#that reverse interview scene is fantastic

[dorelia23]

"Fu**,no. I won't know a thing" lol

[xchronicles]

Okay… real talk now, just between us girlies.

Aaron, if you’re reading this, you’re one of us and you’re always welcome in.

We joke, argue, and moan a lot about the J/C stuff - especially now with Prodigy being the latest new canon story. We all know, at the end of the day, they’re not real. However, what they represent and the impact they have on the audience is very real.

I watched Voyager back in the day when I was in primary school. My emotionally undeveloped self quickly picked up on the J/C stuff, and soon I found myself watching the show more and more, hoping that today’s episode would be about them or at least feature a lot of scenes with them together. I vividly remember the heartbreak after watching "Endgame" and being so confused on what I had just witnessed. I remember expecting the next episode, which never came, and feeling so confused. I felt betrayed by the show and didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. I was just a kid - exactly the target audience that Prodigy aims to reach.

Now, as an adult, that kid in me still feels that betrayal. I’ve always leaned on imaginary characters as a coping mechanism. As a girl who never quite fit into traditional gender roles and was often criticized for not being "girly" enough or not aligning with societal expectations, I found solace in the reversed gender norms between Janeway and Chakotay. At the time, I didn’t realize that this was what appealed to me so much.

What I’m trying to say is that making Janeway and Chakotay canon, no questions hanging, healthy relationship and all, is an incredible narrative tool to show that women can be in the position of power, having a career while also being in a loving, supportive relationship. It would teach younger audiences, especially girls, that they don’t have to choose between career and relationship and, more importantly, that they don’t have to strip down parts of who they really are to fit into a gender role box to be accepted as a proper woman.

I get frustrated watching interviews with Kate because whenever she asks why fans want the J/C relationship to become romantic, she never gets a good answer. I understand her pushback to some extent because I don’t think a man could ever give her an answer that truly resonated with her. Men don’t think about the constant criticism that women face about not being "womanly" enough. Kate gets told that fans want the relationship because she deserves it and that is the problem. It’s not about what she deserves - it's about the women who have been constantly told from a young age what is “appropriate” for them and that if they don't change they'll end up alone cause no man will want them. They’re the ones who truly deserve to see that they can have both, represented in a strong character like Janeway, whom they’ve admired be it for a year or over 20 years

Men do face their own set of pressures though, like being told they aren’t “man enough,” which can contribute to toxic masculinity. However, Prodigy has addressed this issue beautifully through Chakotay. He’s a wonderful example of strong, non-toxic masculinity, embodying the true essence of what it means to be a man. Season 2 did a fantastic job showcasing this with both Dal and Chakotay. I just wish we could see that same level of depth and growth for Janeway, particularly for young girls who look up to her. Right now, the message feels as if you have to choose between pursuing a career or pursuing a relationship.

Truth be told, I think a big part of the issue is that Kate views Janeway as Prodigy’s lead character, which might make her feel that maintaining the “will they or won’t they” tension is necessary to keep the audience engaged. That perspective might be true if the show were solely focused on Janeway like Voyager was, but Prodigy is so much more than that. The core of Prodigy is really about the young crew and their journey. In fact, younger viewers are likely more interested in the relationship between Gwyn and Dal. I truly believe that making J/C canon wouldn’t hurt the show - instead, it could provide a positive example for the young crew and their audience to look up to. Find solace in them just as I have when I was their age, minus the horrible heartbreak thanks to Endgame lol

[obstinaterixatrix]

THE GLIMM*R ZINE IS AVAILABLE FOR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD TO BACKERS AND IT'S SO GOOD IT'S SOOOOOOOOO GOOD I think it has a good mix of requited/unrequited, mundane/fantasy, literal/figurative (though dreams inherently skew more figurative than literal) (maybe more... a good balance between a 'concrete' implementation of 'dream' in the sleep sense, and 'abstract' implementation of 'dream' as the wish/goal sense?)

all the artists did a great job, I think every single story was complete and satisfying and competently executed (though obviously some of them hit my biases more than others). I can think of positive and unique things to say about each story. so I will.

Midnight Smack by Anna Chen Campbell: The art style is fun and distinct and very expressive, I loved the role reversal of a fantastical creature being in the position of going What The Fuck. Very solid meet-cute!

Dear Nina by Kristina Luu: The story is told through the perspective character reminiscing of the past, which means a nice intimate first(/second) person narration. I really liked the mood whiplash of wistful longing and seething cynicism, the atmosphere is top-notch.

Good Morning, Rose by Rowan Maccoll: I love the dream vibes in this one--it really captures that experience of going along with different scenes that aren't supposed to cohere, disjointed in a way that works for the story. I love how the... not-really-negative space is used during the true form reveal, very atmospheric.

R.E.M. by Jona Li: It's one of the heavier stories because [spoilers] the narrative centers suicidal ideation/suicide attempt, and I think the artist does a good job with emotional nuance; I also like that there's ambiguity whether the subject of the dream is their real self, or a projection of the dreamer. The contrast between hard/soft textures is super arresting.

Merderous by Gabrielle Kari: The first of three illustrations! Alas, the two-page spread is broken up in pdf format... I can't wait to get my physical copy so I can see it in its fully glory... it's got what's clearly an intricate narrative with no context or explanation, so you get to puzzle out your own interpretation if you want, which I liked.

Eternal Waltz by Adeline Kon: EXTREMELY heated drama between women. It has resentment, it has longing, it has separation and bitter reunions, it has violence, and it has a butch woman who's definitely an arrogant fuckboy. I want fifty more comics just like this.

Derailed! by Kimberly Wang: I'm very unfairly biased towards this comic because I've been following this artist for a while and I Love Their Work. Great composition, great expressions, great energy, just all around great stuff (there's also an interview about Of Thunder And Lightning in this zine!). Anyway, they described this comic as "type A hobonichi girlie meets girl who's perpetually late and has no impulse control, who survives", it's very funny and very charming and I knew I'd love it from the very first preview. and I was right. I want fifty more comics of this duo.

The Visitor by Yuchen H: The second illustration, which is also the cover of the zine. The art looks so soft and edible, really captures a dreamy atmosphere. I want to bury my face in those feathers. The pain (and longing...?) for someone ignorant to the impact of their own actions... solid vibes.

One Last Dream by Laura Rovinsky and Ez Carol: The protagonist is an old woman in hospice care, which really grabbed my interest. Despite the heavy premise, it's super sweet and cute and Filled With Joy, and there were a lot of elements I liked (the main character being active in working with the love interest, the main character's waking life being enhanced by the dream, etc). I would love to see more old women protagonists!

Step By Step by Jess Fleming: I liked the maze setup--the artist did cool stuff like the blueprint-to-completed-gardens page, and the atmosphere's very... I think liminal fits best. Also, the impossible status divide between a groundskeeper and a noblewoman who's in an arranged marriage to end a feud, AND the emotional implications of constructing the maze PLUS having to guide the noblewoman to her betrothed? Very good setup for The Longing

Love Everlasting by Ellen Mei: The third and final illustration. VERY clear narrative and VERY heated drama. I love an unethical scientist and I love how Very Definitely Unhappy the android looks about the situation. Sooo tasty and unhinged, nobody's getting out of this unscathed.

anyway, those are my thoughts, must-read for yuri enthusiasts, if you didn't get the chance to back the kickstarter definitely pick up a copy once it's for sale. I love it.

[linskywords]

Ahhh sub!Brady!!! (Ofc that's what finally prompts me to send an ask lol)

I saw one interview with Tim and Brady being super attuned to each other, developed the thought and then found a fantastic top!Tim/bottom!Brady fic that sealed the deal for me. It's stuck in my brain since.

There is just something very fun about reversing the fandom expectations.

Also Tim constantly demanding Brady's attention can be written in a such dominant way. Also it's just hot to me lol (but a bit beside the point since in this case it would be Quinn/Brady)

Anyways, your ideas with Quinn sound sooo good as well. Brady being totally oblivious and accidentally finding himself with Quinn's help? 10/10

Of course someone like Brady would immediately be assumed to be a dom by everyone, himself included. Makes it all the more fun to find out. Especially since he seems like someone that genuinely just didn't think about it, opposed to one's who suspected and suppressed it.

Brady/Tim would also be so good!! I'm just biased towards including the Hughes boys in everything 😂 (Though I also have a current teammates bias, so I should really explore more in the Brady/Tim direction...)

But yes, absolutely agree that Brady would be more like Jack than Trevor: he's not actively suppressing anything, just vaguely yearning, and a little confused about why scenes never seem as satisfying for him as for other guys. Which all becomes VERY clear once he starts subbing. 😏

[anadrenalineslut]

i am starting to gather my thought about barbie (2023) and I have A LOT of thoughts about Barbieland in particular. spoilers below

first of all, before the movie came out greta gave an interview where she said that the film has a reverse genesis where woman was created first and man came after.

after seeing the film, I'd say Barbieland was created from the male perspective quite literally. There is a scene with the mattel ceo where he kind of boasts about how barbie cured sexism, basically. this is the lie upon which Barbieland is created but here is the thing... because Barbieland is controlled by an all-male perspective from the "real world" by men who have over 40 decades of sexist brainwashing in their heads, they cannot actually conceptualize a world where men and women are truly equal.

that is why Barbieland is set up the way that it is because men in the real world are the ones who are controlling the narrative from start to finish and they cannot imagine a world where both genders exist in harmony. they come into feminism thinking that men have to be disadvantaged in some way because that's what it means to be a "good" ally to women. however, this line of thinking literally breeds resentment in men and I am not fucking surprised someone like Ryan Gosling resonated so deeply with Ken's character arc because I'm sure he felt quite seen by the film as well.

Barbieland is set up from Ken's perspective from the beginning because Barbieland is controlled by Mattel and the board of that company is male, like the board of most companies in america are male. and Barbieland represents what MEN* think feminism is and has done for women, not what women think for themselves.

that much is obvious because even the way the characters are set up in the beginning are very shallow representations. All the Barbies have jobs but they are *defined* by their jobs because to men, once you're a woman scientist, that's all you are to them. They don't have thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions beyond "everything is great all the time!" because to men, Barbie is the solution.

OKAY, im getting excited now, when Barbie talks to Ken at the end of the film and she says "stop putting your value in your job, your car, your girlfriend" she is critiquing the very existence of Barbieland itself in that moment. because that is what Barbieland's value is. Barbieland is perfect because to men, all that matters is having the dream job, the dream house, the dream partner and the dream looks. they think that's all there is to being human!!!!!!!!!!

and so when Barbie is played with by a woman who has decades of experience under patriachy, she can finally wake up in her "utopia" and realize that hey, wait a minute! this is not what I think will bring me happiness. I don't care about having these materialistic things nor do I care about being an "alpha female" so why am I pretending like all this shallow shit is making me happy????

and that is why Barbieland changes to Kendom to begin with because the narrative was ALWAYS controlled by the Kens of the world and the movie basically starts there, with the assumption thst girlboss feminism and pink capitalism cured sexism and explores if that actually is "utopia" if it actually is a "dream life."

im going to end it here because i dont want to get too off topic but Barbieland is such a fantastic critique of patriarchy, it's actually insane. I love that Greta tackles it from the male gaze and works within the logic of men in this society to show why their beliefs of gender are severely lacking at the end of the day because they're focused on the wrong issue!!! its not about who has the power to get the job, get the house, get the girl, its about connecting with other people. its about experiencing every single emotion under the sun with everyone around you and talking about your feelings and just living with other humans in harmony.

it's so good, i could cry actually. greta deserves every single fucking award for this film and the writing holy shit.

[jenyifer]

Only friends 8/10 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

About a group of friends and the destruction of that friend group in a web of lies betrayals and revenge. The music and sets are beautiful amazing I literally listened to every song they carefully choose for each scene it was genius. Every character was morally grey and complex. Really showed queer stories. I’m a lesbian and there was many many times I could see my own life experiences in the characters. You will find a character to relate to and many of them you will fall in love with for whatever reason. The acting was fantastic ForceBook FirstKhaotung NeoMark deserve all the recognition and awards for their performances. I was surprised at the realism and twists the story took which is very rare for me I have to watch sci-fi horror films at home because I’ll guess the ending and get bored but who would have guessed a Thai Bl would stump me multiple times. I won’t change BostonNick’s story line to me their scenes even with being cut short with what feels like major parts missing is a 10/10. A real journey of the heart and I was hurt and also in love with the conclusion. The series is worth watching again and again for them.

Now…. You’ll notice it isn’t a 10/10… I’m going to get honest with you after the break. So If you don’t want my critique then leave.

I’m going to talk about my grips and how I’d fix them now and why I can’t I’m good conscious forgive these things.

1. Loss of the each episode for a character like the interviews or social media. I felt like these would have given us another angle on those boys. I understand they were trying to edit for the fans but… it is extremely sad. The first 4 episodes are perfection in my opinion.

2. Cheum is terrible lesbian representation. She’s a terrible character. I hate to think this is what queer men think lesbians are. She disappointed me over and over. I’d rather her not be in the story at all.

3. The glossing over of Boston’s torture throughout the series. Mew Cheum and Ray should have apologized to him. I wish Mew and Ray had been better friends in general I felt like I wanted to see the trio trying to incorporate eachother in their lives before the final episode. I wanted to believe at some point they cared for eachother. I wanted them to miss Boston when he was gone and to be guilty for what they fucking did.

4. Top and Mew terrible pairing. Mew is my least favorite character of all time. I have alot to relate to mew on. But he never became a character I could root for. Vindictive and Spiteful. I don’t know if he loved top or not. I don’t foresee that relationship lasting. I liked Top but you could see the bland oatmeal coating they gave him half way through I want the messy angry boy. I did want him to gain happiness but I doubt mew could ever give it to him. I will forever skip their boring scenes I’m glad I no longer have a reason to watch them. To fix this I would have made Mew nosey supportive into Ray and Boston’s lives just him being able to have long term friends would have made his character seem like he was capable of affection. To fix the TopMew scenes? Idk they always felt uneven Top tried so hard Mew was never punished for what he did. Mew became a worse person so maybe reverse that.

5. SandRay I love them I truely relate to Ray so deeply. However the way Ray treated Sand over and over wasn’t right. I hated it. His apologies to sand rang hollow he didn’t back them up. Sand adores Ray and I wish Ray adored Sand just as much but that’s not true. I have hope Ray would mature though.

Over all to fix things I would have given it more episodes there was clearly scenes missing structure that should have been there. I think the problem was the ships had to be so segmented from eachother. Top and Mew could have benefited from more of them interacting with Ray and Cheum. The actual friendship bonds explored would have helped. I also wish they hadn’t swept Bostons revenge P and expose account under the board. Ray having real change in attitude towards sand would have been rewarding as well. I hope there is a season 2 so badly. I have to see BostonNick get their healthy happy ending too.

[denimbex1986]

'In 2022, then-Vox writer Emily St. James coined a catchy phrase to describe an emerging cinematic trend: the “millennial parental apology fantasy.” Daniels’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and Domee Shi’s Turning Red represented the tip of the spear for a cohort of films, usually with explicitly or understood queer themes, that sought to reverse the tide of intergenerational trauma by demanding expiation from its source. Just a year later, however, All of Us Strangers proves that St. James’s term has already outlived its usefulness, what with 1970s-born writer-director Andrew Haigh and star Andrew Scott demonstrating that the dream isn’t exclusively the provenance of a single generation.

Haigh transposes and queers Yamada Taichi’s 1987 novel Strangers to contemporary London, where Scott’s reserved screenwriter, Adam, dwells in a new and largely unoccupied tower block. From outside the building one evening, he peers curiously into the only other tenanted unit. Adam gets quite the shock when the plainspoken Harry (Paul Mescal) recognizes and reciprocates his longing gaze by knocking on his door with a romantic entreaty. In spite of the obvious attraction engendered by the friendly but firm flirtations, Adam rebuffs his neighbor’s advances and withdraws into his own mind to understand his instinct for asceticism.

Such reeling leads Adam back to the childhood relics stowed neatly under his bed, just as they’re compartmentalized in his head. Recognizing his past as an impediment to happiness, he travels back to the home of his youth. There he finds his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), seemingly alive just as they were before the car crash that took their lives when Adam was 12. They see him now as the adult he is, but as one furtive glimpse into a mirror reveals, Adam still sees himself as the closeted adolescent who never got a chance to know—or be known to—his parents.

Once the disbelief of their improbable reunion wears off, the real work of healing can begin through the conversations the trio never got to have. These low-stakes hypotheticals are played for a bit of light laughter as the parents from the era of Thatcher and AIDS learn about contemporary LGBTQ experience. Bell and Foy imbue their characters with an aching understanding that prevents them from feeling like mere set decoration. They also cast the tensions within Scott’s anguished performance into intriguing relief, as Adam’s repression appears as both a learned behavior and a trauma response when seen opposite his parents.

In typical Haigh fashion, these casual chats between loved ones are soulful. They’re also disappointingly simple. The film offers something of a “greatest hits” album of the coming-out canon, from the initial state of shock to the tentative acceptance to the earnestly vocalized regret over a lack of support. No amount of mysticism can make these touchstones feel new again.

Whether it’s the fade-heavy editing style of Jonathan Alberts or the ethereal colors of Jamie D. Ramsay’s cinematography, All of Us Strangers always feels perched on the precipice of unlocking a deeper register. Yet Haigh remains content to linger in a purely therapeutic mode, offering counsel and comfort to Adam—and hopefully the audience by extension of their spectatorship. Individual scenes can pack real emotional wallops as the restrained performances create tension with the evocative moods conjured by Haigh’s direction. But the film dilutes these moments by building toward a predictable, if nonetheless powerful, catharsis.

Haigh has more surprises up his sleeve in the budding romance between Adam and Harry, which begins to blossom as the former man unpacks his childhood traumas. All of Us Strangers refuses to indulge an “it gets better” fantasy by pretending contemporary urban spaces and millennial openness are signs of inevitable progress. Even as Adam vanquishes certain demons specific to the time of his youth, Harry’s nonchalant acknowledgement of his estrangement from his nominally accepting family points to a queer dislocation that still persists.

Harry feels a bit flimsy and functionary as a character in All of Us Strangers, at times veering on an embodiment of all the internet boyfriend fantasies that have been projected on Mescal. (The film’s third act, to be fair, has some explanations for this.) But even in this capacity, he’s still responsible for sparking the conversations necessary to grapple with the questions raised by the concept. For Adam, it’s impossible to untangle the grief over the loss of his parents with the coyness about his sexuality. The candor and compassion with which Harry approaches his neighbor prompts the slow realization that any form of love is knotty by definition.

When focusing on their sensual and spiritual connection, Haigh allows himself to put aside some of the magical realism and rediscover the magic of realism that powered such incisive love stories as Weekend and 45 Years. The seduction leading up to Adam and Harry’s first sexual encounter is as poignant as any scene in Haigh’s filmography. As the two men struggle to find the verbal and physical language to express what they both want but cannot articulate, the scene proceeds with tactile attention to each tentative shift in their demeanor. While no moment that follows is nearly as sensational, Mescal’s extraordinary capacity for empathetic, reactive listening leaves his sections of the film littered with gently accentuating grace notes.

It’s fitting that, on a lazy day in his flat, Adam’s stray glance should catch Harry reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. Nearly two centuries after the publication of that transcendentalist classic, Haigh shows how humanity still must grapple with the complexities and contradictions of self-reliance. The bookending shots of the romantic and poetic All of Us Strangers frame life in celestial terms as it rises alongside the sun to shine briefly and brightly before it must return to the stars. The only thing certain in that time is the self, and to love while you can.

Image/Sound

The Criterion Collection’s 4K digital transfer of All of Us Strangers highlights the delicate beauty of Jamie Ramsay’s cinematography, properly revealing its grain structure. Image detail is immaculate, as is color reproduction, from the icy blues to the fiery reds, with both the cool, low-lit scenes in Adam’s apartment building and the warmer, brighter sequences set as his parents’ home looking particularly fantastic on the 4K UHD disc. And while All of Us Strangers is a quiet film, the subtle 5.1 audio mix nicely layers all of the surrounding, often distant, ambient city noise, while even the most hushed dialogue comes through with perfect clarity.

Extras

The half-hour conversation between critic Michael Koresky and director Andrew Haigh is the highlight of this release’s slim extras package. Haigh talks about getting personal and channeling his artistic interests while adapting Yamada Taichi’s 1987 novel Strangers, but it’s the pair’s sensitive discussion of “queer time” and how Adam’s internalized shame comes out in surprising ways while revisiting the past that stands out as the conversation’s highlight.

In a newly recorded interview, Ramsay delves into the variety of ways that he tried to capture the subjective experience of isolation through his cinematography. And when he discusses his shooting of VFX plates for the exterior backgrounds seen through Adam’s apartment window, he shines a light on an often overlooked part of the production process.

Elsewhere, we get a behind-the-scenes documentary and a couple of featurettes, the most interesting of which focuses on the film’s set design and costuming. Finally, the disc’s booklet contains an essay by critic Guy Lodge, who deftly analyzes the film’s unique perspective on queer isolation and the inextricable pull of the past in the present.

Overall

Criterion’s edition of Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers is a bit lacking in extras, but the two included interviews are fantastic and the 4K A/V presentation is flawless.

Score: 3.5 Stars Cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy Director: Andrew Haigh Screenwriter: Andrew Haigh Distributor: The Criterion Collection Running Time: 105 min Rating: R Year: 2023 Release Date: September 10, 2024.'

[wordsnstuff]

Guide to Character Development

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

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Motivation

Each character, no matter their significance to the story, wants something. Their actions and presentation are in the interest of their end-goal. So, for each character, the most important questions you must be able to answer for every character are 1.) What do they want? 2.) What do they think they need? 3.) What do they actually need?

For minor characters, this information may be less relevant, but their development is more discretionary and very subjective to their role in the story. For all primary and secondary characters, that information should be the foundation on which you build their action and development throughout the story.

Backstory

The truth is, you’re welcome to build a detailed backstory and personal history for each of your characters if that’s your prerogative, but this information should only be included in the final draft if it serves the plot and significantly impacts the character’s evolution in the text. You must be selective when it comes to presenting back story, because it impacts the pace and tone of the story, in addition to slowing any rising action. If you’re going to include prominent backstory, make sure that it adds more to the story than it subtracts from the momentum.

You don’t need to know what they’ve eaten for breakfast for the 7 days prior to the beginning of the story to write the characters well. You need to develop and comprehend their core values, self image, and motivations, and backstory that concerns those three aspects are the most relevant to the story, no matter the genre.

Positive v. Negative Development

You should be able to decide early on in plot development whether your characters are going to experience a positive or negative development throughout the plot. Once you’ve designed the characters and the plot parallel to one another, you can assess how the events and circumstances of the conflict would change or reveal negative or positive traits about the characters. This is more about getting to know your characters as the author and then going down the list of events, interpreting how they would react to them, and then coming to a conclusion by the resolution.

You don’t always have to have a point B for them to arrive at before you start writing. In this respect, it’s easer (and usually more rewarding) to allow the characters to develop organically as you write the first draft, and then either reinforce the outcome if you’re satisfied or make the necessary changes to reverse it in the second draft.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Each significant character will have strengths and weaknesses, and they will often be adjacent to one another. A character’s biggest strength could be their fierce love and commitment to their friends, but could evolve into intense possessiveness. I write about this in more detail in this post.

Relationships

One of the more defining aspects of a character is the presence and nature of relationships in their life. Their relationships with family, friends, authority figures, mentors, and colleagues can reveal a lot about them. The way their mannerisms differ when they’re with their mother versus their father, a friend versus a colleague. The value they place on these relationships and why they value them is also an easy way to reveal priorities, self image, and motivations.

Common Struggles

~ Do I really need to know their favorite color?... To some extent, developing these very minor and insignificant details can help you, as the writer, get to know your character better, which in turn helps you translate the idea of them into the text more effectively. However, time is a factor, not just because of deadlines, but because of self discipline and motivation. If you spend months and months developing characters to this extent, you will likely run out of motivation or passion for this project, and the drafting process is where you want to allocate that energy. By all means, work to your own strengths as a writer. If this helps you and doesn’t inhibit your process, go for it, but be mindful and assess whether or not you’re just procrastinating the action stage of writing.

~ Beside trauma, how can I incite development… All development spawns because of impact. Trauma is an effective way of propelling development, but it’s not the only way. If you want the character to change (positively or negatively) you have to make them feel something strong enough to inspire introspection and action. They have to have a mental shift, and then act accordingly. This could be the introduction of a fantastic opportunity to further their career, the loss of a loved one, the shift in a personal relationship, etc.

~ How do you know when a character deserves a redemption arc?... Nobody is entitled to redemption. It’s earned, and it’s subjective whether that improvement warrants the return or resurgence of opportunity and trust. This is true, no matter who is reading. You as the writer make an executive decision about whether the character’s reformation is accepted by other characters in canon, but outside the text, the reader’s interpretation is outside your control. You can create a redemption arc inside the story and show the evolution of that character, but you can’t force the reader to trust in that character or accept the notion that they’ve completely reformed.

~ How do I develop minor characters without neglecting the main plot?...The thing is, if the minor characters’ development isn’t relevant to the plot or the main character, then you need to assess whether the information needs to be there, and furthermore whether the minor character needs to be tailored more to do so. Minor characters often serve secondary purposes, such as acting as a platform for symbolism and motif, representation, providing diverse perspectives in your world, etc. While you should strive to make every scene with any character serve the main plot, it’s okay if a few scenes are purely to enrich the reader’s experience.

Other Resources...

Resources for Writing Different Character Relationships

Alternative Method of Character Creation

Resources For Creating Characters

How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story

Connecting To Your Own Characters

Interview As Your Characters

Giving Your Protagonists Negative Traits

Writing Good Villains

How To Analyze A Character

Giving Characters Flaws

Keeping Characters Consistent

Flipping Character Traits On Their Head 

Introducing Secondary Characters

Tips on Character Motivations

Keeping Characters Realistic

Tips on Character Consistency

Positive Character Development Without Romanticizing Toxic Behavior

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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[pilferingapples]

Reverse Unpopular Opinion meme: BBC les mis

oooof I know this puts me at odds with a lot of my saltmates on this but: the Barricade Sequence was Good Actually? 

I don’t mean it was the Best Ever adaptation of the book’s barricade sequence (although,sorry, it is  the best version of that in an English-language non-musical adaptation as far as I can tell, and I have seen  A Few).  But it’s not really trying to be that--no adaptation with only three of the nine people who are supposed to anchor the scene can really go for the full Chanvrerie epic--it’s trying to be a different thing,and I think it does a pretty good job of what it sets out to do. 

Rambling!

At a guess from having watched it all way too many times, and based on Davies’ comments in interviews, I think the BBC approach was to try to make LM “realistic”. 

Now, I think this is a common approach in more recent adaptations, and I think it is, in general, a huge  mistake in adapting LM.  The novel’s not realistic, at all-- it’s Romantic, capital R , with visions and implied ghosts and explicit divine intervention and emotions that are meant to be clear from mental equivalent of the cheap seats in the back of the theater.  It’s got Love at First sight, fer cryin’ out loud!  I’ve seen several adaptations try to calm it down and make it realistic and it just does not work, the story fights realism on a fundamental, structural level. 

And the barricades are , very intentionally, the  Grand Mythic scene*, directly meant to be Epic, full of grand idealism and the sense of gods and giants and impossible feats.  It really really  doesn’t  work as Realism. 

And yet!! somehow! this is the one bit that imo really works, on its own terms! 

I think it may be because combat is one of the few places that modern-approach directors will actually accept a degree of heightened reality; the weirdness of combat and emergency situations is well known enough to make that a “realistic” approach.  So even though this adaptation was never going to give us Enjolras standing unmarked at the end of combat, or the full force of the Quel Horizon speech, or Prouvaire’s final prophetic cry of defiance or “your friends have just shot you” --we still get a setting-fitting version  of Five Less One More, and of OFPD, and some really sincere and emotionally raw moments between characters , and even Enjolras talking about love at the top of the barricade.   

The series even goes on the side of a bit of idealism itself, really -- Le Cabuc is cut out, the non-student fighters are given more agency and sense of self-organization than Hugo really hands them, and Hugo’s focus on the costs to surrounding residents of having a barricade spring up in a neighborhood are  pretty well minimized.  And then there’s the whole thing with Not!Feuilly Despiat which, geez, that is so  good and so idealistic and Mythic and on-theme for the story even on a novel level, that’s a whole extra post but geez--  Anyway,for some reason, this  is the point where the show decided to play gentle with the take on the characters and imo it works! 

Also: while we’ve only got three named Amis,  and Not!Feuilly Despiat , and all four of them get their own solid arcs here .  Courfeyrac goes from an uncertain, inexperienced fighter who seems to fear he’s only been playing with revolution to finding an absolutely hardcore level of commitment and an absolutely heroic final scene,  Grantaire gets his whole conversion arc, Enjolras visibly moves from immediate pragmatic focus  to a longer, wider view that’s more explicitly about love for people and faith in the ones who’ll come next-- it’s all there, it all works.  It’s not Hugo’s barricade, of course it’s not, but what it is works on its own terms. 

(and seriously I gotta write about the Despiat thing some other time)

 * I’m talking about Mythic here in that very specific Hugolian/preface to Cromwell sense; it’s not about other scenes not being Fantastic and Iconic but about some Hugo-specific takes on what being Mythic and Epic means

[coreastories]

International Day for Climate Action, Daesang Medical Group, and Queenly Impatience

The International Day for Climate Action is celebrated annually worldwide to promote the awareness of the reality of climate change (despite what idiotic presidents believe)

In Corea, every student is required to plant a hundred trees and submit a tally of their plantings so far on the day of the IDCA

Every year, both the Prime Minister and the King broadcasts a special message from their respective offices to remind the country to make a personal commitment to the environment 

This year, we were absolutely delighted to see a video of the King, Queen, and Prime Minister together in an unnamed woodland or garden, where they individually spoke about Corea’s efforts for reversing climate change

Go here for the full video

Mining eco-responsibilities

The King speaks about the changes they’ve implemented and continue to implement in the mines and processing to reduce carbon footprint as much as possible. 

The king without his usual hair engineering, in shirtsleeves, and looking like he’s ready to hike and camp for days (as long as he has the queen with him, because we know he can’t leave her for that long)

Corea’s wealth comes from (and is partly invested in) its mining and export of rare-earth elements. Deposits of cerium, lanthanum, samarium and yttrium number in millions of tons in Corea’s north regions and exclusive economic zone. 

These minerals are not rare, per se, but they’re costly to mine, extract, and produce from their ores. That’s why they’re called rare. You might not be aware, but you use them in your daily life: in your smartphones, in computer memory, batteries, storage devices, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting and so much more. 

Because 80% of the Corea’s mines belong to the Royal Court, the king assures Corea and the international community of his and the queen’s commitment to the environment.  

Perks for eco-friendliness

The Prime Minister, looking absolutely lovely and captivating out of her usual power dresses, continues where the king left off, telling citizens that Corea is pioneering studies on how rare-earth elements can be used in products that will produce less environmental waste, or be better recyclable. 

The PM consulting her phone for the names of Corean scientists and their research on eco-friendly and biodegradable materials. This author loves her outfit and those soft shoes! It’s charming and completely unlike what we usually see her in.

Her Excellency also announced that Parliament is working on laws that will make it beneficial for both manufacturers, importers, and consumers to be eco-friendly, like tax benefits for eco-friendly products and packaging. 

Corea Climate Youth Advocates

The queen addresses the youth, speaking casually, in an equally casual pose they can relate to. I adore this woman so much. 

If people got a little bored after the PM’s report, the queen has everyone riveted again with a single look, wearing a blazer we recognize (see 7 Times the Queen of Corea stole our hearts with her smile)

The queen reminds young people that this is an exciting potential for life’s work. 

Her Majesty revealed the new organization, Corea Climate Youth Advocates. On CCYA.com, twenty-somethings and below can register and be part of the discussion and activities for climate change reversal. 

I’ve had a look at the website and I was even allowed to register-- yes, even though this author is past twenty-something. Parents are welcome! The website is so fantastically, cleanly designed. Government/palace websites worldwide would do well to employ good web developers like Corea does. 

The forums are already buzzing with threads and threads of ideas and initiatives. It’s amazing! There’s an official pinned thread named For The Queen’s Office, with rules posted on how ideas can be submitted for the queen’s patronage. 

This author is amused because another pinned thread is right below For The Queen’s Office, entitled A Note For Honored Parents. 

In this thread, The Queen’s Office strongly recommends that concerned parents let the youth come up with and tweak their ideas without interference. 

I can imagine the ahjummas pressing their lips together and holding back. 

This author is also amused because BTS (behind-the-scenes) reels, aside from charming us with this powerful trio’s friendship, also show the king barely letting the queen finish before getting into the shot to help the queen off the bench. We also saw the rare sight of the queen not looking pleased at all. 

Oh dear. 

The Daesang Medical Group

The next time we see the queen, she has a short interview with Dr Lee Sok-jun about the new Daesang Medical Group. 

DMG is a new charity initiative of Corea General Hospital. DMG will annually select the best and brightest residents in general surgery across the country, for international surgery missions to countries and patients in need. 

Needless to say, it has the queen’s support. Here’s an excerpt from their 10-minute talk. 

Go here for the full interview and coverage on Daesang Medical Group

HMTQ: What are your criteria for selecting your doctors for the medical missions?

Dr Lee: They have to be excellent in the OR, but they also need very high emotional intelligence. 

HMTQ: I agree. They’re going to be talking to people. They need to be able to listen. 

Dr Lee: Exactly, ma’am. We train our doctors in and out of the OR, but only the best have a good grasp of listening between the lines. 

HMTQ: I haven’t met many doctors, but you and Dr Chae are excellent in addressing both unspoken and spoken panic. 

Dr Lee: You never do panic, Your Majesty. 

HMTQ: I suppose I had training. 

Dr Lee: And often, most panic is very understandable. 

HMTQ: I’ll be the judge of that (jokingly). 

Dr Lee laughed. We know who they’re talking about, and you’ll notice the queen is sitting on a high stool, a seat we doubt the king would have approved. But the queen’s message is clear. 

I am so impressed by this country and so delightfully amused and in love with their royals. I hope we get to speak with Their Majesties again. 

[noethicalconsumptionunderdisney]

Ranked: Hannah Montana — Mamaw vs. Dolly

So this seemed like a fun one for me to do!  These are two of the most iconic recurring guest stars, so naturally I had to pit them against each other (or, well, pit their episodes against each other).  This competition isn’t particularly serious, but it is a nice excuse for me to talk about some of my favorite episodes on the show.  Like before, I’m going in reverse-order of how much I liked them, or Worst->Best, so I can save the best for last.  

“B-B-B-Bad to the Chrome” (Season Three)

It’s a testament to how awesome Vicki Lawrence is that even in the “worst” episode she’s in, she still brings it and is in many ways the strongest part of it.  This one loses out mainly on writing, and me fucking hating the subplot.  I’m sorry.  “You forgot some really arbitrary timestamp I decided to put on our relationship without telling you, which means you don’t love me” will just never be anything but annoying to me ever, no matter how much I like the couple involved.  Honestly, it was shit like that that made me glad I didn’t do a lot of dating in high school.

The main plot is kind of weak too tbh, but I’m still in some ways fond of it, because it’s very clear that it’s all coming from a place of love.  They replace her car because they love her, and they try to recreate the old crappy car because they love her, and she pretends not to notice because she loves them right back.  The best scenes are the one-on-one interactions between Miley and Mamaw, where you can see how much they understand each other.  It was because of those that I almost bumped this up one… but they weren’t quite enough to sell me on this episode.  Sorry again.

“You Give Lunch A Bad Name” (Season Three)

This one, again, not a very strong episode, but there are a few reasons I liked this one just a little bit more.  Part of it is I’m a sucker for Miley/Jackson centrics, and they strike such a perfect balance of brother-sister solidarity and sibling rivalry in this: the song in the beginning, the schemes, the mimic fights, them immediately pointing at each other when Mamaw asks them who the “guiltiest grandchild” is.  Another part is that weirdly, Lilly and Oliver seem to have more of their natural chemistry in this episode than they do in the one where they’re actually dating.  Case in point, their little quiet communication to leave in the middle of the siblings’ bickering without having to say a word to each other.

What’s interesting about this one is, Mamaw isn’t necessarily wrong that the kids are gonna take advantage of their dad being gone.  That’s exactly what they’re planning to do.  But then she takes it too far and holds on too hard, treating them like they’re 10 rather than 16 and 18 respectively.  There’s a classic conflict here of teenagers thinking they’re more mature than they really are, versus their family knowing they’re still kids but treating them like outright children instead of meeting them where they are. And I think it’s harder for her to accept they’re growing up than it is for Robby Ray because she isn’t around very much to see it happening.  While she recognizes in the end that they had good reason to be embarrassed, that theme of holding on to how things were because she’s afraid of losing them seems to be a consistent one with her in later seasons.

“I Am Mamaw, Hear Me Roar!” (Season Four)

First off, I just want to say that I think having a Dolly episode and a Mamaw episode after “I’ll Always Remember You,” and right after each other, was a really smart choice, especially the way they did it.  Dolly can help her embrace what it’s like to be all-celebrity, all the time, and Mamaw reminds her not to forget her family, and how hard that kind of life can actually be. Not just for Miley, but for the people around her.  They just tie really well into that whole, “She’s always had the best of both worlds, but now she’s gotta learn what living without her secret feels like” theme that late stage Season 4 has going for it.

One thing that always strikes me about this episode is how it puts so much of her actions in context, not just in this episode, but retroactively.  Of course Robby Ray forgot to visit her when he was younger and his own music career was in full swing.  Of course she would panic when the same seems to be happening to Miley, when they can’t take one picture or have one tea without Miley getting hounded by her fans, because she doesn’t have Hannah Montana to hide behind anymore. (Of course, I’m not so sure the timeline adds up there, but I’m gonna let that go because of the point it was trying to make.)  Being smacked in the face with Miley’s fame is really a wakeup call for all of them, but that makes Miley’s efforts to make sure Mamaw understands how much she cares all the more sweet.

“Good Golly, Miss Dolly” (Season One)

I’d initially put “Kiss It Goodbye” here, but I switched them when I realized I was underrating it— that episode was better than I remembered.  But I like this one, too!

This is Dolly’s first appearance and introduction, and she comes in with a bang.  The frou-frou, the flowers, and of course, the infamous camera that kickstarts the conflict of the episode.  Well, sort of— the real conflict is Miley’s confused feelings for Jake Ryan, torn between “falling all over him,” playing hard to get, and not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her vulnerable.  The way it ends up intersecting with Oliver’s subplot of trying to compile a goodbye video for the principal is brilliant, and that sneaking scene?  Just amazing.

Of course, this puts her right back where she started, and she ends up regretting it when it’s seemingly too late for her and Jake, but her ripping up the flowers is funny, and then Dolly gets to show off her singing chops a little when she and Robby Ray cheer her up in a really sweet scene.  Beyond that, the subplot is… fine.  It’s pretty forgettable, but I liked it okay.  It’s not frustrating like some of the subplots in previous episodes on this list, but not quite as awesome as…

#3: “Kiss It Goodbye” (Season Four)

And with that, we’ve cracked the top three!  This one surprised me upon rewatch.  I knew I liked it, I just didn’t know how much I liked it until I saw it again. I think part of it might be me attributing some of my own feelings about Cancel Culture as a whole and how that’s affected us for the worse overall, celebrity or not, as well as some meta-significance to Miley’s career, both at the time and afterwards.  But let me get into the episode itself rather than getting on those tangents.

Miley starts off being a little careless with her image… but this is understandable, as she’s used to having her privacy, and living without it’s gonna take some getting used to.  Dolly has this legendary entrance in a personalized helicopter, complete with a pink ladder.  She uses her own know-how about fame to help Miley navigate the paparazzi, reassures her after a brutal interview with Colin Lassiter, and then encourages both her and Robby Ray to sing with her at her performance.  While both of them object at first, Robby Ray eventually gets up the courage to go… which is the push Miley needs to get past her fears and get back on the horse herself.

Beyond the main plotline and overall message that I love, it’s really quotable, and has one of the best subplots this show has ever had.  Rico goes practically catatonic because the Stewarts, a family of “idiots” he looks down upon, fooled him, an evil genius with an ego that can’t handle that.  I also like that we see Lilly’s compassionate side coming back in this episode in both plotlines, it’s the one thing I felt season 4’s Lilly was lacking overall, and it was fun to see her point her sharp tongue towards herself for once this season.  And of course, Jackson enjoying Rico’s suffering, but ultimately being the one to help him out of it was perfect, and bringing back the choir from earlier that season was even better.

#2: “I Will Always Loathe You” (Season Two)

Before anyone gets mad that this wasn’t my #1 pick, let me just say for the record that this episode is AWESOME.  Mamaw and Dolly’s rivalry is so explosive and they play off each other so beautifully, and the culmination of that into the “Granny Smackdown” is so well-done.  And look, yeah, I know that there were stunt doubles and probably a mannequin or two involved, but I don’t care, it’s a fantastic scene.  I love Robby Ray trying to make peace and ending up getting dragged into it, I love Hannah Montana awkwardly trying to salvage the situation, and ultimately breaking them up, and I love Jackson and Lilly scarfing down popcorn and watching the whole thing unfold from home.

If I had to pick which one of these episodes was the funniest, it would be this one, no contest.  The subplot here is great too; simple yes, but I think the simplicity works in contrast to just how much is going on in the main plot, and Oliver’s shame at his own involvement in the end?  Wonderful.  The contrast between the two women picking clothes for Miley’s award show, and the decision to genuinely make up after seeing how much it hurt Miley were executed beautifully too.  We don’t get the sense that they’re going to be BFFs, but I do like that the ending scene shows promise, that they’re at least capable of getting along, when they want to.   As Miley says, “You’re trying.  That is all I’ve ever wanted.”

So yeah, this episode?  Amazing.  But… not quite my favorite.

#1: “Grandmas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Play Favorites” (Season One)

Remember when I said I’m a sucker for Miley/Jackson centrics?  Yeah.  This episode was probably where all of that began for me.  (Also the beginning of my feelings about Jackson going from “oh he’s pretty funny” to “LET ME LOVE YOU,” but I’ll try to keep my stanning to a minimum here.)

We start off with what appears to be a fairly straightforward story.  Hannah Montana is meeting the queen.  Jackson has a volleyball game.  Mamaw’s coming to visit, and she’s critical of Robby Ray, particularly his eating habits, she’s tepidly nice to Miley, but treats her as an afterthought, and she heaps praise and adoration and attention onto Jackson by the bucketload.  On the surface, it seems that this is about Mamaw unfairly favoring Jackson over Miley.  Right up until this happens:

“She’s gonna insult the queen and ruin my command performance all because of her ‘little Jackson.’  It’s always about you!”

“Me?!  Well, it’s never about me!  Everything in this family revolves around you!”

One comeback, and the tables are turned.  Yes, Mamaw hasn’t treated Hannah Montana getting to sing for the Queen of England with the respect and admiration it deserves.  But Robby Ray and Miley haven’t been treating Jackson with the respect and admiration he deserves.  When Miley snarks that Mamaw would rather go to Jackson’s volleyball game than her performance, she responds with, “Well, if I don’t, who will?  I don’t see either one of you heading for the door.”  She doesn’t ignore Miley because she loves her any less.  In an ironic turn of events, the reason she ignores Miley isn’t about her at all.

I do like, though, that the episode doesn’t treat this as “two wrongs make a right.”  Mamaw still apologizes for making Miley feel “invisible,” like her accomplishments don’t matter, like she doesn’t care.  Jackson feeling invisible because his dad and his sister and the whole rest of the world treat him that way, doesn’t excuse Mamaw treating Miley that way.  And the fact that all of it’s unintentional, and that the neglect is coming from someone who does, genuinely, love that person, doesn’t erase the harm it causes. This is a lesson for both of them, and Miley comes away with a greater understanding of what her brother goes through.

There is still a part of me that wishes this had gotten elaborated on more in the show?  Not that Jackson doesn’t bring up the favoritism issue multiple times afterward, but it’s not treated seriously very often after this, considering how often it comes up.  It saddens me to think that, for all the efforts they make in this episode to make sure they’re there for Jackson in the end, Miley and Robby Ray still end up falling into the same patterns with Jackson as the show goes on, and worse.   I can’t help but think this pattern of neglect and Jackson’s deterioration into “the family failure” are related, and while I don’t need every single episode to treat it as A Big Deal, the truth is, it is a big deal, and I wish the show had been more consistent in actually taking it seriously.

So that’s my list!  In the end, I think we can all agree Mamaw and Dolly are both pretty iconic characters, and made the show all the richer for being on it.  I’ve loved getting a chance to look at their episodes again, and make sure to stay tuned for my next Ranked post for this series, where I may be talking about another iconic recurring character on this show….  (Hint: one of these episodes is on that list, too.)  Until next time!

[brokehorrorfan]

Blu-ray Review: Ghost Ship

After finding success with a pair of remakes of William Castle films - 1999's House on Haunted Hill and 2001's Thirteen Ghosts - the producers at Dark Castle Entertainment decided to branch out from their namesake. For their first foray into original material, they re-teamed with Thirteen Ghosts director Steve Beck on 2002's Ghost Ship (unrelated to the 1952 film of the same name). Mark Hanlon (Buddy Boy) penned the original script, then titled Chimera, which was heavily rewritten by John Pogue (U.S. Marshals) following September 11th.

Ghost Ship opens with a delightfully gruesome prologue in which the passengers of a luxury ocean liner circa 1962 are bisected in a fantastic, Final Destination-esque fashion. The lone survivor is the young Katie Harwood (Emily Browning, Sucker Punch), who was spared by virtue of her diminutive stature. Opening on such a high note is a great way to invest the audience, but the unfortunate downside is that there's nowhere to go but down.

40 years later, pilot Jack Ferriman (Desmond Harrington, Dexter) enlists a salvage crew - played by Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary), Julianna Margulies (ER), Isaiah Washington (Grey's Anatomy), Ron Eldard (Deep Impact), Alex Dimitriades (Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo), and Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings) - to claim an abandoned ship in international waters and split the profits. It's not long after boarding the vessel that things go awry with ghost sightings and untoward discoveries. Washington's character puts it most succinctly: "This ship is fucked up."

Ghost Ship is a little dated - an extended flashback montage with MTV-style editing, early digital effects, a homophobic joke, and a prominently featured nu metal song by Mudvayne that reprises over the end credits - but it serves as a snapshot of early 2000s horror. The film is entertaining enough, but it fails to capitalize on the “haunted house at sea” premise. Lacking the deft balance of spooky and playful stuck by its Dark Castle predecessor, it takes itself a bit too seriously after the opening scene.

With back-to-back successful stints in the director's chair, it's surprising that Beck never made another movie (although not for lack of trying, as he explains in his audio commentary). Ghost Ship saw him re-team with several Thirteen Ghosts crew members, including cinematographer Gale Tattersall (Tank Girl) and composer John Frizzell (Alien: Resurrection). Grace Walker's (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Pitch Black) production design adds to the scope.

Ghost Ship sails onto Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory. Joel Robinson designed the new cover; the original poster is on the reverse side. It sports the same high-definition transfer found on Warner Bros.' earlier Blu-ray, which has no discernible faults. Beck provides a new audio commentary in which he explains how September 11th reshaped the picture from its original concept ("10 Little Indians at sea," which sounds better than the final product) and details the decade he spent developing unproduced films after Ghost Ship. He also reveals that producer Joel Silver championed Sam Neill for the Gabriel Byrne role.

The disc features new interviews with Washington, makeup effects supervisor Jason Baird (The Matrix Reloaded, Kong: Skull Island), and producer Gil Adler; the former two are conducted via video chat. Washington's highlight is his blunt wording for how the script originally called for him to be "doggy-styling a ghost." Baird recalls working closely with the great KNB EFX to create all the corpses necessary for the opening, and he shows off Gabriel Byrne's fake head from the film. Adler states that his stipulations to make the movie were to avoid shooting on a real boat or on the water due to budgetary and logistical reasons.

The original extras are ported over: a 15-minute making-of piece featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew; a visual effects featurette with visual effects supervisor Dale Duguid; a practical effects featurette with Baird and KNB's Howard Berger, a production design featurette with Walker; Secrets of the Antonia Graza, which was a series of interactive puzzles to unlock character backstories on the DVD, but here the four vignettes are presented sans puzzles; Mudvayne's "Not Falling" music video comprised of clips from the film; and the theatrical trailer.

Ghost Ship will be released on Collector's Edition Blu-ray on September 29 via Scream Factory.

[fipindustries]

on alan moore

really you can tell what a strong sense of almost.... regret overcame alan moore in the late 90′s early 2000′s. if you see his line of production with America’s Best Comics, top 10, supreme, promethea, tom strong. is almost a complete reversal of everything he did in the eighties. it was a return to bright, colorful, hopeful heroes saving the day by being fundamentally good people. it was like he was desperatly trying to reverse course on superheroes comics that he had unwittingly started with miracleman, watchmen and the killing joke.

and it is damn good work! it is the ultimate testament that you dont need to tell dark, moody, gritty stories in order to put out fantastic, deep interesting tales. that just because something is fun and bright doesnt mean its stupid or basic.

i still love watchmen and v from vendetta and from hell, but there is so much more to this man’s production that gets lost beneath the image of the cranky old wizard who cant stop writing rape scenes and who hates superheroes, mainly because reporters insist on asking him time and again about his opinion on modern superhero comics and the mediocre adaptations of his work, instead of asking him about, you know, an actually interesting topic, just go and watch this interview with him 

you can see how the man is genial and smart and fun to talk with and a lot of his harsher criticisms soften a lot once you realize they are simply dry british wit and not an angry old man yelling at clouds

[sestra-inestro]

Just A Really Big Mistake (5/?)

Jane the Virgin!AU - Heavily based on ‘Jane the Virgin’, I do not own Jane the Virgin or the characters I write with. All rights go to the original creators. 

Summary: You decide that holding onto your virginity is pointless now you’re pregnant, so you tell Steve you are ready to have coitus. 

Warnings: Mentions of sex, slight angst, mention of blood and death, lies. 

A/N: I’m so gonna fall behind on this :’) pls send help. 

Idea from the great @whatcouldgowrong-ohthat​. Please enjoy!

May opens the front, ready to leave for the day when she is stopped when she sees Tony walking onto the porch. 

“What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you were warned not to come here until June was ready?” May growls at the man. 

“Relax, May.” Tony raises his hands. “I’m not here to see June. I’m here to apologise to you and Pepper. And I’m pretty sure the boy saw me the other night.” 

“Yes, he did.” May crossed her arms. “You couldn’t have sent a gift basket or something?” 

“Come on, please May? I wanna apologise to you and Pepper in person.” Tony was willing to beg to be let in. 

May stood there, with her arms crossed and her head tilted, waiting for the apology. 

Tony straightened himself and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m sorry, May. I overstepped and I shouldn’t have.” 

May stood there and took in his apology and Tony waited for a response. 

She finally hugged before turning around to walk back inside. “You’re lucky June was still in the bathroom when I went to leave.” 

Tony wasted no time and followed May and she pushed back into the house. 

May marched passed the living room which held Peter and to Pepper’s room, banging on the door. 

“Pep, someone wants another chat.” May said, rolling her eyes before walking into the kitchen. 

Pepper opens the door, her face falling at the sight of Tony before she pulls him into the room and slamming the door. 

“Um, May?” Peter raised his eyebrow.

“Don’t worry about it, honey.” May waves her nephew off. “Just let her sort him out.” 

Peter glances between her and Pepper’s bedroom, slightly concerned. 

The bathroom door opens and you come out, looking around and confused. “Have you guys seen my wedges?” 

Peter and May froze. “No, honey. Maybe they are in your room?” 

You shake your head. “No, they aren’t, I checked. Maybe Pepper knows.” You think out loud and moves to her room. 

“No!” Both May and Peter yell at you at the same time, making you jump and look at them. 

“What?” You ask, flabbergasted at their outburst. 

“She’s-uh-sleeping.” Peter stumbles out. 

“Yeah, hun. You know how grumpy she is.” May nods and goes along with it. 

“No, she’s not, I could hear her talking before.” You pointed to her door and frowned at them. 

You could see them visible shift and look awkward. “Are you two okay? You look constipated.” 

When they didn’t answer, you frowned back at them and turned back to Pepper’s door.

“What the hell are you doing here? I told you not to come back.” Pepper growled quietly at Tony. 

“I know, but I had to come here to apologise.” Tony said in a soft voice, trying to calm her. 

“You couldn’t have just called?” Pepper started to panic.

“This had to be done in person.” Tony said again, softly. 

“Gosh, you don’t fucking learn, do you? June is home this morning.” Pepper exasperated before there was a knock on the door. 

“Pep? Have you seen my wedges?” You asked through the door. You try to open the door but it’s locked. 

“Hold on honey!” Pepper called to you. 

“This is a fantastic chance to tell her!” Tony’s eyes widened with excitement. 

Pepper whacks him on the chest to shut him up. 

“Come on, I need to get to work.” You jiggle the door handle some more. “Why is this even locked?”

Pepper opens the door slightly just to see her face and pushed the wedges out to you. “Here you go, hun.” She says as if she is trying to catch her breath. 

You frown at her and take the shoes. “What’s going on in there?” 

You watch as Pepper goes over things in her head. “Menopause.” She blurts out. 

You actually flinch at her words. “Aren’t you a little young for that?” 

“Some women just work differently.” Pepper nervously chuckles. “Something for you to look forward to.” 

She shuts the door again fast before you can react. 

“June, honey. Come here for me please.” May calls you from the kitchen. You shake your head at Pepper’s antics but move to the kitchen where Peter and May stood. 

“Try this for me.” May offers you a piece of sandwich that Peter was eating. 

“Peters sandwich?” You asked, grabbing it from her. 

“Yeah, I wanna try making it spicier. New recipe I found.” May nods enthusiastically. 

As you take a bite, Pepper and Tony creep passed the kitchen. Tony halts at the sight of you, taking you in for a second. 

“Yeah, May. I think it’s plenty spicy.” You screw up your face at the flavour. 

You go to turn to the fridge to grab milk and suddenly Peter yelps and May grabs your forearms, pulling you into her arms. 

Pepper grabs Tony’s wrist and pulls him the rest of the way and out of the house, away from you. 

“We have to tell her soon.” Tony says. He really wants to be able to hug you.

“As soon as she is ready.” Pepper reminds him. 

“And you get to decide that?” Tony raises his eyebrow. 

“Well, you sure as hell don’t. Now go.” Pepper said before shutting the door. Somehow, she knew that that wasn’t the last she’d see of him for a while. 

-

After the whole ordeal this morning, Steve picked you up to take you to the Hotel to be interviewed about the incident with your boss, Sam. 

“Are you okay? I know this is a tense situation but it’ll all be fine.” Steve said as he noticed you lost in your thoughts. 

“Yeah. Funnily enough, I’m not thinking about that.” You turn and look at him. You notice some features on his face that you haven’t really paid attention to before. How blue his eyes shine when his skin is paler than usual, how the stoic look on his face makes him look older. 

“What re you thinking about?” His voice made you warm.  

“You?” You say. 

You can see the twitch at the sides of his mouth as he fights a smile and his eyes narrow. 

You turn your body to him in your seat. “Think about it with me. I’m an unmarried pregnant woman, my life is pretty much off the rails now. The thing I was most afraid of has happened and there’s no way to reverse that now.” You say at him. 

His eyebrows frown and he shakes his head slightly at your fast words. “Okay? What’s your point here?” Steve asks you. 

“One thing I am sure about is that I love you. And we are engaged and going to be married.” You bit your lip with excitement. “I want to have sex with you.” 

Steve’s eyebrows now raise in shock at your words. But hope also filled his eyes. “Are you sure?” 

You nodded with a glint in your eyes. “Very sure.” 

A small spreads across Steve’s face. “Okay, let’s do it.” 

-

After making out for a short while, Steve walked you into your interview, which was surprisingly quick. You had changed into your uniform and were walking the halls of the hotel when you turn the corner to see Bucky standing in the middle of the hall watching men walk into the room you assumed to be the crime scene. 

Bucky sees you from the corner of his eye and you suddenly don’t know what to do. 

Before you can think about t too much, you step forward to him. 

“Hey.” You give a small wave. 

“Hi.” Bucky says in a defeated tone. 

“Did you know him? The guy who, uh, him.” You don’t want to say ‘the dead guy’ so you find it hard to find the words.

“Sam Wilson. He was my college roommate.” Bucky says with his eyes low. 

At his words and the sad look in his eyes, you felt compelled to comfort him and your hand goes to his arm, giving it a light squeeze. His eyes watch your action and suddenly, you feel your heart beating faster. 

Feeling weird at the sudden speed of your heart, you take your hand off his arm. “Well, I’m here if you need anything.” You say quickly. 

“Thank you, June.” Bucky nods and gives you a weak smile.

As he is called into the room, you quickly turn around and go back down to the lobby and the restaurant, joining your friends. 

“Hey, June.” Wanda says as you join them. “What’s new with you?” 

“Oh, you know,” Still pregnant with my bosses baby, on the rocks with my fiancé, dead guy blood all over my old uniform dress. “The usual.” You say with a smile. “Actually, me and Steve have decided to have sex.” 

Wanda looks up at you and almost drops a plate. “Oh my god, what? You’re gonna give up your V Card?” 

You nod at her and smile amusedly at her. “Well, I’m already pregnant and I didn’t even need to have sex for that.”  

Wanda jogs on the spot, happily calling and squealing. “This is so exciting! Oh my god, you should get a room here!” 

“What’s this I hear about a girl losing her virginity?” Dot comes slinking over, followed by Vision. “Is our little June gonna finally pop her cherry?” 

“Aw, June Bug.” Vision wraps an arm around you. “You’re finally gonna be a woman.” 

“Oh stop.” You chuckle and shrug him off. “I just think it’s pointless waiting now.” 

“Yes! And like I said, get a room here. It’ll be so romantic.” Wanda smiles dreamily at her own words.

“Much better than mine. My first time was in a tanning bed.” Dot says. 

“Ew.” Everyone says back to her. 

“You should get one of the eleventh-floor suites, cops closed the whole floor.” Vision suggested. 

“Oh, those are nice.” Wanda commented as she moved around the bar to start cleaning the glasses. 

“So are you nervous?” Dot asks you as you all follow Wanda. 

“Nervous? No.” You shake your head but not believing yourself. “Yeah. Maybe a little bit. I just want it to be good, for me, for him.” 

“You’re both gonna cry.” Vision chuckles as he rearranged the glasses. 

You smile and throw a towel at him. “I’ll take table eight.” You dismiss yourself from the conversation and walk over to the table with three people. 

“Hi, can I get you guys anything?” You say in your best customer service voice. 

The woman facing away from you turns around and you freeze. Becca also freezes as she sees you in the waitress uniform. 

“Oh, hi.” Becca says quietly. “Dad, Maria, this is the woman I accidentally inseminated who’s suing me.” Becca introduces you to who you assume it Bucky’s dad and stepmother, who are also looking at you in shock.

Becca puts on the fakest smile she can muster and turns to you. “Get we get three waters please.” Her eyes are apologetic to you at this horrible situation. 

“Maybe I should get someone else.” You say as you slowly back off.

“Good idea.” They all day in unison and you take off to find someone else. 

“Someone needs to take table eight. It’s Bucky’s family.” You say to your friends. 

“Is that the woman who inseminated you?” Wanda asks looking over at them. 

“Mhm.” You hum and nod nervously. 

“Okay, here.” Vision takes one of the key cards off the wall behind him and hands it to you. “We will cover your shift right now, you go find a room for you and Steve tonight.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, of course.” Dot pats your back. “Gives you time to clear your head.” 

“Plus, it’s early, there’s barely anyone here.” Wanda reassures you. 

You take the key card from Vision and think about it. “If it gets busier you’ll call me back?” 

“Of course. Now go.” Vision says and all but shoves you to the elevator and taking your tables. What on earth would you do without your friends?

You take the elevator up to the eleventh floor again and walk to the suites. You are about to open the door when you see Natasha lurking around the crime scene. Confused, you hide around the corner and peek around at her to observe. 

She looks nervous as you sneak around to get a look into the room before moving away and popping a pill. 

You frown as she swallows the pill dry. Why would she be so nervous that she has to take a pill, and what pill is she taking? All these thoughts flood your mind as you start to think about the baby. Because of the baby, you were very critical about Bucky’s past, and having only met Natasha once, seeing her pop pills around a crime scene was causing you to start worrying about her abilities. 

As if to cut off the baby’s thoughts in your mind and give you something else to worry about, Steve came around the corner behind Natasha, seeing her and being hesitant before walking towards her. You see them converse in the hallway for a moment before moving to the elevator. 

What the hell? 

You bolt back down the hallway and head to the fire stairs, working your legs quick to get down to the lobby before the elevator. Almost snapping your ankles and breaking your legs on the stairs, you reach the lobby and stand in front of the elevator, with little time to catch your breath before it opens. 

“June!” Steve says in surprise as he sees you. 

“Hey. Hi. What are you guys up to?” You say with a steady breath.

“We were just talking about hotel security. Looks like we need a tighter hold on that stuff.” Natasha said easily as she steps out of the elevator. “Are we still on for coffee later or...?” 

“Yes.” You say with a knowing smile. “Of course, I’ll see you then.”

“Okay good.” She waves as she walks off. 

You watch her walk away before turning to Steve. 

“Are you okay?” He asks before you can talk. 

“Yes, I’m fine. What was all that about?” You ask him with a hand on your hip. 

“What?” Steve frowns.

“Well, I was upstairs trying to get us a room for tonight-“

“You got us a room?” Steve smiles at the thought.

“Yes, but listen.” You point at him. “I saw Nat lurking outside of the crime scene, and then I saw you meet her up there. What were you guys talking about?” 

“Lurking? Okay, you’ve officially watched too much of that TV show.” Steve smirks. 

“Steve, I’m saying that because she was a-lurking. What’s going on with you?” You frown at him.

“Nothing.” He shrugs.

“Then why are you dismissing me?” You ask him and cross your arms.

“I’m dismissing you because you’re not making any sense. You’re like, hormonal or something.” You glare at him as he says that. 

You stand there and observe him before uncrossing your arms and walking away. 

Steve goes to open his mouth but knows it’s useless. He wanted to tell you everything instead of letting it snowball, but he couldn’t, he need to keep the affair a secret from you. He couldn’t be stuck with some other dudes baby. 

-

After working for a few hours, you had done nothing to fix your reeling mind. During your break, you went to get some churros and walk along the docks. 

You were munching on the churros when you came across Bucky sitting on one of the benches, smiling at you. 

You hum at him with your mouth full and cover your mouth. “Hey.” You murmur.

“Hey.” He says. “Are you done with work?” He asks you. 

You shake your head. “I had a break. And I had this need to eat a churro. I guess it’s one of my pregnancy cravings.” You smile down at him as he listens with admiration. “I would offer you some, but I’m afraid if I do I may resent you in a very serious way.” 

He chuckles at you. “Don’t worry, that’s all yours.” 

You see the many pages of paper in his hand. “What’s that?” 

“Oh,” He looks at it. “Press release.” He then looks up at you with an idea. “Wait, you’re a writer. Can you help me with this?” 

“You know you’re the only one who calls me a writer, right?” You say to him. 

“Well, are you writing?” He asked with a raised eyebrow and you sigh in defeat. He smiles, knowing he’s right. 

“I have to give this statement about the incident last night, but I can’t make it seem,” he pauses as he tries to find the words. “Nicer.” 

He offers you the page to read it and you frown at the wording. “So your college roommate was a ‘troubled young man who you and the hotel have nothing to do with’?” Your brows crease at the statement. 

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “My father wants the hotel to keep its reputation and distance it away from any of this drama.” 

You give him a pained look as you listen. 

“What?” He asks you. 

“Nothing.” He doesn’t believe you. “I’m sorry. I’m judgey. You should know that about me, you may have a really judgey kid.” 

“Well, what does ‘judgey’ sound like? So I can be prepared.” He gives you a smile of amusement. 

You take a deep breath, he is asking for it. 

“You told me that you don’t want to be anything like your dad. But this statement is what he wants for the hotel, isn’t it? I’m just saying actions speak louder than words.” You say quickly before looking down and away from his eyes. 

You wait for him to say something back but you feel a warm hand on your knee. You look up and see he is smiling at you, sweetly. 

“I hope the baby is judgey.” Bucky says in a quiet voice, low enough for only you to hear. 

You start to feel your heart quicken once again and your chest begins to tighten. The second time today, he made your heart beat faster. 

“Um,” you stand up. “I should get back. To work.” You stumble over your words as you back away. “Good to see you.” You say before turning and almost running away.

Bucky frowns as he watches you speed walk away but chuckles and shakes his head at you. 

Every time he sees you, he always feels just a little better throughout the day. That’s why he doesn’t mind your slight weirdness, you’ve given him a reason to smile and laugh and he can’t help but want more.

[yeahwellyourface]

MOVIE REVIEW TIME!! A Little Chaos and Far From The Madding Crowd

I had a Matthias Schoenaerts weekend cause the boy can get it. Both of these movies were already on my list, but when I realized he was in them, they jumped to the top. So, here we go.

A Little Chaos

Available on Netflix. Directed by Alan Rickman. Stars: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci, Helen McCrory, and Jennifer Ehle

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2639254/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

This one has been on my list for awhile but I really wasn’t in the mood for a depressing period piece. FYI, it is not a depressing period piece. In fact, the word I think works best for describing it is “cute.” It is not a great film, but it is very enjoyable. I smiled through most of it and then when I turned it off, I realized I was still smiling.

The basic plot is that French king Louis XIV is building Versailles and his head gardener, Andre Le Notre, is hiring different gardeners to do different parts of the whole since it is a whole lotta shit. Against his original idea, he hires Madame Sabine de Barra to create a section of the garden that will basically be an outdoor ballroom. She doesn’t do well at court, but some people still like her, some don’t. Given that there is an actual outdoor ballroom at Versailles, I don’t think I’m giving anything away by saying that she eventually builds it (although in actuality, it was not built by a woman…unfortunately). But that’s it. It is a very simple little movie. It is full of tropes and could be quite stupid but the amazing cast makes it charming instead.

So, the fantastic cast…everyone is basically doing exactly what you want them to do. Kate Winslet as Sabine de Barra plays a woman who has been through some shit but is gonna get things done her way and it is no use to try and stop her. She is better than you. Just accept it. Matthias Schoenaerts as Andre Le Notre is mainly there to look pretty (difficult with that horrible hair, but he can do it) and worship de Barra as she deserves. Alan Rickman plays Louis XIV because why the fuck not. Stanley Tucci plays the king’s outlandish bisexual brother who adores both his wife and his young lover. He was in the movie for like 10 minutes and was the best thing ever. Seriously, we need to protect Stanley Tucci at all costs. Helen McCrory is Madame Le Notre and is a bad bitch as only she can be. I bow down to her. Jennifer Ehle plays against type as the flighty mistress to the king. I thought I was going to hate her because the character was supposed to be annoying at first, but I ended up loving her too.

So, yeah. Not a movie to go nuts over, but if you are curled up on the couch one afternoon and want something light and sweet, this will do the trick.

Far From The Madding Crowd

Available on Amazon (but you have to pay for it, even with prime). Based on the novel by Thomas Hardy. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Stars: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, Juno Temple.

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2935476/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

This is another one I’ve been considering for awhile. See that bit above where it says “Based on the novel by Thomas Hardy?” Yeah….that’s why I was putting it off. Now, it’s not that I dislike Thomas Hardy. I actually enjoyed Return of the Native…kinda. But his stuff is very much overdramatic, windswept English countryside. And damn, if that is not something that I am always willing to go for. But I’d do it for Matthias Schoenaerts. So I did.

So, here is the basic plot if you’ve never read the book (and I actually haven’t, but I’ve read about it…does that count?)…young woman, Bathsheba Everdene, with a middle-to-upper class education lives with family on a farm because her parents died. She meets a young man, Gabriel Oak, and then enjoy hanging out and working on the farm together. He has land that is almost paid off and a bunch of sheep. Her aunt owns the land that they live on and work. He falls in love and asks her to marry him. She says no, she doesn’t want to get married and be tied down to a husband. Immediately after, their fortunes reverse. He loses all his sheep (and it’s kinda horrible and depressing, so if you need to look away, I understand) and his land. She inherits a pretty nice farm and is no longer dependent on family. He’s wandering looking for work and accidentally stumbles on her new farm and gets a job as a shepherd there.

Now that she is moving among the landed class, she meets the next door neighbor, Mr. Boldwood, who falls in love with her (the way that happens is she plays a prank on him and is generally an asshole and hurts him and damn, woman, wtf, that was mean…but she does apologize). He asks her to marry him. She says she’ll think about it.

Mixed in with this, we see a side story about an army sergeant and his pretty sweetheart, who used to work at the Everdene farm but ran away to be with the guy…never a good move. They were supposed to get married, but she went to the wrong church. By the time she gets to the right church, he thinks she stood him up and has left. She is now destitute since she left her friends and family. This was another scene where I couldn’t bear to watch. I knew what was going to happen and seeing them both so happy getting ready for the wedding just broke my heart, so I fast forwarded. Sue me.

Anyway, army sergeant Frank Troy is now wandering drunk around the countryside brokenhearted and literally runs into Miss Everdene. She thinks he’s cute and decides to meet up with him. He shows off flashy sword moves and then kisses her and pulls a trump and then runs off. Because we do stupid things sometimes, she is completely charmed by him and runs away to marry him.

Now, through all of this, Mr. Oak has worked for her and been there for her and tried to help her and give advice. He points out that she was an asshole to Mr. Boldwood and she gets pissed at him for telling her because she knows she was and she doesn’t want to be told. He knows that Sergeant Troy is an asshole and tries to convince Miss Everdene to stay away from him but she doesn’t.

Literally at her wedding dinner with Sergeant Troy, Miss Everdene (Mrs. Troy now) realizes that she married and asshole. But she’s stuck with him.

If you really want me to tell you the rest in detail, I will. But basically, she has to deal with an asshole husband, a rich neighbor who is still in love with her (and kinda off his rocker about it), and the shepherd who has loved her for years and been there to support her even when she was an asshole to him. I wonder who she will end up with?!?!Okay, now for the movie. It was just okay. Like, I’ve read the first couple chapters of the book and there is SO MUCH INFORMATION that cannot be put into a movie. There is just not enough time. This is the problem with turning a book into a movie. They have to skip so much that they can end up leaving a lot of it flat. We see Miss Everdene be a good person several times. But we also see her be an asshole. I wish we had been able to see her more indepth. But there wasn’t time. I never felt fully connected to her. When she was being good, I liked her. When she was being an asshole, I disliked her. There was no continuity between those feelings. The movie never gave me a chance to feel conflicted over her. It was all surface feelings. Carey Mulligan does a good enough job for what she is given. But the best relationship is between her and her companion. That’s the only string that carries through with that character.

Matthias Schoenaerts is beautiful, of course. He is the solid character that all the others are whirling around. He is a big man, much bigger and taller than Carey Mulligan and Michael Sheen, but you can see how he curls his shoulders down to give the two of them more power as he is lower class than they are. There is a scene between him and Michael Sheen near the end where he straightens Sheen’s tie, and I think that is the only moment between those two where Schoenaerts stands up straight, as for a moment, they are almost equals. However, by the end of the scene, he is curled in again. It’s really interesting on the choices made there. Because when he is not in a position where he is “under” them, when he is working and being damn good at his job, he is standing up straight. It’s fascinating to see the difference between the two sides of this character.

Michael Sheen. Oh goodness, Michael Sheen. He did so much better for this character than this movie deserved. I love this man and he is so good as an actor, but this character is a bit out there. I wonder how much of his bipolarness is in the book. Cause the character is all over the place in the movie. He goes from one extreme to the next. And yes, some of the plot points are definitely from the book, but the in between stuff….is he really like that? So, Sheen does a great job with what he is given, again. But the character is just so weird and again, very little continuity throughout.

Tom Sturridge plays Sergeant Troy. This character is a huge asshole and Tom Sturridge plays him perfectly. If I met Tom Sturridge on the street, I would want to slap him because I hate him. That is a good sign for an actor.

Juno Temple…another one I love. She is slowly becoming a bigger name, but deserves so much more. In this, she plays Fannie, Sergeant Troy’s first sweetheart. He didn’t deserve her. And I love Juno Temple, so she can do no wrong.

Overall, it’s an okay movie. I won’t pay for it again. I rented it and I’m glad I didn’t buy it. But if it comes on tv, I’ll watch it. If you want to watch it, you won’t hate it. But I don’t recommend running out and grabbing it any which way. The cinematography was BEAUTIFUL. The way they used light was lovely.

So, since I mentioned Matthias Schoenaerts as my reason for going ahead and watching these, lemme talk about my feelings for him in these. He is very strange. Watching interviews with him and seeing his artwork, he seems to be a ball of chaotic energy, but in both of these movies, he is the calm figure that the others bounce around. I watched the beginning of Rust and Bone, but then my internet went out and I wasn’t able to finish it without paying for it again (which I intend to do). And of course, I ADORE The Old Guard. That’s another one where he plays against what seems to be his personality type. I also love The Drop (seriously, one of my all-time favorite movies and if you haven’t seen it, go watch it NOW). That character seems to be a bit more on his level with the chaos, but I hope not with the assholeishness.

Either way, he was stunningly beautiful in these movies. Kate Winslet adored working with him and says that he was so sweet about their sex scene because she was pregnant and felt like shit. His hair is awful in A Little Chaos, but I’ll forgive him, this time.

Anyway, watch A Little Chaos at some point. And I guess you should watch Far From The Madding Crowd at some point too, but don’t pay for it if you don’t have to. Go watch The Old Guard and The Drop RIGHT NOW. Those are much better movies of his. Go watch Rust and Bone and I will watch the rest of it soon.

In A Little Chaos.  Seriously....why would they do this with his hair.

And in Far From The Madding Crowd.  See....much better. And I see you, dude in the background looking at him. I agree, he is definitely a snack.

[dukereviewstv]

Duke Reviews Tv: Batman: The Animated Series 1x01 On Leather Wings

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews TV, Where Today We Start Look At One Of The Best Animated Series Of All Time, Batman: The Animated Series...

What Can I Say About This Series Other Than It Gave Us The Best Batman And Joker Voices Ever? Well, All I Can Truly Say Is That It's Obvious That Everyone Who Worked On This Series Has Great Love For Batman As The Background And Character Designs Throughout The Series Are Fantastic...

So, What Better Way To Start Our Then Start With The First Episode, On Leather Wings....

This Episode Sees A Mysterious Creature Terrorizing Gotham, Leaving The Police Very Little Choice But To Pursue Batman...

Will The Dark Knight Clear His Name?

Let's Find Out As We Watch On Leather Wings...

The Episode Starts With All Quiet In Gotham City, That Is Until A Giant Half Bat/Half Human Creature Flies Past The Gotham Air One Blimp...

Quick Fun Fact: One Of The Policeman In The Blimp Is Voiced By Kevin Conroy, The Voice Of Batman...

And Breaks Into Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, Assaulting An Officer And Stealing Assorted Chemicals From Laboratories With This Being The Latest In A Series Of Break-Ins At Pharmaceutical Companies...

The Report From The Blimp And The Wounded Guard Leads Detective Bullock (Played By Joey Tribbiani's Father) After An Unauthorized Interview with The Gotham Glaser, To Petition Mayor Hill For A Special Task Force To Eliminate The Strange "Batman" That Has Appeared Around The City...

But Despite Commissioner Gordon Refusing As It's Not Batman's M.O., Mayor Hill Authorizes Bullock's Task Force Due To His Reputation Of Getting Results And Harvey Dent Promises Bullock Immunity If He Nabs The Bat...

Realizing He's Being Set Up, Batman Investigates The Robberies By Sneaking Into The Crime Scene By Using Knock Out Gas On The Guard...

Spotted By 2 Scientists Who Are About To...

I Know It's A Kids Show But It's Implied That They Were Going To And If This Was A Horror Movie, They'd Be Dead...

As I Was Saying, Spotted By 2 Scientists, They Call The Police Leading To Bullock Calling His Squad To The Scene....

Investigating The Area, Batman Finds An Audio Tape Of The Creature's Cry Along With Some Hair Samples...

Bullock's Task Force Tries To Trap Batman At The Crime Scene But They Just End Up Blowing Up The 3rd Floor Of The Building While Batman Escapes With The Samples...

Taking The Samples To The Gotham Zoo As Bruce Wayne, He Meets A Married Couple On Staff, Dr. Kirk Langstrom (Voiced By Marc Singer) And Dr. Francine Langstrom (Voiced By Meredith MacRae)

Quick Fun Fact: Meredith MacRae Is The Daughter Of Gordon MacRae Who Starred In 2 Movie Versions Of Rodgers And Hammerstein Musicals, Carousel And Oklahoma...

But MacRae Herself Is Mainly Known For Starring In The TV Show, Petticoat Junction...

Anyway. They Work With Francine's Father, Dr. March (Played By Rene Auberjonois) Who Likes Bats More Than He Does Humans, Insisting That They'll Survive The Next Evolutionary Cataclysm Where Humans Won't...

Asking The Zoologists To Analyze The Evidence From The Crime Scene, Citing A Pest Problem, They Agree To Help Bruce Do That...

Returning To The Batcave, The BatComputer Has Been Unable To Match Either The Sounds Or The Hairs To Any Species Known To Man..

With March Calling Back, He Tells Bruce That The Hairs Are Of A Common Brown Bat While The Sound Is A Mixture Of Brown Bats And Starlings Fighting Over A Nest In The Chimney, Taking It To The BatComputer, The Explanation Proves False...

Believing March Is Lying, Batman Returns To The Laboratory Night To Investigate...

(Start At 0:05, End At 1:26)

Recoiling At The Sight Of Francine Who Came To The Lab When She Heard The Noise, Kirk Leaves In Shame With Batman Right Behind Him When He Attaches His Grappling Hook To Man Bat's Leg...

During The Fight, Man Bat Drags Batman Through The Sky Across Half Of Gotham..,

Eventually Both Of Them Pass Gotham Air One And A Chopper That Has Bullock And Gordon On Board, Allowing Them To See That Man Bat And Batman Were In Fact 2 Different People..

Either Way, I Bet Gordon Is Going...

Finally Being Able To Subdue The Man Bat, Batman Takes Him Back To The Batcave Where He Analyzes The Chemical Makeup Of The Formula So He Can Come Up With An Antidote To Reverse The Transformation...

Taking An Unconsious But Fully Restored Kirk Back To The Zoo To His Wife, Batman Tells Her That It's Over...

I Wish I Could Say That Batman Was Right..,

This Episode Is A Great Start To The DCAU...

While Man Bat Is Not One Of The More Memorable Villains In Batman's Rogues Gallery (Hell, They Made Him Much More Villainous In The Batman Than Here) I Did Enjoy The Episode, The Story Was Interesting, The Acting Was Good And Man Bat Looked Pretty Good, Either Way, This Is An Episode I Say To Watch...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...