#British Comedian Fool

[aluminum-allium]

In honor of Last Week Tonight’s new season debuting TONIGHT I drew last season’s promo poster with Aria!

Here’s to a new season of the British comedian fool!!!

[besaya-glantaya]

In an attempt to exorcise these thoughts from my brain (this movie has taken up residence in my soul), here is an incomplete list of the things I notice and love in Red White and Royal Blue.

1. Henry staring in utter disbelief at the frosting-covered whiskey tumbler Alex plops distractedly into his hand whilst pawing ineffectually at the mess all over Henry's shoulder. Comedy gold.

2. Nora pretending she doesn't know either of them and hiding her face as they scuffle in front the cake.

3. How Alex has Henry literally in his pocket while talking turkey.

4. During Henry's "what does it mean" crisis talk over The Kiss, the entire scene is dressed in bi flag colours. Nora is in pink, Alex in blue, with a purple poster in the background.

5. The soft "whoa" of the white house staffer, who walks into Nora's office just in time to hear her ask Alex: "How many guys have you been with?" She hesitates, stunned, and then looks as if she'd like the ground to open up and swallow her now, thank you very much.

6. His Royal Hardness making flustered small talk with the UK Prime Minister and the US President, while the FSOTUS goes in for a cheeky squeeze. You ridiculous, giddy, fools.

7. Ellen's exasperated "my son thinks he's a fucking comedian" look in reply to Alex's "The night is young, Ma" and his shit eating grin, before diplomatically, and very sensibly, removing the British PM from the vicinity of these two horny idiots.

8. Alex's warm and teasing delivery of "Are they known for their homosexual tendencies?" after Henry says he's "as gay as a maypole." Boy is smitten.

9. When Henry invites Alex to the charity polo match, his initial awkward nerves transition to fond derision when Alex's tells him, crestfallen, that he doesn't know how to play polo. Bless.

10. Henry on a horse. Very much in agreement with Alex on this one.

11. The interleaved editing of the polo match and tack room shenanigans. It reminds me strongly of the interlaced 'what if' scene in Steven Sodenburg's Out of Sight, which is executed at a far slower pace but delivers that same feel of two people being inexorably drawn to each other, almost as if events are fated to happen.

12. The lighting in the Paris cafe scene. God damn those are two beautiful men.

13. Henry's gleefuly bashful admission of innuendo in the Paris cafe. He's just given Alex his full Royal name, but its Henry Fox that's in control here and he's revelling in bringing every moment of his inner fantasies to life.

14. The heartbreaking disconnect between their two perspectives in the Paris walk scene.

That's some bullshit

It's my life

Doesn't mean you have to accept it

Alex has spent his life pushing defiantly against societal expectations. Henry has spent his life weighed down by them, isolated in a way that Alex only barely grasps.

15. I wish, with all my heart, that the fairytale political landscape of this movie was real.

16. The entirety of the morning after scene in the hotel room during the DNC is perfection and Zahra is the MVP. Matthew Lopez said he had no idea he was going to get that mini panic attack from Sarah Shahi and kudos to Sarah for that perfomance. Inspired.

17. How quickly and assertively Alex say "No" to Zarah's "would it make any difference if I told you not to see him again?"

18. The way Zarah says "Everytime I see you, it takes another year off my life." This phrase plays on loop in my brain during shitty work meetings.

19. The coming out scene with Alex and his Mom. A joyous balm for those of us who never got to experience that with our own parents.

20. Forehead touches. Ugh.

21. My brother in Christ, sharpen your knives Oscar, what did that pepper do to deserve that?

22. The catatonic state of sadness that Henry exists in after swimming away from Alex. My heart hurts.

23. The pride flags in the crowd outside Buckingham Palace. Again, can we all have this universe, pretty please?

24. The way Henry takes Alex's hand with such ease in public after the election win. If only Paris Henry could see you now.

[Exorcism sequel here]

[panelshowsource]

I'm from Australia and grew up with BBC and British TV, but there are still references that take me by surprise. For example, you would believe the "Mitchell Brothers" were real celebrities and ran the entire UK with how many references are made to them, especially across panel shows. Do you experience this? I often /understand/ why certain references, like popular soaps, are, indeed, popular, but I'm still surprised by just how much they're talked about!

omg this is HILARIOUS and YES!!!

i think this will be very funny for any of my uk & ireland followers to read? hahaha

i get asked all the time whether i understand the cultural references on panel shows and in standup (i do!) — but no one has ever asked me if i'm surprised by them! but YES. the best example i can think of is i swear to gawd there was a period of the late 2000s/early 2010s (?) when it felt like you couldn't watch a single episode of any panel show and not hear a noel edmonds joke. noel edmonds. noel edmonds. do you understand how absolutely meaningless that name is to an american like me? but omg i've heard 10000000000000 noel edmonds jokes/references in my day — and it DID surprise me just how much he was on people's minds! and, like you, i get it: he's super famous and he's a good punchline. but still! him and omg fuckin mick hucknall. why. why. why. why is the british light entertainment industry so obsessed with mick hucknall and making jokes about mick hucknall and references to mick hucknall. again, a name that means nothing to americans. so yes very funny to me, as a foreigner, how of all the very very famous people to reference and joke about these are some of the ones that get it the most!

so without further ado i tried to list the british cultural references that i hear the most + that also have a tinge of that "every comedian in britain thinking about pat sharp at all times and has a joke about him at the ready" feeling hahaha

series: coronation street, eastenders, springwatch, crimewatch, doctor who, blue peter, only fools and horses, mrs brown's boys

music: mick hucknall/simply red, the pretenders (it's always "you look like both of the pretenders"), noddy holder/slade, ronan keating, robbie williams/take that, blue, JLS, (there are obv groups like five and s club 7 but they’re not referenced nearly as much,) chesney hawkes

people: the chuckle brothers, eamonn holmes, terry wogan, janet street-porter, moira stuart, jeremy clarkson, noel edmonds, pat sharp (i thought pat sharp was a character on eastenders for about 10 years but that's pat butcher, who is also referenced constantly), john leslie, parky

there are obvious plenty more culturally specific people, places, and things that are referenced and discussed, and it's worth mentioning a lot of this is coming from middle-aged white people, but sheeeeesh... noel edmonds!!! maybe i just notice them now? bc i'm still kinda surprised i'm hearing janet street-porter jokes in 2023?

but i love it! i hope this post makes sense hahaha

[hardynwa]

President-Elect: Seun Kuti encourages Nigerians for having the best of three evils

Popular Nigerian afrobeat singer Seun Kuti has broken his silence following the outcome of the 2023 presidential election. Speaking in a post shared on his Instagram page to address Nigerians, the singer, who had earlier stated that he was a fool when he campaigned in 1999 for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State, noted that Nigerians wanted the lesser of three evils but got the best of the evil. Seun wrote: “When you realize all your actors, musicians, politicians, business leaders, influencers, comedians are using your support and resources to become American and British citizens, so their children don’t exist with yours, maybe you will have sense enough to stop allowing them to direct your life. You wanted the lesser of the three evils, but you got the best.” Read the full article

[tygerbug]

It's interesting to include "The Thief and the Cobbler" in this list of 2D-animated Muslim heroes. The film was a major inspiration for Disney's "Aladdin." Aladdin was Chinese in prior versions of that story, but is here depicted as Persian, in a fictionalized kingdom inspired by Iran. Disney got this idea from "The Thief and the Cobbler."

It is difficult to talk about ethnic and religious identity in "The Thief," because the film is seen very much through a white British and Canadian lens, but also based on a sincere appreciation for traditional Persian and Indian art styles. "Aladdin" has the same basic problem. The depictions of some background characters are questionable or stereotypical, and characters are somewhat white-coded to appeal to UK and US audiences. It can be accused of Orientalism, although considering its origins in Richard Williams' 1960s illustrations for Idries Shah's Nasrudin books, we can consider the project well-intentioned for its time.

Anyway, here is what we know, or can infer, about these characters.

The film was originally developed in the 1960s in a very different form, as "The Amazing Nasruddin, or The Majestic Fool." While "The Thief and the Cobbler" is a fairytale set in the fictional "Golden City," the Nasruddin film takes a satirical look at a war between Persia and India. The invading army are nearly inhuman in "The Thief," while in Nasruddin both kingdoms have many similarities and are both satirized. This gives us a clearer sense of place. (The Miramax version states that The Golden City is Baghdad, in Iraq, which is incorrect.)

(The Majestic Fool screenplay exists, and is very overcomplicated compared to the final film, which is elegantly simplified.)

Princess Yum-Yum: Her father (King Nod) is a Persian King who presumably fought a war in India. Her late mother (seen only briefly in the non-canonical Calvert version) was Indian, and Yum-Yum clearly takes after her, as her appearance is a caricature of the Indian actress Rekha (Bhanurekha Ganesan) in the film Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978). Yum-Yum has a twin sister Mee-Mee who was mostly deleted from the film, appearing briefly in the Recobbled Cut. She is noticeably darker-skinned than her father. He has brown eyes, and she has unusual purple eyes. She is Muslim.

Tack the Cobbler: A Sufi-mystic Muslim originally from Turkey, living in the Golden City (originally in Persia, or modern-day Iran). Tack replaces the deleted character of Nasrudin, a well-known folk-hero Sufi mystic, and the original "wise fool." (For more on him, you can find Idries Shah's 1960s books illustrated by Richard Williams.) Tack is somewhat white-coded for the benefit of the film, as Tack has blue eyes and was inspired by silent film comedian Harry Langdon. He also has paper-white skin, but this is because he doesn't go outside; he tans quickly in the sun later in the film, and ends up with a skin tone similar to Yum Yum's. (It is possible that King Nod and Zigzag are also coded this way.)

Sufism (Arabic: الصُّوفِيَّة‎ aṣ-ṣūfiyya), also known as Tasawwuf (التَّصَوُّف‎ at-taṣawwuf), is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, asceticism, and esotericism.

The Thief: The Thief is nameless in the film, but his name on the Nasrudin-era model sheet is "Abdul Salaam," a name heavily coded as Arabic / Muslim. Richard Williams drew himself similarly to The Thief, and also believed the character resembled original lead Thief animator Ken Harris. Harris had been Chuck Jones' top animator, and the Thief has the persistence (and bad luck) of Wile E. Coyote, but is almost an unknowable force of nature like the Road Runner. He "existed" in The Golden City (originally in Persia, or modern-day Iran).

Chief Roofless and His Brigands: This band of thieves were originally the forty thieves of Ali Baba. (This is stated outright in a line of dialogue cut from the film but retained in the Recobbled Cut from Mk4 onward.) They are storybook characters, of myth and legend, who have gotten lost, wandering in the desert, and forgotten themselves. They are coded as drunken Irishmen, at least in their vocal performance. In deleted dialogue present in the "KA Reels," the Brigand Hoof dreams of the apocryphal Biblical temptress Salome. It is tempting to say that the Brigands are from "where stories come from," but we can also say that Salome is from New Testament-era Israel, and became a Queen of Armenia. "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is a folk tale in Arabic added to the One Thousand and One Nights in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab, in what is modern-day Aleppo.

A few 2D Muslim heroes

[lindsaywesker]

Deaths In 2022 (to date)

January

5: Jessie Lee Daniels a.k.a Jessie D, 57, American singer (Force MDs)

6: Peter Bogdanovich, 82, American film director (‘The Last Picture Show’/’Paper Moon’/’What’s Up Doc?’)

Sidney Poitier, 94, Bahamian actor (‘In The Heat Of The Night’/’Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?’

Calvin Simon, 79, American musician (Parliament/Funkadelic)

7: R. Dean Taylor, 82, Canadian singer/songwriter (‘Indiana Wants Me’/’There’s A Ghost In My House’)

8: Marilyn Bergman, 93, American songwriter (‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’/’The Way We Were’/’The Windmills Of Your Mind’)

9: James Mtume, 76, American songwriter/producer (‘The Closer I Get To You’/’Juicy Fruit’)

12: Ronnie Spector, 78, American R&B singer (The Ronettes)

13: Sonny Turner, 83, American soul singer (The Platters)

15: Jon Lind, 73, American songwriter/musician (‘Save The Best For Last’/’Crazy For You’)

Nino Cerruti, 91, Italian business man/stylist (founder of Cerruti)

18: Dick Halligan, 78, American musician (founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears)

20: Meatloaf, 74, American singer (‘I’d Do Anything For Love’) & actor (‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’)

21: Louie Anderson, 68, American comedian/actor (‘Coming To America’)

23: Thierry Mugler, 73, French fashion designer

February

2: Monica Vitti, 90, Italian actress (‘L’Avventura’)

6: Syl Johnson, 85, American soul and blues singer (father of Syleena)

8: Bamber Gascoigne, 87, English TV presenter (‘University Challenge’)

9: Betty Davis, 77, American soul and funk singer

Ian McDonald, 75, English musician (King Crimson/Foreigner)

12: Ivan Reitman, 75, Czechoslovak film director (‘Ghostbusters’/’Meatballs’)

16: Jack Smethurst, 89, English actor (‘Love Thy Neighbour’)

19: Gary Brooker, 76, English singer/songwriter/musician (Procol Harum)

22: Mark Lanegan, 57, American rock musician/singer (Queens Of The Stone Age)

24: Sally Kellerman, 84, American actress (‘M*A*S*H’)

27: MC Skibadee, 47, English drum & bass artist/MC

March

3: Denroy Morgan, 76, Jamaican singer/musician (father of Morgan Heritage)

4: Rod Marsh, 74, Australian cricket player

Shane Warne, 52, Australian cricket player

Lynda Baron, 82, English actress (‘Open All Hours’)

11: Timmy Thomas, 77, American soul singer (‘Why Can’t We Live Together?’)

12: Traci Braxton, 50, American soul singer (The Braxtons) (sister of Toni)

13: William Hurt, 71, American actor (‘Altered States’, ‘Broadcast News’)

25: Taylor Hawkins, 50, American drummer (Foo Fighters)

Bobby Hendricks, 84, American soul singer (The Drifters)

29: Donald Shaw a.k.a. Tabby Diamond, 66, Jamaican singer (The Mighty Diamonds)

April

1: Fitzroy Simpson a.k.a. Bunny Diamond, 70, Jamaican singer (The Mighty Diamonds)

C. W. McCall, 93, American country singer (‘Convoy’)

3: June Brown, 95, English actress (‘Eastenders’)

12: Gilbert Gottfried, 67, American comedian/actor (‘Saturday Night Live’/‘Aladdin’)

24: Andrew Woolfolk, 71, American saxophonist (Earth, Wind & Fire)

26: Klaus Schulze, German composer/musician (Tangerine Dream)

30: Naomi Judd, 76, American singer/songwriter (The Judds)

May

6: Jewell, 53, American R&B singer (First Lady Of Death Row Records)

8: Dennis Waterman, 74, English actor/singer (‘Minder’/’The Sweeney’)

15: Kay Mellor, 71, writer/actress (‘Families’/’Fat Friends’)

17: Vangelis, 79, Greek musician (Jon & Vangelis/’Chariots Of Fire’)

19: Bernard Wright, 58, American jazz and soul musician/singer

26: Ray Liotta, 67, American actor (‘Goodfellas’/’Field Of Dreams’)

Andy Fletcher, 60, English keyboardist (Depeche Mode)

29: Lester Piggott, 86, English jockey

June

5: Dom Phillips, 57, British music journalist (editor, Mixmag)

6: Jim Seals, 79, American singer/songwriter/musician (‘Summer Breeze’)

9: Julee Cruise, 65, American singer (‘Falling’)/actress (‘Twin Peaks’)

17: Ken Williams, 83, American songwriter (‘Everybody Plays The Fool’)

22: Patrick Adams, 72, writer/musician/producer (Musique/Universal Robot Band/Inner Life/Black Ivory)

July

4: Mona Hammond, 91, Jamaican actress (‘Desmonds’/’Eastenders’)

5: Manny Charlton, 80, Scottish rock guitarist (Nazareth)

6: James Caan, 82, American actor (‘The Godfather’/’Rollerball’)

8: Tony Sirico, 79, American actor (‘Goodfellas’/’The Sopranos’)

11: Monty Norman, 94, English composer (‘James Bond Theme’)

14: William Hart, 77, American soul singer (The Delfonics)

15: Paul Ryder, 58, English bass player (Happy Mondays)

21: Taurean Blacque, 82, American actor (‘Hill Street Blues’)

23: Bob Rafelson, 89, American film director (‘Five Easy Pieces’/’The Postman Always Rings Twice’)

24: David Warner, 80, English actor (‘Tron’/’Titanic’/’The Omen’)

25: Sandy Roberton, 80, Scottish record producer (Steeleye Span)

Paul Sorvino, 83, American actor (‘Goodfellas’/’Law & Order’)

27: Bernard Cribbins, 93, English actor/singer (‘The Railway Children’/’Doctor Who’)

Tom Springfield, 88, English musician/songwriter (The Springfields) (older brother of Dusty)

30: Nichelle Nichols, 89, American actress (‘Star Trek’)

August

5: Issey Miyake, 84, Japanese fashion designer

7: Roger E. Mosley, 83, American actor (‘Magnum, P.I.’)

8: Lamont Dozier, 81, American singer/songwriter/producer (‘Going Back To My Roots’)

Olivia Newton-John, 73, English singer/actress (‘Grease’)

9: Raymond Briggs, 88, English children’s writer (‘The Snowman’)

11: Anne Heche, 53, American actress (‘Psycho’/’Donnie Brasco’)

16: Duggie Brown, 82, English comedian/actor

18: Josephine Tewson, 91, English actress (‘Keeping Up Appearances’/’Last Of The Summer Wine’)

22: Creed Taylor, 93, American jazz trumpeter/founder of CTI Records

25, Inez Foxx, 84, American R&B singer (‘Mockingbird’)

September

2: Angus Gaye a.k.a. Drummie Zeb, 62, English reggae drummer (Aswad)

8: Mavis Nicholson, 91, Welsh writer/broadcaster

12: Ramsey Lewis, 87, American jazz pianist/composer

13: Jean-Luc Godard, 91, French film director (‘Breathless’)

Jesse Powell, 51, R&B singer (‘All I Need’)

16: Marva Hicks, 66, American R&B singer/actress

22: Stu Allan, 60, Welsh dance music artist (Clock)/radio broadcaster

John Hartman, 72, American drummer (The Doobie Brothers)

23: Louise Fletcher, 88, American actress (‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’)

24: Pharoah Sanders, 81, American jazz saxophonist

28: Coolio, 59, American rapper (‘Gangsta’s Paradise’)/actor

October

4: Loretta Lynn, 90, American country singer/songwriter

6: Ivy Joe Hunter, 82, American songwriter (‘Dancing In The Street’)

11: Angela Lansbury, 96, English actress (‘Murder She Wrote’)

13: Joyce Sims, 63, American R&B singer/songwriter (‘Come Into My Life’)

14: Robbie Coltrane, 72, Scottish actor/comedian (‘Cracker’/’Harry Potter’)

20: Bettye Crutcher, 83, American songwriter (‘Who’s Making Love?’)

Josephine Melville, 61, English actress (‘Eastenders’/’The Bill’)

24: Leslie Jordan, 67, American actor (‘Desperate Housewives’/’Will & Grace’/’Ally McBeal’)

27: Geraldine Hunt, 77, American R&B singer (‘Can’t Fake The Feeling’)

28: Jerry Lee Lewis, 87, American singer/musician (‘Great Balls Of Fire’)

November

1: Takeoff, 28, American rapper (Migos)

3: Noel McKoy, 62, English soul singer

5: Aaron Carter, 34, American singer

Tyrone Downie, 66, Jamaican keyboardist (Bob Marley & The Wailers)

7: Leslie Phillips, 98, English actor (‘Doctor In The House’/’Carry On’ films)

8: Dan McCafferty, 76, Scottish rock singer (Nazareth)

9: Gal Costa, 77, Brazilian singer

11: Keith Levene, 65, English guitarist (The Clash/Public Image Ltd.)

Rab Noakes, 75, Scottish musician (Stealers Wheel)

21: Wilko Johnson, 75, English guitarist (Dr. Feelgood)/actor (‘Game Of Thrones’)

25: Irene Cara, 63, American singer (‘Flashdance’)/actress (‘Fame’)

30: Christine McVie, 79, English singer/songwriter/musician (Fleetwood Mac)

December

5: Kirstie Alley, 71, American actress (‘Cheers’)

Jim Stewart, 92, record producer/co-founder of Stax Records

6: Jet Black, 84, English drummer (The Stranglers)

9: Ruth Madoc, 79, English actress (‘Hi-De-Hi’)

10: J. J. Barnes, 79, American R&B singer

11: Angelo Badalamenti, 85, American film and TV composer (‘Blue Velver/’Twin Peaks’

13: Sol Amarfio, 84, Ghanaian drummer (Osibisa)

16: Rick Anderson, 75, American bass player (The Tubes)

17: Mike Hodges, 90, English screenwriter/director (‘Get Carter’/’Pulp’/’Flash Gordon’)

18: Terry Hall, 63, English singer (The Specials/Fun Boy Three)/songwriter (‘Our Lips Are Sealed’)

Martin Duffy, 55, English keyboard player (Felt/Primal Scream)

19: Sonya Eddy, 55, American actress (‘Barbershop’/’Daddy Day Care’/’Coach Carter’/’Seinfeld’)

20: Iain Templeton, English drummer (The La’s/Shack)

21: Harvey Jett, 73, American guitarist (Black Oak Arkansas)

22: Thom Bell, 79, Jamaican-born American artist/songwriter/arranger/producer (‘Betcha By Golly Wow’/’I’ll Be Around’/’You Are Everything’/’The Rubberband Man’/’La-La (Means I Love You’))

23: George Cohen, 83, English footballer (member of 1966 World Cup-winning side)

[youngbloodbuzz]

What are your fav YouTube channels in general? Do you have any recs for those?

oh yea for sure i definitely have some favourites. nuke's top 5 is already one of them I've watched every single video on there lmao but there's also

watched walker and wanderizm - both similar channels of the "walking city tour" genre that I put on to relax. both guys live in london and they go literally all over the place in the city, it's a wonderful way of seeing some place new and hearing life on the streets when you're stuck at home. there's so many channels like this in many cities that i def recommend

ur internet mom ash - reaction videos are also another favourite genre of mine, ash is hilarious and sweet with fantastic editing, I'll never forget her hill house and bly manor reactions

ZZAVID - another reactioner, except he's the gayest latino man on the planet with the dirtiest humour to ever exist. both him and ash truly have the best movies+sleepover vibes. i also frequently rewatch his videos

micarah tewers - how do i even begin to describe micarah...weird homeschool girl who makes "low budget costume/fashion tutorials" i say this in loose terms; she's incredibly talented and so fucking funny but her whole shtick is that her tutorials are very unusual and full of off topic rambling. she has a pet bird that she carries everywhere and once had her wisdom teeth removed and proceeded to film herself crying about the fact that she couldn't keep them and then pierced her own lip with a sewing needle while high as a kite on meds. i love her dearly

jenna marbles - self explanatory. god i miss her

julien - but also like i can't forget about best boi julen, jenna's fiance

unusual videos - unusual memes condescend into compilation videos every week. gr8 for a quick laugh to pass the time

taskmaster - british comedy panel show for free. the entire show. it's a comedic masterpiece of watching comedians perform insane demands

baumgartner restoration - both incredibly relaxing and also informative, long videos of a guy restoring damaged/old paintings

be kind rewind - incredibly fascinating documentaries about old hollywood actresses and films

drawfee - professional artists where they "take dumb ideas and turn them into dumber drawings" like drawing pokemon from memory or drawing disney characters as dark souls bosses

lindsay ellis - popular video essayist who reviewed, discussed, and broke down media to their essentials (unfortunately was run off the internet because the internet is terrible). her game of thrones essays are incredible but her duology of the omegaverse lawsuit is legendary

jenny nicholson - another popular video essayist who talks about and reviews garbage media in both a hilarious deadpan but also intelligent way. her takedown of the dear evan hansen movie is godly and yes i did spend 2.5 hours watching her explain the plot and lore of the vampire diaries

girlfriend reviews - wholesome couple makes videos about "what it's like to live with your boyfriend who plays video games." incredible editing, humour, and popular music with original lyrics, but also i respect them so much for their tlou2 video especially (which they unfortunately but predictably got a lot of hate for)

internet historian - what it says on the tin for the most part, a sorta satirical documentary channel but my god they way they do it is incredible. I've watched their "cost of concordia" video at least three times now and it's still not old at all. they've covered the disaster of fallout 76, no man's sky (which was very enlightening), kony, and a satirical covering of area 51 for april fools which was.....indescribable and a must watch

jacob geller - incredible video essays on various themes in video games like fear of depths and haunted houses, horror oriented

shiey - guy backpacks across europe including riding on top of trains and sleeping on roofs to explore abandoned places. he's gone to chernobyl and free climbs so many high structures and has delved into so many bunkers, it's wild

screened - video essays about movies and their themes, and listing them from specific genres, some movies I've never even heard of

lessons from the screenplay - more video essays breaking down themes and scenes from movies

ok i might of........gone a bit overboard lmao

[uptoolateart]

Miraculous Tarot – 0: The Fool

It’s been a long-time goal of mine to design my own tarot deck. Every time I get really into a story, I can’t help mapping it out to the tarot. I’ve long wanted to do one for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower saga, but it will have to wait – because I’ve decided to do one for Miraculous.

I intend to draw / paint the whole deck of 78 cards digitally, and share them with you, including a full explanation of how to interpret the card. It will take a lot of time – but I’m excited! When it’s done, I’m having it printed so I can use the deck.

I’ve tried to make this interesting and relevant to general tarot readers, as well as Miraculous fans. If you like what you read today, please give me a follow and I promise there will be lots more to come!

Without further ado, here’s my painting for the first card in my Miraculous deck!

My Approach to Tarot

I was first drawn to tarot because of the artwork. I love flipping through decks of 78 stunning paintings, rich in symbolism, conveyed in the artist’s individual style. I took up actual tarot practice / study in 2013, and I have been a free reader for the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI) since 2021.

I don’t use the cards to ‘tell the future’. I see them as a tool to tap into our intuition and help us understand things that go beyond the limits of language. The imagery helps draw out the answers we already hold within. Tarot is a highly creative exploratory process, where the same card means something different each time it’s drawn.

If you’re unfamiliar with how a tarot deck is laid out, there are 22 ‘major arcana’ cards, which are the archetypal energies of the deck. These are elements that show up in all major stories and can easily be mapped to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey structure – because they feature, at some point, in all our lives (usually multiple times).

There are then 56 ‘minor arcana’ cards, which are broadly like a typical deck of playing cards. There are 4 suits (Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles) of 14 cards each, 10 numbered (1-10) and 4 referred to as ‘court cards’: pages, knights, queens and kings.

Below, I have discussed the meanings I have tried to embed into this first card. The Fool is one of my favourite cards in any tarot deck, because of the diversity of meanings we can read into it.

Foolishness

We’ll start with what I suspect is the first meaning you associate with the world ‘fool’ – someone who makes poor decisions because they don’t think things through. They get easily tricked and taken for a ride. Maybe you even think of ‘fool’ as synonymous with ‘idiot’, but it has a more complicated ancestry of meanings.

Interestingly, royal families used to keep ‘fools’ as members of their court. For example, in Britain Henry VIII had a succession of favourite ‘fools’, such as Will Somer. These were people born with learning disabilities and unable to care for themselves. Society regarded them as permanently innocent, totally honest, and incapable of betrayal. For this reason, they were seen as ‘divine’, or even messengers of God, and they became the king’s most trusted confidants. They could get away with saying things that would have got the average person executed.

These ‘fools’ were not all jokes and silliness. We can see them as a symbol of sincerity, directness, childlike humour and innocence. They were ‘unsocialised’ and behaved in ways outside the accepted norms. You could see them as the underdogs rising to the top.

Court ‘fools’ or ‘jesters’ could also be entertainers / performers. They might sing or dance, or be actors, or possibly comedians. Generally, they were people who were a little ‘outside’ and didn’t quite fit into society. They might be irreverent, witty, clever, or roguish. People might perceive them as confidant or counsellor, artist or madman – scapegoat or prophet. They didn’t ‘play the game’.

The Fool is like a child who does not yet know good or evil and cannot wholly be held responsible for the consequences of his actions. At the same time, he may be accumulating secret wisdom that others don’t suspect he has. We have this nasty way of regarding childlike wonder and eternal optimism as somehow weak or naïve. The Fool might be naïve – or he might simply choose to maintain a sunny attitude, no matter how difficult things get. He is the excited explorer, with a wanderlust for life, and he embraces everything with open arms and a smile on his face. For this reason, some might take advantage of him. But I say shame on them, not on the Fool, for it is an offence to hurt those who strive to put nothing but good out into the world.

Turning to the image I have chosen for my card, Adrien was home schooled and sheltered from knowledge of the outside world. He struggles to understand social norms and frequently feels ‘outside’. Often the confidant, he strives to apply kindness and compassion to all situations, and reaches deep within to draw out a smile no matter how hard things get. His sudden fits of temper are short-lived, like a child’s. In so many ways, he is an innocent only now awakening to the darkness of others. For this reason, he sometimes misplaces his trust – but he is privately wise in ways others around him don’t see or understand. He seems to understand people in ways others don’t. He is also musical and loves to joke around and play pranks, which sometimes backfire on him because he doesn’t quite fit in.

Tricksters

So, we have those who are fooled, and then there are those who do the fooling, i.e. who make fools of others – tricksters. Their tricks can be done in jest (such as Adrien posing as the statue in ‘Puppeteer 2.0’) or they could be maliciously deceptive, with dark intent.

Tricksters are very clever and cunning, and they use their wiles to subvert conventions and break rules. In stories, they are often depicted as shapeshifters, deceiving us with their dual (or multiple) identities. Even if they don’t change physical shape, they might wear other disguises, e.g. posing as something they are not. This makes them hard to know and pin down.

Because they are so adaptable and resourceful, they are survivors. They put themselves first. They are selfish, but in the way that small children are. Driven by pure instinct and the pleasure principal, they put their wants ahead of all else. Thinking of others is something we have to learn with age.

But we can’t pass them off as all bad – tricksters are catalysts for action. In just about all ancient creation stories, there is a trickster who causes things to happen. To give perhaps the most widely known example, think of the snake in the Garden of Eden, who urges Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Setting religious views aside here, the story suggests that had that never happened, life as we know it today would not exist, for Eve’s action was what led to things like childbirth.

If you are familiar at all with ancient Indian stories (I was raised with them), I always think of Narada Muni, the wanderer. In Greek, the word ‘planet’ means wanderer, and I have long thought Narada is probably a personification of a planet or perhaps a comet. He’s an omen, a force of change. Every time he shows up in a story, you know something big will happen. In paintings, he’s often depicted looking very like the traditional tarot Fool: legs poised as if he’s on a journey, arms open, eyes turned upward, flying through the cosmos.

Narada is a musician, as are other trickster figures such as Odin, who in Norse legend would pretend to be an old man to trick others into giving up secrets to someone they thought was weaker than he was. He could then use this knowledge for his own purposes.

The trickster archetype is both dangerous and necessary. He shakes things up and provides release, catharsis. He sets the wheels in motion when things stagnate, and he could be seen as the repressed aspects of the self coming to the surface and exploding from us.

I see this as Felix. Although technically Adrien’s cousin, he is essentially his ‘evil’ twin. He takes all the action the audience are waiting for Adrien to take. He knows things we wish Adrien knew. At the end of ‘Strike Back’, he used this wiliness to do a dark deed – but that deed will transpire to be the very thing that forces Adrien and Marinette to grow into the people they are destined to become. The story needs a Felix.

We could also say that Adrien is a bit of a trickster in that, like Felix, he wears disguises. While Felix changes his clothes, hair and demeanour to appear more innocent than he is, Adrien transforms into Cat Noir and becomes the joker – and, when akumatised, he becomes Cat Blanc, with darker intentions. In a sense, we can see both Cat Blanc and Felix as unexpressed aspects of Adrien, lying just under the surface of that glowing face of innocence.

New Beginnings / Blank Slates

The Fool is card number zero, meaning it comes before and after all other events. It is the state of pure potential, the chaos before the Word is spoken. It is the monad from which all else springs – the cosmic egg that gives birth to the universe.

Our symbol for zero (0) is a circle. It is wholeness and completion. At the same time, it symbolises eternity. It has no beginning and no end. The centre is everywhere. It is unmanifested and incomprehensible.

It makes me think of martial arts such as karate, where people boast about being a black belt but that’s not actually the highest rank. The highest rank is the white belt, because paradoxically, true karate masters understand that you can never truly master anything. You are always learning, and so you are always a beginner. You don the white belt once again, and you don’t correct others who think you have no experience, because you have learned humility and have no desire to show off. White is the absence of the ego, whilst containing the potential for all colour / the rainbow.

In my card, you can see I chose one of the advertisements Adrien’s father forces him to model in. Adrien is always dressed in white in these ads, signifying both his innocence and the way he is controlled by outside forces. In this particular ad, he wears his normal black t-shirt, rather than the white he wears in some other ads seen on the show. I considered dressing him all in white but then kept the black because of the bands of colour across his chest, which are rainbow-like and show the potential within him, waiting to burst from his heart.

Our English word ‘zero’ comes from Arabic, which in turn was their translation of the older Sanskrit word sunya, meaning ‘void’ or ‘empty’. If that sounds bleak, it’s not. A blank slate is ready to be written on. Emptiness waits to be filled. It’s that moment before the story is told, and it’s exciting!

The Greeks took the Arabic word and transliterated it into zephyr, which is also their word for western winds. Western winds were to be a herald of the coming springtime, being the natural start of the new year. Interestingly, right around the start of spring we have April Fool’s Day, when we play tricks on each other. In English, the word ‘spring’ has another meaning: to jump or leap. It implies a swift, upward action – , again. And so the circle closes!

Love

Zephyrus (the Greek god of the western wind) was an attendant of Cupid and brought Psyche to him. Metaphorically, this can be seen as the spirit unifying heart with mind.

We hear the word ‘fool’ in a lot of love songs. The implication tends to be that we’ve been ‘foolish in love’. The lyrics speak of love and passion changing us and leading us to make unwise decisions. We see this all the time, on Miraculous – but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth following these passions!

Love is the start of something fresh, a grand new journey in life. It’s about opening your heart to someone and letting whatever happens happen. It’s about vulnerability and trust. Sometimes it pays off. Other times, people abuse that trust and they trick us.

The Traditional Image

Arguably the most famous image we have of the Fool comes from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, where we see our Fool with one foot down (grounded) and one in the air, arms open wide and gaze upward. He’s about to walk off a precipice, and we can’t see what lies beyond. It might be a huge drop, in which case the Fool is about to fall to his death; or there might be safe ground just a foot below. A little dog follows, loyal to the end. Presumably, it will follow its master off that cliff, unquestioningly.

The Fool wears flowers and a feather on his head. (You can see I brought the feathers into my card, as Adrien is often featured with them.) He holds a white rose, a symbol of purity and innocence. It also used to be the symbol of true (pure) love, used in weddings. The sun shines brightly down. Birds fly overhead, a symbol of freedom.

Everything about this image speaks of vulnerability, opening the heart to whatever comes, giving into passions, and taking the plunge, trusting that things will work out as they should. The Fool doesn’t worry about what’s coming; he lives in the moment.

There’s beauty in taking each moment as it comes – or we could see it as being out of control, unwise and thoughtless. Think of Plato’s Republic and the allegory of the ‘ship of fools’, where the crew argue instead of working together and don’t bother looking to the stars to guide their way. The ship is the mind – how are you driving your ship? How do you navigate through life? Are you simply taking steps without knowing where you’re going, or do you have a plan in mind?

Contrasts / Reading the Card in Reverse

This card is a strange contrast of trickster versus lack of guile. The Fool is a paradox and it’s hard to know who his true self is, because he’s such a skin-changer. He can be misleading. It’s about thinking versus not thinking – cunning versus trusting – fooling vs being fooled. In the context of Adrien, there is an element of uncertainty over his true identity.

In tarot, there is this idea about reading the card differently if it’s drawn upside down. In my mind, if you draw my card right-side-up, this signifies all the Adrien-ness of Adrien – if that makes sense. Drawn in reverse, it indicates wily Felix.

Both work together to form the whole. Under the surface of one lies the other face. Absolutely anything is possible, with this archetype. He stands at a precipice, and we have no way of knowing what the future holds for him – or indeed what future he is actively catalysing.

Only when viewed in isolation is either ‘bad’. When the two sides of this coin are joined together into one being, wholeness is achieved. We then have a strong character who is intelligent and resourceful, but who only his power for the good, for he sees goodness as the highest goal of life.

Hopefully, you can see how I wove these ideas into my card. Next up will be The Magician – stay tuned!

[wherearemyglassesbro]

Would the axis/allies be good at standup comedy:

Matthew: I think Matt is a very funny guy, his type of humor is usually sarcasm and observational comedy so he can relate to his audience a lot. However, he has trouble woth public speaking and tends to stutter when he’s in fromt of crowds. Would he be good at the comedy part? Totally. Just...not too great in front of people 8/10

Yao: Yao would kill it!! He has centuries and centuries worth of funny stories to tell and hey, Yao is a master at exaggerating things lmao. He’s funny and great with people!!! He can relate to an older audience more for sure :) he complains about achy joints or young people driving too fast, all kinds of ‘old people’ humor, which would make him very likable!!! 10/10 I’d pay to hear him up on stage lmao

Arthur: Art is funny without even trying really. He’s sarcastic and blunt, which makes him even funnier. His comedy bits are usually observational humor based but there’s nothing wrong with that. He also has a lot of stories about traveling cause Brits are always a mess when traveling, he’s no different!! He always takes a minute to warm up onstage but once people start laughing, he feels more at ease! 9/10

Ivan: I don’t really even see Ivan getting up on stage lmao but if he did, it would have to be in front of small audiences. Ivan is a very blunt guy who also tells jokes about neighboring countries cause that’s funny to him. He doesn’t expect people to laugh and he’ll kinda hurry through his routine 5/10

Kiku: Kiku would NOT enjoy being on stage. He is a fan of comedy and watches a lot of comedians when he hangs with Alfred but he wouldn’t do it himself. Cant even give him a score really cause he...just wouldn’t do it -/10

Ludwig: We’ll get Lud out of the way too, I don’t think he would go up on stage either 😅 he is a funny guy!!! He really is!! He’s great at telling jokes and goofing around!!!! But he just wouldn’t do that for strangers, that’s very stressful. This dude doesn’t do press conferences unless he has a script because he’s so afraid of making a fool of himself!! He would never do stand up lmao. Gilbert is enough of a fool for the two of them -/10 cant really give him a fair score either cause he wouldn’t even step foot on the stage

Francis: Ok...we all knew what this was gonna be. Fran is made for the stage. He’s a total drama queen and is great at making things a bigger deal than they need to be :) he has such a way with words too which just makes it funnier cause here we have a very eloquent talker just...roasting the shit out of the English. He has other jokes than picking on the English but he’s been doing it for centuries, he’s mastered the art of annoying British people :) he also tells a lot of stories of how he’s gotten in trouble like falling off the Eiffel Tower, dumping wine in the river, calling the king a weiner, he’s done so much shit...and he can tell you all about it in a way that’ll never make it to the public tv stations cause it��s so indecent 8/10

Gilbert: Like Fran, Gil is meant for the stage. He is funny without even trying and he’s LOUD! He doesn’t even really plan before getting on stage he just gets up there and tells stories and makes fun of the audience! Yup, he picks people out of the audience to pick on sometimes! Not in a mean way of course it’ll be stuff like ‘you!! Yeah you in the orange! You look like my dad! And boy oh boy do I have a story about my dad-‘ he also goes off on tangents in the middle of a joke too so you’ll get like three jokes in one! His stories always end in a way you never expect too so it’s like a punch in the balls every time 10/10

Alfred: Al is a total ham, he would love to give stand up a try!! But the problem is, he always laughs before he can get the joke out lmao. He has a very contagious laugh!! So that helps! Cause the audience will start laughing too :) he has all sorts of crazy stories cause he is the embodiment of ‘florida man’!! He’s seen it all. He’s been to Walmart at 3am. He’s driven on dirt roads during constriction. He’s seen southerners try to navigate .005 inches of snow on the road. He’s seen it and he has a way of telling it 7/10

Feliciano: Feli is a funny guy but he would have trouble on stage just cause he’d get distracted by all of the people out there! He would also totally laugh at his own jokes and get side tracked. He’s funnier when his jokes aren’t planned, the stand up format probably wouldn’t do him justice 4/10 If you got him on a live podcast, his funny side would really shine through! :)

Lovino: Ok I can actually compare him to a comedian I love omg Sebastian Maniscalco!! He has such Lovi vibes, I really think Lovi would bring up a lot of the same stuff this guy does. He’ll complain about people, how they dress, how they act, just...people. And he moves around a lot, especially his hands. Cause he’s...italian. 10/10

[mrbingley]

my fancasting of the mice and murder pcs that no one asked for:

lars vandenchomp: dwayne johnson (he’s got the muscle and i think he’d sooo be up for wearing a pink suit and putting on a silly accent; his acting and personality would bring the angle of silly lightheartedness that ally captures)

sylvester cross: richard e grant (i think he would bring the right “pompous and dramatic yet still somehow charismatic” vibes that grant captures; you can just so easily see him nailing all the monologues grant goes off on)

buckster $ boyd: brendan fraser (he played the american who dresses like a cowboy and works for/with very rich ppl in the show trust and nailed it and i want to see him be a cosplaying cowboy again; he’d perfectly encompass all the smooth talking and wit with that tinge of absurdism (i.e. “this just went from bad bad bad to bad bad bad bad bad”) that sam does)

daisy d’umpstaire: melissa mccarthy (she’ll kill the comedic moments of course and honestly i want to see her take on a more serious role like this that isn’t just humor the whole time which is why i’m saying her)

vicar ian prescott: richard ayoade (need i elaborate? he’d crush it. he has the range for this. he can do wry, scathing wit and bumbling buffoon; raph gives us such a perfect balance of stumbling fool and then hard statements and richard could swing b/w these two effortlessly)

gangie green: romesh ranganathan (another british comedian yes i’m sorry; he’s so good at doing a blank menacing stare and delivering the right kind of frustrated and annoyed; katie stays quiet with a drooping, watching face and then delivers the most hilarious dark dry lines along with the perfect amount of exasperated frustration and banter and i know romesh could capture that so perfectly)

[shut-up-posh-boy]

hey fellow ND fan of the show here! I’m autistic and one of my special interests is basically any show with lee mack in so as you can imagine im a huge wilty fan. sadly I’m not the sort that can keep all the facts and figures to hand possibly as I also have a learning disability but I love looking at stats and so your blog is an amazing read! If I had the capacity I would love to do in depth analysis of not going out since it’s my favourite show so if you have any stats about people who’ve been on that show aside from lee like miranda etc then that would be fab thank you

Hi! So glad to make your acquaintance, it's nice to meet someone else whose brain is wired to accept british comedians as their new fuel source.

Excepting Lee, I've included the legacy statistics of Miranda Hart, Hugh Dennis, and Katy Wix under the cut!

CAVEATS and CONTEXT: a 40% fool rate is about average and a 60% guess rate is about average. Don't think too hard about my colour-coding because it doesn't make sense and I absolutely won't stick to the same criteria in future legacy stats. I haven't listed their appearances in the Unseen Bits however those cards/guesses are factored in.

Miranda Hart

(3x4, 4x6, 5x1, 6x3, 7x10)

Fool rate: 63%

Guess rate: 75%

Slightly better at selling convincing lies than making truths unbelievable (never forget the ear in the bath).

More gullible than cynical; better at spotting truths than seeing through lies.

She's definitely good at both aspects of the show. Hers are the most reliable because she appeared on more episodes than the other two. She was the MVP of episode 5x1, with a 40% fool rate and a 100% guess rate.

Hugh Dennis

(2x5, 4x4, 10x4)

Fool rate: 72%

Guess rate: 77%

Better at making truths unbelievable than selling convincing lies.

More cynical than gullible; better at seeing through lies than spotting truths.

Medically known as “really fucking good at this game”. No one has ever guessed ‘true’ on one of his true stories and he has an over 50% fool rate on lies. Entered the Hall of Fame for his performance in 10x4, in which he achieved a 100% guess rate and 100% fool rate.

Katy Wix

(5x2)

Fool rate: 66%

Guess rate: 75%

Statistics only reflect her selling a lie; she hasn't had a true card.

More cynical than gullible; better at seeing through lies than spotting truths.

Had the good fortune of appearing on Kevin Bridges's team after The Horse Incident. Statistics are heavily skewed as she only appeared in one episode.

[angelsswirl]

Dysfunctional

Chapter 2: Alright

Notes: y/s/n means your and lisa's ship name

Rating: T

"Hold up, let me get my mind right. Let me get my mind right. You know everything is alright. You know everything is all"

You had never hated anyone more than you hated Lalisa Manoban. Never. You swear.

You didn't even know it was possible to dislike someone as much as you disliked her.

Worst of all? She knew it. She knew you didn't like her. You think she found it amusing. You're absolutely sure she sees you as more of an obligation than a partner. And that just made you even more furious with her.

She was cocky and loud and an asshole and infuriatingly attractive.

...Where the hell did that last one come from?!

Nevertheless, you couldn't stand Lisa and you were going to have to spend a lot of time with her within the next coming months.

You must have killed someone very important in a past life to deserve this.

•°•°•

"Lisa and Y/N were seen leaving a sophisticated coffee shop in downtown L.A. Saturday. This is the first time they have been spotted together. Has pop's newest darling finally tamed our ever allusive hip hop stallion? We certainly hope so. #y/s/n"

And so it begins, Lisa thought as she flipped the channel on her flatscreen. This entire situation was rather annoying but it wasultimately just another hurdle she had to jump over in the path to success. She supposed it could be worse.

"Right? So, what's all this then?"

Lisa looked over to her friend with a raised eyebrow, "Since when are you british?"

Jennie frowned, "You know that avoiding the question thing you do won't work on me. Answer the question."

Lisa rolled her eyes and sighed, "Well. Apparently, I have a girlfriend now."

"You? A girlfriend? That's the funniest thing I've heard all month."

"Interesting. I didn't know I was a comedian." Lisa spoke sarcastically.

"Neither did I."

Lisa glared at Jennie harshly.

"Well! What am I supposed to think?! You don't date. You specifically make it a point not to date anyone and suddenly you have a girlfriend? Sorry if I had to laugh!"

Lisa eyed Jennie oddly, "Calm down. We're not actually dating. It's just PR."

"And you agreed?"

"Didn't have much of a choice. Just another job." Lisa shrugged noncommittally.

"What about the chick? She got a twin sister?"

"She's cool. She hates me. It's cute."

"Ugh. I just love it when my fake girlfriend hates me. It really makes everything so believable! We fool absolutely everyone!"

"Are you implying that she shouldn't hate me and I should fix that?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"And why does it matter? At least this way I don't have to worry about her getting attached. Or being the subject of my songs for the next three albums." Lisa rolled her eyes again, crossing her arms over her chest in a deliberately dramatic fashion.

Jennie sighed. She patted Lisa's jean-clad thigh somewhat placatingly. She had never been one to be particularly adept to her friend's feelings. That was more Jisoo's and Rosé's forte. But they, pointedly weren't here at the moment.

"It matters because, like you said, it's a job. And you don't do your jobs half-assed. So why start now?"

Lisa supposed Jennie possessed some semblance of a point.

"So now what? You want me to make her fall in love with me?"

Jennie chuckled, "Well, I was thinking more like fall in like with you. And find out if she has a twin sister!"

Lisa hummed, "I'll see what I can do. No promises, though. She seems pretty dead set on hating me."

"You never know until you try."

"Come on. She's not that bad. You're just mad that you didn't get a say in any of this." Lucas said to you with a frown marring his generally attractive features.

His boyfriend, Ten, nodded along in agreement. His shaggy black hair falling into his eyes and causing him to blink rapidly.

"No. Those are mutually exclusive. She is that bad and I am mad about this being sprung on me, but those two facts have nothing to do with each other." You insisted with a matter-of-fact head nod.

Lucas rubbed the non-existent wrinkles between his brows. His sigh reverberated throughout his entire body. He then turned his head toward his boyfriend for help.

Ten shrugged before speaking, his lips pursed to keep his frown off his face. He knew you wouldn't respond well to scolding so he attempted not to do it to the best if his ability.

"Y/N. You knew when your career started that you weren't always going to have control over everything. That's not how being a celebrity works. Especially, this early on in your career. Take Lucas and I for example. In a perfect world we would be out of the closet and letting the world know that we love each other. But we can't. Yet. It's not safe for us personally and business-wise."

Your arms slowly fell from their crossed position over your chest. They landed at your sides defeatedly. You understood Ten's point. You really did, but it was still a hard pill to swallow that you didn't exactly have the control over your life that you wanted.

"Fine. I'll be less hostile. Get to know her or whatever. But that doesn't mean that I'm okay with this situation now. Because, I'm not. I think it's stupid and invasive quite frankly."

"You think that now, but wait until you see the results. Your fan count will start to grow, hers will too. I wouldn't go as far as to say your success is riding on this, but it definitely is a very important factor."

You squeezed your eyes shut as forcefully as you could. You continued to learn the hard way that giving up control was never easy but always inevitable for your chosen career path.

But then again, you'd argue that you didn't choose this career, but it chose you.

"Alright. Let's see where this goes."

"Also. I still hate her."

"We were so close."

[usermoreid]

I bet he also watches Bake Off when he’s sad- I know it’s the most obvious British show but he would- or maybe the SU2C version for the comedians-

ohh you're so right he would and he'd get penelope so into it. they'd spend hours watching it and they'd manage to get derek invested, who refuses to admit he likes it but he's not fooling anybody with how he's shouting at the tv more than when he's watching a football game

[beyondstupidityblog]

On March 13th 2021, two friends and I did what never could have imagined possible, I watched Freddy Got Fingered for the ninth time, and it will by no means be the last. I’m explaining this to you, dear reader, so you and I have an important understanding between us. You will be reading the ramblings of one whose brain has curdled like milk left out in the hot afternoon sun. Now that introductions are out of the way, let us begin.

Freddy Got Fingered is a 2001 Comedy starring and directed by Tom Green as the Non-Titular Gordon Brody; an aspiring animator who goes to California to realize his dream, only to be constantly crushed under the weight of his father’s expectations. Sounds tame at first, but what lies beneath the veneer of mediocrity is truly impressive. Completely bombed,  audiences hated it, and critics loathed it. Roger Ebert got angry, saying “it isn’t even below the bottom of the barrel” and “Green should be flipping burgers somewhere.”. “Tasteless”, “appalling”, “offensive”, “gross”, and “poo poo,” are just some of the things people have had to say about this film. Animal genitalia can be seen on screen for much longer than anyone could have expected, Tom Green swinging a baby akin to a morning-star with its umbilical cord, said umbilical cord being stolen and taped onto his stomach, gratuitous caning of a nymphomaniac paraplegic, and the dissection of a deer carcass. It is an abrasive experience that leaves a terrible taste in the mouths of those who mention it. Nonetheless, I love this movie. 

You ever see a contemporary art exhibit that has a piece that just looks like garbage somebody left out but in actuality is a tongue-and-cheek allusion to the pitiful state of modern art? That garbage is Freddy Got Fingered, and that exhibit is Hollywood. At face value it just seems like a poorly done film by a comedian trying to use his name to get a few butts in the seats before his irrelevancy arrives, but when scrutinized as a commentary of comedy films do the pieces start to fall into place. Tropes like the Protagonist being an unremarkable honkey, gross-out designed to get some cheap quick chuckles, side-characters who occupy the space solely for comedic relief, a shoe-horned romantic side-plot, and an equally as shoehorned in happy ending are all present in a mocking fashion. So many of these Hollywood schlockfests that this movie is paying homage to abuse tropes in some vain attempt to trick the audience into thinking they’re having a good time, when in reality it just reminds viewers of films that they’ve already watched before and could be enjoying instead. All of the awkward and uncomfortable scenes of gross-out and romance are purposeful, because nothing is quite as awkward and uncomfortable than a film disengaging the audience with its own mediocrity. “This is what it’s like to endure this trash!” Drunkenly screams Freddy Got Fingered atop the tallest piece of furniture in the room, while also exposing its genitals to keep you from getting too comfortable around it. Unlike the films it is parodying, its obsession with making a fool out of audiences rips them away from the comfort of the cinema, making them genuinely ask if it is worth wasting their time watching a film called Freddy Got Fingered. Even the title is an intentional slight, as it seems to be completely untethered to the actual plotline and is instead a reference to a seemingly inconsequential scene. But then again, that is the point of it all. Tom Green is an artist, and on his canvas is a portrait of Hollywood with all of the ugly little imperfections that cause a movie like this to be created. But this is just the meta-narrative of Freddy Got Fingered, something that you could find all over the internet. Why do I resonate with it so much, and what about it makes it so exceptional that led to this unhealthy fascination?

    Every instance that I’ve rewatched Freddy Got Fingered has always brought about a new side to it, and in the process leaves me craving for more. Gord is an interesting take on the average leading man. He is on the surface bland and inoffensive, made so in order to allow the majority of the audience to immediately identify with him, said group being 20-something skater guys with unrealistic expectations of themselves. Made especially ironic when after the introduction of Gord as an adept skateboarding rebel escaping from authority, he starts to show that in reality he is an unlikeable, bratty, entitled, and all around unpleasant person. Barely a scene passes before we see him masturbate a horse while exclaiming he is a farmer to his father who is not present, seemingly a crude gag but is in reality an insight into his low self worth caused by his imposter syndrome stemming from distant paternal relationship. I would like to remind you, dear reader, that I am still writing of Freddy Got Fingered, in case you were beginning to think I have lost my mind (The answer is yes by the way). All throughout the film Gordon Brody puts on masks for different situations, never allowing himself to be who he is. When infiltrating the Animation studio where he wishes to pitch his cartoons, he pretends to be a mailman to get past reception and then impersonates a police officer when the former stops being effective. Donning the visage of a British Bobby, he dashes into the restaurant where the man he is searching for, Mr. Wallace, is eating. Showing him his cartoons, Wallace is impressed with the potential they have, but says that they are incoherent and lack real substance. Upon rejection, Gord puts a pistol in his mouth before Wallace stops him and advises what he should do to improve. Gord was genuinely ready to blow his brains out the back of his skull if he wasn’t able to get his show greenlit, and it hit me in that moment that he isn’t just some random jackass, but a victim of detrimentally low self-esteem.

The origins of his complex are made apparent when he goes back home to Oregon and are reintroduced to his Family. We see that his father Jim, played by Rip Torn, is disappointed in his return and begins to sneer at him for his failure. This father and son dynamic always has tension in every scene from this point onwards. Gord, who just wants to be accepted for who he is and not judged by what the world expects him to be, is always at the receiving end of Jim’s wrath, who values his idea of a successful life over the happiness of his sons. From here it becomes little wonder why Gord is the way he is, all his life he was told that who he was is not good enough, he has to be what his father wants if he is to be considered worthy of not only love, but being treated with a modicum of dignity. Whenever Gord acts eccentric or divulges his interests to his father, they are met with either resentment supplemented by verbal assault, or physical violence. After a late-night skateboard outing to escape from his father’s wrath goes awry, he visits his convalescing friend in the hospital, whereupon he meets one of the more interesting characters in relation to Gord, the love interest Betty.   

A horny wheelchair bound temptress may not seem like it upon first glance, but Betty is actually the most interesting character out of the entire cast. She feels genuine, introduced as a bored receptionist flipping a coffee creamer idly. Gord immediately strikes up a conversation, whereupon he and the audience find out she has an interest in physics, and apparently an interest in him as well. Betty is strangely well written for what most considered at the time to be a crass sexual joke, so much so that she would actually be a better protagonist than him. She is everything Gord is not, she��s smart, funny, ambitious, and  kind to a fault. Even her side plot to create a rocket powered wheelchair makes for a much more unique plot than the one given. Even Gord reciprocates this sentiment in their meeting, lying that he is a stockbroker in an attempt to impress her. In fact, sectioning her off as just the dull protagonist's love interest is a jab at how women in these movies are only there to serve in the development for the male protagonist, just nothing more than their muse. Nonetheless, without this relationship the movie would lose a lot of its soul. Romantic chemistry in comedy films is always hit or miss, but Gord and Betty do seem to have it surprisingly. They’re both silly and impulsive, creatively driven to a fault, but just different enough to eek out the best and worst in them. Gord  thinks that what he wants to do with his life is wasteful, but Betty doesn’t. Now I don’t mean that she directly affirms that he is worthwhile like most poorly written love interests would, stroking their lover’s(and by extension the director’s) ego, rather she confronts him with her optimism. He asks if she would feel stupid and like a loser if her experiment failed. Taken aback at first, she questions why she would, relaying that her failures are just as important as her successes. Gord’s self-worth is directly tied to his ability to succeed, whereas Betty doesn’t need this affirmation. Their dialogue further cements how detrimental his father’s overbearingness was to his outlook, and how he is slowly beginning to realize how destructive that mindset is. 

At their dinner date, Jim sees Gord and Betty across the restaurant, then reveals that Gord was lying to both him and her about his office job while poking fun at her disability, leading to a father-son scuffle that throws the entire floor into utter chaos. Cops show up, Gord and Jim are detained, and Betty bails Gord out. Most mediocre comedies at this point would have the love interest be upset that her significant other lied to her, leading to him having to make things right to repair their relationship before the happy ending. Breaking the mold, Betty does not get angry with Gord even a smidgen, choosing to be understanding of his situation now that she caught a glimpse into his home-life. She just plain likes Gord, willing to put up with him more than she really should, but still chooses to look past his lies and self-destructive nature for who he truly is, someone who just wants to be accepted by the world around him. Someone just like her.

Right after that enaction of social terrorism performed by the Brody father and son duo, they decide it would be best to go to family therapy and assail the audience with what I fondly refer to it as, “The Scene.” “The Scene” is Freddy Got Fingered’s statement to the world, it is what instills a man with the impetus to rewatch a glorified stoner daydream for the ninth time and leave him wanting more! Gord accuses his father, in a final act of defiance, of molesting his younger brother Freddy. During the ensuing confusion Gord picks up a bust of Sigmund Freud and throws it into the glass window pane, allowing him to escape into the evening sun. The authorities take Freddy away and send him to The Home for Molested Children, and the family slowly unravels from then on. Besides the heavy handed metaphor of Freud’s theories being used as a way for Gord to escape his predicament while simultaneously discrediting them, “The Scene” also recontextualizes Freddy, innocuous of a character as he is, as Gord’s foil. He is in the movie very little but when he is it is to serve one of two purposes: To be compared to Gord, or to be treated as an object. During breakfast much earlier in the film after a fight between Gord and Jim, Freddy tries to explain to his brother that he should grow up. Gord, surprisingly, talks down to him and halts the conversation.

Gord: “He's driving me insane.”

Freddy: “No. No, you're driving him insane. You're older than me and you still live at home. I have a job, you know. I pay my own way.”

Gord: “You work in a bank. Should I be dazzled?”

Freddy: “Well, at least I don't live at home!”

Gord: “No, you live in a tiny shithole and you come here to eat for free.”

With these lines it is plain to see that despite Freddy’s idea of success directly lining up with his father’s, he is even more pitiful than Gord. What little we know of him is to show that his acquiescence to his father’s expectations has left him bereft of not only genuine personal success, but of dignity itself. When child protective services come to take him away, he is half naked, mouth agape, watching open heart surgery on television, a palpable indication of emptiness. He isn’t treated as an adult either, as his protests to the police fall on deaf ears as both them and the psychologist infantilize him. Why would Tom Green name this movie after a character like Freddy, whose lack of presence and characterization make him little more than an afterthought when looking back on the story? Or did I just answer my own question? Freddy is not a character because he is not allowed to be one, he is just too passive and accepting of his circumstances for him to stand out. All he can be is a doll that Jim uses to dress up as the perfect son, and this passiveness leads to Gord, the “failure,” to both pity and resent what he let himself become. That’s why Gord accuses their father of molesting him, after all he does narratively violate Freddy’s autonomy by consistently making decisions for him. Evidently enough, as soon as Gord dons a suit for a quick bit Jim is elated because he believes that his son finally gave in to his demands for him to get a job, because he is acting more like his obedient brother. In this sense Freddy is the most tragic member of the Brody clan, a literal manchild whose growth was stunted by overbearing guardians. When I think of him, a bonsai tree comes to mind. Sure, it looks healthy, but when you realize that it could have grown into a much bigger plant if it were not for its small pot, that realization of wasted potential comes with a tinge of melancholy.

I want to end this essay with a moral that I took away from Freddy Got Fingered, as strange enough as that sounds, and what it has to say about art as a whole. Put simply, this is a story about revenge. Despite and because of his Father’s harsh ways, Gord managed to take from the trauma he sustained throughout his life and sublimated it into his animation. Creation not only lets him heal, but also acts as retaliation against Jim once he becomes successful. So long as you have the drive to prove everyone’s doubts and admonishments wrong by persevering out of wicked spite, you will have the last laugh. Freddy Got Fingered is a story about revenge through artistic expression, and I think that is quite beautiful.

[megan1412]

57 years ago today, The British Invasion began in America. 73 million people tuned into The Ed Sullivan show to watch The Beatles perform for the first time on American tv. The record breaking performance skyrocketed the group into the mainstream and allowed them to enjoy international success.

"Seventy-three million people were reported to have watched the first show. It is still supposed to be one of the largest viewing audiences ever in the States.

It was very important. We came out of nowhere with funny hair, looking like marionettes or something. That was very influential. I think that was really one of the big things that broke us – the hairdo more than the music, originally. A lot of people’s fathers had wanted to turn us off. They told their kids, ‘Don’t be fooled, they’re wearing wigs.’

A lot of fathers did turn it off, but a lot of mothers and children made them keep it on. All these kids are now grown-up, and telling us they remember it. It’s like, ‘Where were you when Kennedy was shot?’ I get people like Dan Aykroyd saying, ‘Oh man, I remember that Sunday night; we didn’t know what had hit us – just sitting there watching Ed Sullivan’s show.’ Up until then there were jugglers and comedians like Jerry Lewis, and then, suddenly, The Beatles!"

Paul McCartney

Anthology

[sarah-snook]

Hello! If possible, could you reccomend your favorite chaptered reddie fics?

ohhh yes! i love doing fic recs!!! i haven’t been asked for one in a while! here goes! it’s my bday today so i’m gonna be rereading (or finishing) all of these as a treat haha

some of these might be in progress so just be aware of that!

ask me to stay by @feldmancorey↬ word count: 36,036 | chapters: 7/7 | rating: T

“Your lip is all busted,” Eddie said, as though pointing out that Richie’s lips were injured would somehow make it okay that Eddie was paying attention to them. Richie’s hand came up, long fingers wrapping around Eddie’s tiny wrist, and he gently guided Eddie’s touch away.

Eddie finally wrenched his eyes away from Richie’s lips and met his best friend’s gaze. There was a softness there that he rarely got to see, not even the smallest hint of teasing or joking there. It was just Richie, just Richie looking at him and Eddie looking back. For a single moment, it was just Richie and Eddie alone in the world. Nothing to bother them, nothing to live up to.

[or: the year is 1994, and Eddie Kaspbrak is in love.]

the real world by @feldmancorey↬ word count: 15,796 | chapters: 5/18 | rating: T

The lights in the Tozier house were on.

Nearly four months ago, Eddie’s best friend, Richie Tozier, had seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth. He’d stopped coming to school, wouldn’t answer texts, and stopped posting on all social media. The home phone would ring and ring until the caller hung up. The driveway had been empty. The grass on the front lawn had overgrown and wilted. The house never went up for sale but for four long months, it was as though the Tozier family had simply disappeared.Until now, with Went’s car sat in the driveway and the living room lights all flicked on. Eddie could see movement through the windows. It was as though the world had picked back up from where it had stopped, without a hint of change.

[or: after a sudden and unexplained disappearance, richie tozier returns to derry with a secret that no one person could ever hope to hold onto.]

One caramel macchiato, on me by @jem-carstairs-is-perfection↬ word count: 11,058 | chapters: 2/2 | rating: T

“Oh shit.” Richie swore and looked around hoping he’d missed another empty seat somewhere in the classroom so he didn’t have to take this one.

He hadn’t.

With an apologetic shrug he said, “I know I’m the last person you want to see right now, probably ever and trust me, I’d fuck off if I could, but that’s literally the only seat left.”

The guy sighed but didn’t move, staring ahead, perhaps hoping Richie would disappear if he ignored him hard enough.

Richie couldn’t help but share the sentiment. “I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

“It’s your elbows I’m more worried about.”

or Richie and Eddie have the opposite of a meet-cute. When their paths cross again, neither is too happy about it ―at first.

Un Nouveau Soleil by @eddiefuckinkaspbrak↬ word count: 33,353 | chapters: 3/3 | rating: E

It was three months into his first year that Richie met Eddie for the first time. Edward Frank Kaspbrak. The man who would become the love of his life.

And Richie had no idea.

or: Richie is the heir to the British Throne who decides to study abroad at Harvard University. There, he meets Eddie Kaspbrak and they fall in love…duh.

The Greater Fool Series by @yallreddieforthis↬ word count: 47,573 | chapters: 7 parts | rating: varies

Begins a couple months after the end of the movie. Follows an alternate timeline in which none of the Losers other than Beverly move away from Derry, and none of them forget It or each other.

oh, somebody loves you by slytherincosette↬ word count: 12,341 | chapters: 3/3 | rating: NR

“‘I already know I’ll smell Eddie’s mom,” Richie announces to no one in particular, “I’ve never met her, but we’re soulmates. I imagine she smells like lemon cleaning supplies and antacid. Very sexy.’

Eddie lets his head drop onto the table.”

Amortentia is encountered in Potion’s class and everything goes to shit. Basically a romantic comedy set at Hogwarts. Everyone is Bad At Feelings, until they’re not.

He Asks How I Am by @themightychipmunk↬ word count: 19,369 | chapters: 4/4 | rating: T

After a year of writing to each other through an anonymous pen pal program, Eddie and Richie end up at the same school, completely unaware of their deeper connection.

Things get pretty gay.

and this is who we are by sunsetozier↬ word count: 40,763 | chapters: 8/8 | rating: M

He realizes, suddenly, that being in a position like this meant nothing to him two weeks ago. At the time, it was completely normal, holding no real meaning other than comfort and tradition – after all, him and Eddie have been disgustingly cuddly with one another since they were kids, even though they’d usually bicker while holding each other close, much to the annoyance (and entertainment) of their friends.

Now, however, Richie can feel his heart skip a beat in his chest, an undeniable thundering that echoes loudly in his ears. He can picture his younger self, as much of an oblivious idiot as he may have been, soaking in the warmth and the affection of Eddie’s touch when they hugged, shoved, or even just nudged one another. It’s funny, really, how much changes once you’re aware of how you feel.

[In which Eddie and Beverly lie to their friends for five years before finally coming out, much to the surprise of one supposedly straight Richie Tozier.]

the boy who cried (wolf) by @jortsbian↬ word count: 21,784 | chapters: 3/5 | rating: T

The following events seemed to happen in slow motion, which would probably have looked cool as fuck if Richie hadn’t been a gangly uncoordinated teen and if it had been a cool action movie instead of real life: the wolf lunged at Eddie. Richie, in a fit of anger and fear-fueled adrenaline, kicked at the wolf as hard as he could. The wolf twisted its head and sunk its teeth into Richie’s leg. Richie’s thoughts turned blank except for oh shit. Eddie screamed something at the wolf and sprayed it in the eyes with his inhaler. The wolf whimpered, released Richie’s leg, and stumbled blindly into the woods. Richie thought another oh shit as Eddie scrambled over to him and asked him—something. The world went dark.

AKA, the one where Richie’s a werewolf and that’s the least of his worries (or maybe not, but sue him for being dramatic, will you?)

call my bluff, call you babe by @hyruling↬ word count: 16,527 | chapters: 2/3 | rating: M

“Why can’t I ask Bill?”

“Because— he’s basically a celebrity too. That’s just. It’s already weird enough to people that you two even know each other, pretending to be romantically involved is just opening up a whole can of worms. I’m outside.”

“‘Romantically involved’, when did you start writing for The Sun, Eds,” Richie teases with a chuckle, just as Eddie reaches the final turn down Richie’s hallway. “That doesn’t really… I mean, people know we were friends when we were kids, so—”

“Just pretend to be my date,” Eddie says, and—

And nearly throws his phone into the fucking wall.

Thanks for Pudding up with Me by MooeyDooey↬ word count: 62,809 | chapters: 7/8 | rating: E

Eddie Kaspbrak was once one of the most influential professional chefs in New York. After an unfortunate incident in his kitchen, he loses his job and most of his earnings. Down on his luck, with no where else to go, he accepts a job offer with the ragtag ‘Prospect Test Kitchen’ in Boston.

What starts as a small passion project, making cooking tutorials online, becomes a lot more complicated and bigger than they could ever imagine when Bill brings in a new addition to their team. A comedian with a shocking background and surprise talent for culinary arts: Richie Tozier.

Eddie’s the only one who doesn’t like the new recruit, but Bill bribes Eddie into giving Richie a chance. At the end of six months, Richie’s contract will expire. Eddie will get to decide whether they offer him a contract renewal, or refuse to re-hire him.

Things are heating up in the Prospect street Test Kitchen! Will Eddie stick to his guns, and keep his dignity? Or will he get lost in the sauce?