#and i think him idolizing death in this support (this BRILLIANT fan support that made me ill) is so in character and so lovely

[sieglinde-freud]

oh im obsessed with this actually… who ever wrote this one i am kissing u on the forehead and hugging you real tight… inigo is such a loverboy im kkkhhhhhhijnsdnfng

[celticbarb]

Book: Can’t We Be Friends?

Authors: Denny S. Bryce and Eliza Knight

Release Date: March 5, 2024

Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks

Length: 396 Pages

Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars

Blog Rating: 5/5 Saltire Flags

To think he’s going to fill up his greedy accounts when all I ever got was $50. Who am I kidding? He probably stuffs it under his dirty mattress. Hugh Hefner, who’s ever heard of him and his dumb magazine, Playboy?…book quote by Marilyn Monroe in “Can’t We Be Friends” by Denny S Bryce and Eliza Knight

This is a historical fiction book about the rare close friendship between the Queen of jazz, singer Ella Fitzgerald and bombshell beauty, Queen of the screen Marilyn Monroe. You would never guess how much this plus sized, black singer and the white, platinum blonde, iconic actress who became the world’s pop-culture-icon had in common. It was about wanting help to make Monroe a better singer as Marilyn was a perfectionist and wanted to be taken seriously in her profession as an actress. To her there was no one better than her singing idol Ella Fitzgerald. Except Ella turned her down in a very eloquent sweet way explaining she was never trained professionally that the music was just inside her. Marilyn understood perfectly it was Ella’s god given gift. Marilyn’s letters still continued as what Marilyn really needed was a friend and Ella seemed to need that too besides her assistant Georgina Henry and her adopted son Ray Jr..Plus both being in this insane entertainment industry they understood things that people outside the business would not. They really ended up trusting each other and confided in each other with secrets they did not share with anyone else. On top of that they both had similar palettes especially for pastrami sandwiches!

In the beginning it was Georgina who answered the letters except soon it was Ella. Ella felt flattered that America’s current favorite sweetheart on film loved her music. Soon Ella looked forward to Marilyn’s letters as Ella was going through a difficult divorce so listening to Marilyn speak to her about funny things happening in her life brought humor into Ella’s life. Soon both women realized they needed to meet in person realizing they both had bad abusive childhoods, grew up during the Great Depression and also dealt with some of the same prejudices in their lives with so much prejudice in entertainment that women still fight for today in 2024.

Yet Marilyn was a passionate supporter of the civil rights movement and did fight for Ella when she was being banned by a certain nightclub to perform. Monroe used her celebrity status to appear so Ella could perform. She made sure her friend could play where people snubbed her for her size or skin color. Unfortunately the civil rights movement and segregation was at the center in the 1950’s sadly. In the beginning Marilyn had to deal with a different kind of prejudice where directors and producers grabbed her inappropriately and asked for personal favors if she wanted a specific part. This was called the casting couch and also threatened her never to work again if she does not submit. They were the Harvey Weinstein’s of the 1950’s sadly.

I loved this book so much my heart definitely went out to both Ella and Marilyn and all they had to deal with. I found myself very emotional wiping my tears as I read this brilliant read that definitely touched my heart! I personally still feel there was foul play in Marilyn’s death by the Kennedy brothers after all this family is not unfamiliar with mystery and death. Well both did not live into the next decade. So I do not know if I will ever get the answer to that. I personally do not think it was suicide if anything it was an accidental overdose. Again this is my personal opinion as I have always been a fan of her work. You can hear Ella Fitgerald’s hit song “A Tisket A Tasket” even in an episode of The Gilmore Girls in 2002. As for Ella my heart went out to her too from her personal hardships and later in life in her seventies where she had both of her legs amputated below her knees from her diabetes and was also partially blind. So she also had different kinds of demons, honestly I believe both of these women just wanted to be loved like everyone else in the world!

Both of these multi talented women had many demons yet they did not let the racial prejudices of the world affect their friendship. Godbless them both in eternal peace! It is a book I couldn't put down even though I knew it would be filled with a lot of hardships, plus I knew a lot of Marilyn’s history. I was surprised that Ella also had some demons of her own in a completely different way. I found myself listening to Ella’s music online and watching clips from all of Marilyn’s former films and listening to some of her interviews. I will end this book review with a Marilyn Monroe quote from her last interview days before her death. “Fame is fickle and I know it. It has its compensations but it also has its drawbacks, and I have experienced both.”

This historical fiction novel about the friendship between the iconic Marilyn Monroe and Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald is absolutely so cleverly done. I loved this book so much my heart definitely went out to both Ella and Marilyn and all they had to deal with. Both Bryce and Knight were a perfect collaboration in this magnificent historical fiction masterpiece. As Bryce and Knight wrote a phenomenal book from start to finish! It is one of those rare books that is also very hard to come by and stays with you long after you have read it. It is absolutely awe inspiring! A novel I absolutely loved and can not recommend enough! Bravo to both Denny S. Bryce and Eliza Knight on penning such a dazzling, bright, luminescent book where each page absolutely shined with true brilliance!

Disclaimer: I received an advance reader's copy from the William Morrow Paperbacks. I voluntarily agreed to do an honest, fair, review and blog through netgalley. All words, ideas and thoughts are my own.

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Cant-We-Be-Friends-Fitzgerald-ebook/dp/B0C782GT4P

https://books.apple.com/us/book/cant-we-be-friends/id6449970053

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cant-we-be-friends-eliza-knight/1143924322?ean=9780063282902

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/can-t-we-be-friends-2

[sugarycloud]

What Caroline meant to me

Hi. So I haven’t posted in a while, and if I did it was always just fic. Honestly I was planning on never posting on here ever again. I was even for a moment gonna delete everything, cos it felt disrespectful or something to leave all of it up. But I couldn’t, and then I got my blog stats for the week and saw that I’d had over a thousand pageviews, something that hasn’t happened in years. So I felt I had to say something. In case anyone wanted to read it.

Firstly, I am so utterly devastated about Caroline’s death. She was the best person, a beautiful and kind soul, and it’s so tragic and unfair that she thought the only way out was to take her own life. It still doesn’t feel real, and honestly I’m not sure it ever will.

I know there are so many people to blame, the press and the media, and social media, and the CPS. But I don’t want to focus on that, because to me, I’m sad either way, I’m devastated either way. And I don’t have it in me to tunnel all my energy into anger and justice, right now all I have is sadness, deep and complete sadness.

Caroline was so many things to me, she was a crush, and an idol. She was one half of my OTP. She was a person who made me want to believe in myself more, love myself more and give less fucks. She got me into writing. She was the reason I know some of my favourite people in the world. And somehow, she was someone I knew.

I first became a fan of Caroline’s in 2011, like so many of this fandom, because of Carolly, because of Xtra Factor, because, and I still believe this, those two were soulmates, and it was clear as day to all of us.

We watched them and fell in love with them, and they made us so happy, besides when we were yelling at me for being idiots. Caroline was always my favourite out of the two, whether it be because I fancied her and not Olly, or because she had the most infectious personality. She was the type of person I could imagine going to the pub with, someone I’d want to be mates with, because she sparkled.

I started writing fic in 2012 and on it sailed from there, I wrote my last fic in November 2019, seven years of being in her and Olly’s heads, and making up all sorts of happy endings for them. It breaks my heart that they never got one, that Caz never got one.

I first met Caroline on December 1st 2013. She was in a car and she stopped and chatted to me and my friend. The driver kept trying to drive away and she kept telling him to stop. She said she liked my coat, and I got the worst pictures ever. But she was amazing and I was so happy.

I next met her at Viral Tap in 2014. I met Jo and Chris. I gave her a burger necklace(‘Oh my god! This is the best thing anyone’s ever got me! I’m gonna put it on!). We chatted for ages, got much better pictures, and she was so lovely, funny, and genuine.

Then I didn’t see her until during X Factor 2015. I saw her plenty before that, I saw Strictly live, both the actual show and the tour, plus A Night With Olly Murs, and I basically lived at X Factor. But I hadn’t actually met her in a year and a half.

It was her book signing, I was really nervous, she had unfollowed me on Twitter after I drunkenly insulted her boyfriend on there. Course she didn’t remember that. She didn’t remember meeting me before but did after a bit of prompting. We talked about Strictly (‘You won six hundred pounds cos I won Strictly?! *turns to her team* ‘She won 600 pounds cos I won Strictly!) and her book (‘I read it in a day’ ‘What was your favourite bit?’ ‘Any bit with Olly’ ‘Of course’), I kept calling her Caz (‘I love that you call me Caz!) and we took our first selfies. She signed my book ‘Lovely to meet you AGAIN’ and in one for my mum wrote ‘You have a wonderful daughter’.

I saw her at XF soon after that and the first thing she said to me was ‘I’ve met you before!’ before much Olly chat and XF chat and how brilliant she was chat. She always chatted to you like you were her mate, telling us about her mum coming to visit and what Olly got for her birthday(‘A coat and a purse’ ‘What brand?’ ‘Yves Saint Laurent… who needs a boyfriend when you have Olly Murs’) my poor heart could barely handle it.

The weekend of the X Factor final, I got about 5 hours sleep and saw them kiss on the stage, still one of the best weekends of my life.

Next time I saw her was April 2016, outside of BBC, there was 3 of us there and we all talked for ages. I remember saying something, maybe about having met her before, and she went ‘I do know who you are!’, I never worried she didn’t after that. Also thus began the habit of her taking my phone and taking selfies from all the angles whenever I saw her.

Honestly after that it starts to meld together, I served her at work in 2017(‘Oh my god it’s you! I haven’t seen you in ages!’) at her radio show where she was about to get in her car, turned around and saw me and got back out again. There was all the times at Chicago and the one time at stage door for Crazy for You, chatting to her at Aftersun, and even when I was at the back of the room, seeing me, pointing and waving.

The last time I saw her was last year at her River Island launch. It was so nice. There was a big queue to see her and when I got to the front she hugged me and went ‘Hey you’. We were chatting for a while about Olly and how I was seeing Take That a lot right at that moment in time (How many times?’ ‘20’ ’20!!’), I told her I couldn’t afford any of her collection and she went all whispery ‘Don’t worry, I’ll send you some’ (she never actually did but still a very sweet gesture). There was a queue forming behind me so she said she’d catch me a in a bit.

I sat down on the sofa and after a while, she came and sat down next to me (‘Is it just me and a load of Instagrammers?’ ‘Yeah’ ‘Do you know anyone else here?’ ‘No’). We took some more pictures (‘Oh my god the camera on your phone is so good’) and chatted about Love Island and the rest. Eventually I left after the place emptied out and she had to go do some promotion pictures. I can’t believe it’s the last time I ever got to talk to her, I’m so glad it was so good. I have not one bad memory of meeting her and I will treasure every second of it all always.

She wasn’t my friend, but she knew me, she followed me on Twitter and Instagram, and always asked about my work (she always remembered where I worked after I served her) and how I was. She knew me and I knew her. I always used to say ‘We’re not friends but we’re friendly’ when people at work would take the piss and call her my mate.

My work, honestly, have been so understanding. I found out at work, someone took me aside and told me, and took me home. I wasn’t in for 4 days and when I did go back I couldn’t stop crying. I cried on so many people. But they got it, they all got it, how much she meant to me and how much I loved her and cared about her and knew her. They didn’t dismiss it just because she was famous, they understood completely.

Honestly, ever since Caz died, I have never known such kindness and love in all my life. I had about 200 messages from people the night it happened, and people who have been checking how I am every day. I couldn’t sleep for a week, I’m still struggling to eat, and there are so many tears. But having so much support and being surrounded by love has helped so much. I only wish Caz had known how loved she was, I hope she did know, that she was so so loved by so so many. I can’t stop thinking about her family, about Jo and Chris, and her friends, poor poor Lou, and Sam, and Olly. I can’t even imagine how they feel, and I can do nothing but hope beyond anything that eventually they will be ok.

It’s hard as a person who doesn’t believe in heaven or the afterlife to find any solace in this. People find comfort in that, that’s she ‘in a better place’ and ‘at peace now’ and ‘looking down on us’. I get that helps people, but to me, there’s no better place, the place for her was here. And now all we have is memories, and thinking of her sad and alone, and it breaks my heart time and time again.

Caz was an amazing person, she was kind and generous and funny. She had a good word to say about everybody and no matter who you were, treated you just the same. She wore her heart on her sleeve, loved so deeply, felt everything so much. She was one of a kind, a good soul and the most beautiful person, inside and out and this world is a poorer one for her no longer being in it.

So what did Caroline mean to me? She meant the absolute world, and I’m gonna miss her so very very much.

[doomonfilm]

Review : Mank (2020)

Tastes may have changed during the new millennium in regards to film, and while it may no longer stand alone as the film of films, there was a time when the Orson Welles epic Citizen Kane was almost a shoo-in for spot number one on best film lists.  By that rationale, making the decision to make a movie about the so-called ‘greatest film every made’ would seem like a bit of a fool’s errand... even more so when you take into account the many portrayals and stories that surround Orson Welles.  If one was to climb this seemingly unsurmountable mountain, the direct approach does not seem like the most rationale one, and it was this stroke of genius that more than likely led the prolific David Fincher to create a modern day masterpiece in the form of Mank. 

After a car crash puts him in recovery from a broken leg, screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) is tasked by radio star turned director Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to write his next film, for which Welles has been given complete creative freedom by RKO Pictures.  While dictating the script to his secretary Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), Mankiewicz (affectionately referred to as Mank by his friends and peers) reminisces on his time at Paramount and MGM Studios, his relationships with studio head David O. Selznick (Toby Leonard Moore), newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) and his mistress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried), the political machinations of Irving Thalberg (Sam Troughton) to undermine Upton Sinclair’s (Bill Nye) run for Governor of California, his troubled relationship with MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard), and the death of his director colleague Shelly Metcalf (Jamie McShane).  Alexander immediately sees the comparisons in the script to Hearst, with whom Mank has a vendetta, yet despite warnings from all parties connected to the film and his life, Mank pushes forward in the creation of the controversial film.

Mank does a fantastic job of portraying a man with a healthy balance of personal demons and secretive actions that is dead set on writing a hit piece to bring down the man synonymous with American media.  As a writer and orator, Mank has a deep understanding and hidden fear in regards to the power of his words, and a regret that surfaces when these powerful words hurt those that he cares for.  With no true life-altering stakes on the table, the pressure in Mank is created by the limitations of an already outdated and stifled Hollywood machine sitting at the height of its powers, and the drive to create honest, moving art outside of said limitations.  As a man, Mank stands on principles built by a history of tangible changes he has made on the humble, and it is strengthened by the consistent backlash he faces for these actions, and the combination of these things leaves him with a visible and seething resentment for Hollywood.  Once Mank’s resolve is built up to the point that he can no longer be harmed, the focus turns toward punishment and manipulation of those close to him, which serves as a reminder of how the Hollywood system can find you irreplaceable in one moment and wholly disposable within the next.

On a subtext level, Mank is a movie about movies, and is hyper-conscious of the ‘script-to-screen’ process in a way that informs the narrative while also analyzing it deeply.  David Fincher manages to transport his cast (and in turn, us as viewers) to a completely different time, landing us somewhere between a reimagining of Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard and a dark take on Singin’ in the Rain.  The film also gives us insight into how creatives were able to wrestle creative independence away from a dominating and overwhelmingly controlling studio system.  Despite being a clear big budget, Hollywood-level production, the film is honest about the intentions of the Hollywood system, with Fincher’s version of Louis B. Mayer speaking directly about the commodification of emotions, be it Hollywood being “the business where the buyer gets nothing for his money but a memory”, or how “what he bought still belongs to the man who sold it.

As a film that examines a film which in turn examined an altered version of reality, the historical observations have surprising weight to them.  The way that Louis B. Mayer idolized the character and power of William Randolph Hearst is prominent throughout the film, giving viewers and film fans even more of an understanding why Citizen Kane was viewed as such a problematic film at the time it was released.  By comparison, Mayer was willing to ignore a similarly power hungry manipulator in the form of Adolph Hitler, but only due to how it would impact his German box office returns, and on no grounds of principle.  Mayer and Hearst also viewed Upton Sinclair as a direct threat, specifically due to how Sinclair portrayed Hearst in his prominent book The Jungle, so in turn, the duo found ways to undercut Sinclair socially and politically through the power of manipulated media : the social, entertainment, news and political power games the men created in the form of propaganda served to ruin Sinclair with no regard for the moral fallout it left on the studio side.  In turn, Mank’s attempt to take power back was crystalized in the form of his Citizen Kane script. 

Mank is an attempt at an ambitious but subtle companion-piece to Citizen Kane that works surprisingly well, mainly due to the ways that its throwback style compliments Welles’ forward thinking innovation.  Despite being a modern day film, Fincher seemingly went through great lengths to present it in an old school manner... the film looks, sounds and feels like it used dated techniques, such as area mics, rear projection, visual expositional setups and a touch of German impressionism.  I personally found the ‘cigarette burns’ digitally-inserted (I’m guessing) at the end of each ‘reel’ a satisfying touch that almost nobody will notice.  The costuming, set design and score are deeply immersive... at times, I forgot that I was watching a film that was not even a year old.  Speaking of the score, the way that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were able to make it so period-specific is an achievement in its own right, as it brings an enhanced sense of life and attitude to our perception of the film, while informing on what we see in a way that many modern day films now shy away from.  The writing is snappy and witty, calling back to a bygone era without drowning in tropes, and giving the actors just enough to work with without venturing into the realms of overacting or chewing up the scenery.

Gary Oldman continues to display an amazing talent for completely inhabiting the skin of his characters, losing himself in a way that not many actors are able to, while leaving enough of himself in the performances for us to marvel at his abilities.  Amanda Seyfried is a pleasure to behold in Mank, with her incredible growth as an actress on full display, including a wonderfully entertaining Brooklyn accent.  Tom Burke does everything short of looking exactly like Orson Welles, capturing the youthful vigor and excitement of the director while also managing to display shades of the domineering character traits he became infamous for.  Arliss Howard and Charles Dance lean into their larger than life portrayals of powerful men with little to no regard for the ‘common man’.  Lily Collins serves as a dramatic foil to Oldman while managing to display deep personality traits of her own.  Other notable performances come from Tom Pelphrey, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane, and a surprising appearance from Bill Nye, with Tuppence Middleton, Sam Troughton, Joseph Cross and a few others chipping in with strong support.

2020 has been a strange year for film, and as a lover of the theater experience, I’ve found that my viewing of films, especially new releases, took a severe nosedive this year.  I can say with complete honesty and certainty, however, that even if I’d seen every film of the year, I’d still stand behind my feelings that Mank is the film of the year.  I wholly expect it to clean up at every award show next year, and it will serve as a perfect benchmark when compared to other films of 2020 that I haven’t seen, specifically as to whether or not they are worth seeing.  David Fincher continues to make brilliant work, and even after a six year hiatus, he has returned like he never left.

[in-flagrante]

ALL CHANGE With Michelle Dockery

Best known as Downton Abbey’s indelible Lady Mary, MICHELLE DOCKERY effortlessly transitions from haughty aristocrat to corrupt cockney in Guy Ritchie’s new gangster movie, The Gentlemen. LAURA CRAIK talks to the British star about her working-class roots, embracing a golden age of opportunities for female actors and why working with Ritchie, Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant and her idol Jeremy Strong was a dream come true

Michelle Dockery is about as different from Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary as is imaginable. Dressed in Totême boyfriend jeans, white Adidas trainers and a black cashmere turtleneck, she is warm, effusive and quick to laugh where Lady Mary is frosty and composed, and she has an accent not dissimilar to Victoria Beckham’s. “It may come as a bit of a shock to everyone when I open my mouth in the film,” she smiles.

“The film” is The Gentlemen, a classic gangster caper written and directed by Guy Ritchie in a return to the genre that first made him famous. “Charlie [Hunnan, one of Dockery’s co-stars] is calling The Gentlemen ‘vintage Ritchie’, and I think that’s right,” she says of the British director behind Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. “I play Rosalind, who is the wife of Matthew McConaughey’s character, Mickey,” Dockery explains. “He has these marijuana farms that are growing underneath stately homes, hence the title The Gentlemen.”

Marijuana farms? What would Carson say? Dockery laughs. After six years playing Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey– first in the well-loved TV series (which has won 15 Emmys and been watched by an estimated 270m people worldwide) and latterly in the movie – her role in The Gentlemen was a great departure for the 38-year-old British actress. “Rosalind runs a car dealership, which she’s inherited through her family. She’s a real, tough, east-London girl. I grew up in Essex, and my family has a sort of east-London background, so it was great to step into that world.”

To say the cast of The Gentlemen is “stellar” is an understatement: in addition to Dockery, McConaughey and Hunnam, the movie stars Hugh Grant (who plays equally against type and appears as a corrupt and predatory reporter), Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, and Jeremy Strong, most recently seen as the troubled Kendall Roy in HBO’s Succession – of which Dockery is a huge fan. “I mean, this whole interview could be about Succession,” she laughs. “It’s absolutely brilliant, the best thing on TV. Every single character is Shakespearean. I loved working with Jeremy. We only had one scene together, a dinner-party scene, and I would never have seen his character the way he played it. He was a joy to watch, and worlds away from Kendall.”

Working with Ritchie – and the laugh-a-minute, largely male cast – was, Dockery says, a dream. “There’s one scene where I arrive at my garage, and Guy wanted to add a bit of dialogue, just off the cuff. I had to be on my toes, and I really enjoyed that. So often, when I’m working, the process is very much word for word, and on this film it was malleable. It was liberating.” She also relished collaborating with Ritchie on Rosalind’s look. “Even though Rosalind works in a garage, I get to wear the most beautiful Balmain jumpsuit, and the first scene is me walking into the garage in a pair of Louboutins, which is hilarious. Rosalind has clearly worked her way up to where she is, really enjoys the lifestyle and having money, but still wants to work. I love that about her character, that she still gets her hands dirty.”

Dockery says she is happy with the quality of roles she has been offered in her career (she graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2004), while being aware that, in the past, female actors have lamented the paucity of fully rounded female characters. “I do feel I stepped into this industry at a time when things were really beginning to change, especially for women. It’s the golden age of television, where creators have the luxury of writing 10 hours as opposed to just two, so there’s room to explore a character in greater depth. It’s now becoming much more normal to start a job or to read a part and for me to have a dialogue with the creators – if there are moments where it’s felt the female character is not involved, for example – whereas I guess in the past, it would have felt like more of a fight.”

Does she have any aspirations to write or direct herself? She laughs. “I do think about, you know, doing other things. Right now, I’m not sure exactly what, but…” she tails off, laughing. The glint in her eye suggests she has something in the pipeline

After a six-month stint in Boston, where she was filming Defending Jacob, a harrowing miniseries about a family whose lives are torn apart after the death of a boy at their son’s school (“it’s not a comedy,” she notes wryly), she is very much enjoying being home in north London, where she lives close to her two sisters (Dockery is the youngest of three). “It’s a cozy time of year to be home,” she smiles, nursing a cup of tea. “It’s great catching up with friends and family – and, because I travel a lot for work, every time I come back to London, I appreciate it much more. Recently a friend came over from LA and we went to the Antony Gormley exhibition. It took my breath away.”

Can she walk around London fairly anonymously? “Yes, more so here than in America. But that’s the thing with our culture. Brits are too cool to approach you, but in America people have more confidence to come over and say something. It still takes me very much by surprise, but it goes in waves. When the Downton film came out, it peaked again.”

She laughs as she explains that she can never tell who’s going to be a Downton fan. “I got into a cab a little while ago, and the driver was this big, burly Guy Ritchie type. ‘Where you going, love?’ he said. And then it went a bit quiet. And then he was like, ‘You alright?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ and told him about my day. And he suddenly went, ‘Shame about your sister in season 3.’ And I just laughed out loud. People really surprise me sometimes.”

Would she say she’s an introvert or an extrovert? “I’m an introvert.” Although not the stay-at-home type. “I do like to go out and dance. For me, it’s not a night out unless I’m on the dance floor. Every couple of months, I just need to dance; have one of those… dance-y nights.”

Her interest in fashion is modest rather than craven. “I love clothes but can be ignorant of certain designers. I like supporting young ones coming up.” She’s also what she calls “a coat girl”, with more coats than shoes. But her most cherished possession is a St Christopher necklace her mom gave her. “It comes everywhere with me. I’ve had it for 15 or 20 years.” She recently started donating her old clothes to Smart Works, a British charity of which the Duchess of Sussex is a patron, which helps unemployed women get back to work. “They’ve got all my skinny jeans.”

Our time being almost over, I finish with the question few subjects want to answer. Is she in love at the moment? She laughs and draws an imaginary zip across her mouth. The line of enquiry is especially sensitive as Dockery’s fiancé, Irishman John Dineen, passed away in 2015. She is now rumored to be dating Jasper Waller-Bridge, brother of the feted Phoebe, creator of Fleabag and Killing Eve. If this is true, perhaps we’ll see her in a comedy soon? “There are things on the back burner, but I can’t say,” she says. Then, in a quick flash of Lady Mary, she concludes with a polite, “Thank you so much. It’s been really lovely.”

The Gentlemen is released on January 1, 2020

[eng-hypnosismic]

Spoon Interview (Shirai Yusuke)

Please support spoon 2Di !! You might be able to find them on Amazon.jp (international credit cards accepted) and CD Japan. Please show Hypmic that international fans also contribute to the sales!!  This article is from vol. 41. 

Shirai Yusuke is the voice actor of Shibuya’s cute idol Amemura Ramuda. How did he perform the cuteness unique to the bubbly Ramuda, or his intriguing duality? We’ll be asking him about all that!

——How do you feel about the current boom of popularity?

“Until the release, I was still unsure about how well the hip-hop genre would be received, but now that I know a lot of people are listening to it, I’m delighted. I never imagined it would have such a sudden upsurge in popularity.”  

——During the nico-nama live stream the other day, you probably directly felt the reaction of the audiences.

“The enthusiasm was just incredible. I felt like we were all enjoying something new together.”  

——How did it feel to actually rap freestyle?

“I took up the challenge just like that, but freestyling was difficult (laughs). You have to get your words in rhythm, and keep going at it while rhyming nicely; I really felt the importance of wit, vocabularies, etc. However, it was something that I don’t usually do, so it was refreshing and felt good. If there’s another chance, I want to practice a bit more and take the challenge again no matter what!”

——So in hindsight, how did you feel when you heard about the project of Hypnosis Mic?

“Since I always sing songs of rappers I like at karaoke, a rap project seemed interesting to me. Actually, I auditioned for other characters instead of Ramuda. But then after that, they sent me an offer that said, “please be Amemura Ramuda.” There I saw Ramuda for the first time and was a bit shocked, like, “this cute boy... me?” So I had to go up to my manager and confirm with them if the role of this character was really offered to me (laughs).”

——Ramuda's visual is really cute like a girl (laughs).

“They directed me to make him bubbly and sly like he knows how cute he is.. However, even though his appearance is this cute, he’s still a grown man who’s 24 years old, so it has to be within reasons, as I was told. So I did my best to show as much slyness  as I can. I I have never played any characters look as androgynous as he does, and I think this is my first time playing a main character whose voice is this high-pitched.

——So you really focused on showing the cuteness and slyness while you’re performing as him.

“That’s right. Ramuda himself is also “clever, and understands how others see him [according to the character profiles],” meaning that he makes himself look cute; his slyness probably comes from him trying to act cute. So I thought that if that’s the case, I could pull it off, too. Therefore, when I voice Ramuda, I try to make sure I show a little of that forced cuteness.”

—— In the drama tracks of Fling Posse VS Matenrou, weren’t there parts when you had to also portray his other side?

“When I first voiced Ramuda, I didn’t know about his duality, so I didn’t act with the thought in mind that he had another side. Therefore, I was also shocked by that side of Ramuda!”

——Now that you have performed as him so far, what do you think Ramuda is like?

“He’s just full of mysteries. We still don’t know about his past, and just like how Gentaro was saying in the drama track, Ramuda is "too spotless" and it feels almost like it's all made up. In Fling Posse VS Matenrou, I played “Dark Ramuda.” ...that’s how I called his other side (laughs). Since I don’t know whether that was his true self or his acting, I am looking forward to how it will turn out. What’s more, since he also has connections with Kadenokouji Ichijiku-san (who is a high-ranking official of Chuo-ku), I think he’s going to be the key character of the plot. I am also looking forward to the story’s development.”

——It was really shocking that he was in communication with Ichijiku-san; as his voice actor, how did you feel about this?

“I had so much fun. Finally, I could talk in a comfortable tone (laughs)! Though I had also wondered if I should keep a little bit of his usual cute vibes, I intentionally changed [my voice] to the extent that it sounded like a different person. When people told me how shocked they were to find out about that Ramuda, it made me grin thinking, “I know right” (laughs).

——So what kind of team do you think Fling posse of Shibuya Division is?

“Fling posse started off with Ramuda forcing Gentaro and Dice to join, but taking that into consideration, they’re getting along pretty well. They have bright, pop-like vibes to them. However in the drama tracks of Fling Posse VS Matenrou, Gentaro was also suspicious of Ramuda, so they were both probing into each other and things were turning a bit sour… And then amongst them there is Dice who’s the only one not caring about anything (laughs). That’s why I think thanks to Dice, the team can maintain its balance. His lightheartedness really helps; I think he’s a great guy. Gentaro is a serial liar, Ramuda is full of mysteries, and maybe that’s how Dice’s straightforwardness stands out so much. Even though Dice loves gambling to death, he’s in general a sensible person. For example, he stood up for Gentaro when Hifumi dissed his clothes. When you see how much he treasures his friends, you can really tell that they’re ‘posse’. I am glad to see that their relationships have improved a lot compared to when they first started.”

——What do you think about the relationship between Ramuda and Dice?

“It feels a bit superficial. But since Dice trusts Ramuda, the exchange between the two is generally pleasant.”

——What about Gentaro then?

“Even though he likes saying “it’s a lie,” I think there has to be some truth in there. Anything could be a lie or a truth; it’s fun to ponder on it. Actually, I wonder if Ramuda already saw through what Gentaro was thinking; as I mentioned just now, in this CD’s drama track both Ramuda and Gentaro were figuring each other out. But Ramuda didn’t really let him know much more than what he revealed. However, there are also quite a few mysteries regarding Gentaro. For instance, he was angered by Hifumi’s comment on his vintage outfit, he seems to have all sorts of secrets. Not just Ramuda and Gentaro, everyone seems to have their own past. I really want to know about them soon.”

——What do you think is the strength of all three of them as Shibuya Division?

“Although they seem to have nothing in common, surprisingly they get along. I think their charm lies in their youthful, pop vibes, as well as their positivity.”

——As your opponents in Battle Battle Battle, what kind of team do you think Shinjuku Division is?

“Contrary to Shibuya’s youthfulness, Shinjuku are adults, and they are a team of mature appeal. However, they also surprisingly get along, which is nice. Jakurai-san seems like a loner at first,  and yet he goes fishing with Hifumi. Doppo and Hifumi were friends since they were very little, but I didn’t expect that they’re living together. They’re so close with each other.”

ーー In Jakurai and Ramuda's duet, it has awfully thrilling feelings when you listened to it, is there anything you were conscious of when you perform?

“I try to be offensive and snappy towards Jakurai at full power. Therefore, I exaggerate my expressions, and put extra effort in delivering the taunts. Honestly, I had fun doing that (laughs). They were in a team together in the past, but curiously he seems fine with Ichiro and Samatoki; it was only with Jakurai that he has this antagonism. Ikebukuro and Yokohama, or Ichiro and Samatoki are also hostile towards each other; I really want to know what happened between them.”

——We were only given some intriguing keywords. Like how Samatoki calls Ichiro a “hypocrite”, and that Jakurai mentioned that Rumuda had “done something inhuman”.

“Oh well, what inhuman things have you done, Ramuda…(laughs)”

——For the next part, I would like to know more about the songs. To start with, please tell us was there anything you were particular about or paid attention to while you were recording your solo song Drops?

“Since it’s a solo song, it is the most Ramuda-style song ever. When I recorded the very first drama track, I did the highest voice I could to show Ramuda’s cuteness, so at the song recording I was worried like, “do I have to rap in that tone all the way…!?” (laughs) However, once I found out that the song only had rapping at important parts [and the rest was singing], I remember feeling a bit more relieved (laughs). It’s a stylish and cool song, I like it.”

——While rapping with a cute impression is good, I think the faint, sexy undertone of a 24-year-old man in there was brilliant.

“I'm glad you say so! At the beginning of Ramuda's rap, the feeling of him acting all cute and charged up really was intense, and the pyon pyon part really hit the limit. I sang it like I'd exhausted all my brain cells (laughs). I tried to sing it at karaoke once, but my heart broke in the middle of it (laughs). I had wondered if I would be able to sing this live. Ah, but when this interview gets published, the live will have already taken place! I think it'd be nice if I can sing it well (laughs). However, my feelings of wanting to sing it in front of everyone are strong, so I think it'd be nice if I could sing it happily. Also, Gentaro’s VA, Saito Soma told me that he thinks the lyrics at the chorus -  "if you want to pick it up, do it" are superb! I was like, "ehh, is that so~" (laughs). Other people also told me the same thing, so I thought, "I guess it is~!”

——How about your division song, Shibuya Marble Texture - PCCS- then?

“This song is stylish, isn’t it! When I listened to it for the first time, I was surprised that this type of style can exist in the project, too. So far, all the songs have had either a fast tempo or they have loud and offensive moods to them. A rap with a relaxing tune was really refreshing. Although, Ramuda's voice was high as always (laughs). I think the song suits the evenings, so I listened to it on the way home from work. Because this song is the most recently recorded, I noticed some improvements in my skill after singing a lot of songs before it. At first I was really struggling, but it became more and more enjoyable as I went. Comparing it to the first time and the stage live... It's a bit embarrassing to say (laughs). Anyway, in contrast to the peaceful feeling of this song, the plot twist in the drama track is so...! There is this lyrics verse, "Shouldn't the world be more interesting?" rapped by Ramuda which makes you wonder which the true one is; the Ramuda of those lyrics or the one from the drama part. I think everyone ponders about that.

Since you can feel the bonds of those three in the lyrics "Side by side we watch the sunset", it would be nice if their bond pictured here [in the lyrics] is not a lie. It leaves a lot to the imagination.”

——On Ramuda and Gentaro's part, Dice who shouted their names was impressive, but on the contrary, when Dice got his, Ramuda was all-out with his, "Di~ce!", it was really cute.

“I put my everything in that ‘Dice’ (laughs). That part was originally not included in the song demo, but since Dice's VA, Nozuyama, shouted Ramuda and Gentaro's names, Ramuda decided to do it too when recording, because it’s not in character for Gentaro to do it. Speaking of which, Doppo's VA, Itou Kento, said he always listened to this song during the morning commute and that made me happy. It does get you in the mood if you listen to it when you are traveling!”

——Well then, how about Shibuya and Shinjuku's battle song, BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE?

“I'd say it was a real battle, like up until now, they never attacked each other, I think. In the song, there was a line, “Quit draggin’ someone’s past up to the surface over and over”. In that you could see a glimpse of the “Dark Ramuda”. Since the song was distributed before the CD release, if you listened to the song before the drama track, I think you would have been surprised like, "who was that just now?!" (laughs)

Still, I recorded that part separately, so I wondered how everyone would react when they have heard it. That too made me grin a bit while recording (laughs). Then during the verse which said, “without a promise, I won’t forgive that scenario”, he was already back to the usual Ramuda. But there was still a bit of the manly charm and his dark side left in there while I sang it; so when you listen to it, by all means please pay attention to that part.”

ーーHow was it when you heard the finished song together with rest of two members?

“I like how this song gave off the feeling of passing on a baton to each other while battling, but Gentaro's part was too tricky! I mean, it's difficult even if you were told that you can sing it, it’s just impossible (laughs). I really like that, while dodging Hifumi's diss, he provoked the other side with his last line, "A howling imbecile wouldn’t understand that, though, would he?"; I have been looping it in my head all this time. Also, with Dice going against Doppo, the salaryman, I like the feeling of how he struck a great blow with his last one phrase "I ain’t some collared pet.”

——Ramuda's taunting phrase "I’m disa~ppointed" was also good.

“If you were told something like that, you'd certainly get irritated (laughs). I can see Jakurai’s annoyed expression in my head (laughs).”

——Then, please tell us if you have a favorite character and a character you are interested in.

“It's (Iruma) Juto from Yokohama. Even if he is a policeman, he has this shady feeling, and I think how his manner in speaking holds hidden meanings is also nice. In the drama track, it is said that he even questioned Doppo in the past, but I feel like he changed a lot from his old days. Hifumi's duality is also interesting and how even if he is afraid of women, he works as host.”

——Do you have any favorite song aside from Ramuda's?

“Of course it's Ore Ga Ichiro from Kimura Subaru who plays as Ichiro. How he wrote the lyrics by himself is amazing, and the tune is just right. I thought that this guy is totally a rapper and that it was shown clearly.”

——It will be fun if a The Dirty Dawg song were to be made someday, with Ichiro and the legendary team The Dirty Dawg together.”

“Certainly, that possibility is also there! If the songs increase, there could be various combinations even outside the divisions, and perhaps there would be a rap for Dark Ramuda, too.”

——Hypnosis Mic held a Champagne Tower with everyone (the collab drink with karaoke shop), everyone in the cast gave off the impression that they were enjoying their work.

“That champagne tower party was totally private, and yet everyone gathered to that extent, I think that was amazing. Contents of Hypnosis Mic had been exciting so far and I think that it's really pleasing for a lot of people to accept it because we are having a lot of fun too. After all we got to listen to Hayami Show-san’s rap, right?”

——Right. How did listening to Hayami's rap feel like?

“Really cool! Because Hayami is Jakurai, I thought that as Ramuda I should do my best not to lose.”

——Thank you. Lastly, please give a message to your fans.

“By the time this interview gets published, I think we will have already finished the 2nd Live successfully and that the 3rd Live will be decided in November, too. It's unusual to conduct a live in such a short time span, but I think next time we can have fun with more people, so I'd be happy if you could come and play. I don't know how the story will progress according to the battle results, but I am also looking forward to see how Ramuda will get involved. I also want to work hard to improve my rapping skills, so I'd be happy if you can keep supporting Hypnosis Mic in the future.”

[comebackseasonisamess]

Before The Fact

Member: Chwe Hansol

Genre : fluffy angst with little to no dialogue

Writing: 1k-ish, switches from Hansol's POV to yours sometime, gender neutral. This is a sequel to After The Fact, but can be read as a standalone.

A/N: A whole week after I said I would publish this and here I am... I honestly think this might be the fic I'm most proud of to date, just because it's been a work in progress since last summer. (And yes, the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger because I'm planning another section to this story) PS Listen to Home!!

Maybe it was the way she smiled. Or the way she moved. Or the flow of her hair down her back, but something made Hansol impossibly, irrevocably in love with her.

Six years ago, during one of the worst winters seen in Chicago, he made the perfect mistake of going out into the cold. He nearly froze to death, but his reward was immense when he entered a small coffee shop, searching for something to warm up his body and soul, and the red nose of his.

There, he found the person who would spend years racing through his head, whose comforting arms would wrap around him during the times when his self esteem hit rock bottom, behind the till scrubbing away at an unseen stain from his angle.

A quick exchange to get his order (winter melon milk tea, with extra sugar), and a sly comment from the barista (That’s a nice mug-shot you have, while pointing at his face and grinning) and Hansol was so in love he tripped over his own feet walking out of the door in front of the cute barista. He spilled his milk tea all over the front of his padded jacket, and his cheeks flushed a brilliant scarlet as you burst out laughing and came up to him with napkins to dry him off. (And an extra one with your number on it)

He was just in America for a quick visit to family in NY, and then spending a week or two in Chicago (which had always been on his bucket list, and hey! When you're a famous kpop idol whose flights get paid for you, why not take advantage?) So really, your meeting was nothing but a coincidence.

That evening, after he texted you, you took him on the best date he’d ever been on. You’d gone to an ice skating rink, and he’d easily made a fool of himself by falling at least fifteen times, while you stayed on your feet the entire evening. Then, you’d gone to a small restaurant, and you’d sat there, chatting away till the store had to close.

That same night, Hansol called the boys to say he was staying longer, and that he had a more and more realistic chance of having a girlfriend.

Fast forward seven months, and Hansol had moved into your cramped flat.

Mornings were the best for you two, with your ginormous mug filled with hot chocolate, that you usually stirred with a pair of chopsticks because you hadn’t emptied the dishwasher yet. Hansol would be in his navy boxers, a wrinkled NASA grey tee, his hair all messed up as he attempted to cook pancakes even after you'd told him multiple times you wouldn't eat them because they made you sick.

Then you'd watch TV, maybe a rerun episode of Grey's anatomy or something, and curl up into each other.

Was it clichéd? Yes. Fun? Also yes. It was sort of your thing, holding each other close and binge-watching shows during the day instead of writing that four thousand word essay due the next week. (Maybe that wasn't the smartest idea.)

What you had, and what you still hold for him, is something that is known as love (or so you were told).

The numerous nights spent holding hands and looking up at the ceiling while discussing the future, and the well worn couple sweaters in your closet supported this idea of love.

The walks through the park on a Sunday morning and the glow in your cheeks when he arrived to pick you up, the secret, silly handshakes and the coffees shared, the days spent in the nearby zoo and the fact that your apartment no longer just smelled like you but like you and him were almost rock solid evidence for love.

And you were happy. So, so happy. There was a point in your relationship where you felt like nothing could bring you down.

But as with anything that seems too good to be true, there was a problem. A fairly serious problem that put a lot of strain on you two.

While Hansol’s family liked you very much (at least the you seen through the beauty of Facetime), the rest of Seventeen were less keen on your appearance in his life. Neither were the managers, staff and company label. And with such odds stacked up against a newly bloomed love, there was this sort of prewritten course to it.

It’s not fair to say that Seventeen didn’t like you. In fact, you got along almost shockingly well with Wonwoo (who was the closest thing to a doppleganger you had ever met), but the problem was that they quickly realized that you weren’t some come and go figure in Hansol’s life, and that you were slowly becoming a permanent fixture. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, but it kinda was. You see, Hansol was one of the first memebers (pardon me, members) to have an actual steady relationship, to allocate time of his very busy week to seeing and visiting you. Or calling and texting you when he was back in Korea.

Though not to be completely unfair, other members had dated before. Jun was going on three years with his significant other, and Hoshi had managed to keep his relationship under the wraps for an entire year (a feat no one believed he would be capable of). Blame it on the old belief that long distance never works out, or that you wouldn’t understand his precarious position in the entertainment industry, or even that Hansol’s job was often times more important than you, they stood by their ideas that you two wouldn’t work out.

And when the fans started to figure out that Hansol wasn’t free, single pringle, bachelor Hansol anymore, and may be in a relationship (particularly when he kept visiting the USA so much), the strain started to build up enough to cause your relationship to slowly break apart in filaments...

[k-fiction-therapy]

Just Another Face In The Crowd

Moodboard by Admin Scar

Starring: Jeon Jungkook & Female Reader

Includes: Fluff, Cute Things & Heavy Petting

Rating: PG-13

~*.*..*--Don’t make me chase you all over the world, baby...because I will.*..*.*~

A/N: Originally, I wrote this fanfiction for a friend of mine that stans Jungkook so hard, her general reaction to seeing new idols was “Oh, but he’s no Kookie.” She has been such a loyal stan that I’m surprised her driving record isn’t spotless considering how well she stays in his lane. That said, this one goes out to all the Jungkook stans, and ARMY alike--Who wouldn’t want to meet their idol bias behind a venue, and experience love at first meeting? <3

Musical Inspiration: Love At First Sight - Kylie Minogue

Asks Open for Feedback, Comments, Kudos and Thoughts. <3

              If you were honest, you had never thought you would be here. Front row. BTS International Tour. You could feel the excitement course through you even before you reached the venue, but now as you stood there, you felt like you were on a whole other level of emotion. You wanted to laugh, to cry, to fall over and to scream until your lungs hurt. Honestly, you felt so bipolar in that moment that you almost convinced yourself to go see a therapist after—but, you knew you were just being silly. You could get through this without dying from happiness—or at least that’s what you kept repeating to yourself.  

              As the concert started, each pulse of the bass had you nearly sobbing, your eyes wide and brimming with tears as you watched the boys come out on stage. You screamed so loudly that your voice was almost immediately hoarse. You loved them all, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t love Jungkook more than any other member. The moment you saw him, you confirmed that all the photos you’d ever seen paled in comparison. His chocolate hair, the curve of his eyes and the sweet, and simultaneously delectable, shape of his body, all called to you, making you feel weak in the knees—even as you jumped up and down to the beat of the music.

              When the ment came, you knew that you were going to get to hear his voice and see that brilliant smile some more, so you perked in your spot. Leaning up on the railing, pulling yourself up a bit to try and somehow get closer to the stage, regardless of the impossibility of that yearning. Your outfit rose up a bit against the metal, making you fall back a bit so that you didn’t look too disheveled, past the small bit of sweat on your brow from being so close to these other people. You had dressed cute on purpose, hoping that they would notice you in the sea of girls chanting their names.

              The boys walked back out on stage, holding their sweat rags to their foreheads, looking out over the crowd. The Army of Bombs went crazy, flashing in waving hands in a fluttering wave of light that danced across the arena and up both sides. They seemed so grateful for how energetic and happy you all were, so grateful to have your support. As most of these things went, the boys took turns speaking about their experiences on the tour, and you stayed quiet as you could, listening to them talk as best you could, shushing the girl next to you a few times when she screamed right in your ear.

              When it was Jungkook’s turn to speak, you had almost completely forgotten that you were in a huge room filled with fans. In your mind, it was just you and Jungkook, and he was speaking only to you. Without thinking, all politeness between cultures aside, you gripped the railing in front of you and smiled wide, your lips peeling apart before you could control yourself, “Jungkook Oppa!” You called out to him, with a terrible accent no less, your voice pretty much the loudest thing in the arena at that moment—and after it, you could have heard a pin drop. You knew he was embarrassed when other girls said it, and his reaction after your outburst clenched that fact.

              Jungkook shied away from your words immediately, turning bright red and laughing into the microphone, the sound of the air from his nose making a loud thumping sound that resonated in the venue. He laughed to himself and continued what he had been saying, the ment continuing despite your sudden regret. You blushed darker than he did and sunk down, in complete disbelief that you had just done that. Oh, it was probably going to be all over the internet by the time you get home. You could see it now, “International Fan Yelling “Jungkook Oppa” During Ment. #cuteblush #cutiepie #jungshook”, and your accent littered all over. Oh, God.

              For the rest of the concert you kept to yourself and didn’t do much more than sing along or chant with the other fans, trying not to call any more attention to yourself. You had to get through this. You also cursed yourself for not having had enough money to get VIP tickets for the pre-show fanmeet, but you thought him noticing you, even for something so embarrassing, was worth it in spades, although you had wished it hadn’t been so cringe. Oh well, he heard you. That’s the important part. Now you just hoped that none of your friends back home came across a video of the incident, that would be the death of you.

              When the concert was over, you were sure your life was complete. Perhaps you should just cease living, because you didn’t see how it could ever get better than this. You replayed the songs over and over in your head as you left the venue and headed outside. You had asked to be picked up around the back of the place as you thought that it would be less busy there, and as you rounded the large building and found yourself alone in a back alley, you quickly realized you were right—and for a second, you questioned whether or not you were actually allowed to be there, the fences making you think you might have been breaking a few rules.

              The sound of the BTS tour bus, and the boys boarding it, silhouette shielded by the dynamic curve of the alley, was drowned out by the sound of the city and the roar of the air conditioning units that were on the roof directly above where you were standing. In the wind of the city, you rose your shoulders up to shield your ears. Something about the wind, perhaps the direction, made you feel like they were tunneling. It was uncomfortable, so you shifted a bit. Where was your ride? You checked your watch and blinked—the concert had let out a little earlier than you had anticipated. You would be there a little while.

              “Great.” You whispered to yourself, kicking a pebble, it falling to the ground about two feet in front of your foot. Smiling to it, you let the higher points of the night flash through your mind—quickly followed by the ment, and your shout. You shook your head and chewed your bottom lip, “How could I say something so stupid…?” You whined, staring up at the sky before looking back down to your foot, kicking another rock, “He must have thought I was some dumb ugly foreigner, another face in the crowd…ugh…get it together, Y/N.”

              “Ugly, no.” Came a voice from behind you, just above a whisper, and you nearly jumped out of your skin. Spinning around, your eyes settled on the most handsome face you had ever seen. Jeon Jungkook. You must have been dreaming. Your face erupted in a blush and you blinked over and over, staring at him. He just smiled and stepped closer to you, his hands clasped behind his back. He noticed that you were slightly uncomfortable and he tried his best to interpret, “Sorry. I…scared you, no. Sorry.”

              You knew he couldn’t speak great English, but you also couldn’t believe he was standing in front of you right now. Your first thought was that he was going to scold you for calling him ‘oppa’ so impolitely, but you decided you would only speak of it if he brought it up first, “H-how long have you been standing there?” You asked, thinking it was weird that an idol would just creep behind you like that—not that you would mind having a stalker like him. You chuckled lightly to yourself, but hid it with a hand over your face, “W-why are you here?”

              “You, uh. You’re Pretty.” He said softly, something in the way he spoke making you realize his effort and blush darkly. You waved a hand in front of your face as if he was mistaken, or must not have seen you in actual light, but you didn’t open your mouth to disagree him. Jungkook would catch your hand by the wrist and tug you gently, “Come here Can I show you something?”

              You had no option, but to follow him. You just wanted to know why he had come, and where he was taking you. Turning down another area in the alley, you found yourself in a niche with him, and he gently backed you into the wall. Your hands trembled, but found his chest, resting there as you stared up at him, “J-Jungkook?” You asked, sure that he might have been mad or something, even as his hands raised to rest on either side of your head. He smiled softly and leaned down, pressing his lips to yours slowly, fireworks igniting in your mind the moment you were flush, your entire body aflame with tingling interest.

              The truth was that he in no way was angry about what you said, in fact, he had liked it—that is why it embarrassed him in such a way. Something about your face, and the sheer joy that was written upon it during the concert, pulled him in. You seemed honest, as if you truly cared, something that the superficial thoughts of other fans never touched. It was doomed, as he was forbidden to date a fan, but in that moment, he cared not past the locking of your lips.

              He kissed you deeply, and you melted into him, your lips warmed by his own. The wind around you no longer mattered, and your mind focused solely on his hand as he moved it into your coat and up your shirt, feeling over your rib-cage and up to your chest, touching gently. He seemed so polite, even in the way that he touched you, and you trembled under his grasp. Your hand dipped down, feeling over his groin, which immediately gave away how aroused he was, making him shiver hard, “Woah.” You said, and he chuckled, biting your bottom lip idly. Your fingers gingerly moved over the shape in his pants and he shook, biting his lip hard, his hand cupping around your breast, feeling it fully.

              He arched against your fingers and brought down his free hand, reciprocating the touch with a dip of his own against your heat, making him breath out heavily. He rubbed softly, just stimulating you enough to make you quake against the seam of your pants, the fluid gathering there making it damp. He knew he couldn’t stay and he cursed his time schedule. He kissed you again, and again, as if he was memorizing your taste. He grunted in frustration, his cock throbbing hard against your palm. He couldn’t continue. You had only just met, as well, and if he really liked you, he shouldn’t use you like this—plus, he was sure the other members were freaking out since he hadn’t come back, or told them where he was going.

              Jungkook broke your kiss, pulling back just enough to run his nose against your own, “I…gotta go. I have to.” He whispered in accented English, something about it the most endearing thing you’d ever heard. You dreaded that and wrinkled your brows hard. You didn’t want him to go. Not ever. Shifting, you dropped a hand, pulling a pen from your pocket so that you could write your number down on his hand. You were sure he’d never contact you—he wasn’t allowed to, but tonight had been so magical, you couldn’t let it go. You wanted so much more.

              He smiled as you wrote down your name and number, and would kiss your forehead when you were done, “I will. Our secret.” He said, putting a finger over his lips before dropping his hand and kissing you one more time, as deep as he could. From down the alley, he heard his name called and he would pull back, righting himself and sighing. Putting on a big smile, he held up a hand and waved gently, bowing after, “See you. Hwaiting!” He turned and trotted back to the tour bus, leaving you a quivering mess against the brick of the building. What the hell had just happened. You must have fallen asleep waiting for your ride. That couldn’t have just happened, could it?

              The sound of a car horn broke your focus and you pulled your shirt back down, heading towards the mouth of the alley where your ride waited. You slipped into the backseat, blushing from ear to ear, your mind whirring. You’d pretty much forgotten the concert, putting all of your focus on what had happened after. You sighed and stared out the window as the car pulled off and the city passed, putting a hand over your heart. You knew your love for Jungkook was deeper than fangirling, but who could have predicted that he’d actually be into you. Not you.

              Halfway out of the city, your phone would ding, the light of it illuminating the car’s backseat. You knew it was him, but you still felt like it had all been a dream. What if it was just one of your friends asking about the concert, and he never contacted you? Well, at least you had tonight. Closing your eyes, you held up your phone to read it, slowly opening them. A wide smile broke out over your face and you breathed out heavily as you read the texts, your fingers covering your lips. He was so cute.

“I learned how to use translate on my phone. -JK”

“I miss you already. -JK”

“This is Jungkook, btw. Save my #. -JK”

“I want to see you as soon as possible, Y/N. -JK”

“Don’t make me stalk you across the USA. Because I will. 😉 -JK”

Admin Death

[z-brooke]

I played Black Mirror: Bandersnatch last night and I enjoyed playing until it was finished

Like so many people, I played Bandersnatch last night. I'm a fan of Black Mirror, and I'm also an aspiring game designer, and I got into games through branching narratives, so the era invoked here is pretty significant in games history and the protagonist's goals were relatable to me. This was very exciting for me, and me and my sister, who watched it with me, both love a bit of meta. My mom first told us about it, and while I knew that Netflix had been making interactive stuff, I hadn't known the extent, and she thought the only choice was picking the route for multiple possible endings. This was fortunately so much larger than that.

As the title stated, I really enjoyed it until it was finished. Long winded opinions and spoilers for the specific route I played, Ahoy! (I didn’t do a lot of proofreading on this so my apologies for it being less than stellar, this was quick and casual as I needed to get this out of my system)

The protagonist, Stefan, lives with his father, is making a story based on a book his mother owned, called Bandersnatch and is making an adventure game based on it, and sees a therapist. In this opening scene, the father doesn't seem to be too involved or supportive, but this seems to change, and I don't know if it's because it's because of choices or what. Then Stefan goes to a games studio, Tuckersoft, to pitch his adventure game idea to the owner and his idol, a developer named Colin who has a number of popular games under his belt, with the few we're shown reference Black Mirror episodes. 

Impressed, the owner of Tuckersoft offers him a job at the office, and a team to help him work on it. This is the first truly significant choice. You can accept, or you can decline. Naturally, I eagerly accepted this absolute fantasy scenerio, knowing it was probably a set up. And it was! Colin even tells you "Wrong path" before the scene ends. This leads to a scene where Stefan and his dad are watching a tv show that reviews games, and Bandersnatch, Stefan's novel-based game, is criticized for feeling like it was designed by committee. Stefan angrily declares that he'd going to do it over and... it begins again.

It's not like a game over and it just restarts, it breezes through the beginning until that pivotal choice. Naturally we chose to go with 'decline', and that's when it got really interesting. Stefan seems surprised with this answer, and justifies it by saying that he wanted to work on it by himself at home, afraid that too many people would interfere with how he already had the story in his head. Colin supports this decision. Later, with his psychiatrist, he says that he didn't understand why he said no, and that he had to justify the answer after the fact.

This is brilliant. The first truly significant decision we make for him, largely based on a 'playthrough' that gives us more information than he does, and he openly acknowledges that he doesn't understand refusing that life-altering offer. Very early, it introduces the idea that Stefan is aware when he isn't actually making the decision, and he'll even resist some choices we would make.

Like in another scene, we could choose a nervous tick, biting nails or pulling on earlobe, and we chose nails. He starts to physically resist and push his hand, moving towards his mouth on its own, away, even holding it against the table.

And us as the audience, we typically get two options to choose from (in some cases, only one!), and at one point in our play through, we're immediately told to choose differently and given the choice to choose 'correctly'. This was interesting, but also a bit disappointing. There are parts where the line somewhat 'ends' and 'starts over' in the same vein as before, but Stefan remembers things that have happened, and I think this words better when remaking choices, but this also serves a different function for the narrative.

Bandersnatch is about branching narratives, essentially. There are alternate timelines and universes, or at least heavily suggested and the suggestion alone played a huge role, and we're impacting it with our choices we make, following various paths. There is a part with a password, and depending on the password chosen, it will work and the result will be related to the specifics of the password chosen. And Stefan is very aware that he's not making all of his choices, and he is only occasionally able to stop himself from following blind order.

There's a brilliant section where Stefan calls out in his room to the unknown force controlling his life. He pleads for answers, and instead of making a choice for him, you can control his environment for the first and only time. The brilliance, is that you can choose what the answer is... one of which is 'Netflix'. This was fun and fascinating, making the players, as the players, active characters and participants. It was so exciting, because even as me and my sister were trying to make decisions that were good for Stefan, this was a point where we had to be addressed as still being the ones controlling him as a form of entertainment. Except we didn't, as Stefan stops engaging with us pretty early in, and this leads to a scene, in our play through, that 'ends' very soon after. This was such a wasted opportunity to me, and felt more like a gag, which is such pity, as this would have been, in my opinion, so much more interesting and would have added so much more to the themes and ideas. Instead, the more substantial branches are the decision to explain what's happening with the in-universe, fictional answers, by saying it's a secret government organization or by using a glyph symbolizing branching narratives, that's also associated with the Bandersnatch's book's author, who famously went crazy writing the book then murdered his wife. This leads to different events, naturally, branching out depending on your answer, and how you're impacting Stefan's reality.

Which is a strong part of Bandersnatch, that different choices don't only impact what Stefan does and the consequences, but it genuinely leads to different realities happening in different timelines. There could have been a path that involved aliens that I never saw! It's really complex and exciting when one choice could actually alter the reality Stefan lives in. Stefan isn't always aware of the past timelines, and he's not always aware of what choices are being made for him, but he's always fighting against the forces he believes are controlling him, which is ultimately us, the audience, the players... which makes the possibilities of the Netflix route more tragic that it doesn't exist. Our play through ended with us going back to his childhood and making a choice that we knew was probably going to lead to his death alongside his mother, out of curiosity of how that would impact the timelines, and in part assuming that another event would happen and circumvent their demise, and both would end up alive! (I genuinely kept hoping there'd be a timeline where the mother was alive, and maybe it exists in a path I did not tread...) They both die... and then we're pulled into adult Stefan's psychiatrist session where he's died and his psychiatrist and his father are there as a medic pronounces him dead. It's a very touching scene as the doctor keeps insisted how he had just closed his eyes, they'd been talking then he closed his eyes, and his father begins crying and... game ends.

Not the same 'redo' ending that happened multiple times before, but the credits started rolling. This was honestly one of the most disappointing endings in the Black Mirror pantheon for me. That honestly felt so out of nowhere and confusing. There was so much groundwork about how the timelines could be working and how they interact, and even new information that complicated things often added something and made it more interesting. This seems to contradict what we knew, and seems very sad for no reason, and it's wildly frustrating that the branch that made the least sense and felt devoid of actual impact, ended the entire run for us.

There are multiple endings and a ridiculous amount of branches, so I do plan to play again and hopefully I'll get a better ending, as it's likely that this is a weaker one compared to different ones, and I do think a lot here was very promising. Maybe the mom lives at one point. Maybe Collin lives longer. Maybe Netflix lives.

Overall, I thought it was a super fun experience and I'm sure my end take would have been different with a better ending, but I wonder why this one made the cut at all, considering how out of place it is. I want to play again and see what more it can offer, and hopefully find an ending that feels more satisfying.

[kyberled]

Send 👤 and I will write more about an NPC in my muse’s life || ACCEPTING

Anonymous asked:

👤x3

👤 The Bothan Jedi Master Lo-Han Kyun has taught more younglings than he’d care to count (and yes, that includes Braig). That’s his job within the Temple. It’s been his job for at least a generation or two of knights. Probably more. It’s hard to figure out where one generation ends and the next begins, sometimes. It doesn’t really matter to him, anyway. He’s proud of all of his little ones, even when they stop being his. 

He takes great pride in shaping the future knights of the Order. Those that have trained under him would often describe him as strict and demanding, but attentive, wise, and humorous, as well. He expected nothing less than the best, and drove his students to believe they could do better than even that. Nobody ever left his classes without being covered in sweat and anticipating aching muscles, but nobody left without feeling accomplished and having learned something, either. The children would often say there wasn’t a fighting style invented that he didn’t know. This wasn’t true, of course, but he appreciated the sentiment. 

When he was younger, he had been a field agent, himself. Going out into the world, saving the galaxy, all that. It was an enriching life, at the time. He learned a lot, and was able to hone his skills. Over time, however, he felt as though the Force called him elsewhere. It called him back home. 

Before the war, like many Jedi, he had had the time to travel and research and work on self-improvement. He put the techniques and fighting styles he learned into his lessons, which allowed him to ensure that his lessons were unique from those of his colleagues. Quips he’d heard in his youth and in his travels were often playfully hurled at his own students in turn. That is, until they were thrown onto the front lines. Then it was harder. “The more you sweat here, the less you bleed in battle” stopped being a joke. His classes thinned out less because he could send his students off to their graduation and because the war sent them off to their graves. As a Jedi, he did what he could to accept the loss and carry on, though none could deny that it changed him. He grew more strict in his lessons, though he tried to remain fair - he just didn’t want to go to any more funerals that came far too often for those far too young. He remained critical of the Senate until his eventual death, during Order 66. He’d been engaging in some private training to try and re-center himself in the Force. 

It wasn’t the clones who finally took him down. 

👤 Raal Tessk has a grudge. A big one. See, he lost his father. Lost him in the war. Like a lot of other people, sure. A lot of them. It’s a war. But that’s the thing. His father fought in the war, but he did more than that. His father commanded in the war. His father was a general. General Grau Tessk of the Separatist Army. That was his father. 

Raal was one of many Grau fathered, one of few he claimed. Grau said he had something special. Something brutal. Raal took that to heart. He was going to be the ebay of however many siblings he had. He would be their father’s heir. 

And then his father was killed. 

Killed before he could name an appropriate heir. 

And then it was chaos. 

The other children - claimed and not - fought for the right to come out on top. It was bloody, it was cruel, it was exactly what Raal thrived in. What his father had seen in him. Raal came out on top, and would boast about the scars it left behind for as long as anyone would listen, and often longer still. This one on his face was from his brother, Kraad, who he killed, and this bite scar on his arm was from his sister, Ssil, who he killed, and this one-- And so on and so forth. He’s pretty proud of it. But it wasn’t just a pride thing, nor was it just an inheritance thing. It was a revenge thing. He didn’t know the specifics, of course, but he knew a Jedi had killed his father. He also knew that the Empire was paying people to go after whatever Jedi remained, and offering the resources to do so. It seemed like a win-win. Every time he faced off against a potential Jedi, he would announce his name. Most of the time, there was no recognition. That really annoyed him. Even aside from looking for his father’s killer, come on, didn’t his reputation precede him? Apparently not. Whatever. Most of them weren’t real Jedi, anyway. And then he found someone who did react. Not a lot, but enough. Enough for him to know. 

They fought, of course. 

The Jedi got away.

More than that, the Jedi cut off his kriffing ARM. The one with the Ssil scar! ... But he’s still alive. 

And he’s angrier than he’s ever been. 

And the hunt is still on.

👤 Mkhkhur, son of Mchiitkh, had never seen a Jedi before. Most of the galaxy hadn’t, though, so he didn’t think it was a big deal. They were all off fighting the Separatists, anyway. He’d heard stories, sure, just like everyone else, but that’s more or less all they were. Just stories. That is, until they weren’t. 

The Empire came to his planet. They came for his father, his mother, his brother, and himself. They were traitors, apparently. His father, the Prime Minister of their planet, resisted a military occupation. Resisted the Empire. Apparently, that was punishable by death. It’s a night Mkhkhur would never forget. The Imperial soldiers closing in. His older brother, Iitschii, clinging to his arm. Their parents trying to shield them even as they all accepted the end. Closing his eyes and waiting for a pain that didn’t come. 

And then a voice. 

Out of nowhere, a voice to draw the soldiers’ attention. A figure standing above them all. And two brilliant purple blades. 

He couldn’t see any more than that, since it was dark, and as soon as they had a chance, his parents had scooped him and his brother up and bolted. He’d felt entranced, staring with all of his eyes wide over his mother’s shoulder at the blur of light and colour until he could see no more. He kept staring long after. That image would be burned in his young mind, and remained there for the rest of his life. It was the moment that made him not only a supporter of the Jedi, but a fan. He began to idolize these mystical warriors he knew almost nothing about. 

His family lived in hiding while his Imperial-supporting uncle took over the government. At least they were allowed to live. Mkhkhur passed the time stealing his father’s bath robes and picking up sets of sticks to play at being a Jedi (which his parents tried to put a stop to to prevent drawing attention). He’d tell his parents made-up stories about what he thought Jedi were, and wrote them down later. As far as he was concerned, all Jedi were very tall (something people who knew Braig would find funny, but perspective and age distort the mind quite a bit), they could teleport (how else would you explain the sudden appearance?), they all had two lightsabers, and lightsabers were always purple. He made up stories about their adventures, about what it must be like to be a Jedi… Given that the Empire wiped out any trace of the Jedi they could find, there wasn’t anyone around to correct him. His brother joined the Rebellion first, as a political supporter (following in their father’s footsteps). Mkhkhur followed close behind. He was a decent shot with a blaster, but thought he was a pretty good swordsman, too. No, he’d never had a formal teacher. He’d never been to lessons. But he’d been fascinated with swordplay ever since that day, and had won a couple fights, taken down a few storm troopers in his time, and that was enough. Besides, as much as he loved Jedi (or, his version of the Jedi) and his family, he hated the Empire. He’d take any chance to be a thorn in their side. 

He was accompanied by his translator droid, CU-1770. Not having humanoid vocal chords would have been a problem, otherwise. Mkhkhur was in awe of everything he came across.

Especially when he found the Jedi. Not that tall, can’t teleport - and yes, he was disappointed - but two sabers. Two PURPLE sabers. He, with CU-1770 trotting dutifully behind him, had ran up and grabbed onto one of Braig’s hands. (He’s lucky the Force let Braig know he wasn’t aggressive, or it could have gone badly.) 

After about ten seconds of silence - confused and slightly concerned on Braig’s part, completely star struck on Mkhkhur’s - Braig asked if he could help him. Mkhkhur replied that he already had. It would be a while before Mkhkhur was able to find the right words, but given a week or two, he was able to explain himself a bit better, and Braig was able to talk to him about the truth of the Jedi. 

While it wasn’t anything like the stories he’d made up, Mkhkhur decided Jedi were still pretty cool.

[fyeahfantasticfour]

Hey, I really love this blog! It has been great to go through it during this time while the team is absent. I have a question: What do you think about Marvel possibly making 616 Sue a doctor? Not a genius scientist like Reed (which is where I think Ultimate FF went wrong with her),but a medic of some kind is missing from the team and it's a role not occupied by Reed. There are panels of having to operate at times throughout the FF's history (do you have panels?). I think it would be good for her

Thank you! I’m glad you like it! :)

I honestly don’t know how I feel about Sue becoming a doctor because her father was a famous surgeon and he was…not a great person. The worst, really. I don’t know if I want a story where she idolized him so much that she became a doctor. I already don’t like that canon has never really acknowledged how shitty her dad was -- they even had her name her son after him. And then there’s the fact that being a doctor is a stereotypically feminine caretaking role, so…I don’t know, I’m not crazy about it for several reasons. There is an alternate version of Sue in Fantastic Four v3 #48 who has a good relationship with her father and becomes a doctor, if you’re interested.

And, to be honest, I think that in this day and age Sue absolutely needs to be written as Reed’s equal – if not better – in every conceivable way, including her intellect. Canon’s been trending that way for a while, which I’m glad of – the original balance of power between them is no longer acceptable. Of course, that doesn’t mean she has to be a scientist – I think people have a disturbing tendency to equate intelligence with the possession of scientific knowledge, which I disagree with strongly. Alicia Masters, for instance, is not a scientist, but she is certainly a genius, and her artistic knowledge should not be presented as less valuable or important than Reed’s scientific knowledge. So no matter what Sue’s occupation is, she should be depicted as being in possession of a startling and formidable intellect. 

Personally, I like to think that 616 Sue is a genius, but she has been the victim of unfortunate life circumstances and a series of personal tragedies that prevented her from attaining the level of formal education that would have allowed her to become analogous to 1610 Sue or even 616 Reed. 

More under the cut!

She was neglected as a child by her bitter, bickering parents; this was followed soon after by her mother’s tragic death in a car accident; her father’s descent into alcoholism and gambling, which ultimately led to the loss of the family fortune and the impoverishment of the Storm siblings; her father’s life imprisonment after he accidentally killed his loan shark, which meant Sue and Johnny had to go live with their Aunt Marygay; and then, somehow, Sue ended up with custody of Johnny at some point in her late teens and was left raising him and working to support them both, which Johnny says at one point in Human Torch v2 12 meant that she was unable to finish college and earn a degree. And there are hints in 616 that she’s actually incredibly smart. She picks up quite a lot about science just by listening to her husband, which she wouldn’t be capable of if she weren’t brilliant to begin with: 

So, yeah, I like to think of 1610 Sue as what 616 Sue could and should have become if she hadn’t lost both of her parents and wound up having to take on the burden of raising Johnny at such a young age.

Besides, Sue’s got a better head for business than Reed (who is AWFUL at it – how many times did the FF go bankrupt while he was in charge of their finances?) and she is, I’m pretty convinced, a better strategist and leader than he is. I enjoy her characterization in the Marvel Adventures Universe specifically because it spotlights her leadership abilities – in that universe, she’s a founding member and the leader of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, and I love it. 

I have to admit also that I actually very much enjoy 616 Sue as the CEO of Fantastic Four, Inc., although I do think that more narrative space and importance should be given to it. If she is running a multinational corporation and multiple charities (which she is)…that is time-consuming and difficult. How does she have time to do that AND juggle her responsibilities as celebrity, superhero, part-time SHIELD agent, mom, wife, and the Queen of Old Atlantis? This is why I would kill for a solo Sue comic – she is Marvel’s very first female superhero, and she deserves one, and I think there is so much story there to tell! Canon hasn’t focused as much on Sue as it should – Sue POV issues are comparatively rare. Besides, every member of the Fantastic Four except Sue has had a solo series – even Franklin has – and I think we all know why she’s the only one who hasn’t gotten her own comic. But she is such a dynamic, badass, complex, and fascinating character, not to mention the fact that she is the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, which means that she is also one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Universe. She has taken down Doom and the armies of Latveria on her own, she has fended off attacks from Celestials, made seasoned supervillains faint just by talking to them, taken down the Avengers in about thirty seconds flat…

So when she comes back, I want to see her mentoring younger female heroes, as she’s done with both Anya Corazon and Jean Grey. I want there to be more focus on Sue’s friendships with other women, like Alicia Masters, Sharon Ventura, Jen Walters, Janet Van Dyne, and especially her relationship with her daughter Valeria (I think the fact that Val’s brilliant has meant that a lot of focus has shifted to her relationship with Reed rather than Sue, but Val’s ruthlessness definitely comes from Sue, not Reed). I want to know more about Sue’s relationships with her aunt and her mother – we don’t even know what her mother did for a living. We don’t know what happened to her aunt – is she alive? Did she die too? Is that why Sue had to take custody of Johnny so unexpectedly? There’s so much focus on the men in her life, and virtually none on the women. Just. An issue where Valeria and Sue talk about Val’s grandmother! Her Great Aunt Marygay! Anything! Basically, more of this:

I want to know more about Sue’s struggles running Fantastic Four, Inc. It must have been difficult at first – she was a failed actress turned superhero turned CEO. Come on. A beautiful woman with not much in the way of professional credentials or business experience, running the company she and her husband founded together? She would have been dismissed by misogynistic old businessmen as a pretty face and an empty head, she would have faced sexist remarks, condescension, and underestimation from all sides. There are so many Sue stories left to tell!

I mostly just want her to be given the respect and admiration she deserves – by writers, artists, and fans alike. 

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup

The late but always reliable reviewer Rena is here today. I sat on this one for a while considering the... internet-wide discussion we all are a part of now given Marvel’s recent revelations from this particular Wednesday, and the fact that I have a Marvel comic (even if only one) on my Roundups today made me somewhat reluctant to fully get into this, but I had, personally, a good Comic Day and I would hate to waste the opportunity to share the good in comics going on right now with all of you. So we’ll see how everything stacks up, and just how I’ll be handling Roundups in the future as a result of the current... nastiness, we’ll call it.

DC’s Batwoman, Image’s Descender, Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man, DC’s Super Sons, DC’s Superman, DC’s Superwoman, DC’s Trinity

DC’s Batwoman (2017- ) #2 Marguerite Bennet, James Tynion IV, Steve Epting, Jeromy Cox

As worried as I was with the Batwoman: Rebirth issue -- and I think I laid out my concerns pretty fairly, I have to fully admit that my worries have been almost entirely subsided as we go forward starting with this issue. 

I always have this concern when there’s a continued revisionist history of a character’s origins that we’re going to be falling into a Donna Troy affect -- where every author is more interested in retelling and retconning her history than actually allowing the character to be who she is and moving forward from there. A problem in comics that disproportionally affects female characters if you’re sharp enough to notice such things. 

This issue really helped me to put down that worry mostly because while, yes, we are revisiting Kate’s past for the hundredth time in the last ten years, the story proper is actually pushing us and her forward rather readily while not shying away from the aspects of Kate that make her Kate. 

Her loyalty, her issues with commitment, her homosexuality -- everything comes into play this issue and leaves us itching for more involving these Many Arms of Death plot overall. I’m very excited about this comic and am so glad that Maguerite Bennet is becoming such a good fit for it. 

Image’s Descender (2015- ) #21 Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen

So I just recently got caught up on Descender in time to review the newest issue the week it came out, so I have to give major thanks to @feministbatman for recommending this comic to me. What can I say, you know me so very well and my love for robots and sci-fi has been incredibly rewarded for it.

This issue was another brilliant one, we had Tim-22′s reveal and takeover of the ship, but we also got to see a lot more development of Andy and Effy thanks to Bandit’s little vision quest of sorts for us. 

But of course the most anticipated and worrisome part of all of this is worrying for Tim-21 who is still in Psius’ hands and at the heart of the Havester plot that keeps on thickening.

It’s hard to say much else. 

I will say that while I’ll always be a fan of Nguyen’s signature style, I do find at times the choice to make this entire comic watercolor rather than more inked and refined does do some disservice to certain moments I think could benefit from having stronger color and more definition to them, but that’s a general criticism I’ll probably dive more into with the wrap up of this arc. 

Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man (2016- ) #6 Brian Michael Bendis, Stefano Caselli, Marte Garcia

An entirely all-female supporting cast to a female Black superheroine Ironheart with our token dude (Tony) being a computer AI. It’s the setup dreams are made of and I love how much love Riri is getting in the media and the world for her choices here. 

It’s also incredibly relatable how she reacts to being in her idol’s workshop, the idea of her “using it as her base” is unfathomable and her geeky cries of “THIS IS HOLY GROUND�� had me literally laughing out loud. I loved it, and I loved how much agency and voice is given to Pepper as Rescue. So often when a young new hero takes over an identity, the trailblazers before them get left out (looking at you Captain Marvel, though you did make up with it in a pretty good issue yourself). 

There’s just so much to love in this comic and I’m glad that at the end of the day, even with all the Women in Science, it doesn’t diminish Riri’s single mom who works a 9-5. That relationship, you can already tell, is going to be monumental moving forward.

Great issue, great introduction to Riri. Am looking forward to seeing more of her. 

DC’s Super Sons (2017- ) #3 Peter J. Tomasi, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez 

To put things simply: This book might be one of the most amazing things that DC is putting out right now and if you have absolutely any interest in it at all, I would highly, HIGHLY recommend you pick it up because this is some a-grade fun. I adore having this book to look forward to and the antagonism as it comically plays out between Damian and Jon is easily some of the best stuff I’ve read with Damian’s character since the Robin: Son of Batman comic. 

Which, if you know how much I flatly adored that comic, should obviously be taken as pretty high praise.

That being said, there’s some issues. Damian’s skin tone is not being protected enough by the editors and the whitewashing, especially compared to how good DC’s Rebirth comics have been about it in other series, is very distracting and supremely disappointing. 

Jon has grown on me very quickly and while I will continue to talk about my longing for Chris Kent and my apprehensions about the continued theme of biological kids erasing the bonds of adopted kids, this is a good comic overall.

DC’s Superman (2016- ) #21 Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, John Kalisz

In this episode of “how is an evil cow taking down Batman” today, we get no such answers to no such questions, but we get a giant octopus monster fight with Superman, Superboy, and Robin and -- really -- isn’t that the content anyone really comes for in a Superman comic. 

Once again, Jon’s heat vision is out of control and kills something, but rather than it being another moment of horror and reflection for him, as his father was trying desperately to save the creature’s life along with the citizenry of Hamilton, but the entire town seems to turn on Superman and praise Jon over him for “doing what is necessary.”

Now, this might be me reading too much into this (and read: it is) but this seems honestly like a huge commentary on the values of classic heroes like Superman being put in stark contrast to the blood thirsty and fear mongering of the public today. Too often we praise the most immediate and final of reactions rather than the harder and grayer solutions which Superman is supposed to be able to give us. 

And considering how awkward the praise heaped on Jon feels in this issue, and the surprise revelation at the end, I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to like that a life lost unnecessarily is being celebrated by everyone around. 

Damian and Jon are still a ruckus and everything is still very intriguing. This is definitely my favorite Superman run in a long time.  

DC’s Superwoman (2016- ) #9 K. Perkins, Stephen Segovia, Art Thibert, HI-FI

So here we are starting off with a new creative team and resetting my Rule of Three, which for anyone new means that I give new runs and new comics 3 issues to hook me before deciding how to handle the series moving forward. And considering that I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the last two or so issues of Jimenez’s run, I’m not completely objecting to a bit of a change up in the creative team. 

This issue is dealing with the fallout of the Superman Reborn storyline and mostly about Lana dealing with once more being powerless, and how that makes her feel conflicted. I felt like this dealt with Lana’s emotions in a much more respectful and loving way that the last issue did, definitely, but mostly the issue read as filler before we get into the next arc which’ll be starting with #10. 

So here we go into curiosity. I’m very interested in where this new team is deciding to take us. 

DC’s Trinity (2016- ) #8 Cullen Bunn, Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy, HI-FI

Another issue, another tie-in, another creative team change. Now, I’m going to be flat honest with you: I have absolutely no explanation for what happened in this issue. And I’m not doing that for comedic effect, it’s just honest. 

This definitely felt like more filler before we get to somewhere beyond all the crossover events and can instead return to Trinity’s desperate attempt to find its own status quo. Something that positively worries me because its predecessors in spirit, Superman/Batman and Batman/Superman, never really cohesively found that groove for themselves. 

For the time being this feels like after the first arc, this series has become something of a place for reactionary storytelling -- basically paid advertisements for bigger events going on in the rest of the DCU. 

I desperately hope I’m wrong, I really liked the first arc and would like to see more friendship-centered adventures between DC’s Big Three, but I’m going to officially move this series to trade-wait if things don’t change by the next issue. We’ll see.

So this has been a rough week for comic fans, there’s no getting beyond that, and this Roundup was at least in part held back due to my own concerns about just how much the fallout of some truly bad decisions over at Marvel was going to play into my own feelings toward comics this week.

I feel, overall though, I had a good pull this week, and while some were a little lackluster and have gained my reservations, I overall really loved my Super Week. And of my Super Week I definitely have to give my favorite issue to Super Sons, which has just turned out to be a spectacular gem to follow and I’m very glad for it existing. 

But how do you all feel about this week? Any comics I missed you think I should try out? Any disagreements with me on this week’s picks? I’d love to hear from you!

[manthakinz]

all the even numbers!!

2. What would you name your future kids?

When I was 11-13, I was really fond of the names, Dawson, Joshua, and Eden, so I always thought that I would name my future kids these names. If only 11 to 13-year-old me knew that she only liked those names and would grow up to not want kids at all, lmao. But if I ever, for some odd reason, change my mind and/or do happen to have kids, I like those names and these names: Aidan, Chandler, Evangeline, and Adelaide. (I like the name “Charlotte”, too, but I already know a Charlotte, so I wouldn’t name a kid after somebody I know in person.)

4. What are you looking forward to?

My vacation to North Carolina in June!

6. Is it hard for you to get over someone?

I haven’t really had to get over many people. Friendships just kind of fade away, and it’s sad, but I deal… There was this one time with this guy that I don’t like to talk about because it makes me feel bad if I do. I hate that guy. I was really upset at first, but I rarely think about him now, but if I do, I always hope that he’s having a bad day.

8. Have you ever cried because you were so annoyed?

No??? I don’t think I have. 

10. Are you good at hiding your feelings?

It depends on the feelings, but people can usually tell what my emotions are because I act different or am vocal, but it’s usually when I’m pissed off or irritated. I’m usually open about certain feelings, but I guess I’m good at hiding others.

12. What is something you want right now?

I would love all of Bill Gates’ money. That’d be nice. But also, I would love to meet my best friend in person and take a trip to Disney World together! ( ♪A dream is a wish your heart makes…♪  [waves lighter through the sky and cries])

14. When was the last time someone of the opposite sex hugged you?

“Opposite”… 

Anyway, I know what this is asking. I don’t know. The other day? My cousin tends to hug me, but not, like, “hug” hug. A side hug. I’m not an affectionate person, so I always push people off of me if they try to hug me, or I just awkwardly let them hug me before they leave, lol.

16. Have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you didn’t?

All the time.

18. Do you miss how things were a year ago?

I don’t even remember what my life was like a year ago. I just keep moving forward. I miss certain moments, but I’d rather just keep going.

20. What is your favorite song at the moment?

I don’t think I have one at the moment, but I’ve been listening to this a lot lately because it’s a jam, and I love Donna Summer.

22. Description of crush:

[see #58]

24. Height:

5′7″. 

26. Idol(s):

I don’t really idolize anyone. I just like certain people, but I don’t idolize anyone.

28. I’ll love you if…

you get me tickets to Disney World!

30. Favorite TV show(s):

(I’m not counting animated TV shows in this.) 

Friends, That ‘70s Show, Modern Family, Reba, Full House, American Pickers, Pawn Stars, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, George Lopez, The Nanny, The Golden Girls, The Middle, I Love Lucy, and so many more because my life is consumed by shows.

32. Are your friends mainly girls or guys?

More girls and non-binary peeps than guys. 

34. Most embarrassing moment:

I don’t think this is my most embarrassing moment, but it’s the first one that popped into my head.

One time, I was trying to go into a gas station, but I didn’t realize that the door I’d gone to had stuff blocking it on the inside because you couldn’t use that door, apparently. I tried to open it, and the people on the inside were pointing to the other door. I wanted to die.

36. 3 dreams you want to fulfill:

become an accomplished author or writer

go to Disney World

meet my best friend in person

38. Favorite comedian(s):

I like a lot of comedians in shows or movies, but I don’t tend to go deeper than that unless it’s to watch interviews or read their Wikipedia pages. But I really, really love Robin Williams, and I still miss him, and he’ll always be one of my favorites! I’m a big fan of Lucille Ball, too! 

40. Favorite memory:

I don’t have the best memory, so I probably couldn’t say what my favorite one is, but I once saw a dolphin for the first time when I went to the beach, and I don’t think I’ve ever acted as excited as I did when that’d happened. I was so not myself because I was bouncing around and pointing and nearly screaming because OH, MY GOD. A DOLPHIN! OH, MY GOD. OH, MY GOD. OH, MY GOD. I LOVE DOLPHINS!!!!! LOOK! A DOLPHIN! OMGGGGGGG. 

42. Favorite book(s):

I love these books series:

Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Warriors by Erin Hunter

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

The Samantha and Felicity American Girl book series by various authors

And I’m also a big fan of Dr. Seuss books. My favorite book is I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen though! I’m using it to teach my little sister how to read better because she’s having trouble reading.

44. Age you get mistaken for:

I’ve always gotten mistaken as being three years older than my actual age.

46. What my last text message says:

“Nevermind. I found it.”

Story behind this: the father of my little sister and brother got some Dr Pepper gum, and my mom brought me a piece because Dr Pepper is the best drink ever. I’d wanted more, so I’d asked her where he’d gotten the gum. She kept forgetting to ask him, so my grandpa and I went out to Walmart and then, to two gas stations to try and find some because my mom was never going to remember to ask him. I finally found some at the second gas station. I’m chewing it now!

48. Turn-offs:

I always assume this question is asking about sexual turn-offs. I can’t answer this because I’m not sexual and don’t experience that attraction, so I don’t really know what mine are???

50. Favorite picture of your idol:

I’m kidding! Like I said, I don’t really have any idols, but I do love Jeff Goldblum and this picture of him… 

52. Something I’m talented at:

Apparently, I’m really good at rhyming. Would you say that’s a talent, @the-art-of-red?

54. Something that’s worrying me at the moment:

My cat. He’s clumsy and keeps getting hurt because my grandparents won’t let animals live inside, so he’s worrying me because he’s hurt his leg and is limping… 

But he’s always been this way. When we found him, he was really beat up, but we nursed him back to health. Then, as he grew older, he kept messing with the bees and would get stung, so his paws would swell. He got over that. Then, he hurt his head, and I had to heal him. Now, he’s done something to his leg, and I just wish my grandparents would let him live inside. He doesn’t always want to stay at home, so he keeps getting hurt!!! 

This cat is going to be the death of me 😩

56. Favorite food(s):

pizza

pasta

nuts

cheese

watermelon

chicken wings

sesame chicken

macaroni

corn

burgers

chicken nuggets

French fries

chili cheese fries

And a bunch of other junk, lmao.

58. Description of my best friend:

The most beautiful person I’ve ever met 😍

She’s gorgeous! She has such breathtaking eyes. She looks like a deer! It’s so cute, omg.

And she’s such a talented artist! I want every one of her drawings to place around my bedroom! Her drawings aren’t always the same, and I love to see how she improves and how her style evolves. I’m so fortunate to see it.

She’s weird in the best way possible, too, and I love it! Her sense of humor is something I adore, just like how I adore everything about her. She loves the strangest stuff, but I find it interesting, and she’s my biggest fan, just like I’m hers! We’re supportive of each other, and she’s the only person that I can tell just about anything to without feeling weird or like I’m going to die from nerves waiting for a response. She’s helped me build my confidence up and has been there to support me through things in my life.She’s my favorite person, and I’m so lucky to have her in my life 😭❤️️ 

She’s brilliant, smart, funny, beautiful, and I love her so much!!! ❤️️❤️️❤️️

I could literally go on forever, but she knows how much she means to me because I tell her all the time!

60. (Ask me anything you want.) What kind of world would you like to live in?

Send me a question, Tobi!

Edit: I could say that I’d like to live in a world that’s pure and good and peaceful and was hardly anything like the one we live in now, but I’ll answer with a fantasy point of view. 

I’d love to live in a world that’s made of ice and water. Or maybe a world that has areas made of ice and water. I love the concept of being able to live in an underwater world, too, so there’d be areas that have places like Atlantis that are underwater or partially underwater. And some areas of this world would be tropical-looking or rainforest-like but still have lots of waterfalls or some type of water around it or near it. I just like the thought of a world that’s a combination of all of these: (x), (x), (x), (x), (x), (x), (x), (x), (x), (x),(x), (x), (x), (x), (x),(x), (x), (x), (x), and (x)

Please send me numbers!

[superduperfandomgirl]

Hamilton: A New-Found Obsessio-I Mean, American Musical

Sooo, if you couldn’t guess from the title, I’m obsessed.  Like “wow help me from the feels and humor and gaaaah” obsessed.  And this textpost is basically me just proclaiming (or rather, writing incessantly -- to keep with the theme of Hamilton) my love for Hamilton: An American Musical and especially my love for Aaron Burr.

Lemme just start off by saying, yes, Aaron Burr is presented as the main “villain” of the musical.  And yes, he did some bad s--t (just look at what he did in real life, tho; the guy was a total skeez, although he did support some really cool causes like women’s rights and ending slavery).  He made mistakes like killing Hamilton in their infamous duel.

He was a shitty guy many times.  But, to be fair, so was Hamilton.  There’s the whole Reynolds affair (pun intended), not to mention Hamilton’s comments on the poor (”How can you trust people who are poor and own no property?” -- kinda rude, dude).  But, in my opinion, that’s kind of the point of Hamilton, and part of why I love it so much, despite the historical inaccuracies and overwhelming feels.  As an amazing YouTuber pointed out in their video (their name is Make Stuff and the video is called “Hamilton and Motifs: Creating Emotional Paradoxes” -- I highly suggest you check it out because it is so amazingly well done and makes fantastic points!), Hamilton is chock-full of characters who make mistakes but also do great things.  I agree, and I would argue that one of the main themes of the show is that you should honor your heroes but never idolize them.  No human is perfect, and the characters who represent some of American history’s biggest idols definitely aren’t.  To quote Burr himself:

“We rise and we fall and we break and we make our mistakes.”

Burr definitely makes mistakes throughout the musical (and in real life), and many of them can never be redeemed.  But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve the same amount of compassion that we show for the “hero” of this tale, Alexander.  In fact, I personally found it easier to empathize with Burr, for whatever reason.  Possibly because I often get the feeling (and I know others do, too, so if there are any Burr fans reading this, I would love to chat ;D) that I am being left behind in life, too scared to take chances and seize the moment like Hamilton.  Perhaps it’s because, like Burr, I often feel like I am being unfairly bullied for my personal approach to living life.  I can’t really say, because there always seems to be a lot of factors that go into me choosing a favorite character in a fandom.  All I know is, once I choose one, I am bound to that character.  Their sadness, their pain, become mine in a way I am pretty sure is emotionally unhealthy. :P

So, where does this leave us other than me ranting at the Internet when I should be sleeping?  Well, the whole reason I started this rant was because I was reading an absolutely SPECTACULAR fanfiction series by allonsy_gabriel on Archive of Our Own called “History Obliterates (the Hamilton Reincarnation AU No One Wanted)”, and there was a part where Laurens makes fun of Burr.

Now, I’m usually pretty upset with the way Hamilton treats Burr.  Don’t get me wrong -- there are plenty of times Burr is an absolute a--hole to Hamilton.  But I also feel like there are a lot of times Hamilton just comes out of the blue and insults Burr and (especially) his “wait for it” tactic with no provocation, from the time they first meet during “Aaron Burr, Sir” to “The Room Where It Happens”.  Like, seriously, I love ol’ Hammy, but he has no chill, especially when it comes to his first friend/enemy Burr.  And Hamilton’s friends are no different.  “Story of Tonight Reprise” is an extraordinary song, but it always makes me sad when the Hamilsquad starts saying things like, “You’re the worst, Burr”.  It’s all in good fun...but is it?  Burr is known and despised by many throughout the musical, and while this conversation may just be formed from drunk ramblings, it might also be an indication of how most conversations between Burr and Ham&Co go (especially given the amount of vehement hatred that is aimed at Burr by Lafayette during his line).

So, when I saw the part about Laurens making fun of Burr, I took it as the standard Hamilsquad Hate and felt a twinge of sadness for my baby.  But then, something miraculously, incredible, and astounding happened -- Hamilton stood up for Burr.  And this is something that has happened earlier in this epic reincarnation series, too (although I won’t give any spoilers, because you should definitely read it).  At first, I was like, “Aww, I wish this was canon, but unfortunately, Hammy never stands up for Burr like this in the musical”.

But then, I felt a little tingle and was like, “Actually, wait, this moment seems familiar”.  And it should be, because this is almost exactly what happened in “Story of Tonight Reprise”.

The guys were all heckling Burr about his love life and insulting him (Lafayette, sorry buddy, not to throw you under the bus, but it’s true), and Hamilton turned them away so that he and Burr could have an actual heart-to-heart (or the closest the two of them can get, at the very least).

This moment warmed my heart, and I realized that, even though they didn’t have your conventional type of friendship, Burr and Hamilton had their own unique way of interacting with each other that wasn’t exactly friendly but wasn’t exactly hateful either.  Of course, this all went to s--t when politics got involved, but I think if they had both been without the pressures of the political lives they led, they might have been able to be friends.  Or, at least, not have entered the f---ed-up relationship they did that ended with a bang one eventful day in July.

To sum up, I just want to say that this musical, Burr, Lin, the entire Hamilsquad, the fandom, and basically all the characters in the musical are beautiful in their own way!  I think that it is so wonderful that Lin created Hamilton so that it gave everyone a voice, even characters who were only known as “the damn fool who shot him”.  Burr got to be represented, to be understood for the human he was.  Eliza got to become more than just Hamilton’s wife, more than just “that wife he jilted that one time”.  Hamilton was seen as more than just the Reynolds Pamphlet; Lafayette’s extensive help during the Revolution was shown to be even greater than what I had already thought; Hercules (a man I had never even remembered before I listened to Hamilton) got to show off his incredible spying/sewing skills; Laurens’ struggle for a brighter day for the enslaved and his tragic death were put to light; and Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and so many more were shown as the imperfect Founding Fathers they were.  

Yes, there are many parts of the musical that don’t match up quite well with reality, but the whole musical is designed to show off the good, the bad, and the ugly of all its characters.  In its own way, Hamilton is very, very real, because it goes more than skin-deep with its heroes and villains.  It provokes thought into its watchers and listeners and makes them want to look deeper into the stories we’re all told in history class.  It helps us see more than just the black-and-white version of events, where Hamilton was Burr’s enemy and could never have defended him or sat and talked in peace with him.  In the end, it really depends on who lives, who dies, and who tells your story, because so many facts get mixed up depending on the narrator.  And sometimes, even with its own imperfect version of events, it’s brilliant to have narrators like Lin and all of the talented people behind Hamilton: An American Musical who can tell the story from multiple perspectives.  Life doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints, after all...so why should our view of history?