#the keating cult

[dominickeating-source]

Star Trek Magazine (2002)

As ENTERPRISE approaches the end of its opening season, we catch up with Dominic Keating to get his view of Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, weapons officer and action hero.

After several months of ENTERPRISE's grueling weekly shooting schedule, Dominic Keating is as energetic as he was on day one. "I'm still cheery!" he says. "It's going well. It's been a hell of a ride, but I've really found my place, and I'm having a great time. And they're starting to look at Malcolm quite closely, and that's really fun."

MAJOR EPISODE

Dominic's biggest show so far has been 'Shuttlepod One,' aired in February, and he was delighted with it. "Dare I say it was quite the best work I've ever put into a camera lens. Connor and I had an amazing time; the chemistry between us was electric. It was a great dynamic, and I think the fact that I'm English adds an extra angle for an American audience, just in that I would be the voice of reason. Malcolm isn't all doom and gloom, although Trip refers to him as the Grim Reaper; he bares his soul, and it's a very moving moment when you actually get to see inside the somewhat brittle shell of this army man. He's becoming a real, breathing, living human being. This episode was groundbreaking--I can't say it in any other way; you see a side of this man that's real and that's very touching and vulnerable, and I just hope that episode does not just sit out there and never happens again."

The actors suffered real-life discomfort while making the show. "They froze the stage!" says Dominic. "That was the hardest part of the whole filming. They brought the temperature down inside this igloo that they had built, and put the shuttlepod in there. In the script we had turned down the thermostat in the shuttle to conserve oxygen, so, space being as cold as it is, the temperature inside the shuttle drops to below zero, so they wanted to see our breath.

SUFFERING ON THE SET

"The gag kind of worked, but you weren't seeing enough breath, so it became a hell of a process, which took about a day to figure out. They literally shot 20 seconds at a time, and in between they just filled up the shuttlepod with liquid nitrogen and turned on six huge, massive air-conditioning units that made a real din. We shot for three days like that, and it was hard! It was freezing cold, very noisy, and it was hard to listen and hear, and you never really got a run at a scene. If I'd had to do another day I'm sure I could have dug it up from inside of me, but at the end of the third day, when we knew it was over, my knees just buckled. But, like I say, we put some incredible stuff in the camera, and I think it's one of the finest hours."

Previously, 'Silent Enemy' had made it clear that Malcolm is pretty hard to fathom, and even his parents didn't know what his favorite food was. Dominic says, "That episode brought the audience's attention to the fact that you don't know much about this guy, and actually by the end of the episode you still don't know that much about him! But I was glad they didn't try to wrap me up in an hour's show. It was a great forerunner to 'Shuttlepod One,' where you really get to see the mettle of this guy."

AVOIDING CLICHÉS

Had Dominic been aware there was more to come? "Not really, no--like every other show I've worked on, they keep us pretty much in the dark. We're like mushrooms; every now and again they open the door and shovel some scripts on us! But I'm glad he's not two-dimensional, and I'm glad they didn't just make him this gun-crazy, buttoned-down Brit. I was fearful that ultimately that's what was going to happen to me on the show, but they haven't done that. And I remember saying that to Rick Berman after they'd offered me the job and I went to meet them all, 'I don't want to become a talking head over a console that just happens to be English; the money's great and everything, but I'd pull my hair out! And it hasn't become that, and I'm really happy. My fear, though, is whether they know where to find a normal episodic voice for Malcolm, so that he actually gets to be in the shows when he's not doing something extraordinary every few episodes--a place where he has a normal voice with the captain and the rest of the crew."

Despite being an ensemble show, it's usual in STAR TREK for a pair or threesome to become the main focus of attention, whether deliberately or naturally arising out of the chemistry between the actors. "There was a moment when I was fearful that it was Trip, T'Pol, and the captain, and I rang Brannon [Braga] and he said, 'Well, just hang in there; there's a long way to go yet.' And then they started looking at him, and I'm really happy about that. But if they wheel him out once every seven shows and give him a really cracking go, then I can play golf and go to the beach the rest of the days, and learn how to direct, and do something else."

ENSEMBLE CAST

"I look at this show and I think, 'Why can't it be like 'er': just a bunch of people working.' I think it would be just as feasible to make all these characters real human beings who happen to work on a starship, and to give them real emotions and put them in real situations, either on an alien planet or just working with each other. I think there's room for a lot of drama between them on the ship, and I hope they do it; I don't know whether they will. They have something of a formula that they know works, but I think with this incarnation they seem to be going for more human drama."

Dominic feels close enough to his character to recognize that he's using some of his own personality traits to help portray Malcolm. "I don't want to make him altogether me because 'altogether me' is not Malcolm Reed. But there's certainly an element of me; I nearly joined the army as a 17-year-old, and I was a very keen cadet officer in school, and so I'm kind of playing him like I was when I was at school aged 17, quite frankly! That's what I'm referring to in my little library of the Dominics I know. That side of me is the one he's closest to, when I was a teenager and a serious student thinking about joining the army, but of course I liked running off to the pub as well, trying to kiss all the girls! So he's multifaceted, I hope, but it takes me a while as an actor to appreciate that a character can have contrasting and conflicting character traits that aren't completely in sync with one another. Sometimes I find myself pulling a face or laughing inside about something and I think, 'Oh stop it; that's not very Malcolm,' and then I realize it could easily be Malcolm and not just me. I'm really exploring the character just as much as the writers are."

Dominic is also enjoying the more boisterous scenes. "Another thing I like that they're doing for me, of course, is that being the tactical officer I get to be the action man. In 'Sleeping Dogs' we were on a Klingon ship and Malcolm is in the thick of it, and gets beaten up by this Klingon supermodel. It was hard work--somehow I signed up to do the stunt myself, and we were wearing EVA suits; and, man, that's quite a trip, getting beat up in an EVA suit!"

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

If there's anything Dominic is not 100 percent happy with, it's being called Malcolm. "At the first meeting, apart from saying I didn't want him to be this and that, I also said, 'And do we have to call him Malcolm?' They must have listened because there's a moment in ˜Shuttlepod One™ where I have a dream sequence and I think we've been rescued and, as Archer and the doctor are leaving sickbay, T'Pol is hanging around, and then starts coming on to me and telling me that Vulcan's can't resist heroism and I acted unlike the rest of my species. She says, ˜May I call you Malcolm?™ and I say that that's fine but I've never liked the name because I always thought it was a bit too stuffy!"

TV AND FILM ROLES

Dominic's career back home in the UK included a regular role for six years on the comedy show, "Desmond's" as well as guest spots on major TV drama shows, including "Inspector Morse™ He has lived in the States for several years, and was already becoming familiar to TV audiences thanks to guest spots on "G Vs E" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and most recently, "The Immortal" in which he had a recurring role. I played the Prince of Darkness! That was really fun to do. And I've got a movie coming out called "The Hollywood Sign" with Burt Reynolds, Tom Berenger, and Rod Steiger, playing my first American role - I went to this audition for a part as a mob guy from New York, and they bought it and gave me the job! I showed up on the first day of shooting with an English accent, and they said, "What the...™

But for the next few years, Dominic's career will be centered on STAR TREK. Is he happy at the prospect? "Yeah, I am. It was a consideration for about nought point three seconds, but I'm at a time in my life where I want what this will give me, which is security. If I finish STAR TREK in seven years and perhaps do a couple of movies with these guys, that'll be great. And I'm going to start directing; I'm at the LA Film School and am taking classes there. I have to inform Rick [Berman] somewhere down the road that I'd like to direct, and if I show him that I really want to do it, he'll let me. They're wonderful like that."

FUTURE PROSPECTS

As for performing, I'm a good actor, I think.- if I can blow my own trumpet -"and a versatile one; and with a bit of luck, and a producer or director with some imagination, I could certainly go on and do other stuff that's far removed from STAR TREK. But if STAR TREK is the rest of my acting career from here on in, fine " particularly if they write stuff for me like "Shuttlepod one" I was utterly thrilled and complete doing that; it was everything I would ever want to do in front of a camera.

BIOGRAPHY

Dominic Keating was born in Leicester, England. Cast in a school play while at prep school, he developed an interest in acting that continued during boarding school, where he had the lead role in a Shakespearean play. He then attended University College in London, studying for a BA in history, but also continued to perform in several theater productions; his credits to date include "Live Class™ ,˜Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead","The Christian Brothers", and "The Best Years of Your Life."

While still in the UK, Dominic played the regular role of Tony in popular sitcom, "Desmonds" which ran for six years, and guested in one of Britaina's most popular TV detective shows, "Inspector Morse™ He moved to Los Angeles a few years back, and is best known to American TV audiences for guest roles in ˜The Immortal,™ in which he played the roll of Mallos, ˜G vs E",˜Special Unit 2,˜Buffy the Vampire Slayer,™ and ˜Poltergeist: The Legacy.™

He has also had several big-screen roles; he starred in ˜Jungle2Jungle™ opposite Tim Allen and Martin Short, and appeared in the Academy Award-winning movie ˜Almost Famous,™ and before signing on for ENTERPRISE, he filmed ˜The Hollywood Sign™ with Burt Reynolds. He also plans to take up directing, and is currently studying at the LA Film School.

Source: www.dominickeating.com

[the-watcher-in-the-sky]

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

A far as hammer films go I'd say it's 4.5/10.

The location, the costumes, the acting are all really good. The story has a good build up, but the finale was a little stupid for my tastes and what I used to in Hammer Films.

[octaviasdread]

the dead poets are not good at whispering or even subtlety in general

so what does everyone at welton think is happening?

a cult? a really extreme homework club? an amateur shakespeare society?

whatever is happening causes charlie to willingly spend time with cameron, knox to run around reciting love poetry, and neil & todd to scream shakespeare at the lake and throw desk sets from the school roof

…does the society look like a matchmaking group from the outside!??

genuinely, I will die on the hill that stick and the sneezing boy know all about the club, they are literally sat eating with them when neil pulls out keating’s yearbook

so these two clearly want nothing to do with this mess, but the rest of the class? how do they explain a study group going rogue?

[anistarrose]

do you ever think about how Wonderland, via the “trust or forsake” game, encourages contestants to make morally questionable and often costly decisions in pursuit of an ultimately hopeless goal? how contestants start off so determined to win a prize they were promised, but never had a chance at receiving — then slowly, become more and more desperate just to survive, and are being prompted to “forsake” others throughout both phases? 

now, do you ever think about Edward and Lydia’s backstory? how they joined a necromantic circle, hoping they could save their ill younger brother, but failed, and from there they were led to lichdom? to eternal life, eternal survival, perpetuated each time they forsake any former compassion they may have held for mortals’ lives?

what did the other necromancers promise them when they joined that cult? were they told they’d surely be able to save Keats — that surely, that prize would await them at the end of this dark and dangerous road? what about what they were told when they consigned their souls to lichdom? nothing justifies the horrors Edward and Lydia perpetuated in Wonderland, but they were not sent down this path alone. it’s questionable whether or not they’re reliable narrators of their story, but it’s still very plausible that they didn’t have ill intentions at the start. 

in modern times, they're proud of the ruthless path that won them immortality, but... they still compare their resolve in the face of adversity to that of three contestants whom they plan to body-snatch and murder. they see themselves in the heroic quest that they plan to quash! they implicitly acknowledge that no amount of suffering, or determination, or even calculated ruthlessness can save any of them! because in the end, the only things that save THB, the rest of the IPRE, and the multiverse as a whole, are the very things Lydia and Edward turned their backs on? simply trust, and bonds!

[tinadablackthorn]

my thoughts while watching dps:

SPOILER ALERT !!!!!!!

oh my god why do all the guys look the same, i can barely remember movie characters names as is. this is just gonna make it harder 😭

neil is so adorable, i’ll punch anyone who hurts him

fuck neil’s dad not letting him do the school annual honestly i already don’t like him

omg they’re going to make asian parents so proud. neil gonna go to med school. those two other guys idk their names, mr future lawyer and me future banker

mr keating making the students rip the pages j evans pritchard wrote i’m not sure if he has a severe grudge on that guy as if he’s insulted his mom or he’s just a cool teacher

i made my mind. he’s a really cool teacher and i wish every teacher was like that

“poetry, beauty, romance, love.. it’s the reason most people stay alive.”

omg they’re gonna go to the cave that’s for the dead poets society???????

awwww todd is so cuteeee <33333

i swear to god these boys look like they’re trying to start a cult. sneaking out in the middle of the night wearing long black cloaks and hiding in a cave to tell stories and dancing around the fire

“truth is like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold. you push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough. you kick say it, beat it, it’ll never cover any of us. from the moment we enter crying, to the moment we leave dying, it’ll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream.” i swear, who hurt my child todd? i’m gonna kill them

ew i hate party scenes in movies, esp if it’s like a teenage club. it’s a really big ick for me

I SAID I HATE NEIL’S DAD FUCK HIM FUCK HIM neil literally not the lead role in the play that’s the next day, can’t he tell his dad he’ll quit tomorrow????

broooOo neil was so good in the play it was amazing!!!!!!!!

FUCK NEIL’S DAD FUCK NEIL’S DAD FUCK NEIL’S DAD FUCK HIM HE CAN’T SEND NEIL TO A MILITARY SCHOOL AND THEN MED SCHOOL TF DOES HE REALISE NEIL HAS A LIFE TOO

HOLY SHIT NEVER MIND NEIL DOES NOT HAVD A LIFE ANYMORE

IM CRYING

IM CRYINGG.

NEIL WHYYYYYY

YOU COULDVE JUST RAN AWAY

😭😭😭

THEY’RE ALL CRYING PLEASE NOOOO

BRO TODD’S REACTION BROKE ME

HE’S SAYING IT’S HIS FATHERS FAULT. HIS FATHER KILLED HIM

TODD NOO DONT GO

maybe he just needs alone time

mr keating noooo don’t cry

OMGGG CAMERON ACTUALLY WENT AND TOLD THE SCHOOL SO NOT THEY’RE AFTER MR KEATING ????

he actually believed the school???

GO NUWANDA GO PUNCH CAMERON’S ASS

OHMYGOD DID THEY ALL ACTUALLY SIGN THE PAPERS AGAINST ME KEATING??

TODD NO SIR SIT DOWN THAT’S EMBARRASSING

AWWW NO ACTUALLY THAT’S SO CUTE

AWWW

WAIT WHAT NO THAT’S THE END????

THAT CANT BE THE END WHAT

OH WOW

OH MY GOD I WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THIS

OHMYGOD

[black-cat-showdown]

Welcome to the Black Cat Showdown!!

There's so many famous black cats out there, fictional or real. But Wich one is the ultimate kitty cat? Lets find out!!

FAQ <- If you have any questions ask them on that post! Propaganda is also allowed and encouraged!!

Link to full tournament brackets here!!

(full list of participants names under the cut!!)

The tournament will start on Saturday April 1st!!

Link to FAQ <- seriously read it before sending questions lmao

Here are all 108 participants!!

• 808 (Hi-Fi Rush) • Aldwyn (The Familiars) • Amanojaku (GhostStories) • Archie (Tales Of Arcadia) • Assisticat (CardFight) • Bagheera (Jungle Book) • Berlioz (The Aristocats) • Black Cat (The Price by Neil Gaiman) • Blackie (Chi's Sweet Home) • Blair (Soul Eater) • Bonifacy (Przygody Kota Filemona) • Cat card (Inscryption) • Catty Noir (Monster High) • Chito (Flying Witch) • Chococat (Sanrio) • Chrono's cat (Chrono Trigger) • Constable Whiskers (Cookie Run) • Cosmic Creepers (Bedknobs & Broomsticks) • Domino (Amphibia) • Doom (Ruby Gloom) • Faithful (The Song Of The Lioness) • Fastelavnstønde katten • Felix the cat • Gareth (Time Cat) • Giovanni (Spiritfarer) • Gobbolino (Gobbolino The Witch's Cat) • Hollyleaf (Warrior Cats) • Hresvelgion Whisker (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) • Ichigo (Tokyo Mew Mew) • Isis (Star Treck) • Jack (Mad Rat Dead) • Jenny Linski (Esther Averill books) • Jiji (Kiki's Delivery Service) • Jinx (@bigfootjinx) • Keats (Professor Layton) • Kevin (Vanessa Stockard's paintings) • Kiki (Animal Crossing) • Kitten-Shark (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) • Kittie Softpaws (Puss In Boots) • Kofu (@straycatj) • Koshekh (Welcome to Night Vale) • Kuro (Doko Demo Issy) • Kuro (Blue Exorcist) • Kuro (Servamp) • Kuroneko-sama (Trigun) • Litten (Pokemon) • Lucifer (Cinderella 1950) • Lucy-furr (Jackson's Diary) • Luna (Sailor Moon) • Mae Borowski (Night In The Woods) • Malame (Flappy Dragons) • Mao Mao (Mao Mao) • Maxwell (-the dancing cat) • Mewo (OMORI) • Midnight (Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones) • Miles (Emily the Strange) • Minino (Hooky) • Miss Kitty Fantastico (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) • Mittens (Bolt) • Mog (Meg and Mog) • Momo (Google Halloween doodles) • Morgana (Persona 5) • Mr Mew (The World Ends With You) • Mr. Midnight (Fran Bow) • Mr. Mistoffelees (Cats) • Nargacuga (Monster Hunter) • Narinder (Cult Of The Lamb) • Naught (Naught) • Neko (Genshin Impact) • Nicol Ascart (Hamefura) • Nyanpire (Nyanpire) • Pantherlily (FairyTail) • Pete (Pete the Cat) • Pete the Cat (Mickey Mouse and Friends) • Pib (Dimension 20 Neverafter) • Plagg (Miraculous LadyBug) • Pluto (The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe) • Purrsephone & Meowlody (Monster High) • Ravage (Transformers) • Ravenpaw (Warrior Cats) • Rhiow (The Book of Night with Moon) • Sakamoto (Nichijou) • Salem Saberhagen (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) • Schrödinger's cat • Tama (Dragon Ball) • Smokey (Neko Atsume) • Siren (Suite Precure) • Snowball II (The Simpsons) • Somber Kitty (May Bird trilogy) • Sosa's cat (YUPPIE PSYCHO) • Spinel sun (Sakura Cardcaptor) • Sylvester (Looney Tunes) • Takkun (FLCL) • Thackery Binx (Hocus Pocus) • The Bean (#void watch) • the Beast (Fatum Betula) • The cat/Vermin (Coraline) • The Cat (Ghost Trick) • The Cat (Please Say Something) • The Cat (Little Kitty, Big City) • The Kitten (Kitbull) • Tuxedo cat (Minecraft) • Unico Uni (@uniconiuni3) • Vodka Mutini (Homestuck) • Witch's cat (minecraft) • Xiaohei (The Legend of Xiaohei) • Yoruichi (Bleach) • Yuni (Mewkledreamy)

[mercy-misrule]

One of things I find interesting (very sad) about American politics is the way they experience so much political trauma that they romanticise and idealise previous completely evil politicians because their current ones are so terrible.

Thinking about the way there's 'oh soft grandpa!' about George W Bush, responsible for some of the most heinous acts of bigotry and violence imaginable.

And I wonder why Australia doesn't have something similar. We love to ape America, after all.

Partially because we don't have the cult of the individual like America, and over the past two decades, we've proven that our political leaders will get cut and replaced at the drop of a hat.

I guess we have it a little, Bob Hawke gets talked about with his larrikin charm, drinking his world record speed beer. Keating gets idolised as this fast talking quip slinging master.

John Howard, a blight on our country only gets mentioned in current political discussion with his gun reforms (which was the only good thing he did).

Fucking Kennett, who devastated Victoria's educational system, gets praise for beyond blue, the mental health service he champions. I should be allowed to REDACTED FOR THE ASIO OFFICER MONITORING MY ACCOUNT'S PLEASURE Kennett

[carlsdarling]

Playlist

Ok this is probably the weirdest combination of songs you’ve ever seen… there is a reason none of my friends wants to listen to any music with me. But it’s what I listen to when I write and I get a lot of inspiration from it… (yes a lot of 80’s, I just love the spirit of 80’s music a lot, and also some German bands)

Tags: @enid-rhees @wh0reishslxtsstuff

Ease My Mind - The Faim Scorpions – Send Me An Angel Don Henley – The Boys Of Summer The Hunna – Flickin‘ your hair Nightwish – Bless the child Nightwish – End Of All Hope Sirenia – The Path to Decay Sirenia – Lost In Life Blue Oyster Cult – Don’t Fear The Reaper America – The Last Unicorn U96 – Love Sees No Colour Alter Bridge – This Is War Alter Bridge – Open Your Eyes Seether feat. Amy Lee– Broken Pharao – There Is A Star Republica – Out Of The Darkness Bryan Adams – Summer of 69 Thirty Seconds To Mars – This Is War Genesis – In Too Deep Blackmore’s Night – World Of Stone The Cranberries – Zombie Good Charlotte – Life Changes The Killers – Run For Cover The Killers – When You Were Young Biffy Clyro – Black Chandelier Low Shoulder – Through The Trees Madonna – Live To Tell Whitesnake – Is This Love Ronan Keating – Iris Papa Roach – Feel Like Home Guano Apes – Living In A Lie Johnny Cash – Hurt Def Leppard – Hysteria The Naked And Famous – Young Blood The Naked And Famous – Rolling Waves The Naked And Famous – Punching In A Dream Breaking Benjamin – Diary Of Jane Fury In The Slaughterhouse – I won’t forget these days Prime Circle – Ghosts Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill My Chemical Romance – Helena Sunrise Avenue – Little Bit Love Rea Garvey – Can’t Say No Kings Of Leon– This Sex Is On Fire Steven Tyler, Red, White And You Churches – Leave A Trace Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight ASP – Ungeschickte Liebesbriefe RIVO DREI – Wie Flugzeuge Max Giesinger – Legenden Silbermond - Symphonie Oomph – Augen Auf Eisblume – Eisblumen Echt – Du trägst keine Liebe in dir Unheilig – Geboren, um zu leben Avril Lavigne -Losing Grip White Lies – Bigger Than Us Mumford & Sons – Ditmas Bryan Adams – Run To You U2 – City Of Blinding Lights Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Face Down The Fray – You Found Me Lifehouse – Hanging By A Moment Lifehouse – Everything Lifehouse - Broken Kim Petras – Can’t Do Better Placebo – Every you, every me Counting Crows – Colorblind Puddle of Mudd – Blurry HIM – Heartache Every Moment HIM – Venus Doom HIM – Behind The Crimson Door HIM – Poison Girl Creed – Higher Sum 41 – Fat Lip Lee Ann Womack – I Hope You Dance Angels And Airwaves – Surrender Staind – Outside Staind – So Far Away Whitney Houston – It’s Not Right But It’s Ok (Thunderpuss Mix) Incubus – Wish You Were Here Disturbed – Prayer Blink-182 – What’s my age again

[dominickeating-source]

BBC Interview (2005)

Actor Dominic Keating, who has just finished up a four year stint playing weapons expert Lt Malcolm Reed on sci-fi TV series Star Trek: Enterprise visited Swindon on Thursday 12th May.

Dominic was here to meet fans and sign autographs at TV and movie memorabilia store Infinitely Better. But beforehand, he found time to speak to BBC Wiltshire's Daniel Garrett about his time on the show.

He told of his feelings on working on what may be the last Star Trek series for several years and what the atmosphere was like on the set leading up to the final episode.

Dominic also revealed which were his favourite episodes to work on, his own ideas for a Star Trek series and best of all - his exclusive rendition of the series' much-maligned theme tune with some rather risqué new lyrics!

Source: www.dominickeating.com & BBC

[the-watcher-in-the-sky]

[self-shipping-doll13]

Edwin Henry Landseer - Scene from Midsummer Night’s Dream (Detail) // Hippie Death Cult - Sanctimonious // Pierre-Charles Comte - The Secret Rendevous // Marie Spartali Stillman - Love’s Messenger (Detail) // Carol Rifka Brunt - Tell The Wolves I’m Home // Anne Sexton - “The Fury Of Flowers And Worms. // Wladyslaw Czachórski - Resting Beauty (Detail) // Sara Teasdale - Sappho // John Keats - Ode to a Nightingale // Jean Ranc - Charles III As A Boy In His Study (Details) // L. Munir - Lazarus

[gaydeadpoets]

So, if the poets were teenagers now and they were all in Keatings university class for english literature or something like that- Keating would definitely be a professor who had to cancel some classes for the most absurd reasons. Here are the poets favourite reasons:

1) he has been arrested for protesting climate change then used his one phone call to tell someone to log into his laptop and send an email out to all his students informing them that class is cancelled because he is in prison, rather than asking them to bail him out so he could still go to the class

2) he found a stray dog and took it to the vets 10 minutes before class started. (He showed up for the last 30 minutes of class with the dog)

3) he was climbing a tree to retrieve a kitten then he fell out the tree

4) his house burned down because he burned his pasta on the stove and he had to stay with his weird cousin whoose house always smells of cheese even though she is lactose intolerant

5) He flew to Amsterdam for the weekend for a stag do with his friends then he wasn't in class for a whole week because he somehow ended up in England without a passport so he had to try to get back to America then none of his friends were there so he had to go back to Amsterdam to find his friends. He got back and found most of them in the hotel crying because they thought he was dead. His friends Barty and Joey were still missing though and they found Joey 4 days later but they had to get them out of a cult

[needle-noggins]

Tell me about your OCs, Sav

And I mean all of them. Or else.

13, 28, 31, A, H

AAAAAH okay i'm gonna go slightly out of order to introduce whoever is reading this to my personal brain blorbos. Fair warning all of these are TTRPG characters, mostly my NPCs save for the first two!

A. Why are you excited about this character?

Fanny Paine - ohhhh my beloved Trigun cowgirl OC. I'm so excited to see how her backstory kicks her in the ass (and by backstory, I DO mean her childhood best friend-turned-EOM member Nova).

Sylvie - my tiefling phantom rogue!! She was a joy to play and an absolute bullet in combat. Lethal and impossible to hit. She also was part of the conflict, being a double agent for the big bad's Vecna cult. I spent so much time texting the DM in secret during our sessions as if the BBEG and Sylvie were sending letters back and forth, telling him our whereabouts, before he'd drop in some cult mooks and we'd knock 'em dead. So fun.

Brie - Shadow Sorcerer and Secret goddess of fire! She's from my first campaign but still relevant because I have two groups playing in that world. In one group we have a ranger who denounced his cult to the fire god, so it'll be really fun to reveal that his god is actually the half-elf barmaid they keep seeing in every tavern, and she's way more chill than he thought.

Iris and Humboldt - ah yes. My older (late 50s) human wizard/leader of the largest adventuring guild in my dnd world and her autistic gnome husband who.... looks like Jack Black in Jumanji and accidentally brought on the apocalypse in our first campaign. They're my light academia escapism blorbos now and all they do is sit around and study magic in the coolest city in my world.

Ron - New NPC the party adopted, and he's an amnesiac, kinda undead paladin with spore druid flavoring. The party recently discovered he's.... well, he's Oberon. Not sure how he got here, but the Warlock's patron is Titania. Of the summer court. Yeah, that one. One of the party's quests right now is to retrieve Ron's memories and return him to Titania, and maybe the warlock will get *her* husband back from the Feywild. However, some mysterious figures want Ron dead....

Oh fuck I could also talk about Keats, Tarovir, Vaemyx... AAH too many. But I'm gonna stick to these big ones, plus Tarovir and Vaemyx have massive spoilers for my players D:

H. What trait do you admire most?

Fanny - girl's got gut. She really is "shoot first, ask questions later."

Sylvie - Resilience? She almost died, admitted she had been a spy, and almost got killed by the party all in one day. And then her best friend, the only one who trusted her, died. Thank god she ended up happy.

Brie - she loves her friends and loves to have fun. She's chaotic good in the funniest ways. When I play her I just get to be stupid.

Iris and Humboldt - THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. SO MUCH. SAVED EACH OTHER BACK TO BACK WHEN THE ALMOST DOOMED THE WORLD. Seriously, I rolled Iris' portent rolls and got an 18 and a 20 the day they summoned the BBEG. If it wasn't for that, Humboldt would have failed his death saves.

Ron - man look, he's just taking it day by day. He's very tired. But at least he has a lot of patience.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

Fanny - she wears mostly browns but has a blue undershirt. She looks best in blue!

Sylvie - blue and silver coded. Looks best in black and dark blues.

Brie - wears cream and blues, would look great in green!

Iris and Humboldt - blues/silvers and browns respectively

Ron - this man is covered in dirt. Like he deserves.

28. Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?

Yes - Sylvie, Iris

No - Fanny, Brie, Humboldt, Ron (he can't lie, doesn't like lies - he's Fey after all)

31. Who are they the most glad to have met?

Fanny - Charlie, her new friend who is an EOM reject. Fanny is a very protective momma bird.

Sylvie - her best friend, the elven druid Eldrid.... who died. It was really fucking sad, I miss that PC. They were in so many cahoots together.

Brie - the first party I ever DM'd, who adopted her <3

Iris and Humboldt - I could say each other, but really the party was the only reason they got together - they set them up on their first date!

Ron - He knows, like, 3 people.

[sapphiccharacterstournament]

Masterpost of every character who has already competed

If you want to request a character be included in a future bracket, check this list first to make sure they haven't already competed

Lena Adams Foster (The Fosters) Elida Al-Feyr (Vagrant Queen) Nyssa Al Ghul (Arrow) Cassie Ainsworth (Skins) Luisa Alver (Jane the Virgin) Winter Anderson (American Horror Story: Cult) Miss Audrey (Snowpiercer) Babs (A Series of Unfortunate Events) Saanvi Bahl (Manifest) Bambi (Minx) Josephine Barry (Anne with an E) Sister Beatrice (Warrior Nun) Bilquis (American Gods) Maya Bishop (Station 19) Sarah Bishop (A Discovery of Witches) Alana Bloom (Hannibal) Cheryl Blossom (Riverdale) Anne Bonny (Black Sails) Kelly Booth (Black Mirror) Nova Bordelon (Queen Sugar) Nancy Botwin (Weeds) Dana Bryant (Mythic Quest) Robin Buckley (Stranger Things) Lena Burnham (Ray Donovan) Calliope Burns (First Kill) Delia Busby (Call the Midwife) Amanita Caplan (Sense8) Wendy Carr (Mindhunter) Chanel #3 (Scream Queens) Max Chapman (A League of their Own) Piper Chapman (Orange is the New Black) Denise Christopher (Timeless) Grace Choi (Black Lightning) Cassandra Cillian (The Librarians) Jade Claymore (Willow) Dani Clayton (The Haunting of Bly Manor) Raelle Collar (Motherland: Fort Salem) Dulcie Collins (Deadloch) Delphine Cormier (Orphan Black) Theo Crain (The Haunting of Hill House) Frannie Crowne (Brave New World) Moiraine Damodred (The Wheel of Time)

Alex Danvers (Supergirl) Ashley Davies (South of Nowhere) Carina DeLuca (Station 19) Jo Deluca (A League of Their own) Bo Dennis (Lost Girl) Clare Devlin (Derry Girls) Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) Franky Doyle (Wentworth) Camina Drummer (The Expanse) Waverly Earp (Wynona Earp) Kat Edison (The Bold Type) Philippa Eilhart (The Witcher) Mabel Elmsworth (The Buccaneers) Camile Engelson (Stitchers) Eretria (The Shannara Chronicals) Isobel Evans (Roswell New Mexico) Dana Fairbanks (The L Word) Juliette Fairmont (First Kill) Emily Fields (Pretty Little Liars) Veronica Fisher (Shameless) Fleabag (Fleabag) Flower (Ghosts) Gabrielle (Xena: Warrior Princess) Lupe Garcia (A League of Their Own) Bibi Garvey (Bad Sisters) Mirror Philippa Georgiou (Star Trek: Discovery) Gigi Ghorbani (The L Word: Gen Q) Stella Gibson (The Fall) Sue Gilbert (Dickinson) Emily Grace (Murdoch Mysteries) Yara Greyjoy (Game of Thrones) Monet de Haan (Gossip Girl) Judy Hale (Dead to Me) Yuri Han (XO, Kitty) Millie Harcourt (The Bletchley Circle) Nicole Haught (Wynonna Earp) Lauren Heller (Younger) Emma Hernandez (Vida) Pamela Isley (Batwoman) Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5) Bradley Jackson (The Morning Show) Alice Jones (Once Upon a Time) Tara Jones (Heartstopper) Quinn Joseph (Harlem) Kate (One Mississippi) Annalise Keating (How to Get Away with Murder) Tina Kennard (The L Word) Kennedy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Yasmin Khan (Doctor Who)

Aneela Kin Rit (Killjoys) Camille L'Espanaye (The Fall of the House of Usher) Victorine LaFourcade (The Fall of the House of Usher) Lagertha (Vikings) Shelly Lambert (Minx) Sara Lance (Arrowverse) Lauren Lewis (Lost Girl) Lexa (The 100) Maggie Lin (Saving Hope) Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack) Veronica Lodge (Riverdale) Santana Lopez (Glee) Lucretia (Spartacus) Lyria (The Shannara Chronicals) Tara Maclay (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Elizabeth Macmillan (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) Queen Maeve (The Boys) Maggie (Good Omens) Sofia Marchetti (Sex Education) Margot (Once Upon a Time) Bess Marvin (Nancy Drew) Cara Mason (Legend of the Seeker) Max (Black Sails) Katherine Mayfair (Desperate Housewives) Ally Mayfair-Richards (American Horror Story) Mazikeen (Lucifer) Shane McCutcheon (The L Word) Betty McRae (Bomb Girls) Lake Meriwether (Love, Victor) Freya Mikaelson (The Originals) Sandy Milkovich (Shameless) Mabel Mora (Only Murders in the Building) Ellen Morgan (Ellen) Rory Morningstar (Lucifer) Aleesha Morrison (Upload) Hayes Morrison (Conviction) Blanche Mottershead (Upstairs Downstairs)

Mulan (Once Upon a Time) Leighton Murray (Sex Lives of College Girls) Raffi Musiker (Star Trek: Picard) Susie Myerson (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) Nadja (What We Do in the Shadows) Nicky Nichols (Orange is the New Black) Nico (Vida) Nina (Good Omens) Allie Novak (Wentworth) Dani Núñez (The L Word: Gen Q) Ola Nyman (Sex Education) Shona O'Keefe (This Way Up) Kelly Olsen (Supergirl) Van Palmer (Yellowjackets) Marjorie Palmiotti (Veep) Gail Peck (Rookie Blue) Aline Penhallow (Shadowhunters) Valencia Perez (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) Laura Peterson (The Morning Show) Lindsay Peterson (Queer as Folk) Anissa Pierce (Black Lightning) Brittany S. Pierce (Glee) Naomi Pierce (Succession) Alice Pieszecki (The L Word) Eve Polastri (Killing Eve) Bette Porter (The L Word) Bill Potts (Doctor Who) Arthie Premkumar (GLOW) Amae Rali (Vagrant Queen)

Scylla Ramshorn (Motherland: Fort Salem) Amy Raudenfeld (Faking It) Logan Rawlings (Young & Hungry) Maia Rindell (The Good Fight) Arizona Robins (Grey's Anatomy) Eve Rothlo (How to Get Away with Murder) Root (Person of Interest) Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Kenya Rosewater (Defiance) Susan Ross (Seinfeld) Siuan Sanche (WoT) Ellaria Sand (Game of Thrones) Jenny Schecter (The L Word) Jinju Seong (Snowpiercer) Seven of Nine (Star Trek: Voyager & Star Trek: Picard) Toni Shalifoe (The Wilds) Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife) Carson Shaw (A League of Their Own) Sameen Shaw (Person of Interest) Leslie Shay (Chicago Fire) Amy Silva (Vigil) Bea Smith (Wentworth) Petra Solano (Jane the Virgin) Rose Solano (Jane the Virgin) River Song (Doctor Who) Kitty Song Covey (XO, Kitty) Serena Southerlyn (Law & Order) Zelda Spellman (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) Maya St. Germain (Pretty Little Liars) Moira Strand (The Handmaid’s Tale) Della Street (Perry Mason) Tamsin (Lost Girl) Kit Tanthalos (Willow) Stahma Tarr (Defiance) Jamie Taylor (The Haunting of Bly Manor) Thirteen (House, MD) Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who) Tara Thornton (True Blood) Bess Till (Snowpiercer)

Tituba (Salem) Toni Topaz (Riverdale) Callie Torres (Grey’s Anatomy) Fabiola Torres (Never Have I Ever) Taissa Turner (Yellowjackets) Two / Portia Lin (Dark Matter) Alex Vause (OITNB) Mel Vera (Charmed) Villanelle (Killing Eve) Karen Walker (Will & Grace) Martha Walker (Silo) Poussey Washington (Orange is the New Black) Ellen Waverly (For All Mankind) Kerry Weaver (ER) HG Wells (Warehouse 13) Sterling Wesley (Teenage Bounty Hunters) Nora West-Allen (The Flash) Jayne Wetherby (Dracula) Lucy Westenra (Dracula) Ilana Wexler (Broad City) Ryan Wilder (Batwoman) Carol Willick (Friends) Lana Winters (American Horror Story) Bernie Wolfe (Holby City) Camile Wray (Stargate Universe) Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess) Meh Yewll (Defiance) Yorkie (Black Mirror - San Junipero)

[thisworldisablackhole]

Wow wow wow. Finally finished up The Fall of Hyperion. These books have been taking me a while to get through, but now that I'm done, I almost wish I had read it slower. I straight up didn't want it to end.

I'm really glad that the first book in this series got all of the world building and character introductions out of the way, because this one was just cooking the entire way through. I was stunned by the amount of insane shit happening before even hitting the half way point of the book. There are just so many different elements at play here; you have the pilgrims on the ground of Hyperion, dealing directly with the trials and terror of the Shrike and his Tree of Thorns, the intergalactic war being waged between the Hegemony and the Ousters, the Keats persona acting as an information relay and flying through the datasphere to communicate directly with AI gods, the Templars and the Shrike Cult with their prophecies, and then the three factions of the TechnoCore being shady and pulling strings in the background the whole time. It's insane how Simmons' managed to hold all of these elements and vessels of storytelling together in a cohesive manner that never felt overwhelming or too confusing. The whole concept of timelines intersecting as things pertaining to the tombs ether traveled forward or backward in time kind of went over my head a bit, but it wasn't too much of an issue.

I'll admit the ending was a little corny/sloppy, for lack of a better word. It seemed like Simmons' was grasping at straws a bit in the final chapter just to tie up loose ends, and he also went a little off the rails with the philosophy of "God" and the "Power of Love" and the "Human Spirit" or whatever. I feel like he was trying to add deeper meaning where it wasn't really necessary, and it came across as a tad pretentious. There are two themes that really stuck out to me while reading this, and neither of them had anything to do with God or love or the human spirit. The first is sacrifice. Without giving away too many spoilers, almost every Pilgrim had their wish granted by the Shrike, albeit in a roundabout way with a caveat that caused them to sacrifice something great, even if that was their own life. The second was the theme of opening our arms to convenience and becoming it's captive. I think Simmons' take on how an over reliance on technology can have terrible consequences for the fate of humanity was actually quite nuanced and ahead of it's time considering this book was published in 1990. There are some very valuable lessons to be gained from this story.

Overall this book really went so far above and beyond the scope of the first, and I'm so glad I decided to take the plunge and see it through. It will probably be hard for any other sci fi novel to beat. I've heard that Endymion and The Rise of Endymion are not as good, but I just have to read them now. There were still so many questions left over at the end. Are there still more Shrikes lying in wait? What is really behind the door in the Shrike Palace?? I must know.

5/5