  And your dad?”

Jughead groaned and ran a hand down his face.  “I’d hate to think what Freud would say.”

“Well, he’d definitely agree it wasn’t a pipe,” she snickered.  “Maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something?”

“Convince Archie that Jingle-Jangle is a terrible song to play to middle schoolers?”

She shrugged.  “Maybe.  Maybe not.”

As the world turned around them, they sat in companionable silence.  As curious as Jughead was to know what Betty really thought, it was these quiet moments with her that he felt truly at peace.  Perhaps that’s what the dream had signified.  With all the clamor and turmoil over senior year and applying for colleges, maybe his brain was trying to tell him to slow down and enjoy these little moments more.

Or maybe it was just a sign he shouldn’t shotgun a whole liter of soda before Grundy’s lecture on Dashiell Hammet.

“Walk me home?” Betty asked suddenly.

Without waiting for an answer, she hopped up and pulled Jughead to his feet, the same as they’d done a million times before.  Only this time Betty tugged a little too hard and Jughead stumbled into her.  He was about to apologize when he noticed the twinkle of mischief in her eyes.  To hide his smile, he bent over and tucked his shoulder into her stomach.  Betty shrieked as he lifted her up over her shoulder, precariously balancing the two of them as he picked up her books.

“Put me down Jones,” she said through her laughter, “or I’m telling Ethyl that you’d love to play D&D with her.”

“Dirty pool, Cooper,” he shot back as he casually sauntered down the block to her house.  He ignored the faint whisper of the peaches and cream lotion she used on her skin and the breathless lilt of her voice.  Because no matter how right it felt in the dream, they were only friends here. “And it’s G&G, remember?”

Once back on solid ground, Betty slipped her arm through his and they strolled along under the streetlights.  Just another night in the neighborhood without a care in the world.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad,” she said almost absentmindedly.  When she didn’t elaborate, Jughead’s heart gave a heavy, painful thump.  “I could always use more help with the B&G.”

He snorted and reached up to scratch his forehead to ignore the sudden disappointment.  “Toni does have some strong opinions about the gym’s new paint job.”

Betty stuck her tongue out at him, her face scrunched.  Jughead almost tripped trying not to kiss the tip of her nose.

His mood darkened when they reached her house.  Archie was on the front porch, napping, and the small seed of possibility withered into dust.  But instead of running towards Archie, Betty paused next to him.  Her teeth worked across her lip and she stared, unfocused at him.  Her hand on Jughead’s arm tightened and she shifted almost imperceptibly towards him.

With a small nod, Betty stood up on her toes and kissed Jughead on the cheek.  He flushed as the sun exploded in his chest.  

“Meet me at Pop’s tomorrow after school.  There’s a new French movie at the Bijou, and I’d hate it if Veronica saw it before me.”

He knew the smile on his face was just as goofy as the one’s he made fun of Archie for, but Jughead couldn’t help but wonder at this strange new turn.  For once, he was excited to spend time alone with a girl.  (He was always excited to spend time with Betty Cooper, but this time she wasn’t just Betty.)

His smile lasted all the way home and continued until he settled into bed.  Just as he was falling asleep, his phone rang with a text from Betty.

‘Some of your dream sounded nice enough to try out in real life, don’t you think?’

To say that Jughead had trouble falling asleep for the first time was an understatement.

[theonetheycallhannah]

The Treatment of Captain Syverson-Prologue: Onset of Injury (Sy)

Characters: Captain Syverson, various OMCs

Summary: Sy’s POV, the night and the mission that ended his military career and set him unknowingly on a path to true love.

Catch up on all chapters right here!

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings:  Language, violence, attempted military talk, feels…

Author’s Note: Okay friends, most of what I know about military ops I learned from watching movies…so, this may not all be accurate. But I think most of the terms and jargon are in line, even if this mission wouldn’t necessarily go down like this.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism.

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Hope I’m not forgetting anyone! If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)

X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@

Captain Logan “Sy” Syverson had done a hundred briefings like this one. They were going into a compound with some low level goons, mid-level players, and one big boss. Two teams. Two entrances. One exit. The roof. Air extraction. Minimal undesirable casualties. Five or six mid to high level prisoners.

“Alright ladies, here’s the plan. The compound is central city. Alpha team, we’ll get dropped off by transpo two blocks south of the front entrance, Bravo team, same for you, two blocks north of the back entrance. Bravo, you head east and down once inside, Alpha will go west and up. Standard flanking formation. Stay frosty in there. These guys aren’t cub scouts. They will shoot on sight. Do your best not to be seen. Once the lower levels are cleared, we work our way to the top where we should find the big Kahuna. Do your best not to kill anyone in a suit. Tac gear only, unless it’s your life or theirs. These guys have intel the brass wants. Supposedly.”

Heads were nodding. Lopez raised his hand. The other guys laughed, but Sy appreciated the respect.

“Ricky?” He pointed at him to accept the question.

“Sir, what about evac?” He stood tall and sharp. He was new to the team, but Sy liked him already.

“That’s a great question, and thank you for raising your hand. Take notes on teacher’s pet here, class.” Everyone including Lopez laughed.

“There’s a stairwell to the roof in the master bedroom. That’s the LZ for our helo. They should be less than five mikes out, so we shouldn’t have time to order pizzas or anything after we clear the compound. So once the call is made, you won’t have long to get up the stairs. The helo can’t stay grounded for too long without drawing attention. We will need to keep an eye out for unfriendlies off compound being warned about our presence, and for survivors. Listen, I can’t stress this enough. I know it’s not easy to kill. And I don’t encourage it if it’s not necessary.  But these are bad people and they would kill you, the man next to ya, your sister, your parents, or your dog if they could.”

Aika, Sy’s German Shepherd whimpered in the corner but was ignored.

“Kill them for your brothers. For your neighbors. For the children you don’t even have yet. Because what do we do?”

“We embrace the darkness and the suffering.” His teammates that had been there for a while repeated the first part of the sin-eater credo.

“And why do we do it?”

“So that our fellow man is free to live in peace.” they finished the mantra as they had so many times before.

“Fuckin’ A. We roll in one hour.”

~~~~~~~~~

The drop and the entry had gone off without a hitch. Sy's Alpha team were like shadows, the very finger of death for the unjust and evil in the compound. Everyone they encountered was quietly subdued, whether by strategically placed blades, silenced firearms, or in some cases, the literal snapping of necks. Bravo team was just as successful. But Alpha team wasn't finding many prisoners.

The real problem came, though, when they reached the top floor where the big kahuna was supposed to be. Everything had gone dark, even though it had been lit up like Christmas, the Fourth of July, and the Super Bowl all in one when they were making their approach to the compound. Someone had squawked. Raised a silent alarm. Something.

"This…this doesn't smell right, captain." Harztler voiced what was running silently through Sy's mind. "This level was like Times Square when we got here. Now nothing? It stinks."

"I can smell it, Jake. I don't like it." he activated his comms. "Bravo team, we are sitting ducks up here, what is your twenty? Over."

"Sir, we are wrapping up down here, and getting the targets ready for evac. We should be on route in less than ten mikes. Over."

"Push it to five if ya can, private. We don't like the look of this bedroom. Over."

"Is this the moment to be questioning someone's taste in interior design, captain? Over."

"Shitcan that disrespect, private, or you'll be digging latrines alone next time we have survival drills. Over."

"Understood, sir. Will try to push to five mikes. Over."

"That'd be best. Over and out." He signed off with Lopez, amused at the inferior officer’s joke, even though he couldn’t show it openly.

Hartzler has just started to suggest possible reasons for their unease when the sound of rapid automatic firepower rang out from one of the floors below them.

“Fuck.” Both men said in unison followed immediately by frantic shouts from Sy’s radio.

“*crackle crackle* we are taking heavy fire! Kominski is down! Lopez is hit! Alpha team! Captain, do you copy? Over!"

"I'm on my way, Fuller. Hang tight. Over and out." Sy said and looked at the men on his team, "Hartzler, you and Goldberg signal the Helo for evac ASAP and get to the roof. Schmidt, Freeman, you two come with me to back up Bravo team. We meet at the LZ in five. That's not a big window, gentlemen, we'll radio if we hit any snags. Clear?"

"Clear." a round of nods and affirmations came from the rest of the team. Sy turned for the exit to the room, checking his clip, and putting one in the chamber. Stakes were higher than ever.

The last three steps to the ground floor were half blocked by a slumped corpse. Kominski. Sy fought the emotion building in him as he remembered David showing him photos of his two young daughters, Charlotte, who was seven, and Renee who had just turned five. And his gorgeous wife Sasha. His high school sweetheart. He was distracted enough  by thought of the soon to be grieving girls, that he missed the pool of blood, Kominski's blood, on the black tile steps. His knee twisted unnaturally. And he could almost feel the protest of his muscles and tendons.

"Fuck! Mind your footing on these last few, boys." he winced, limping on toward the firefight. He signaled the men behind him to stay against the wall and follow him quietly until he gave the signal to attack. There were three men in tactical gear firing from behind a bar in the corner, pinning what was left of Bravo team in their position behind an overturned dining table. It was just Fuller and Lopez now. Sy took the opportunity during a slow point in the enemy's fire to enter, managing to shoot all three immediately, single handedly ending things.

"Alpha team, secure the area. Fuller, Lopez, what is your status?" Sy asked the men.

"Lopez is hit pretty bad in the leg. We've got a tourniquet in place. I am…uninjured. But our prisoners have been…neutralized by friendly fire." Well, fuck. That was the mission blown.

"Ammo?" Sy asked, frustrated.

"Depleted, sir." they hadn't planned for this.

"Fuller, you and Schmidt get Kominski up the stairs, pronto. We ain't leavin' him in this hell hole. Freeman, you watch their backs. Keep 'em covered in case there are any more of these assholes lurkin' around the place. Lopez, I'm gonna help you up them stairs. Can you get up?"

"I'll try, sir."

"Okay, roll out." Sy went to help Lopez to his feet. The boy wasn't hardly 160 pounds soakin' wet.

It was slow going, with Kominski and Lopez in tow, but they made it back to the bedroom just as the sound of the helicopter began to grow, and the roof began to quiver from the wind kicked up by the blades.

Sy made Schmidt and Fuller go first, as they had the biggest burden. Then Freeman, in case they needed another hand getting Kominski's body into the hold. His knee burned after the four flights he'd already done supporting Lopez, but the private had lost so much blood. He thought he'd have to carry him up this last flight to the roof. The boy was pale as a…sheet. He didn't let himself think of an apparition.

When he felt safe enough, and ready, he told Lopez the plan and hoisted him over his shoulder on his uninjured side. His knee protested angrily, but he proceeded, ignoring the pain, forcing it down with those emotions about the Kominski family.

Relief washed over him as he made the last step and his boot crunched against the loose pea gravel of the roof top. They were almost out of the woods.

Until a massive explosion in the HVAC unit knocked him off balance and took him down to his knees, Lopez's added weight a contributing force in what he was certain was now a broken leg bone given a very clear and distinct pop he'd heard even over the noise of the fire and wind. He had heard it from the inside. He thought  it would be the tibia, but his knowledge of anatomy wasn't anything to write home about. He dropped the boy with an agonized howl. The heat from the blast bit at his back as he tried to find the strength to stand. But he couldn't. His team was charging toward him and the private. And for once, he was overjoyed to receive help. Fuller and Freeman got Lopez under each arm and dragged him the few yards to the open hold. Schmidt helped Sy up as best he could, but the Captain was in excruciating pain.

"Captain, we gotta go. These assholes are gonna blow up their own property to get us. Come on. It's not far. You can make it." Schmidt let his CO lean on him all the way to the helo.

Sy noticed tied up in one of the bucket seats of the hold, a man in maroon silk pajamas and brown leather loafers without socks. An Iraqi, early sixties, hair and beard still dark black. Their primary target. Mostafa Kassab.

"Where'd he come from?" Sy shouted at Hartzler.

"He was hunkered down in that corner over there when we came up to signal the chopper." the sergeant lit up with pride. "Fuller told me their prisoners didn't make it. I'm glad we found Kassab up here, or the mission would have been a total waste.

As they took off, Sy looked from the covered body of Kominski to the prone form of Lopez, who was paler than ever and glassy-eyed. It was hard in that moment to think that even ten of Mostafa Kassab could be worth one of these men he was lucky enough to call friends.

As he examined his knee, beginning to swell and looking a much different shape than he ever remembered, he thought about what this could mean for him, as a captain, as a soldier…as a man. If he could even call himself a man if he had to take away the title of captain and soldier. This was his calling. He wasn’t sure how he’d go on if…but, he’d wait to think about that when he got back to base and the medic’s tent. After all, what was the worst that could happen? It wasn’t like he was hurt bad enough to earn a discharge letter…was he?

Up Next: Chapter One: Evaluation

[enigmaticpsych]

My top ten characters in any fandom

Tagged by @taralkariel​! These are in no particular order.

1) Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke (Revenge)

For the truly wronged, real satisfaction can only be found in one of two places: absolute forgiveness or mortal vindication. This is not a story about forgiveness.

Sly, cunning, witty, badass, vulnerable... what is there not to love about Emily Thorne (bonus points: we have the same name!)? Whether you’re watching her square off with Victoria Grayson in a battle of thinly veiled contempt, kicking bad guy ass, struggling to choose between love and revenge, or looking like an absolute queen 24/7, there is never a dull moment with her.

2) Ella Lopez (Lucifer)

I know I should be freaking out right now, but your hair is so shiny.

Ella was the exact character that I didn’t know I needed in my life. She’s kind, caring, funny, loyal, and has a dark side that you see glimpses of. Now if only she can realize that Lucifer is actually the Devil... That is a conversation I’m looking forward to seeing.

3) Emma Swan (Once Upon a Time)

Because when Regina framed me and you bailed me out, I asked you why and you said you trusted me. And then when I wanted to leave Storybrooke because I thought that was best for Henry, you told me I needed to stay because that was best for him. I realized all my life I have been alone. Walls up. Nobody’s ever been there for me except for you. And I can’t lose that, I cannot lose my family!

I may not have finished the show (I stopped sometime during season 6), but Emma Swan’s growth through the first four seasons remains one of my all time favorites. From closed off and distant and alone to loved, loving, and surrounded by family. And her season one friendship with Mary Margaret is hilarious while also very heartwarming

4) Mary Maragret/Snow White (Once Upon a Time)

Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have. Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing.

What can I say? Once Upon a Time was a brilliant show during its first three seasons. Kind, caring, supportive, and with a side of badass, Mary Margaret very quickly rose to one of my favorites.

5) Diana Prince (DC Comics)

If loss makes you doubt your belief in justice, then you never truly believed in justice at all.

Not a movie quote, but ah, well. I will never not be giddy watching No Man’s Land. Plus her entrance in Batman v Superman remains my favorite superhero entrance. A badass warrior when needed yet a caring individual, Diana Prince will always hold a place in my heart, 

6) Richard “Dick” Grayson (Young Justice/DC Comics)

You’re overwhelmed. Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn’t anyone ever just whelmed?

Underutilized? Yes. Still a favorite? Also yes. He’s different in the show than he is in the comics, but I love both versions. In terms of Young Justice, his toying with the English language will forever be one of my favorite things. In the comics, he is sibling goals.

7) Rey (Star Wars)

I should have felt trapped or panicked, but I didn’t.

I can’t do a top ten list and not include one half of the ship that comprises most of what I reblog. How could I not instantly be drawn to a female character who wasn’t shamed for expressing anger? I loved how kind and compassionate she was in spite of her childhood. While I may not agree with a lot of decisions made in the final movie, I can still appreciate her arc in the first two movies.

8) Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Star Wars)

I killed Han Solo. When the moment came, I didn’t hesitate!

I also can’t not include the second half of the ship that comprises most of my reblogs. A conflicted, dark-haired man built like a fridge? Count me in! It’s a terrible shame that his story ended the way it did, but fanfiction more than makes up for it!

9) Spencer Hastings (Pretty Little Liars)

Ali, I’m going to say this as delicately as I can. Your father’s a liar.

Spencer is one of those characters whose intellect fluctuates based on what the plot needs, but her sarcasm is something that never fails to impress. Spencer’s conversations with Hannah are some of the best things to come out of the show. That, and Troian Bellisario always found a way to make a horrible line sound passable.

10) Nyssa-Vex (Krypton)

My father only thinks that he was the one who chose you

Nyssa-Vex started out as an okay character, but by mid-season one, she was my favorite in the show. Calculating, manipulative, and witty in the beginning, to loving and desperate to keep her family close at the end of season two, I will forever be petty that her arc was never completed. Nyssa-Vex is a much better example of what TROS tried to say - your lineage does not define who you are.

Tagging: @a-nerd-obsessed​ @acrossthestarx​ @angstywriterangst​

[tcm]

Paul Muni, Authenticity and Representation in JUAREZ (’39) By Raquel Stecher

Upon the success of THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (‘37) starring Paul Muni, the studio heads at Warner Bros. were eager to put Muni, their biggest and most important star, in another biographical period piece. His next film was JUAREZ (’39), a historical drama about Mexican president Benito Juarez, the Napoleon appointed emperor of Mexico, Maximilian I and his wife Carlota. Hollywood had been interested in bringing Juarez’s story to the big screen. Great care had to be put into the project as the Mexican government was very vocal about any Hollywood productions that misrepresented their people. MGM’s THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (’38) had enraged Mexicans so producers Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke had to tread carefully with JUAREZ.

Producer Hal B. Wallis saw movie making potential in Benito Juarez recalling in his memoir that “the stubborn, authoritative Mexican hero, was even more interesting and exciting than Maximilian or Carlota, and would be perfect for Paul Muni.” William Dieterle was hired as director yet Wallis and Blanke were in no rush to make the picture. A budget was set for $1.75 million, the most a major studio had ever spent on a single production, and seven months of preparation was put into the project before they ever started filming.

Muni, Dieterle, Wallis and Blanke took a six-week research trip to Mexico City. They visited places important to Juarez. This project was unlike any Muni had ever worked on before and the normally shy Muni really came out of his shell during the research trip. Although sources differ, Muni was able to meet with either one or two surviving members of the Juarist army and was able to get a better sense of Juarez’ personality, mannerisms and preferences to inform his performance. Back at the studio, film researcher Dr. Herman Lissauer accumulated 372 books, documents, correspondence and photographs. There was an overwhelming amount of material, but Wallis and his team were determined to get this right.

Make-up artist Perc Westmore was tasked with transforming the Austro-Hungarian Paul Muni into the Indigenous Mexican Benito Juarez. Westmore and his team took photos of Muni’s face then painted the likeness of Juarez over them. They darkened Muni’s skin, accentuated his bone structure, squared off his forehead and transformed his nose. Westmore noted every step in the process so it could be repeated daily with the same end result. Costume designer Orry-Kelly fitted Muni with a Prince Albert coat and stovepipe hat and the Juarez transformation was complete.

Much care was put into the rest of the production. Orry-Kelly’s researched 1860s wardrobes and dressed the principals, cast and more than 1,000 extras. Art director Anton Grot and his team drew 3,6000 sketches, made 7,360 blueprints and constructed 54 sets which included cities, villages, castles and palaces. Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed original music inspired by the heavy influence the Viennese had on the Mexican music of the time. Even the corn that John Garfield, who plays Porfirio Diaz in the film, eats during one of his scenes had to be Mexican corn which they had purchased at great cost from the University of California’s agricultural program.

What’s unique about JUAREZ is that it was essentially filmed as two separate movies and then edited together. The story of Maximilian and Carlota, played by Brian Aherne and Bette Davis, was filmed first. Muni was shown the first portion and provided his input which included additional scenes and dialogue, much to screenwriter John Huston’s chagrin. Muni’s performance was reserved, perhaps too much so. According to Muni biographer Jerome Lawrence, in later years Muni “felt he had been too faithful to the original, not allowing himself an artist’s prerogative of adding coloration to the historical character.” While many were impressed by how much Muni looked like Juarez, his performance suffered from being juxtaposed with Brian Aherne’s more spirited depiction of Maximilian. Aherne steals the picture from Muni and would go on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Warner Bros. arranged for a private screening with current Mexican President Cardenas who gave his blessing and invited the studio to host a premiere at the National Theater. JUAREZ premiered in April 1939 and in Mexico later that June. The Mexican newspaper La Prensa had an issue with the final scene of the picture which was tweaked for the Mexican premiere. Protests were expected but the film got a standing ovation instead. Back in the states, the film got mixed reviews and was a financial failure for the studio. While JUAREZ is an international story it had a decidedly American theme of freedom and democracy. It wasn’t enough to appeal to the general public.

The biggest problem with JUAREZ is the lack of actual Mexicans in the film. While that might not have been a problem in 1930s Hollywood, it certainly wouldn’t pass muster today. The principal cast includes a mix of American, British, French-Cuban, Greek, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, Spanish and Maltan players; only Gilbert Roland, who plays Colonel Miguel Lopez, was actually Mexican. Roland remembered the production fondly and, in an interview, said, “there was a feeling of importance, of excitement to it. Even while we were shooting it, William Dieterle guided us all so expertly and with such flow and movement in the scenes…”

While embraced by the Mexican community at the time, JUAREZ also got pushback. Mexican filmmaker Miguel Contreras Torres claimed that Warner Bros. stole his Juarez biopic that he produced in 1934 and dubbed into English in 1935. He attempted to sue Warner Bros., even going as far as meeting with the Mexican ambassador in Washington D.C., but Jack Warner settled the matter by offering to purchase the film for international distribution. In the 1970s, the Mexican Community Council wanted Los Angeles television to stop broadcasting JUAREZ because they felt that the lack of actual Mexican representation made the film problematic.

For anyone who watches classic films regularly, films like JUAREZ are a double-edged sword. We can appreciate the workmanship that goes into a production like this while also feeling the pang that comes from the lack of authenticity. JUAREZ still lives up as a fine historical drama from one of the most celebrated years in film history.

[marryme-filme-completo]

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VEJA CLIQUE AQUI | ✼✮☛ https://bit.ly/38lY3Hl ** **Marry Me ** ** ** Empresas produtoras: ** ———————– ————————————- 12 de fevereiro de 2021 / Romance, Comédia, Musical Direção: Kat Coiro Elenco: Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma SINOPSE E DETALHES Em Marry Me, quando Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez), uma famosa superstar do mundo do pop, é rejeitada por seu noivo rockstar em seu gigantesco casamento no Madison Square Garden, ela acaba se casando com um homem aleatório na multidão.

Toda a família de Ki-taek está desempregada, vivendo num porão sujo e apertado. Uma obra do acaso faz com que o filho adolescente da família comece a dar aulas de inglês à garota de uma família rica. Fascinados com a vida luxuosa destas pessoas, pai, mãe, filho e filha bolam um plano para se infiltrarem também na família burguesa, um a um. No entanto, os segredos e mentiras necessários à ascensão social custarão caro a todos.

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