#I even based a few horror characters on character actors I saw and was enamored with

[beetledrink]

re: that "tag the weirdest/most embarrassing fandom phase of your life" post, I didn't wanna reblog that big ass thang but I DID want you guys to know that when I was 13/14 I obsessively watched the seasonal Halloween travel channel specials that feature the top whatever scariest haunted house attractions in America, like, I would seek out every instance of them playing on tv and DVR and rewatch all of them I was already an edgy horror movie geek but for SOME REASON these stupid ass walkthroughs of corporate haunted houses were the next step of my goofy horror teen lifestyle

[therosevest]

this isnt quite the ask meme so feel free to ignore it but i wanna hear about why u like either stranger things or it (or both im not ur mom)

omg i love you thank u for asking. im gonna put a keep reading on this bc i ranted a lot lmao

ok so stranger things was odd (ha); i remember when it very first came out during that july i was like ‘im not rlly into scifi so idk if i’d care for it’ and my sister was like ‘no, trust me, me neither but i started this and it’s really good’ so i started it while hanging out at her house and was absolutely glued to the screen and then i left and went home and proceeded to stay up until 4 am to finish it and was absolutely SOBBING at my screen. i was enamored by the aesthetic (so many beautiful shots of the fall landscape and a simple 80s wintery vibe and the christmas lights UGH poetic cinema) and i just felt like all of the characters were so fleshed out and no matter how much conflict there was or idiotic things they did i literally loved every single one (except like. Ted and Papa yk??). and they were such good friends and so so funny??? like dustin and lucas had a hilarious dynamic and mike literally going to jump off a cliff for dustin???? being so concerned for will and letting that take precedence over any romances (not just talking about mileven i promise) hello????? el sacrificing so much of herself and her energy for these people because they’re the first to truly treat her with unconditional kindness in her life and they’re her family now??? but they all had SUCH heart and dedication to one another, and i loved that because the boys werent super concerned with like toxic masculinity (not to be #deep like a lot of it was that they were kids but they love each other so much and don’t care when they’re bullied by troy and his gang; they are there for each other and the first season shows how deep each of their friendships run and i love it); like these idiots were big NERDS and so sweet and kind to el, and each other honestly. you know they all had each other’s backs, even when they were mad or bickering. it went against my expectations for an 80s-based show and the government conspiracy aspect was intriguing (despite the fact that i usually get lost with that stuff; same with the sci-fi aspect) and i adored all of the kids and the story was just so tight and developed so wonderfully. i think season 1 was phenomenal and thats where it becomes hard for me as it goes on; im bummed that it’s more mainstream and thus i can only expect them to abide by mainstream guidlines (in terms of how they handle lgbt/minority characters, the balance between plot vs character, how far they will go in criticizing american and other governments), but i do think it deserves the hype. it is a beautiful, wonderful show and i am attached to the characters and the actual story more than i have been with anything else. it easily became my favorite show and season 2 LIVED UP TO THE HYPE it was so so good!!!! i rewatch the first two seasons all the time (i honestly dont know how many times ive seen each season at this point (other than three which i have seen thrice, i believe); i simply adore each and every character and the different teams that form by the ends of the season and i believe that they did very very well with all of this up until season 3 (ive talked about my diasppointment extensively, so im gonna focus on the positive); and we will see how s4 goes.

as for It, i have a lot less background tbh but i still really love it. i remember watching the og miniseries years ago and even though i have trouble watching shows with a big “ensemble” cast (mostly bc the characters arent diverse so i have trouble distinguishing between them), i liked the story and i remember being struck by bev’s storyline. i dont remember why i wanted to see it ch1 so bad (probably because i’d seen finn in stranger things the year before, ngl) but i attached to the characters so quickly. i saw it with my mom and she was like ‘that was awful it wasn’t even scary, it was just corny’ and i was like MAYBE SO but i fucking loved the characters so so much. i said that over and over and over and was heartbroken when i found out upon further research that two of my favorite characters (though ofc its hard to ‘rank’ them when they all have such a special place in my heart) die in the book. regardless, i just loved the kid actors sm and i think i found it especially easy to get invested in the story and the cast because they’re my age?? idk i just find it a lot more fun (which is probably why im still more partial to ch1). and then i went home and found all of the stupid interviews with them and the videos they posted on their own youtube channels and i thought they were so funny and it was awesome that they were genuinely such good friends. again, i dont always get invested in horror storylines but i thought the fact that its really....a love story between friends and ch2 especially has a lot of commentary on homophobia (its absolutely not perfect but yk) because of adrian mellon coming from charlie howard and how they all come from more troubled backgrounds but find love in each other is just the BEST i am such a sucker for found family and i have genuinely not found a better example of that than the losers club. i love them so fucking much. again, im not quite as informed when it comes to It as i am with stranger things, but i still really really love the story and characters and the depth that they all have (except mike/stan they were slept on) (and eddie was deprived of a good gay story and just Happy story but whatever) and yeah anyway im just ranting at this point. i think that stephen king had some... interesting ways of writing this story that make me wary of finally just picking up the book and reading more than the first few chapters (ie You Know, and just... idk i don’t trust how bev was written (but maybe thats harsh of me considering i Havent read it)), but hopefully eventually i will so i can be more involved than i am now. i cant quite articulate all that im trying to say, but i really really do love the story and the kids.

send me asks!!

[acsversace-news]

Emmy nominations may be four months away, but the campaign season kicked off on Monday night, when the cast and producers of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story reunited for a For Your Consideration event at the Directors Guild of America theater in Los Angeles.

After a screening of the season finale, “Alone” (March 21 at 10 p.m. ET on FX), stars Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez, Ricky Martin, Cody Fern, Max Greenfield, Judith Light, and Jon Jon Briones, as well as executive producer Brad Simpson, EP/writer Tom Rob Smith, and Vulgar Favors author Maureen Orth, talked openly about the challenges of bringing the story of Andrew Cunanan and his victims to the screen, the most difficult scenes to film, and, of course, which wardrobe pieces they really wanted to steal.

Here are a few highlights from the event:

Playing Versace’s partner was ‘very painful’ for Ricky Martin

To portray Antonio D’Amico, Gianni Versace’s longtime partner, Martin had to revisit a time in his own life when he was not yet publicly out as a gay man, and the actor told the crowd that dredging up those memories was “very painful, to be quite honest.” Martin added that shooting episode 5, when Versace talks openly to a reporter about his sexuality for the first time, was particularly moving. “When I was in the closet, I unfortunately made a lot of my partners lie. So I was reliving that,” he explained. “I’ll always be so thankful to [executive producer Ryan Murphy] for allowing me to tell this story with everyone on this panel, because it’s been so therapeutic for me.”

The hardest scene Darren Criss had to film did not involve murder

Though he murders four people onscreen as killer Andrew Cunanan, Criss said the most difficult scene for him to film was the intense encounter in episode 3 between Andrew and his third victim, Chicago real estate mogul Lee Miglin (played by M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell). “People always ask me what the hardest thing to shoot was, and I think they want to hear the violence, the aggression — but those are simple things,” said Criss. “Violence is a base act from a very accessible place — it’s easy to get angry. But what is truly twisted and heartbreaking is looking into Mike Farrell’s eyes [as he’s] playing this deeply closeted man who loves his wife, and is truly a good man who is fighting a demon he can’t escape — and then me having to drive the car as somebody waging psychological warfare on this person. When I would leave those scenes, I’d feel like, Ugghhh,” the actor continued. “I think people on set maybe thought it was because I was getting intimate with Mike Farrell — it wasn’t that, it was having to, like, penetrate a man’s soul who was trying so desperately to keep it together.”

Jon Jon Briones might actually be the hardest working actor in Hollywood

Veteran stage actor Briones gives a star-making performance as Andrew’s father, Modesto “Pete” Cunanan, a fast-talking, truth-stretching Filipino immigrant who had big dreams for his favorite son. Maureen Orth, who wrote the book this season of Crime Story is based on, marveled at the accuracy of Briones’s portrayal. “I interviewed Pete Cunanan,” said the author. “And when I saw Jon Jon, I thought I was watching [Pete] on the screen.”

Briones’s performance is all the more impressive considering that during production on Crime Story, he was also working another job — all the way across the country. “While we shot that episode, Jon Jon was performing in Miss Saigon as the lead on Broadway in New York,” said exec producer Brad Simpson. “So often he would shoot with us, take a red eye, then arrive in New York and do a matinee and evening performance.”

Fortunately for the actor, he had a very supportive director: American Horror Story star Matt Bomer, who made his directorial debut with “Creator/Destroyer,” Briones’ breakout episode. “I would recommend it to every actor — on your first big break, get another actor to direct you,” Briones said with a laugh. “Because [actors] are the most insecure people in the world. And every single take we’d cut, and he’d come to me and go, ‘That was amazing. Let’s do another one.’ He kept telling me during filming, ‘You know, if you don’t succeed, I don’t succeed.’”

Everyone loved the wardrobe…

Naturally, a show about renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace is replete with beautiful costumes — and naturally, the cast and creators coveted some of those exquisite pieces. Exec producer Brad Simpson recalled how Ryan Murphy was so enamored of the long, flowing pink robe Versace wears in episode one, costume designer Lou Eyrich had a replica specially made for him to own. Ramirez told the crowd that he still has the keychain bearing Versace’s Medusa head emblem, which his character wore in the premiere, while Martin admitted that he considered sneaking off with another actor’s costume: “I wanted the wings on the male escort that was dancing at the club.” As for Andrew’s pink Speedo, which made its debut in episode 2, Criss joked, “I’m wearing it right now.”

…with one key exception

Martin, who talked with his real-life counterpart during production, said that Antonio D’Amico took issue with a “shocking green” shirt Martin wore during a scene where Antonio and Versace are walking on the beach. “I talked to Antonio, and he goes, [in thick Italian accent] ‘But Reeeky, Reeeky, you have to understand I would never wear a green shirt in my life! I wear black.’”

[monabela]

no one told me it was femslash february before the month actually started, but I managed to throw something together! I present a series of AUs (loosely) based on Sonata Arctica songs bc I'm always a slut for Sonata Arctica (and femslash). there's ten of them, all different f/f Hetalia pairings. with canon female characters :D I hope I can actually finish all ten before the end of the month! we shall see.

a chapter starts anew

part I of the femslash Sonata Arctica AUs

Now when you think it's all over, you find love A flower stars to bloom, a chapter starts anew The greatest moment in life

- Larger Than Life

characters/pairings: Belgium (Manon)/Hungary (Erzsébet), Spain (Antonio), Netherlands (Martin), Luxembourg (Noah)

word count: 2114 summary: Manon Leclercq is a world famous actress who never had time to build a life between her roles. Until she meets Erzsébet Héderváry.

warning: character death (but not in a tragic way? just because the characters are old)

She had been one of the first of her kind. Some people would argue that she was the only of her kind, but she never believed that.

Her name had buzzed around theaters and smoke-filled bars, hummed to the tune of rock-n-roll hits, whispered reverently by young girls putting on bright red lipstick and young men trying to get to them.

She had wondered if it was all worth it, at that point.

Manon Leclercq. Was that her? Was she the person going on stage to collect award after award? Were those her arms heavy with flowers? Who was Manon Leclercq?

She flitted from role to role without pause, without consideration for much else. She always had been a hard worker; sometimes, she could feel the blisters on her fingers from the factory work she had done during the war still, as clear as she could see the scar on her elder brother’s face or the guarded closeness on her younger one’s.

She had only been 21 when she’d done her first movie, and sometimes Manon felt like she hadn’t sat down since. Like, maybe, she had forgotten to build something of her own in-between the lives of Lady Jane and Detective Michelle and her series of sequels.

Her brothers, bless them, spread out across the world, but wrote often of their amazing travels. Martin, the oldest of them, sent pictures and short poems. Noah sent souvenirs and foreign words. Manon read their scribbly handwritings on film sets in America, Iceland, Spain and Japan and had the feeling they were taking her more places than she was taking herself. She loved acting, didn’t doubt that she always would, but sometimes she thought that her entire life had become a movie, and not a particularly exciting one to watch.

In the late fifties, as her roles grew more prolific, she acquired a co-star in this strange movie. Well, Antonio liked to call himself her right-hand man. Or her friend. It took her a while to come around to that one.

The first full feature in color she did was with him, and the audience had been enamored with his bright green eyes. Manon liked him, and recognized that he was very handsome, but felt as though she was missing the real appeal.

People assumed they were together. They never were. It was strange even to them sometimes, that something that seemed so natural was not, in fact, the case, but they could laugh about it.

Manon was offered her first role as a mother in 1961, when she was 35. Antonio laughed at her. She accepted the part. Critics were loving. She stuck her tongue out at Antonio when she finished her Oscar acceptance speech. He swung her off the ground afterwards and probably started a whole slew of new rumors. She didn’t really care, even if Martin ranted in his letters that Antonio wasn’t good enough for her and she should watch her back.

Manon grew older, and her roles grew, but she wasn’t sure that she did so herself. Even on her fortieth birthday, she still felt like the country girl coming into the big city she’d been at 21, albeit with dyed hair and crow’s feet around her eyes. She watched Antonio and Martin snipe at each other affectionately, Noah trying to defend his beard by saying it was fashionable. There was still so much life stretched out before her, god willing, and she was happy but wanted something more.

Over the years, Manon had been with a few men. Because they were nice, and it was what was expected of her. It wasn’t until 1972 that everything fell into place.

Her name was Erzsébet Héderváry, but almost everyone called her Liz. She was from Hungary and told the most interesting stories about life on the other side of the Curtain, and even if some of them seemed completely unbelievable, Manon kept listening to the woman’s accented voice, enraptured. Familiar words took on new shapes on her tongue and smiling lips. She worked on the photography for Manon’s latest movie and didn’t seem to grasp how big Manon was around here.

It was refreshing.

Erzsébet had green eyes too, and Manon finally saw the appeal, though it wasn’t because of the color. It was because they crinkled and lit up with sparkles when she smiled, sometimes shone with repressed longing for her distant home country. They seemed to see Manon for who she was, which was as confusing as it was thrilling, because who was that, anyway?

Manon Leclercq, 47 years old, properly in love for the first time in her life. With a woman.

She wondered if Erzsébet saw that, too, and what she thought of it.

She told Antonio, because god knew Antonio was enjoying the sexual revolution as if he were 26 again and being proclaimed the country’s most eligible bachelor. He laughed, but quickly turned serious when he realized that Manon was.

He said, as he almost always did, to let everything flow its natural course, which sounded hippie-ish enough that Manon hung up on him in a huff.

Still, she took the advice.

It led to a friendship with Erzsébet, who was, so it turned out, two years older than Manon, and gladly taught her Hungarian words, had a habit of dropping by whenever she was around and calling at odd times when she wasn’t. She was as dedicated to her art as Manon was to hers, which Manon admired immensely.

And, as Antonio miraculously settled down and started doing musicals – playing a surprising amount of villain roles before moving on to directing –, Martin published his poems and Noah fell in love with a woman on a faraway island, Manon passed fifty and only fell deeper for Erzsébet with every laugh, every flick of brown hair and every word about her performances, positive or negative. Erzsébet was never afraid to tell Manon what she truly thought, which was just another good thing about her.

Manon’s roles slowly dwindled down, and she decided to take some time off – take some time off! – when she had been offered three witch parts in a row.

Erzsébet laughed, told her that she was far too beautiful to be a witch, and came with her without her having to ask. They went to see Antonio and Manon’s brothers and travelled through as much of Europe as they could.

When Manon came back home in 1980, she found that the press didn’t wonder en masse where she’d been like they once would have. Thing were coming to an end, apparently. There were new faces to wear the masks she’d donned, and even if red lipstick and petticoats had long since gone out of style and it was all jeans and neon now, she was certain much remained the same, and was happy to give advice to younger actors playing her children, or even her grandchildren, when she got back to her job.

Still, there was more free time now. Time to sit back and reflect on life. Time to drink wine with Erzsébet and Antonio and listen to them banter about the latest musicals or the cinematography of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which Manon still hadn’t seen after eight years despite Antonio trying to drag her to special showings every year.

She finally watched it on VHS with running commentary from Erzsébet. The commentary was the best part – she wasn’t sure about the movie itself. It was strange. Erzsébet had a lot to say about the camera work but also sang along to all the songs, horribly.

When it was 1983, and Erzsébet had not stopped singing Africa in months, Manon won an Oscar for Best Actress. It wasn’t her first, but she knew with certainty it would be the last. She wasn’t old, but she was old enough, and that year off with Erzsébet had shown her what she wanted for the rest of her life.

Erzsébet followed her into retirement, no questions asked, and with a minimum of protests about Manon covering most of their expenses.

They saw the country together. Erzsébet followed the situation in Hungary with apparent anxiety. Manon learned to play the guitar and went to see a musical Antonio was directing that had songs written by Martin. Noah came back from his island with two daughters, and dressed in all black.

Erzsébet kissed Manon on her fifty-ninth birthday. It was so surreal that she forgot to kiss back, leading to Erzsébet pulling away, face stony but beautiful green eyes panicked. They flitted around the garden nervously. There was a smudge of Manon’s red lipstick on her lips.

Manon touched her own mouth, then pulled Erzsébet down when she tried to stand up.

Her hair was soft between Manon’s fingers, her lips dry beneath hers, and the soft sound she made when she kissed back would be seared into Manon’s memory for the rest of her life.

Antonio screamed at her in excitement when she told him. Martin just hummed as he tended to do, but he looked pleased. Noah and Manon’s nieces were quietly happy. It was more than she possibly could have hoped for.

The press staunchly refused to acknowledge the mere possibility of Manon and Erzsébet being anything beyond very good friends. While Manon scathingly thought they probably didn’t want their precious piece of movie history sullied by the fact that she happened to be in love with a woman, it also suited them quite well like that.

They traveled to Hungary in 1990, and Erzsébet cried for the first time in all those years Manon had known her. Her shoulders shook when she sank to her knees in the place where she had grown up, love and hate and sadness and bliss spilling out while her grey-streaked hair curtained her off from the rest of the world.

Yet, she had never been more beautiful to Manon. She loved this woman.

1995 marked the first time Manon’s relationship with Erzsébet was acknowledged without a hint of malice or underlying criticism.

Manon, who had by then earned the status of ‘icon’, which she loved and hated – it made her feel very old, but it was an honor – took her to a gala, and who said no to an icon of the film industry when she said the woman by her side was her life partner, right?

The press were mostly neutral on them. Manon attributed it to the fact that she really wasn’t that interesting anymore, no matter what Erzsébet told her with that gorgeous, familiar face of hers.

Manon was often told that she’d aged with grace, but she dyed her hair still, and her hands were quickly becoming alarmingly unsteady. Erzsébet, even with grey hair, looked every bit as youthful as the day Manon had first met her. And that wasn’t Manon’s prejudice talking, no matter what she said about that.

Noah disappeared in the spring of 1997, on one of his aimless trips around the world. His last postcard was sent from Slovenia, saying he was traveling east and sending much love to his grandchildren, and then there was nothing. Manon reckoned that was probably the way Noah preferred things. He’d always been fond of the mysterious.

Antonio forgot who Erzsébet was, but never Manon, not once. He recited a line from their first movie together with his last breath.

Martin did a surprisingly heartfelt poem at his memorial. Erzsébet held Manon’s hand, stroking the frail skin wordlessly. She didn’t cry. Erzsébet Héderváry didn’t cry, except for that one time in Hungary.

The second exception to that rule happened in December 2005. Manon told her to stop it, then. She didn’t want the last thing she saw to be her teary face. Erzsébet laughed through her tears and complained that Martin had taken way too long with her. Manon told her he’d been writing a poem as quickly as he could, which wasn’t very quick when his fingers never stopped shaking and the words could take minutes to find. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful poem.

Wasn’t it cruel, that Martin was the last one of them left, when he was the oldest?

Rather than telling her he wasn’t the last one left yet, Erzsébet told stories about her childhood and about their life together, some heavily embellished as always. It made Manon smile.

Manon Leclercq, iconic movie star, passed away aged 79, in the company of her life partner, Erzsébet Héderváry.

No one but them ever knew that she opened her eyes a last time, felt time slipping away as Erzsébet grasped her fingers, and whispered to her.

“I love you.”