#I think I can quote Miller in season 4

[realmofstupid]

The Expanse watchers, what is the general opinion on the Miller and Julie arc? Do you think it was creepy and dehumanizing of Miller to have feelings for her, or do you think the way the plot went about it subverted it? What with a great part of it being the protomolecule's influence, and all.

[nerdygaymormon]

Favorite LGBTQ movie and TV quotes

“Um, I do drink red wine, but I also drink white wine. And I’ve been known to sample the occasional rosé. And a couple summers back, I tried a Merlot that used to be a Chardonnay, which got a bit complicated… I like the wine and not the label. Does that make sense?”

— David Rose, Schitt’s Creek, Season 1, Episode 10

“That felt so good to say. I feel like I just solved an escape room I’ve been trapped in my entire life.”

— Fabiola Torres, Never Have I Ever, Season 1, Episode 5

“Look, I’ll be hurt either way. Isn’t it better to be who I am?”

— Eric Effiong, Sex Education, Season 1, Episode 7

“Everybody’s story is different. There’s your version, and my version, and everything in between. But the one thing that all of those stories have in common is that moment right before you say those words when your heart is racing, and you don’t know what’s coming next. That moment’s really terrifying. And then once you say those words, you can’t unsay them. A chapter has ended, and a new one’s begun, and you have to be ready for that.”

— John, Happiest Season

“The good thing about being different is that no one expects you to be like them”

— Ellie Chu, The Half Of It

"When I'm with Brittany, I finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about love. I've tried so hard to push this feeling away, and keep it locked inside, but every day just feels like a war. I walk around so mad at the world, but I'm really just fighting with myself. I don't want to fight anymore. I'm just too tired. I have to just be me."

— Santana Lopez, Glee, Season 3, Episode 7

“Now, there is a long and honorable tradition in the gay community, and it has stood us in good stead for a very long time. When somebody calls you a name…you take it and own it.”

— Mark Ashton, Pride

“So I'm bisexual. So what? It's LGBTQ for a reason. There's a B in there and it doesn't mean Badass. Okay, it does, but it also means Bi.”

— Callie Torres, Grey's Anatomy, Episode 1105

“We’re standing here in Philadelphia, the, uh, City of Brotherly Love, the birthplace of freedom where the, uh, founding fathers authored the Declaration of Independence, and I don’t recall that glorious document saying anything about all straight men are created equal. I believe it says all men are created equal.”

— Joe Miller, Philadelphia

"Yes, I wear foundation. Yes, I live with a man. Yes, I'm a middle- aged fag. But I know who I am, Val. It took me twenty years to get here, and I'm not gonna let some idiot senator destroy that. F*** the senator, I don't give a damn what he thinks."

— Armand Goldman, The Birdcage

"Being gay is your thing. There are parts of it you have to go through alone. I hate that. As soon as you came out, you said, "Mom, I'm still me." I need you to hear this: You are still you, Simon. You are still the same son who I love to tease and who your father depends on for just about everything. And you're the same brother who always complements his sister on her food, even when it sucks. You get to exhale now, Simon. You get to be more you than you have been in... in a very long time. You deserve everything you want."

— Emily Spier, Love, Simon

"The greatest gift we can give each other is our authentic selves and sharing that. Sharing our truth is what will make us strong. So here I am. I am both human and alien. And I am a trans woman."

— Kara Danvers, Supergirl, Season 4, Episode 19

"But I feel more when I look at a picture of Kristen Stewart than I do when I kiss him."

— Elena Alvarez, One Day at a Time,

"You can’t change it. You can’t fix me. Because I’m not broken, I don’t need to be fixed, OK? I’m me!"

— Ian Gallagher, Shameless, Season 5, Episode 12

"Becoming me was the greatest creative project of my life."

Eliot Waugh, The Magicians, Season 1, Episode 1

"Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place. So, thank you."

—Raymond Holt, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 5, Episode 10

"I might be…bisexual, and you guys know I hate labels, but this one feels important right now to own the space I’m in and to make sense of it."

—Kat Edison, The Bold Type

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For fandom : Merlin BBC, The Song of Achilles and Good Omens.

Thanks 🌻

Sure thing! I’ll try not to ramble because you picked 2 of my favourite shows and my favourite book

Link to the post

For BBC Merlin:

Favorite Character: Lancelot, immediately followed by Morgana before season 4

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Most of season 4 episodes 1 and 2, just ignoring the ending. I’m imagining they sacrificed a chickens life of something and Lancelot lives.

Character I Think is Underrated: Balinor

Character I Think is Overrated: Morgause

Favorite Ship/Pairing: just one? Merthur but it’s a very close tie between Mercelot and platonic Morgwen too.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: the happy ending where no one dies and there’s peace in Albion, magic is returned and everyone gets therapy. (Let me be delusional in peace, it’s fine)

For The Song of Achilles:

Favorite Character: Patroclus.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Page 129

Character I Think is Underrated: Thetis (just a really interesting character)

Character I Think is Overrated: Chiron (I’ve read PJO)

I don’t really spend enough time in the fandom to know who’s considered overrated or underrated but anyway

Favorite Ship/Pairing: do I need to say it? Patrochillies

Something I Love About the book: how it never gets boring. I’m pretty sure I could quote at least half word for word at this point but it’s still my all time favourite book. I just never get bored of it, and for that I think Madeline Miller is an amazing writer.

For Good Omens:

Favorite Character: Crowley.

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Aziraphel and Crowley dancing in the bookshop and plotting to get Maggie and Nina together.

Character I Think is Underrated: Maggie

Character I Think is Overrated: I think they’re all pretty fairly rated, I don’t exactly hate anyone who isn’t written to be hated. (The Metatron)

Favorite Ship/Pairing: the ineffable husbands

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: queer rep, fun plot, attention to detail in staging and storytelling, the pacing really works, it’s got amazing characters, David Tennant and Michael Sheen, I could go on.

Just one thing though?

The ducks.

[aestheticvoyage2024]

Day 203: Sunday July 21, 2024 - "Iron Anniversary with Us 3"

Such a beautiful anniversary gift, made of iron, to commemorate this season, and the grit its taken to come through it, in order for us to live a great story together. And thats what we did today - in front of a backdrop that sees us talking about expanding our family to 4, a reminder of this beautiful time with just Us 3. Splashing in a whirlpool, swinging so high, making banana muffins, rubbing his back as he goes to sleep. A Family Day. A blessed day. A day I can think about whenever I look at that little iron statue, a reminder of this fun wonderful season, together.

Song: Jackson 5 - ABC

Quote: "Dont think you have to transform before you live a great story. Live a great story, and the story itself will transform you." ~Donald Miller

[lostinthewoods-kristoff]

November 16 -- Character #Inspo

Tapio (The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven, Nathaniel Ian Miller)

"You have experienced this, Tapio." "Yes, Ormson. I have. But it's not so uniformly liberating as you imagine. It might be if you never had to return. Once you begin to think like a walrus, it's difficult to think like a man again."

The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven was such an amazing book but I was so drawn to Tapio, a seasoned Finnish trapper who lives on Svalbard and teaches Sven how to survive. He just reminded me so much of Kristoff in that in-between phase, when he was shifting from living in the forest to living in town, one foot in the wilderness and one foot in civilisation. Tapio was also fairly quiet and reserved whilst still quite obviously caring, which just reminds me of Kristoff so much.

2. Ricky Matsui (Dimension 20: Unsleeping City, Zac Oyama)

Thus marks the beginning of a collection of himbos that I just feel truly encapsulate who Kristoff is lmao. Himbo firefighter with a literal heart of gold. The selfie moment at 00:43 just feels too real, and there are so many Ricky Matsui quotes that I could see coming directly from Kristoff's mouth

3. Luther Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy)

There's a lot I can say about Luther that reminds me of Kristoff but truly this gifset from season 3 really illustrates my point. The way he knows he should say something nice, says something nice, and still manages to make it vaguely awkward despite actually doing something nice: a real Kristoff moment. But I also always think there's something very lonely and very childlike about Luther that I see in Kristoff as well.

4. Matthias Helvar (Six of Crows / Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo)

Matthias’ steps faltered. “Why would he—” “She’s tied up, so he has to.” “Be silent.” “Already giving orders. That’s very barbarian of you. Or we could mix it up. I’ll be the barbarian and you can be the princess. But you’ll have to do a lot more sighing and trembling and biting your lip.” “How about I bite your lip?” “Now you’re getting the hang of it, Helvar.”

Maybe this is cheating because really what reminded of me of Kristoff when I was reading the Crows duology was the way Matthias interacts with Nina, rather than just Matthias himself. Admittedly they are both big and blonde and and have a certain naivety to them, but mistoff is so Helnik coded and I have said this to Chloe before and it's the hill that I'll die on. The way Matthias so often is on the back foot when it comes to Nina, the way Nina can win him round even when he sets out to hold his ground. I could write an essay about it tbqh

5. Percy Jackson (specifically in Chalice of the Gods, Rick Riordan)

I asked myself, Percy, why are you doing that?

I don’t know, I answered, because I am not very helpful when I talk to myself.

Am I projecting? Maybe. Maybe not. Percy’s whole deal is being ‘kid that weird stuff happens to so often that he just deals with it’ which is really kristoff’s deal too lol. So much of Percy’s inner monologue and the way he talks about and to himself, like in the quote I’ve used, are just so reminiscent of Kristoff for me too

[thisiscalmanditsdoctorreid]

Okay,, so,, can I send one of everything??

✋🏻✋🏻✋🏻 and 🧃 hehehe

🍁 My favourite season is winter :)

😍 I absolutely adore moreid with all my heart haha

🖊 I want to become a doctor and I play the piano (so random I don't know what to say hahaha)

😂 Reid!! :D

Wooo first one! Of course, anon

I can combine 🧃🤚🏼 for you with this gem. Give the creator a follow if you’re on TikTok- they do great edits

I’d say 5x21 “Exit wounds” for 🍁. I just associate Alaska with winter and it’s great because we get in-field Penelope and there’s the whole room sharing debacle. There’s not enough beds makes my ao3 heart smile.

Moreid! 😍 okay where do I even start. The ways they’re like brothers and Derek helps him flirt. HE NAMED HIS SON HANK SPENCER MORGAN!. In amplification when he wants to stay with him and they have that moment. The prank war! I’m not sure I’m into them together romantically but I think that’s because I love their relationship so much that I want to keep the hope of finding a platonic soulmate for myself!!

The 🖊 quote has to be - Season 8 Episode 4 God Complex

Reid: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote “When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”

JJ: “Body and Soul cannot be seperated for purposes of treatment. For they are one, and indivisible. Sick minds must be healed as well as sick bodies.” Dr. Jeff Miller

And 😂 for Reid. Prank war is such a classic but I really enjoy the moments where he always gets propositioned by prostitutes because he’s so sweet and awkward about it. “Reid got propositioned by every prostitute we talked to” and “ I always remember the cute ones…like you”

Ty anon!

[summersun4youforever]

✨ Tag 9 people to learn more about their interests!

tagged by my fav @loulovehome thank you pu hope that this quells your curiosity! 

MUSIC

fav genre? not to be that person but i think i have a toe in most genres, i suppose my favorites have got to be anything taylor swift does, pop punk, r&b pop/new age r&b, and bluegrass

fav artist? again, not to be that person but i love so many artists! let’s do this based off of genre: taylor swift, 1D, 5sos, massive focus on ZAYN, the Avett brothers, and counting crows

fav song? fav song of all time (since i was young) is going to be come around by rhett miller but more currently i’d say you are in love by taylor swift and dRuNk by ZAYN

song currently stuck in your head? i have no idea how it got there but i have stressed out by 21 pilots stuck in my head??

5 fav lyrics? ok let’s do this kids. edit: this went in a “fav love song lyrics” way so sorry in advance.

1)  I hope that I don't sound to insane when I say / There is darkness all around us / I don't feel weak but I do need sometimes for her to protect me / And reconnect me to the beauty that I'm missin' (January Wedding - The Avett Brothers)

2)  Hands around my waist / You're counting up the hills across the sheets / And I'm a falling star / A glimmer lighting up these cotton streets / I admit I'm a bit of a fool for playing by the rules / But I've found my sweet escape when I'm alone with you (Disconnected - 5sos)

3)  This is the worthwhile fight / Love is a ruthless game / Unless you play it good and right / These are the hands of fate / You're my Achilles heel / This is the golden age of something good / And right and real (State of Grace - Taylor Swift) 

4)  What if I changed my mind / What if I said it's over / I been flying so long / Can't remember what it was like to be sober / What if I lost my lives? / What if I said "Game over"? / What if I forget my lies? / And I lose all my composure (Back to Life - ZAYN)

5)   I never said I was perfect / Or you don't deserve a good person to carry your baggage / I know a few girls that can handle it / I ain't that kind of chick, but I can call 'em for you if you want / I never said that you wasn't attractive / Your style and that beard, ooh, don't get me distracted / I'm tryna be patient, and patience takes practice / The fact is I'm leaving, so just let me have this (Jerome - Lizzo)

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? murder mystery and young love!

fav writer? jane austen, lisa jewell, and rick riordan (nostalgia ok?!)

fav book? the way i used to be my amber smith, rebecca by daphane du maurier, and then she was gone OR watching you (both by Lisa Jewell)

fav book series? i guess the whole percy jackson situations? i have everything RR every wrote, and i liked it all but i havent touched the older ones in ages

comfort book? not one specifically but the nancy drew books

perfect book to read on a rainy day? bird summons by leila aboulela

5 quotes from your fav book that you know by heart? i hope i can name five...

1)  “The point is, life has to be endured, and lived. But how to live it is the problem.” “I am no traveller, you are my world.” (both are My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier)

2)  “And I’m terrified he’ll see through the tough iceberg layer, and he’ll discover not a soft, sweet girl, but an ugly fucking disaster underneath.” (The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith)

3)  "I cannot make speeches, Emma," he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing. "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover. But you understand me. Yes, you see, you understand my feelings and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice.” (Emma by Jane Austen) (sorry for the length, the shortened versions were not cutting it for me)

4)  “Read, read, read. That's all I can say.” (The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene)

5)  “...amazing how boring you can get away with being when you’re pretty. No one seems to notice. When you’re pretty everyone just assumes you must have a great life. People are so short-sighted, sometimes. People are so stupid. I have a dark past and I have dark thoughts. I do dark things and I scare myself sometimes.” (Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell)

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary (im a very judgmental reader) | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? i like dramedies, mockumentaries, and procedurals 

fav movie? ive got a massive list on my phone but ill pick Doob (No Bed of Roses) and 3-Iron as my favs for today

comfort movie? 2000s romcoms, im talking clueless, 13 going on 30, how to loe a guy in ten days, ten things i hate abt you, legally blonde

movie you watch every year? mamma mia and all listed in prev question

fav tv show? too many, currently im rewatching arrested development

comfort tv show? new girl

most rewatched tv show? new girl

ultimate otp? shawn and jules from psych (ultimate bc ive been watching since diapers literally)

5 fav characters? winston bishop, stiles stilinski, bellamy blake, clarke griffin, lydia martin

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

super fun even though it took me an hour lmao, I'm tagging @technosoot @hometothecanyonmoon @sassylilnoodle @sushiniall @rosegold-thorns no pressure and sorry if youve already been tagged!

edit: i somehow managed to forget what i consider to be one of the greatest opening verses ever???? so bonus lyrics:

Step out the front door like a ghost into the fog / Where no one notices the contrast of white on white / And in between the moon and you / The angels get a better view / Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right (Round Here - Counting Crows)

[longitudinalwaveme]

The CW Rogues: My Biggest Gripe With the 2014 Flash Show

In many ways, the CW Flash show is what got me into comics. While I had watched (and loved) Justice League and Justice League Unlimited and read loads of DC guidebooks as a kid, it wasn’t until I saw a clip from the 2014 CW Flash show that I really got invested in the DC Universe. While I had already started watching B:TAS (and loving it), Batman wasn’t what got me into comics. No, that was the Flash...or rather, it was Captain Cold. While watching a clip from the Justice League episode Flash and Substance on YouTube, I saw a link to a clip from “Family of Rogues” (from Season 2 of CW’s Flash). Intrigued by the premise, I found the show on Netflix, watched the entire episode, and was hooked. Not only was the Flash just as nice as he had been on Justice League, but two of his Rogues were siblings, and they actually cared about one another. I wanted to know more, so I looked Captain Cold and the Golden Glider up. My research into Cold and Glider led me to the other Rogues, and soon I became a Flash fan. I watched the show, I re-watched “Flash and Substance”, I read articles about the characters from the comics...and eventually, I started reading the comics themselves. I loved the characters and the lore, and I enjoyed the generally lighthearted tone of the books even into the modern era. Unfortunately, as I learned more about the comics, I grew less and less interested in the 2014 TV show. It made too many alterations to character I liked in the comics...and eventually, I basically stopped watching the show out of frustration. Ironically enough, by getting me into comics, the show alienated me from itself....and a big reason for that was the way it handled the Rogues. Here’s a rundown of the CW Rogues, and why I was frustrated with most of them. 

1. Captain Cold. I actually enjoy Captain Cold on the CW show; he’s recognizable as Len Snart and his sarcasm game is on point. (It doesn’t hurt that Wentworth Miller is really attractive, either). His relationships with Lisa, Mick, and Barry are fantastic, and it’s a relief to have him be treated as a competent threat. That being said...he’s a bit too suave for Captain Cold, isn’t he? Silver Age Cold thought he was suave, but he wasn’t; and modern Captain Cold is middle-aged, grouchy, and very rough around the edges. His smooth, suave nature reminds me more of classic Sam (the original Mirror Master) than Captain Cold. 

2. Heat Wave. Dominic Purcell did a great job with the role he was given, and physically he’s an excellent match for Mick. That being said, CW Mick is very different from the Mick in the classic comics, who was a bit dim-witted and rather gentle and sweet for a supervillain. CW Mick, by contrast, is, as I think @gorogues put it, “Hothead McAngryman”, which wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t seem to have bled back into the comics themselves. Villains with fire powers being hotheads is a bit overdone, so I’m not thrilled to see comic Mick being put into that role. 

3. Golden Glider. Hands down, Lisa is my favorite of the CW Rogues. Despite the fact that her costume and power set are completely different than they were in the comics, they managed to get her personality down pretty well; making her just as dangerous and competent as the boys. Flirtatious, crafty, devious, and yet still at least somewhat sympathetic, the CW version of Lisa Snart takes home the gold for the best adaptation of a Rogue. If only they hadn’t completely forgotten that she existed. 

4. Pied Piper. Note that I have not seen his Season 6 appearance, so I’m just judging this based on his appearances in Seasons 1 and 2. Piper is disappointing; in his first appearance he wasn’t as fun as Silver/Bronze Age Piper or as sympathetic as modern Piper, and I’m not crazy about the idea of him being motivated primarily by revenge on Wells/Thawne, since that wasn’t his motivation in the comics at all. I also don’t remember him being able to puppet or hypnotize people with his music, which is too bad, since that’s his main schtick in the comics. What’s more, if you want to reform a character, don’t do it offscreen via reality warping and then forget about him for four seasons. It sounds like his Season 6 appearance was better, but I haven’t seen it so I can’t comment on it. Also, “the Pied Piper” is kind of a nonindicative name if he doesn’t play a pipe/flute. 

5. Trickster II (Axel Walker). Axel was actually decent in the CW show. I still like comic Axel better, but they got the gist of his character down and even made him a bit sympathetic. In fact, he’s probably in the top three best Rogue adaptations that the CW did. 

6. Trickster I (James Jesse). I love watching Mark Hamill play CW’s Trickster...but man, he is not playing Giovanni Giuseppi on the CW show. He’s playing the Joker with a different name. It’s especially weird since we know from JLU and that one short where Mark Hamill plays himself, the Joker, the Trickster, and Swamp Thing that Hamill can do a non-Joker Trickster and do it well, so my suspicion is that it was just because Trickster was also the Joker in the 1990s Flash show (where he was also played by Mark Hamill). Regardless, murdering random people and threatening to blow up small children during Christmas is not something the Trickster should be doing. 

Although this does prove Mark Hamill could do a live-action Joker. I’d pay money to see that. Mark Hamill is a great Joker. 

7. Weather Wizard. CW Weather Wizard isn’t egregiously bad. He’s not out-of-character like Trickster, and he’s not boring to watch, but at the same time it feels like there’s something missing. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t quote Twain. Maybe it’s because there’s not the sense that he was a loser before he got his powers. Maybe it’s because they changed his origin completely (and also made him older than Clyde for some reason). It could even be because he’s not wearing a green leotard with a huge collar, puffy sleeves, and ridiculous elf boots. Whatever it is, though, he’s just missing that spark that makes me like comic book Wizard so much. 

8. Mirror Master I (Sam Scudder). I don’t know how you make Sam Scudder more boring than New 52/Rebirth did, but somehow the CW version of the character pulled it off. Granted, Cold had already stolen some of Sam’s characterization, so that didn’t help, but they could’ve leaned into his skills as an inventor or his love of showmanship or something. Instead, we got a generic thug with what was basically Evan McCulloch’s power set. Boo! Boo I say! 

9. Top (Roscoe/Rosa Dillon). The Brave and the Bold Top is more interesting than the CW version, and he doesn’t even have spoken lines! That’s how boring this Top is. Also, the gender swap was pretty pointless. I wouldn’t have minded a female Top if she’d been intelligent and creepy and snobbish in the way that Roscoe is, but why even bother changing the gender if the character is going to have such a minor role? They also substantially depowered the CW Top, since Rosa can’t spin at super speed and isn’t telekinetic. A massive missed opportunity. 

10. Mirror Master II (Evan/Eva McCulloch). I can’t comment on how good of a character Eva is, since I haven’t watched any of the episodes with her in them, but I will say I am disappointed that the character does not seem to be Scottish, does not have Evan’s weird sense of humor, and lacks his tooth gap. 

11. Captain Boomerang (George “Digger” Harkness). Not only did he not actually appear on the Flash, but he was also boring and didn’t even seem to have an Australian accent. I was very disappointed with his role in the CW. 

And now for characters who aren’t Rogues: 

-CW Eobard is really good. I have no real complaints about him. 

-CW Grodd is also really good, though I do wish he was from Gorilla City as per the comics rather than a lab experiment. 

-CW Magenta got most of the important character beats down but felt a bit out of place with Barry as the Flash. 

-CW Shade was possibly even more boring than CW Sam, which is saying something. 

-CW Zoom didn’t really feel like Zoom at all. Not only was it weird to see him fighting Barry and not Wally, but he was just a generic serial killer and didn’t have Zolomon’s unique outlook on the world. The loss of his time manipulation powers was likewise disappointing.

-CW Jay is really good. I love him. 

-CW Jesse Quick has very little in common with her comic book counterpart; I like the comic version better but don’t actually mind the CW version all that much.

-CW Wally is decent enough, though I don’t see why they couldn’t have kept him as Iris’ nephew rather than making him her brother. Also, they didn’t use him nearly as much as they should have. 

-CW Barry I generally like a lot; Grant Gustin is a good fit for the character. That being said, I do wish they hadn’t given him the dead mom origin, which was a retcon I am not fond of. 

-CW Iris is quite good (in the first three seasons, at least); she’s intelligent, loyal to Barry, dedicated to her job, and quite independent. The fact that she and Barry were foster siblings in the CW universe is kind of weird, though, since it makes their romance kind of awkward. 

-Joe West is not Ira West (Iris’s father in the comics), but I actually don’t care. Joe West is made of awesome. (I like Ira too, but I like Joe enough that I don’t mind having him replace Ira.)

-The Fiddler on the CW had very little to do with the comic Fiddler. 

-I’ve never been particularly invested in the Thinker (comic or show), but I will say that the CW’s version of the character was very different from his comics counterpart. 

-CW Ragdoll was just as creepy and unsettling as comic book Ragdoll, though he had a very different backstory. 

-I never expected Baby Josh to make it into the CW, let alone as a gender-swapped teenager named Joss who wanted to kill Weather Wizard. It felt like they never knew where to go with her character, though, so it was a wasted opportunity. At least she didn’t die like poor Baby Josh, though. 

-Big Sir in the CW show is a MASSIVE improvement over the comic version. This is probably the only character I will say this about. Though I will say that I kind of wish he’d gotten his stupidly ugly comic book costume even though it would’ve made no sense. 

-Peek-a-Boo is a pretty solid adaptation of her comic book counterpart. 

-Rainbow Raider (Prism) is much better in the comics than on the CW show, where he only existed to be a boring plot device. 

-Linda Park dating Barry was weird, but they actually did a good job with her character before she vanished.

This is not intended as a criticism of anyone who likes the show or its characters; it’s just me musing about my personal problems with it. 

[wizardysseus]

i was thinking about once upon a time (abc) in bed this morning so i decided to write this list

subject to change, since awhile ago i was in the middle of season 6 when they took it off netflix and i never quite got around to picking it back up. i’m gonna finish if it kills me i promise

top 5 things about once upon a time

5. anna frozen

when ouat introduced frozen characters, most fans decided the show had jumped the shark. they were not wrong. however, it was this very thing that allowed the show to be fun again! after an excruciatingly bad season 3 (we will get to that), bringing on anna and elsa literally transported directly from their own unaltered story in cheap ass versions of their unaltered movie costumes allowed the show to let loose and do... basically whatever it wanted. this became the hallmark of the show for those who stuck with it: absolutely not making sense at all, but being fun about it. post-season-three ouat becomes a totally different soap opera from season one, but by god you are never bored.*

personally, the flashback episode where anna annoys rumpelstiltskin and gets the better of him and he’s so fucking mad about it is like top 10 episodes**

4. 2x16 “the miller’s daughter”

this episode is just another personal favorite. it exemplifies what this show was really good at when it was good, and also where everything went wrong. i think cora is a great example of a good ouat villain, i think the twist on the rumpelstiltskin story is great, i think the dramatic beats really work.

...and in typical ouat fashion, cora immediately dies and two more villains we don’t care about at all are introduced. (sonequa forgive me you know i’m in love with you but tamara was nothing. it’s not your fault.) yes we get that great scene of snow aggressively doing archery practice while listening to “bad reputation” but was it worth killing off a compelling villain just as you’d dug into her story?

3. the commitment to regina’s redemption

and lana parrilla in general. i mean i’m gay and she’s hot but the worse the show got, the more acting lana gave it. and this is just speculation, but i think lana is more comfortable with drama than with camp? because regina becomes a much more interesting character as someone conflicted and on the path to redemption than as a villain. and by god, they were gonna redeem regina.

if only she had been gay we really could have had it all.

2. rumpelstiltskin

the sweet spot with rumpelstiltskin for me was seasons one and two when he was unabashedly bastard, there was an attempt to make him sympathetic but nobody except belle actually liked him, you weren’t quite sure how much he knew, he was pulling all the strings, and he was just really fucking weird. it will surprise no one who follows this blog to hear that that is my type of wizard.

1. season one

it’s a good season. it’s a good season. there are some bad things about it, but it was extremely watchable. it was doing fairy tales with occasional disney nods in a (mostly) cohesive fashion. the lore and the magic hadn’t sprawled out of control yet. it had the strongest relationship, imo, between emma and henry, and emma and snow. as for iconic episodes, most of the greats are here, plus sebastian stan as the mad hatter and giancarlo esposito as a series regular. the crowning moment for me is the scene at the end of skin deep, when regina confronts gold in the town jail and he reveals that he remembers his real name (after beating the shit out of belle’s dad with his cane obviously). god. that is some good television.

worst 5 things about once upon a time

5. the adoption politics but everyone knows this one.

4. WASTING the talent

you had the love of my life sonequa martin-green and gave her nothing. you somehow scored oded fehr as jafar and gave him nothing. you had giancarlo esposito and regina literally forgot he existed. i will kill you

3. rumpelstiltskin.

it’s no secret that robert carlyle was acting circles around most of the cast; my opinion is that the showrunners felt that if they committed to either his redemption or his villainy, they would never find someone else with the talent to fill his shoes as bastard wizard. so they flip-flopped on him every half-season, which ruins his story longterm, slowly kills the light in robert’s eyes, and gets reallllllly old. it’s also no secret that my favorite rumpelstiltskin is bastard wizard, but they screwed over belle BIG time in the process and for that i will never forgive them.

also like. the rumpelstiltskin fairy tale is antisemitic to begin with and they did not minimize that by comparing him to a lizard and naming his storybrooke counterpart mr gold. they just. did that.

2. THE FUCKING NEVERLAND ARC GOD IN CHRIIIIIIIIIIIST THAT HALF-SEASON IS EXCRUCIATING

1. captain hook

*it’s my opinion that if you are bored, you’re watching a hook-centric episode. every time i dropped the show and forgot about it for months at a time, it was because i had been in the middle of an episode about hook and just could not get through it. how do i describe all the things i don’t like about what killian hook jones did to the show? with subpoints!

1a. the episode where gold gives him back his hand and he never changes.

**this is actually the same episode i mentioned about anna and, like i said, it’s one of my favorites and not at all boring. look, i’m not pretending this list isn’t subjective as hell.

remember when hook blackmailed mr gold into magically reattaching his hand, which gold has been keeping in a jar, because hook has a date with emma and wants it to go well? but also, gold tells him that if he reattaches his hand with dark magic, it will turn him evil? and then hook spends the episode doing evil things, only for mr gold to tell him “i was just messing with you! the hand was not evil, you gave yourself permission to be evil ;)”

yeah, that’s basically hook’s mo.

1b. episode where emma tells him his brother is lying to him and he learns the exact wrong lesson from this and never changes.

so emma goes to the underworld to get hook back after he dies (while being evil and doing villainous things). they find his brother down there, too, and emma senses that he has a dark secret (because he does) and is lying to them (because he is). but hook always idolized his older brother, so he won't believe her. when emma confronts the brother directly, hook interrupts to rant to her about how he knows what this is ~really all about.

actual dialogue:

HOOK: i don't need proof to know what's really going on here. emma, when are you gonna admit that this isn't really about my brother? EMMA: what else would you think it was about? HOOK: us. you think if you can prove that liam is a villain, then i’ll somehow feel like i was less of one.

who... would EVER come to that conclusion. and why is the lesson he learns at the end “perhaps i do deserve saving after all” (another direct quote), and not “NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU, BECAUSE EMMA WAS LITERALLY RIGHT ABOUT YOUR BROTHER LYING TO EVERYONE”????

1c. the emma dark one arc, where hook never changes.

this would be the arc that leads up to the above underworld arc, and it is deeply dumb, entertaining, and hard to explain. suffice it to say, during this whole arc, killian (along with emma) has all the powers and ~~~Darkness~~~ of the dark one (formerly rumpelstiltskin). unlike emma, he is not aware of this for most of the season. the moment he finally finds out, he turns on emma and goes through with all the revenge plans he’s apparently been holding onto since season two.

it’s supposed to be sympathetic, because emma made this choice for him to be a dark one, which is clearly awful, when he didn’t want it. so i get that. but on the other hand, it is..... boring. because (a) it's nothing we haven't seen him try to do and fail at before, his motivations really aren't that complex. and more importantly, (b) he was the dark one the whole time! the only thing that changed, that made him act evil, was finding out about it. at that point, it's not the ~~~Darkness~~~ making you do evil things. it’s just you. because you’re a dick.

how is this arc resolved? well, he dies. after the underworld arc (which i very much enjoyed tbf), a sizable part of robin hood’s death episode is devoted to people telling emma to slow down and grieve for killian, since at least two arcs have revolved around her inability to let hook go when he is literally dying or dead. (it’s been said a million times but being his girlfriend really sucked the personality out of emma and i miss her.) and in the end he just... comes back anyway. no explanation given; he says it must be a reward from zeus for killing hades... while he and emma make out literally in front of the coffin of robin hood... who actually died fighting hades. killian died half a season before. while he was evil. and emma reverts to tearful girlfriend.

it’s insulting. it’s grating. and it is a Killian Hook Jones Guarantee that his episodes will involve some measure of this.

like, is it more or less the same shtick that the writers kept giving rumpelstiltskin, too? backsliding and screwing over his love interest who gets less and less say in the matter? yes. definitely. the crucial difference is that i, personally, love rumpelstiltskin, while i find hook boring and not self-aware. but clearly i have had a lot of fun complaining about him! again, this is not an objective list.

conclusions

this show ran for 7 years. it got cancelled not because it deserved to, but because no one liked the soft reboot. it was on until 2018.

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 7: 5x03, 6x01

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

September 24, 2021

5x03: Free to Be You and Me

Written by: Jeremy Carver

Directed by: J. Miller Tobin

Original air date: September 24, 2009

Plot Synopsis:

Sam decides to stop hunting but has a hard time after he receives a surprise visit. Dean and Castiel try to find the Archangel Raphael in their bid to stop the Apocalypse.

Features:

“Personal space”, the tie fix and the badge flip, explicit substance abuse parallels that will be dropped when inconvenient to the plot, the infamous brothel scene, Raphael's lightning wings, God is an absent father, Sam as Lucifer’s vessel.

My Thoughts:

First multiple episode day!

CLASSIC EPISODE. I rewatched this one pretty recently but it’s fun to watch it in the context of stacked! Absolutely love that we get to watch Sam meet Lucifer for the first time immediately after watching Sam have his first hallucination of Lucifer in Meet the New Boss yesterday.

This is definitely one of the big Destiel episodes of the early seasons. I forgot that Dean buttoning up Cas’ shirt and fixing his tie, the upside down badge, and the entire brothel scene all happen in the same episode. WHAT a gift to me personally, thank you Jeremy Carver.

I have never once been able to watch the whole brothel scene without laughing out loud. The absolute desperate gay panic on Cas’ face the entire time is hysterical. The fact that Cas mentioned Chastity’s dad and her reaction was to scream like she was being stabbed to death. Hers being the first mention of absent fathers in an episode explicitly paralleling Dean and Cas’ relationship with their missing dads. Triangulation of desire between Dean, Cas, and Chastity if you squint hard enough (or at least in retrospect with November 5th being A Thing That Happened).

Cas’ little smile in the alley while Dean laughs is so precious, and correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s the first time we see that kind of expression on his face? He’s pretty stoic in season 4 from what I remember.

The two best portrayals of angel wings in this entire show are Cas’ first appearance and Raphael’s lightning wings in this episode. The whole Raphael scene has immaculate vibes. The lighting, the directing, the acting, all off the charts.

It’s so early in their relationship but Dean deciding that he has Cas’ back in his search for God. First instance of capital-F Faith that Dean has displayed. I cry.

Sam’s struggle to maintain his bodily autonomy is so tasty in this episode, it brings me back to my Samgirl days. It’s such a good narrative choice to have Lucifer so casually say he’ll bring him back to life if he kills himself right after he had demon blood literally forced into his mouth. Also, can we talk about the hypocrisy of Lucifer saying that he’ll never trick or lie to Sam when five minutes ago he was pretending to be Sam’s dead girlfriend? That’s fucked, dude.

I was finished writing this part and checking my quotes and the blocking notes after Dean and Cas’ last conversation in the transcript got to me: “DEAN looks over; the shotgun seat is empty. His smile falters.”

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“You knew there was something dark inside of you. Deep down, maybe, but you knew. Maybe that's what got me killed. I was dead from the moment we said hello.”

“So, what, I'm Thelma and you're Louise and we're just going to hold hands and sail off this cliff together?”

“When humans want something really, really bad, we lie.”

“There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. Two, you are not gonna die a virgin. Not on my watch.”

“God? Didn’t you hear? He’s dead, Castiel. Dead.”

“Maybe one day. But today, you’re my little bitch.”

“I've had more fun with you in the past twenty-four hours than I've had with Sam in years, and you're not that much fun.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.8

IMdB rating: 8.6

------------------------------------

6x01: Exile on Main St.

Written by: Sera Gamble

Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

Original air date: September 24, 2010

Plot Synopsis:

Sam is mysteriously released from Hell and seeks out his brother, who is trying to have a normal life. Together the brothers must join forces with their maternal grandfather, Samuel, and begin the fight anew.

Features:

Dean pretends to be a PTA dad, Dean almost kills a yorkie, the Campbell Family Business, an abrupt change in the djinn lore for plot convenience.

My Thoughts:

I know that Dean is a good liar because it’s a necessary part of being a hunter but it is almost tragic how easy it is for him to lie to Lisa and how easily she accepts it. I think she knows he's lying but just doesn't really care.

Obviously in this episode he isn’t actually happy but I still got super pissed halfway through thinking about how they’ve been telling us for TEN YEARS that what he really wanted was to settle down with a family and then. You know. Rebar.

Seeing him pull out John’s old leather jacket gave me visceral flashbacks (flash-forwards?) to Cas’ trenchcoat in the trunk of the Impala. He really just carries around the coats of people who have abandoned him, huh?

I remembered the salient points of this episode (Sam, the Campbells) but completely forgot what happened in the monster plot so the Azazel jumpscare got me, haha. Also fully forgot that Bobby had known Sam was alive and didn’t tell Dean and I felt so betrayed personally. So miserable for Dean that he got what he wanted and all it did was make him more unhappy. Watching this back-to-back with Free to Be You and Me was whiplash. He was so much happier hanging out with Cas hours away from almost certain death than he is with Lisa or when Sam comes back from the dead. They didn’t even hug!! Dean, that’s your brotherson! Come on!

I like the soulless Sam arc. He’s just off enough from previous seasons to be eerie but it isn’t overplayed. The Campbells are annoying as hell though. I know it’s on purpose and they’re supposed to be irritating but like. Stop microaggressing my favourite boy! Let him play golf!

This is kind of a bummer episode but the thing that made me saddest was watching his nightmare hallucination of Ben drinking Azazel’s blood and thinking “oh no, his biggest fear is losing another son to demon blood”. :(.

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“You wanted a family. You have for a long time, maybe the whole time.”

“My God, you have delicate features for a hunter.”

“I should've known that if I stayed with you that something would come, because something always does. But I was stupid and reckless and...You can't outrun your past.”

“You know, you had ancestors hacking the heads off vamps on the Mayflower.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.4

IMdB rating: 7.8

In Conclusion: Trying to find time to watch 2 episodes today was tricky. I am anticipating a lot of late nights in October and November when we hit 4 episodes a day regularly. RIP.

<< Previous Day | Next Day >>

[davidmann95]

Superman’s 10 Best of the ‘10s

Good Miracle Monday, folks! The first third Monday of May of a new decade for that matter, and while that means that today in the DC Universe Superman just revealed his secret identity to the world on the latest anniversary of that time he defeated the devil, in ours it puts a capstone on a solid 10 years of his adventures now in the rear view mirror, ripe for reevaluation. And given there’s a nice solid ‘10′ right there I’ll go ahead with the obvious and list my own top ten for Superman comics of the past decade, with links in the titles to those I’ve spoken on in depth before - maybe you’ll find something you overlooked, or at least be reminded of good times.

A plethora of honorable mentions: I’m disqualifying team-ups or analogue character stories, but no list of the great Superman material of the last decade would be complete without bringing up Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye #7, Avengers 34.1, Irredeemable, Sideways Annual #1, Supreme: Blue Rose, Justice League: Sixth Dimension, usage of him in Wonder Twins, (somewhat in spite of itself) Superior, from all I’ve heard New Super-Man, DCeased #5, and Batman: Super Friends. And while they couldn’t quite squeeze in, all due praise to the largely entertaining Superman: Unchained, the decades’ great Luthor epic in Superman: The Black Ring, a brilliant accompaniment to Scott Snyder’s work with Lex in Lex Luthor: Year of the Villain, the bonkers joy of the Superman/Luthor feature in Walmart’s Crisis On Infinite Earths tie-in comics, Geoff Johns and John Romita’s last-minute win in their Superman run with their final story 24 Hours, Tom Taylor’s quiet criticism of the very premise he was working with on Injustice and bitter reflection on the changing tides for the character in The Man of Yesterday, the decades’ most consistent Superman ongoing in Bryan Miller and company’s Smallville Season 11, and Superman: American Alien, which probably would have made the top ten but has been dropped like a hot potato by one and all for Reasons. In addition are several stories from Adventures of Superman, a book with enough winners to merit a class of its own: Rob Williams and Chris Weston’s thoughtful Savior, Kyle Killen and Pia Guerra’s haunting The Way These Things Begin, Marc Guggenheim and Joe Bennett’s heart-wrenching Tears For Krypton, Christos Gage and Eduardo Francisco’s melancholy Flowers For Bizarro, Josh Elder and Victor Ibanez’s deeply sappy but deeply effective Dear Superman, Ron Marz and Doc Shaner’s crowdpleasing Only Child, and Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro’s super-sweet Mystery Box.

10. Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder’s Action Comics

Oh, what might’ve been. In spite of an all-timer creative team I can’t justify listing this run any higher given how profoundly and comprehensively compromised it is, from the status quo it was working with to the litany of ill-conceived crossovers to regular filler artists to its ignominious non-ending. But with the most visceral, dynamic, and truly humane take on Clark Kent perhaps of all time that still lives up to all Superman entails, and an indisputably iconic instant-classic moment to its name, I can’t justify excluding it either.

9. Action Comics #1000

Arguably the climax to the decade for the character as his original title became the first superhero comic to reach a 1000th issue. While any anthology of this sort is a crapshoot by nature, everyone involved here seemed to understand the enormity of the occasion and stepped up as best they could; while the lack of a Lois Lane story is indefensible, some are inevitably bland, and one or two are more than a bit bizarre, by and large this was a thoroughly charming tribute to the character and his history with a handful of legitimate all-timer short stories.

8. Faster Than A Bullet

Much as Adventures of Superman was rightfully considered an oasis amidst the New 52′s worst excesses post-Morrison and in part pre-Pak, few stories from it seem well-remembered now, and even at the time this third issue inexplicably seemed to draw little attention. Regardless, Matt Kindt and Stephen Segovia’s depiction of an hour in the life of Superman as he saves four planets first thing in the morning without anyone noticing - while clumsy in its efforts at paralleling the main events with a literal subplot of a conversation between Lois and Lex - is one of the best takes I can recall on the scope on which he operates, and ultimately the purpose of Clark Kent.

7. Man and Superman

Seemingly geared on every front against me, built as it was on several ideas of how to handle Superman’s origin I legitimately hate, and by a writer whose work over the years has rarely been to my liking, Marv Wolfman and Claudio Castellini’s Man and Superman somehow came out of nowhere to be one of my favorite takes on Clark Kent’s early days. With a Metropolis and characters within it that feel not only alive but lived-in, it’s shocking that a story written and drawn over ten years before it was actually published prefigured so many future approaches to its subject, and felt so of-the-moment in its depiction of a 20-something scrambling to figure out how to squeeze into his niche in the world when it actually reached stores.

6. Brian Bendis’s run

Controversial in the extreme, and indeed heir to several of Brian Bendis’s longstanding weaknesses as a writer, his work on The Man of Steel, Superman, and Action Comics has nevertheless been defined at least as much by its ambition and intuitive grasp of its lead, as well as fistfuls of some of the best artistic accompaniment in the industry. At turns bombastic space action, disaster flick, spy-fi, oddball crime serial, and family drama, its assorted diversions and legitimate attempts at shaking up the formula - or driving it into new territory altogether, as in the latest, apparently more longterm-minded unmasking of Clark Kent in Truth - have remained anchored and made palatable by an understanding of Superman’s voice, insecurities, and convictions that go virtually unmatched.

5. Strange Visitor

The boldest, most out-of-left-field Superman comic of the past 10 years, Joe Keatinge took the logline of Adventures of Superman to do whatever creators wanted with the character and, rather than getting back to a classic take absent from the mainline titles at the time as most others did, used the opportunity for a wildly expansive exploration of the hero from his second year in action to his far-distant final adventure. Alongside a murderer’s row of artists, Keatinge pulled off one of the few comics purely about how great Superman is that rather than falling prey to hollow self-indulgence actually managed to capture the wonder of its subject.

4. Superman: Up In The Sky

And here’s the other big “Superman’s just the best” comic the decade had to offer that actually pulled it off. Sadly if reasonably best-known for its one true misfire of a chapter, with the increasing antipathy towards Tom King among fans in general likely not helping, what ended up overlooked is that this is a stone-cold classic on moment of arrival. Andy Kubert turns in work that stands alongside the best of his career, Tom King’s style is honed to its cleanest edge by the 12-pager format and subject matter, and the quest they set their lead out on ends up a perfect vehicle to explore Superman’s drive to save others from a multitude of angles. I don’t know what its reputation will end up being in the long-term - I was struck how prosaic and subdued the back cover description was when I got this in hardcover, without any of the fanfare or critic quotes you’d expect from the writer of Mister Miracle and Vision tackling Superman - but while its one big problem prevents me from ranking it higher, this is going to remain an all-timer for me.

3. Jeff Loveness’s stories Help and Glasses

Cheating shamelessly here, but Jeff Loveness’s Help with David Williams and Glasses with Tom Grummett are absolutely two halves of the same coin, a pair of theses on Superman’s enduring relevance as a figure of hope and the core of Lois and Clark’s relationship that end up covering both sides of Superman the icon and Superman the guy. While basically illustrated essays, any sense of detached lecturing is utterly forbidden by the raw emotion on display here that instantly made them some of the most acclaimed Superman stories of the last several years; they’re basically guaranteed to remain in ‘best-of’ collections from now until the end of time.

2. Superman Smashes The Klan

A bitter race for the top spot, but #2 is no shame here; while not quite my favorite Superman story of the past ten years, it’s probably the most perfectly executed. While I don’t think anyone could have quite expected just *how* relevant this would be at the top of the decade, Gene Yang and Gurihiru put together an adventure in the best tradition of the Fleischer shorts and the occasional bystander-centered episodes of Batman: The Animated Series to explore racism’s both overt and subtle infections of society’s norms and institutions, the immigrant experience, and both of its leads’ senses of alienation and justice. Exciting, stirring, and insightful, it’s debuted to largely universal acknowledgement as being the best Superman story in years, and hopefully it’ll be continued to be marketed as such long-term.

1. Grant Morrison’s Action Comics

When it came time to make the hard choice, it came in no small part down to that I don’t think we would have ever seen a major Golden Age Superman revival project like Smashes The Klan in the first place if not for this. Even hampering by that godawful Jim Lee armor, inconsistent (if still generally very good) art, and a fandom that largely misunderstood it on arrival can’t detract from that this is Grant Morrison’s run on a Superman ongoing, a journey through Superman’s development as a character reframed as a coherent arc that takes him from Metropolis’s most beaten-down neighborhoods to the edge of the fifth dimension and the monstrous outermost limits of ‘Superman’ as a concept. It launched discussions of Superman as a corporate icon and his place relative to authority structures that have never entirely vanished, introduced multiple all-time great new villains, and made ‘t-shirt Superman’ a distinct era and mode of operation for the character that I’m skeptical will ever entirely go away. No other work on the character this decade had the bombast, scope, complexity, or ambition of this run, with few able to match its charm or heart. And once again, it was, cannot stress this enough, Grant Morrison on an ongoing Superman book.

[papermoonloveslucy]

IS SHE A NATIONAL HABIT? and OTHER PRESS

December 19, 1965

On Sunday, December 19, 1965, the TV Tab supplement to the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, published an article by UPI’s Vernon Scott about the staying power of Lucille Ball. 

The article is reprinted verbatim below, with direct quotes from Lucille Ball in bold and italics. 

By VERNON SCOTT, HOLLYWOOD (UPI) 

"Institution" is an unflattering term for beautiful redhead, but it fits Lucille Ball who, after 14 years in television, is still among the top 10 in the ratings. 

Mention "Lucy" in the civilized world, and people everywhere know who you're talking about.

Lucy's unprecedented longevity as a television comedienne is all the more remarkable in that she began as a starlet in "Roman Scandals" with Eddie Cantor back in 1933. 

Remarkable because she alone among her contemporaries is still a major star. The life span of starlets is usually five years. If a girl can act, she may survive for 15 years. But once a starlet's measurements have been exploited and her youthful beauty fades she dissolves into the scenery on the back lot. 

But Lucy? She's been going strong for 32 years. 

Her figure is terrific. Better than most of this season's sex kittens. On screen she appears a youthful 35. In person her features are animated, her blue eyes brimming with mischief and intelligence. 

What's more, Lucy has survived on the strength of her own comic genius. When she and Desi parted it was predicted Lucy couldn't carry on alone. Wrong. The same was said when Vivian Vance departed last season. Wrong. 

"The Lucy Show" title says it all. She stands alone. 

Asked how she managed to go on and on, Lucy said: "My personal life may have something to do with it. I've almost always enjoyed good health. I take care of myself. I don't drink. I'm happily married, and I don't let work interfere with being a good wife and mother.” 

Is she, indeed, an institution? "I never thought it unflattering to be an institution. The idea appeals to me. I credit the steadfastness of my viewers for my longevity on television. I've become a national habit.” 

"And children love my show, too. I think people began tuning in to the old 'I Love Lucy' show because Desi and I were married on-screen and off. It was different. We had strong audience identification with other married couples.” 

"Later when Vivian and I carried on as a couple of women trying to raise kids without a man around, we still had a great deal of identification with a large segment of the population.” 

"We also knew what not to do. We kept away from vulgarity, distasteful subjects and unwholesomeness." 

Lucy still failed to touch on the element that makes her such a popular favorite. She doesn't really know. Perhaps no one does. 

I think it is that she is the only comedienne who combines humor sometimes outlandish clowning with beauty, sex appeal and, most Importantly, femininity. Even with her hair frowzed, her face dirty and clothes in tatters she looks like a female should look. 

The TV Tab also provided listings, including one for a Monday, December 20, 1965 repeat of “The Lucy Show” episode “Lucy in the Music World” (TLS S4;E3) first aired on September 27, 1965. 

Meanwhile, in Iowa’s The Courier on December 19, 1965, TV critic Ken Murphy wrote about Milton Berle and Lucille Ball, the king and queen of TV comedy. 

Murphy is talking about “Lucy Saves Milton Berle” (TLS S4;E13) first aired on December 6, 1965. 

In Long Beach (CA) the Evening News and Independent-Press-Telegram Tele Vues took a look at Lucy’s partner in crime, Gale Gordon with this article from Bert Resnik’s column Bert’s Eye View: 

IF SANTA CAN FIND it in his heart to forgive the on-screen, blowhard shouting of Gale Gordon, television's meanest man could have the following in his Christmas stocking: A drill-press, a shaper-planer and a band-saw. 

Gale, who currently is flipping his lid as blustering banker Theodore J. Mooney on CBS-TV's Monday "The Lucy Show," is a do-it -yourselfer magna cum laude. 

He does it himself on a 100-acre ranch in the San Ysidro Mountains near Borrego Springs. 

It is doing that utilizes a 37-horsepower, 4-wheel, lightweight tractor that Santa, in the guise of his wife of 28 years, Virginia, gave to him a previous Christmas. 

It is more than just a tractor to Gale. 

"It is therapy for me," he said. 

In addition to the therapeutic tractor, the hoped-for drill press, planer and handsaw, Gale has a cement-mixer (an anniversary present) and numerous tools. 

"I can work all day long mixing cement and to me this is the same as going to the opera for some people. It's completely relaxing."

THERE IS NO therapy for Gale in bombastically blowing his top onscreen. He's not knocking it, mind you. Just don't get the idea that it's the best way to prevent ulcers - not that Gale has one. 

He enjoys the flip-wigging for two reasons: It gets laughs and it brings money.

Both have been coming quite persistently since, as Mayor La Trivia in the "Fibber McGee and Molly" era, he hollered his first roof down. 

On television he's blustered as the meany school principal in "Our Miss Brooks," was Uncle Paul in the "Pete and Gladys" series and served a stint as Mr. Wilson for "Dennis the Menace." 

It is blustering, incidentally, that highly challenges Gale's acting abilities. 

For off-screen, he's the opposite kind of man. 

"People who exhibit temper are very disagreeable," he said. "I don't like to be disagreeable.” 

"By nature, I'm a very placid person. Very little disturbs me." 

In his 43-year-career, Gale learned by observing more temperamental show-business personalities that: "Temper is such a waste of time." 

It is a career that has been marked by an appearance in the 1928 silent movie, "Temptress," with Greta Garbo.” 

"She's the most ethereal and beautiful creature I've ever seen in my life," he said. "Her ability is in the tremendous appeal she has for the audience." 

It is a career that included a radio role as, leading man in "The Mary Pickford Show” in the 1930s. "She was very charming, very considerate." 

Eve Arden, the title star of "Our Miss Brooks," has "no equal" in her style of sophisticated comedy. Miss Arden, Gale and other members of that television series' cast "were a family." 

It is Lucille Ball, however, with whom Gale finds it most stimulating to work. "I admire her above all women her ability, her knowledge of theater and for a very keen sense -- an instinct, actually -- of what will p!ay funny to an audience.” 

"I'd rather be a supporting player for Lucy than be a starring player myself under any of the most favorable conditions.”

The Honolulu (HI) Star-Bulletin printed this brief mention on December 19, 1965, regarding children of celebrities going into show business. 

While across the Pacific, in The San Francisco (CA) Examiner, columnist John J. Miller reported on Lucille Ball’s day in tax court. 

[timeless-hollywood-classics]

Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as a great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film Laura (1944), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).

Tierney's other roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in Heaven Can Wait (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in The Razor's Edge (1946), Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Ann Sutton in Whirlpool (1949), Maggie Carleton McNulty in The Mating Season (1951), and Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955).

I Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavinia Taylor. She was named after a beloved uncle, who died young.[4][page needed] She had an elder brother, Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Their father was a successful insurance broker of Irish descent, their mother a former physical education instructor.[4][page needed]

Tierney was raised in Westport, Connecticut. She attended St. Margaret's School in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Unquowa School in Fairfield. She published her first poem, entitled "Night", in the school magazine and wrote poetry occasionally throughout her life. Tierney played Jo in a student production of Little Women, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott.

Tierney spent two years in Europe, attending Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French. She returned to the US in 1938 and attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. On a family trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. studios, where a cousin worked as a producer of historical short films. Director Anatole Litvak, taken by the 17-year-old's beauty, told Tierney that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the relatively low salary; they also wanted her to take her position in society.

Tierney's society debut occurred on September 24, 1938, when she was 17 years old. page needed] Soon bored with society life, she decided to pursue an acting career. Her father said, "If Gene is to be an actress, it should be in the legitimate theatre." Tierney studied acting at a small Greenwich Village acting studio in New York with Yiddish and Broadway actor/director Benno Schneider. She became a protégée of Broadway producer-director George Abbott.

In Tierney's first role on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life! (1938). A Variety magazine critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I've ever seen!" She also worked as an understudy in The Primrose Path (1938).

The following year, she appeared in the role of Molly O'Day in the Broadway production Mrs. O'Brien Entertains (1939). The New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, "As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and refreshingly modest." That same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in Ring Two (1939) to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have an interesting theatrical career – that is, if cinema does not kidnap her away."

Tierney's father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career. Columbia Pictures signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She met Howard Hughes, who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. From a well-to-do family herself, she was not impressed by his wealth. Hughes eventually became a lifelong friend.

After a cameraman advised Tierney to lose a little weight, she wrote to Harper's Bazaar magazine for a diet, which she followed for the next 25 years. Tierney was initially offered the lead role in National Velvet, but production was delayed. page needed] When Columbia Pictures failed to find Tierney a project, she returned to Broadway and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in The Male Animal (1940). In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Tierney blazes with animation in the best performance she has yet given". She was the toast of Broadway before her 20th birthday. The Male Animal was a hit, and Tierney was featured in Life magazine. She was also photographed by Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Collier's Weekly.

Two weeks after The Male Animal opened, Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox, was rumored to have been in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to note Tierney's name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the Stork Club, where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." It was Tierney. At first, Zanuck did not think she was the actress he had seen. Tierney was quoted (after the fact), saying: "I always had several different 'looks', a quality that proved useful in my career."

Tierney signed with 20th Century-Fox[4][page needed] and her motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Eleanor Stone in Fritz Lang's western The Return of Frank James (1940), opposite Henry Fonda.

A small role as Barbara Hall followed in Hudson's Bay (1941) with Paul Muni and she co-starred as Ellie Mae Lester in John Ford's comedy Tobacco Road (also 1941), and played the title role in Belle Starr alongside co-star Randolph Scott, Zia in Sundown, and Victoria Charteris (Poppy Smith) in The Shanghai Gesture. She played Eve in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942), as well as the dual role of Susan Miller (Linda Worthington) in Rouben Mamoulian's screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers, and roles as Kay Saunders in Thunder Birds, and Miss Young in China Girl (all 1942).

Receiving top billing in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943), as Martha Strable Van Cleve, signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career. Tierney recalled during the production of Heaven Can Wait:

Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it – but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously.

Tierney starred in what became her best-remembered role: the title role in Otto Preminger's film noir Laura (1944), opposite Dana Andrews. After playing Tina Tomasino in A Bell for Adano (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic femme fatale Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), adapted from a best selling novel by Ben Ames Williams. Appearing with Cornel Wilde, Tierney won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. This was 20th Century-Fox' most successful film of the 1940s. It was cited by director Martin Scorsese as one of his favorite films of all time, and he assessed Tierney as one of the most underrated actresses of the Golden Era.

Tierney then starred as Miranda Wells in Dragonwyck (1946), along with Walter Huston and Vincent Price. It was Joseph L. Mankiewicz' debut film as a director, In the same period, she starred as Isabel Bradley, opposite Tyrone Power, in The Razor's Edge (also 1946), an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name. Her performance was critically praised.

Tierney played Lucy Muir in Mankiewicz's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), opposite Rex Harrison. The following year, she co-starred again with Power, this time as Sara Farley in the successful screwball comedy That Wonderful Urge (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with Laura director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic film noir Whirlpool (1949), co-starring Richard Conte and José Ferrer. She appeared in two other film noirs: Jules Dassin's Night and the City, shot in London, and Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends (both 1950), reunited with both Preminger and leading man Dana Andrews, who she appeared with in five movies total.

Tierney was loaned to Paramount Pictures, giving a comic turn as Maggie Carleton in Mitchell Leisen's ensemble farce, The Mating Season (1951), with John Lund, Thelma Ritter, and Miriam Hopkins. She gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan in the Warner Bros. film, Close to My Heart (1951), with Ray Milland. The film is about a couple trying to adopt a child. Later in her career, she was reunited with Milland in Daughter of the Mind (1969).

After Tierney appeared opposite Rory Calhoun as Teresa in Way of a Gaucho (1952), her contract at 20th Century-Fox expired. That same year, she starred as Dorothy Bradford in Plymouth Adventure, opposite Spencer Tracy at MGM. She and Tracy had a brief affair during this time.[10] Tierney played Marya Lamarkina opposite Clark Gable in Never Let Me Go (1953), filmed in England.

In the course of the 1940s, she reached a pinnacle of fame as a beautiful leading lady, on a par with "fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner". She was "called the most beautiful woman in movie history" and many of her movies in the 1940s became classic films.

Tierney remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in United Artists' Personal Affair (1953). While in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan, but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father Aga Khan III. Early in 1953, Tierney returned to the U.S. to co-star in the film noir Black Widow (1954) as Iris Denver, with Ginger Rogers and Van Heflin.

Tierney had reportedly started smoking after a screening of her first movie to lower her voice, because she felt, "I sound like an angry Minnie Mouse." She subsequently became a heavy smoker.

With difficult events in her personal life, Tierney struggled for years with episodes of manic depression. In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter, Daria, who was deaf and mentally disabled, the result of a fan breaking a rubella quarantine and infecting the pregnant Tierney while she volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen. In 1953, she suffered problems with concentration, which affected her film appearances. She dropped out of Mogambo and was replaced by Grace Kelly.[4][page needed] While playing Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955), opposite Humphrey Bogart, Tierney became ill. Bogart's sister Frances (known as Pat) had suffered from mental illness, so he showed Tierney great sympathy, feeding her lines during the production and encouraging her to seek help.

Tierney consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments, intended to alleviate severe depression, Tierney fled the facility, but was caught and returned. She later became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.

In late December 1957, Tierney, from her mother's apartment in Manhattan, stepped onto a ledge 14 stories above ground and remained for about 20 minutes in what was considered a suicide attempt. Police were called, and afterwards Tierney's family arranged for her to be admitted to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. The following year, after treatment for depression, she was discharged. Afterwards, she worked as a sales girl in a local dress shop with hopes of integrating back into society, but she was recognized by a customer, resulting in sensational newspaper headlines.

Later in 1958, 20th Century-Fox offered Tierney a lead role in Holiday for Lovers (1959), but the stress upon her proved too great, so only days into production, she dropped out of the film and returned to Menninger for a time.

Tierney made a screen comeback in Advise and Consent (1962), co-starring with Franchot Tone and reuniting with director Otto Preminger.[4][page needed] Soon afterwards, she played Albertine Prine in Toys in the Attic (1963), based on the play by Lillian Hellman. This was followed by the international production of Las cuatro noches de la luna llena, (Four Nights of the Full Moon - 1963), in which she starred with Dan Dailey. She received critical praise overall for her performances.

Tierney's career as a solid character actress seemed to be back on track as she played Jane Barton in The Pleasure Seekers (1964), but then she suddenly retired. She returned to star in the television movie Daughter of the Mind (1969) with Don Murray and Ray Milland. Her final performance was in the TV miniseries Scruples (1980).

Tierney married two men: the first was Oleg Cassini, a costume and fashion designer, on June 1, 1941, with whom she eloped. She was 20 years old. Her parents opposed the marriage, as he was from a Russian-Italian family and born in France. She had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (October 15, 1943 – September 11, 2010) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (November 19, 1948 – March 31, 2015).

In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted rubella (German measles), likely from a fan ill with the disease. Antoinette Daria Cassini was born prematurely in Washington, DC, weighing three pounds, two ounces (1.42 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. The rubella caused congenital damage: Daria was deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and severely mentally disabled. She was institutionalized for much of her life. This entire incident was inspiration for a plot point in the 1962 Agatha Christie novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

It is claimed that she had an affair with Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran during the late 1940s.

Tierney's friend Howard Hughes paid for Daria's medical expenses, ensuring the girl received the best care. Tierney never forgot his acts of kindness. Daria Cassini died in 2010, at the age of 66.

Tierney and Cassini separated October 20, 1946, and entered into a property settlement agreement on November 10. Periodicals during this period record Tierney with Charles K. Feldman, including articles related to her "twosoming" with Feldman, her "current best beau". The divorce was to be finalized in March 1948, but they reconciled before then.

During their separation, Tierney met John F. Kennedy, a young World War II veteran, who was visiting the set of Dragonwyck in 1946. They began a romance that she ended the following year after Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions. In 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his victory in the presidential election. During this time, newspapers documented Tierney's other romantic relationships, including Kirk Douglas.

While filming for Personal Affair in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan. They became engaged in 1952, while Khan was going through a divorce from Rita Hayworth. Their marriage plans, however, met with fierce opposition from his father, Aga Khan III.

Cassini later bequeathed $500,000 in trust to Daria and $1,000,000 to Christina. Cassini and Tierney remained friends until her death in November 1991.

In 1958, Tierney met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, who had been married to actress Hedy Lamarr since 1953. Lee and Lamarr divorced in 1960 after a long battle over alimony, then Lee and Tierney married in Aspen, Colorado, on July 11, 1960. They lived quietly in Houston, Texas, and Delray Beach, Florida until his death in 1981.

Despite her self-imposed exile in Texas, Tierney received work offers from Hollywood, prompting her to a comeback. She appeared in a November 1960 broadcast of General Electric Theater, during which time she discovered that she was pregnant. Shortly after, 20th Century Fox announced Tierney would play the lead role in Return to Peyton Place, but she withdrew from the production after suffering a miscarriage.

Tierney's autobiography, Self-Portrait, in which she candidly discusses her life, career, and mental illness, was published in 1979.

Tierney's second husband, W. Howard Lee, died on February 17, 1981 after a long illness.[24]

In 1986, Tierney was honored alongside actor Gregory Peck with the first Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.

Tierney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard.

Tierney died of emphysema on November 6, 1991, in Houston, thirteen days before her 71st birthday. She is interred in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

Certain documents of Tierney's film-related material, personal papers, letters, etc., are held in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, though her papers are closed to the public.

[padmeisqueen]

I’m sending you another character because I just thought of this one! The whole New Girl group, including Coach (I couldn’t pick just one, that’s sacrilegious!)

Ooh okay!

Jessica Day

Why I like them:  I love how quirky she is, and how she’s a feminine feminist. I’ve always loved Zooey Deschanel’s fight for that in general, that you can be feminist but that means you can still love stereotypically feminine things. You can be soft and passive and emotional at times and still be strong. We’re all dimensional and comples. and that really shows with Jess

Why I don’t: Whenever she gets in modes where she tries to “fix” someone

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 1x03 (Wedding) literally one of my favorite episodes of New Girl. The dancing to Groovy Kind of Love is just *chef’s kiss* perfection

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 2, gotta love the Nick/Jess tension and build up

Favorite line: “I brake for birds, I rock a lot of polka dots, I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours. And that doesn’t mean I’m not smart and tough and strong.”

Favorite outfit: Literally obsessed with her entire wardrobe I can’t choose

OTP: Nick/Jess

Brotp: Jess & Cece, but I love all her platonic dynamics so much

Head Canon: She’s the mom that has dance parties in the kitchen with the kids and Nick, and builds tents/forts in the living room that they ALL sleep in and leave up for days

Unpopular opinion: Honestly love all her romantic relationships (even though I’m die hard Nick/Jess fan)

A wish: I liked their wedding and what they were going for, but also kind of wish it was more romantic, less quirky

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Her and Nick break up? Her and Cece end their friendship?

5 words to best describe them: Quirky, smart, funny, determined, caring

My nickname for them: Just Jess I guess haha

Nick Miller

Why I like them:  I love his sarcasm, his humor, his care and love for those around him

Why I don’t: I think sometimes his character was back and forth. Like season 1/2 Nick was less ridiculous and responsible I feel? But then like with the Nick/Jess breakup there were times he was just overly falling apart which I sometimes feel just doesn’t match his original character i don’t know

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Technically 1x03, but to give a different answer, 2x15 (Cooler), I mean... that KISS!

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 2

Favorite line: “Nick Miller, turning lemonade into lemons since 1981.” I literally quote this ALL THE TIME

Favorite outfit: I love when he wears green and Jess wears pink, it’s such a good costuming detail of the show

OTP: Nick/Jess

Brotp: Nick & Schmidt (special shout out to Nick & Winston though)

Head Canon: He reads to his kids every night before bed

Unpopular opinion: I honestly didn’t like the Reagan relationship (I liked her character, just not her relationship with Nick)

A wish: Same about the wedding with Jess

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorce Jess

5 words to best describe them: Sarcastic, funny, reliable, caring, relatable

My nickname for them: Don’t have one!

Schmidt

Why I like them:  I love love love his development as a character and actually really relate to him in later seasons. Also love how stereotypically “feminine” he is and isn’t this macho masculine guy and that’s seen as okay and accepting

Why I don’t: I hate all references to “Fat Schmidt” (very similar to Monica in friends)

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 5x22 (Landing Gear), I’m obsessed with his and Cece’s wedding

Favorite season/movie adaptation: For some reason I’m thinking Season 4

Favorite line: “I want to spend the rest of my life hearing all your stories.”

Favorite outfit: I really love his wedding suit

OTP: Schmidt/Cece

Brotp: Schmidt & Nick (although i LOVE Schmidt & Jess scenes)

Head Canon: He still works from home so he can be a stay at home dad, but also I think he took up party/event planning

Unpopular opinion: I’ll probably never refer to him as Winston Schmidt, I think it’s too weird haha

A wish: I don’t know on this one

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorce Cece

5 words to best describe them: Confident, funny, loyal, organized, loving

My nickname for them: Don’t have one!

Winston Bishop

Why I like them:  Everything Winston does is perfect tbh, he’s so funny and weird and I love him

Why I don’t: I honestly can’t think of anything off the top of my head

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 3x01 (All In) The puzzle stuff and him realizing he’s color blind is just iconic

Favorite season/movie adaptation: I feel like season 4?

Favorite line: “I know Word. And I can open a document. Save it. Save as. Print. Print preview.”

Favorite outfit: I love his bird shirts. I know they’re supposed to show he doesn’t have great fashion sense, but honestly I love them

OTP: Winston/Aly

Brotp: Winston & Cece (or tbh Winston & Furguson)

Head Canon: Him and Aly own lots of cats and he has multiple cat trees and towers in their house and it’s just pure and amazing

Unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have one. I guess again just that I genuinely like his fashion style

A wish: Not sure on this one!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorces Aly (I know all my answers to this are basically the same haha)

5 words to best describe them: Funny, quirky, confident, caring, loyal

My nickname for them: I mean Winnie the Bish is iconic tbh

Cece Parekh

Why I like them:  How absolutely loyal she is to Jess. We stan positive and developed female friendships.

Why I don’t: I honestly don’t know on this one. 

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 5x22 (Landing Gear), I literally just love thier wedding so much

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 3 or 4 I think

Favorite line: “You got hurt, that doesn’t mean you stop trying”

Favorite outfit: I love her end result wedding dress

OTP: Schmidt/Cece

Brotp: Cece & Jess, Cece & Winston

Head Canon: She just continues being super successful and happy

Unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have one?

A wish: I wanted her and Nick to have a better developed dynamic. I loved their scenes together, but feel like there wasn’t enough

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Divorce from Schmidt or end friendship with Jess

5 words to best describe them: Loyal, hardworking, caring, witty, strong

My nickname for them: Don’t have one (just Cece I guess haha)

Coach

Why I like them: His storyline is such a good one for me, as he becomes more complex and grows so much and I just really liked him on the show

Why I don’t: I didn’t really love him that much in the first episode, but maybe it’s because it was just one episode and we didn’t get much of his personality

Favorite episode (scene if movie): 4x22 (Clean Break)

Favorite season/movie adaptation: Season 4

Favorite line: “That boy looks like he was raised in a muffin”

Favorite outfit: For some reason, literally the only outfit I can think of is that green track jacket he wears haha

OTP: Coach/May

Brotp: Coach & Jess or Coach & Winston

Head Canon: He’s the fun uncle to everyone else’s kids and they all love when he comes around

Unpopular opinion: He should have been in more seasons and he should have been in the series finale

A wish: That he was in the series finale

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: That he just is out of the loft group’s lives forever. I just feel like that does a huge disservice 

5 words to best describe them: Confident, funny, supportive, complex, honest

My nickname for them: I guess just Coach haha

Send me a character!

[littlespoonevan]

OTP Tag

I was tagged by @whaticameherefor, thank you!! <3

Let’s go chronological order with the Real otps and then add whoever else i can think of lmao. Putting some of this under a cut bc it got long!

Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale (Teen Wolf)

Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard (All For the Game)

Isak Valtersen/Even Bech Naesheim (Skam)

Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich (Shameless)

Nick Miller/Jessica Day (New Girl)

Allison Argent/Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)

Otis Milburn/Maeve Wiley (Sex Education)

David Rose/Patrick Brewer (Schitt’s Creek)

Alexis Rose/Ted Mullins (Schitt’s Creek)

Eva Mohn/Jonas Noah Vasquez

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Oh man, I mean I shipped them from the beginning but episode 5 “The Tell” was sort of my holy grail episode in terms of content for scallison and thus, when i fell in love. Also special shoutout to the scene in “Heart Monitor” when Allison holds Scott’s hand under the table and it helps keep him in control and we find out she’s his anchor. I devoted my whole heart then and there <3

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2?

Yes, extensively lmao

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver?

Haha nah, i’m not really an “otp as my screensaver” sort of person.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Well I mean everyone seems to be doing their damndest to keep them apart in the first place so i need them to actually get together first sakdjfhksa but yeah, let’s just say my response to the season 2 finale was “oh nooooooooo” which basically answers this question lol.

5. Why is 1 so important?

Ugh, because. Their dynamic was so, so good and it came out of Nowhere. Like it was one of those relationships that sort of sneaks up on you like, holy shit these two bounce off each other really well????? And the dichotomy of them shit-talking each other All The Time but then continually sacrificing themselves for one another and taking turns saving each other’s lives was so fascinating to watch. Especially as the shit-talking became decidedly more fond as the seasons went on and you realised they’d genuinely started to care for each other. We could’ve had it all and I’m still bitter lmao.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship?

Definitely funny but in their moments of sincerity were so incredibly sweet <3

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry?

Oooooh this is hard sakdjhsjh I mean, I ship them all because I feel like they have chemistry and each relationship is different. I think I’ll say the skam ships just bc isak/even and eva/jonas legitimately felt like real couples to me? like if you told either pairing was together irl I’d believe you, y’know? (there’s 3 or 4 others that are strong contenders though!!!)

8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond?

Oof. Again, this is really hard. I’m inclined to say Ian/Mickey bc I think they have the longest history of any of the ships I’ve listed here and it just runs so deep, y’know? Like to quote mickey, they’re under each other’s skin. So in that regard, I think they’d have the strongest bond. (The same could sort of be said for andrew/neil in terms of what they’ve gone through together too though) But I feel like nick and jess have an amazing bond too in the sense that they really, really are best friends beneath everything and you can See that in the way they love each other. 

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom?

Oh my god i have no idea. I’ve definitely rewatched all of skam once (possibly twice?) but I’ve rewatched individual clips/episodes a million times over. The morning the 8.10 kitchen scene came out i just stayed in bed for like 3 hours rewatching it over and over again askdjhcs That’s kind of the beauty of the clip format though in terms of rewatching favourite scenes :’)

10. Which ship has lasted the longest?

Okay I’m assuming this means like, stayed together the longest? In which case that goes to Ian and Mickey again, I believe (or Nick and Jess if you include the 3 year time jump)

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

Once and I’m Still angry lmao

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8?

Oh my god 2 lmfao i love david and patrick but i’m p sure andrew and neil were built for a zombie apocalypse sadjhasjh

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

Mm they’ve sort of hid their feelings for each other???? Like obviously not just from each other but also from other people like Ola etc

14. Is 4 still together?

Yep and happily married :D

15. Is 10 canon?

YES. Thank you Julie Andem and Marlon Langland!!!!

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

Jfc. It’d be a toss up between Andrew/Neil, Stiles/Derek and Ian/Mickey

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship?

Yes, Schmidt did for like one ep and it was hilarious but also ended in Nick telling Jess how he feels :’))))))

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond?

All of them tbh. I care about Otis/Maeve and Alexis/Ted slightly less but the other 8 are some forever otps 

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page?

I did back in the day for like 2 years straight lol

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink?

asdkjfhdsa ok i’m gonna say Alexis and Ted but jUST BECAUSE they already ended their relationship themselves and i’m content w the ending even if i desperately hope they’ll reunite some day down the line. The others I simply cannot compromise on 

I’m gonna tag @thisfeebleheart, @himick, @smores100 and @happyminyards

[astrovian]

ranking daniel miller outfits because apparently I have nothing better to do right now

an extremely long one y’all, so it’s under the cut

started at the bottom, now we’re.... still here at the bottom of the list

the running outfit. y’know. that one

look, I know it’s the middle of winter in Berlin and Daniel’s doing his best, but there is something about this that is just not that great. still looks 100x better than my running outfit but I think it’s the beanie that really gives this last place. or is it the double beanie? either way, not an outfit I would wear to try and romance my girl in (even if you are exercising with them). the only real redeeming feature of the outfit is the black turtleneck all zipped up

1.8/10

the sneaky sneaky boy outfit

the perfect outfit for the job because it’s completely unremarkable. the ‘hood over cap’ combo makes me expect to see a 20 year old hacker skulking about under there, but wait - surprise... it’s a handsome middle-aged man? 

RA can rock a cap or hood but the double-combo just doesn’t do it for me. I guess I can be happy the third hood isn’t up as well to form a trifecta?

Daniel may need to be sneaky to do his job but I would argue that if I saw a man with a hood over his cap in broad daylight chilling in a cemetery I would have more questions than if I just saw a regularly dressed man chilling in a cemetery in broad daylight

3/10

almost every s1 suit

look, RA looks fantastic in a suit and no one is disputing that. I’m just saying that this is about as bland a suit and tie combo as it gets and from my recall of season one we see this almost every single time he’s in the station.

this one is even a bland grey. grey has it’s place but in the office it can turn into a bit of a snooze. mix up your office-wear & make it fun Daniel. wear a cool-coloured tie. put some funny socks on.

4/10 

the casual summer businessman

something bothers me about this. is it the combo of the untucked shirt and the khaki pants? on their own either is fine

or is it just that this is one of the first times we see Daniel and the look has almost no personality to it? who knows

4.1/10 (for the unbuttoned collar and rolled-up sleeves)

the casual summer businessman goes to a bbq

almost the exact same outfit as the casual summer businessman, but the shirt’s a different colour which somehow makes it a lot better

this man wouldn’t look out of place at a bbq, which is a great choice from the styling team considering Daniel actually wears this to the team bbq in the show

4.5/10 solely for just being a bit plain and boring

I’ve finished filing those papers you wanted

no tie and one undone button? Daniel, you tease!

4.6/10

sneaky sneaky boy part 2

this is what I’m talking about. I still find people wearing caps indoors incredibly suspicious for someone trying to blend in (possibly because I was raised to believe that hats were an outdoors only look) but Daniel looks like a grown man and no longer looks like he should be a 20 year old hacker. success!

4.6/10 for an ultra-casual Daniel

I’m just here to file some papers and get paid 

see? same suit every time. at least this one’s a nice black which is an upgrade from the grey and really suits RA

4.7/10

every day is a work day if you try hard enough - the winter edition

a non-matchy-matchy blue tie! a winter coat! a turned up collar! it may not be exciting but at least now we’re cooking

in all fairness though, our coat is quite dull and anonymous and the only real notable thing about it is the choice to keep the collar upturned. nothing to write home about if it wasn’t for the RA attached to it

4.7/10

every day is a work day if you try hard enough - the winter edition pt. 2

the hooded coat makes for a nice relaxation of the business suit. other than that, not much to say.

4.73/10

once more unto the (lapel) breach

we find ourselves having to ask: is Daniel Miller really Daniel Miller if his coat lapel isn’t popped?

this the FBI man who turns up at your house to either arrest you or escort you to safety. oh, sorry, CIA I guess given the context of the show

looks great because of RA being the one wearing it but a fairly mundane look

4.8/10

up, up, and away

bicycle Daniel was a nice look which I wasn’t expecting out of this show. mainly because I have never ever in my life seen a man in a suit on a bike. 

in NZ they all use cars and at the very least bike in casual clothes then get changed at work. is biking in suits a European thing?

there’s absolutely nothing special or spectacular about the clothes, but put Daniel on a bike and it works really well?

maybe it’s the cape effect or leather gloves. or even just the notion of seeing a fully-dressed business man in a suit whiz by you on a bicycle.

whatever it is, it’s appreciated

4.8/10

the party boy

in s1 Daniel has only one look if he’s going out on the town - he ditches the tie & opens two buttons (or three if he’s feeling saucy)

I’ll never complain about this this look because let’s be honest, who would, but we also need to face reality that, like his suits, it’s also a bit repetitive and lacks a bit of something after seeing it for the 5th episode in row

4.9 /10

it might be time for you to go to bed

the party boy has finally lost his ‘I’m too cool for you’ vibe and partied his jacket and several shirt buttons off (quite literally). bonus points for the completely rumpled shirt and hair

the only thing that is eye-catching in this outfit is the skin it reveals

4/10

puzzle time *finger guns* (to anyone who didn’t grow up in New Zealand quoting this ad I apologise)

now this is a Daniel I would sit down and do a puzzle with. which is probably a good thing as he is quite literally solving a puzzle in this scene

5/10 for evoking the correct feeling from the audience but otherwise there is nothing special here

is mission impossible hiring?

the gloves? the backpack? the jacket and zipped sweater? you see this man and know your mainframe is about to be hacked

not the worst. but not the best. love the zipped sweater, could lose the gloves.

5.5/10

let’s get cozy

now this is a dapper fellow. the thin black scarf? brilliant with the signature coat collar

a Daniel who would probably lend you his coat or scarf if you complained about the cold

5.6/10

someone who would feed the ducks at the park

this is how to put in RA in a baseball cap. the subtle tartan of his scarf, which is tied in a knot? the perfect winter spy outfit

this is a Daniel you want to go on walks in a park with.

5.8/10

uncle Daniel goes on a trip to the mall

the more I look at that jacket the more I appreciate it. It’s a stunning blue which makes a nice contrast to the usual dull grey of his sweater and is a colour that looks great on RA. It even has some quilting for added interest

5.96/10

he’s the ‘fun uncle’

the warm sweater and scarf? this is the uncle who takes you out to do fun things while you’re supposed to be grounded and tells you not to tell your mom

nothing amazing in this outfit but also nothing to complain about considering it’s in s1. a funner, casual side to Daniel we don’t often see (am I bitter about never seeing his cousin and her son after s1? a little)

a solid 6/10

hope is fragile and also a black sweater

the fact that we never see this sweater on its own is what lets it down here

putting that to one side, the snuggly sweater? the green bomber jacket? this is a classic s2 Daniel look. but hang on - this is from s1?

Daniel’s letting us know via this s1 outfit that it will all be good in the near future if we can just hang on until he gets his s2 wardrobe

6.1/10 for providing hope for the future

hello? it’s your future ex-boyfriend calling

this man isn’t Daniel Miller - he’s a career model who can GET IT and he knows it

6.6/10

comfy sweater boy

so simple but so, so, so good

this is a Daniel I would want to cuddle up on a couch with. he’s a soft boy who wouldn’t hurt anyone and probably makes a great hot chocolate

6.7/10

comfy sweater boy goes for a walk outside

the colour of his sweater goes nicely with the coat. and once again: is he really Daniel Miller if his collar isn’t popped?

he loses 0.1 of a point for losing a bit of the soft boy look that the sweater just by itself brought to the party

6/10

comfy sweater boy ran out of hot chocolate at his so comes round to your place for takeaway

I just really enjoy the colour of this sweater, okay? the easy, layered sweater look? the takeaway chinese? this is a man after my heart and I’m also pretty sure I’ve worn this exact outfit before

6.1/10

if looks could kill

leather jacket? perfect. but what really brings this together? the black v-neck of course. RA never wears enough v-necks

‘nuf said

6.9/10

the Adam Price moment

this is one of the rarest of cases - a s2 outfit that wasn’t a 100% hit for me. everything about this outfit slaps except for the polo shirt

blue bomber jacket? hell yeah. hidden orange detailing on the inside? that’s what I’m talking about. colour combo of shirt and jacket? well done

polo shirt itself? meh. even if it was just a plain polo that would have been great. for some reason the embroidered logo and collar stripes push me over the edge

I don’t know why but whenever I see a man in a polo shirt like this, I immediately think they are heading to the golf course and are probably not the type of person I would chill with (given that I don’t play golf)

on Adam Price? sure. on Daniel Miller? nah, he knows better

7/10 (mainly for the bomber)

guess who’s back? back again. Adam’s back. tell a friend

I know this is lower ranked than most of the outfits on this entire list but is still found at the upper end of this list. That’s ‘cause it just had to come after the Adam Price moment, okay?

they took everything that was wrong with the Adam Price moment (e.g. the entire polo shirt) and then focused our attention on it

it doesn’t matter how tightly it clings to RA’s body, it’s not overriding my unjustified hatred of polo shirts 

3.5/10

I’m here to make important calls while I dine in a fine restaurant

another updated suit look post-s1. I picture this Daniel eating at a nice Italian restaurant for lunch before returning to work for an important business conference

and is that a textured shirt I spy? well done

7.3/10

the shirt is even better without the jacket.

the undone buttons? c’mon

it’s just a nice shirt okay

7.5/10

comfy sweater boy’s older brother

for one thing, those low-slung sweatpants are a blessing and didn’t get enough screen time.

then on top of that the oversized shirt that drapes in just the right and most comfy way? the bare feet? I would call in sick to work if I saw Daniel wearing this outfit in my house

this is a Daniel who has lost comfy sweater boy’s innocence but who I would still wanna cook food and binge netflix with

this is absolute peak comfy Daniel

a well-deserved 7.8/10

the ‘I can’t believe I wasted so much time with the same suit and coat combo over and over in s1′ Daniel

this Daniel is the sum of everything that is wrong with s1 Daniel and everything that is right about s2 & s3 Daniel

the casual suit jacket. the rolled up sleeves. the loose casual shirt. this is a Daniel who works hard but knows how to have a good time and will 100% seduce you in a foreign city

8.5/10

come to the dark side

the same as the ‘I can’t believe I wasted so much time with the same suit and coat combo over and over in s1′ Daniel but with his classic coat and popped collar for some added mystery to the character

like the ‘I can’t believe I wasted so much time with the same suit and coat combo over and over in s1′ Daniel this man will 100% seduce you in a foreign city but also will not hesitate to use his superior strength to pin you against a wall while he makes out with you

8.59/10

I mean...

I’m not sure you can class underwear as an ‘outfit’ as such, but uh.... sorry, what was I saying? I got a little distracted 

I refuse to put a numerical rank on this/10

don’t tell your dad about this one

I know we’ve established that underwear is not really an outfit, but these are pants so I’m gonna say this one counts.

the undone belt? the obvious shirtlessness? hanging with this man will definitely end with someone in jail (and it won’t be him). but at least it’ll be a fun ride on the way down to hell

i refuse to assign numerical value to the semi-naked ones because that’s not fair on the other outfits/10

is he here to fix a car, murder someone or sweep me off my feet? who knows and honestly who cares when he looks like that?

the khaki jacket brings in some ruggedness which tip-top Daniel below is missing while still keeping it effortlessly cool.

this is Daniel. fucking. Miller and he doesn’t care what you think

99.99/10

tip-top Daniel

this is Daniel right at his peak. 

everything - the casual bomber from the Adam Price moment earlier, the plaid shirt, the undone buttons, the aviators. the HAIR. 

Damn, Daniel. Damn.

100/10