#and that was released in May and probably filmed a bit earlier so march/april

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

Very curious as to when Taylor decided to switch gears and focus on finishing up and releasing The Tortured Poets Department and put the rollout for the re-recordings on pause.

[pleasereadmeok]

A Goode Year - 2021

Not a great year for a lot of people but we are concentrating on the goode stuff as usual.  Matthew Goode’s year has been BUSY!   This is appearing a bit earlier this year coz I’m not around much now until after Christmas. 

January

January was all about ‘A Discovery of Witches’ season 2.  I found nothing else in January’s archive - just wall to wall ADOW.  So that was a goode start to the year. 

📷 ADOWS2 my edit

February

More of A Discovery of Witches was aired on Sky TV and meanwhile filming wrapped on season 3.  Teresa posted an hilariously awkward goodbye from Matthew! 

📷 Teresa Palmer IG my edits

March

We got the news that Matthew would be starring in a new movie ‘The Colour Room’ with Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor.   Day one of filming was the 30th March - so a really quick turnaround. 

📷 Mail

We also got our first ADOW season 3 reveal from Sky - 

📷ADOW S3 tease /my edit

April

Matthew continued to film ‘The Colour Room’ and we got some great BTS shots -

📷 - splash news/my edits

Location filming started at Highclere for Downton Abbey at the end of April, although we don’t know when Matthew was able to join in. 

May

This was probably the highlight of the year even tho’ it only lasted a couple of hours.  Matthew joined Twitter!!  As expected he was completely hilarious and totally out of his depth.   Fuelled by wine, he just about had time to gush about golf, get ‘busted’ by Steven Cree and change his Twitter name to Goodey101. Matthew was swamped with love and ... backed off like a scalded cat!   I’ll add his entire twitter contributions here coz - not many and very typical of Matthew. 

📷 Matthew Goode’s very own Twitter account!

Apart from that glorious few hours - Matthew finished filming for ‘The Colour Room’ in early May and wrapped up with the photoshoot to promote the movie.  

📷 Andrea Fiquitiva IG

We also got the trailer for ‘The Duke’ in May - which looked so much fun. 

📷 The Duke trailer/ my edit

HOPEFULLY Matthew found time to do a bit of filming for Downton Abbey. We know he is in the movie - but not for long. 🤞🏻 it’s a bit longer than last time.

June

June brought us two new project announcements.  Firstly ‘The Offer’ - a Paramount plus series about the making of ‘The Godfather’ movies.  Matthew will play Robert Evans, the film’s flamboyant producer.

The second project was ‘The House’ - a creepy animation for Netflix that is aimed at an adult audience.

We know now that Matthew voiced his part of ‘Raymond’ for ‘The House’ in June [thanks @matthewhugsdiana​].  So not much time to play golf and see his family before heading off to LA.  ☹️  

July 

‘The Offer’ started filming in LA. 

 📷 Paramount

Did anything else goode happen in July coz I’m getting nada apart from that?! 

August 

We got the 1000th trailer for ‘The King’s Man’ [at least it feels like there were 999 before this one!]   A tiny bit of Matthew playing with swords and grenades in this one plus more of his Scots accent.

A little more of ADOW season 3 was teased by Sky -

September

Our first glimpse of Matthew in Hollywood doing a zoom q and a at TIFF to promote ‘Silent Night’-

Matthew was a handful as usual.  The man who used to think nothing of lighting up a cig mid interview has matured into a man who casually makes himself a brew mid interview.  He really gives no f****. Hilarious.  

📷 Melissa Ann via matthew-goode.net

Sky teased us with a tiny bit more of ADOW season 3 and there is going to be more dancing!  💃🏼 -

October

‘The Colour Room’ trailer was released.  

And THE trailer for ADOW S3 appeared at last.  Woohoo! 

November

November was all about ‘The Colour Room’.  A truly lovely movie that leaves you feeling goode.  Matthew was just perfect as Colley Shorter who is saved, in more than one way, by Clarice Cliff. 

The ‘Silent Night’ trailer was released - 

We got even more ADOW season 3 behind the scenes teasers - 

And we got a peek of ‘Raymond’ - Matthew Goode’s character in ‘The House’. 

📷 Nexus Studios      

Obviously modelled from life then.

There was probably another ‘The King’s Man’ trailer in November but by that stage I was losing track. 😂 

December

The one and only red carpet appearance of the year came at the ‘Silent Night’ LA screening and we got a preview of Matthew’s ‘Robert Evans’ hair - 

‘Silent Night’ was released and personally I found it a tough watch.  Yes there is comedy but there is also a lot that will make you cry - and make you think about the movie for a long time after.   Matthew was fantastic as always in portraying a man who is desperately trying to hold things together for his young family while being the perfect host for the last Christmas party.   Oh and Matthew’s famous trumpet/trombone impression finally got in a movie! 

A trailer for the Netflix animation ‘The House’ was up next and it looks intriguing.

I know we are still in December and ‘The King’s Man’ is just out but I have to wait to see that next year.  ☹️   But I can’t wait to see Matthew being goode at being BAD.

I’m not around much for the next week so I’m posting this early.  Goode Things Coming in 2022 will appear soon.  

📷 my edits unless credited to others.

[technofantasia]

Rise of the TMNT Timeline

Alright, by piecing together some clues from the show and making some educated guesses, I’ve put together a tentative chronology for Rise!

(Note: not all episodes are included, just a couple that either have timeline evidence or are somehow plot notable. This is assuming the canonical episode order is also chronological order.)

[EDIT] Added some more information (namely Splinter’s birthday month).

1600s-ish: The Shredder was created and sealed away September 1960: Splinter was born 1966: Splinter’s mother left (Finale part 1 flashback) 1979: Splinter left for America (Finale part 1 flashback) 1980-1984: Splinter became an action film star, dated around 1984: Splinter started dating Big Mama 1987: Splinter’s “Hot Soup: the Game” was released 1989: Splinter proposed to Big Mama, was imprisoned in Battle Nexus November 2002: April was born April-August 2003: (Presumably) Raph was born April-August 2004: (Presumably) Leo and Donnie were born April-August 2005: (Presumably) Mikey was born October 2005: Splinter and the Turtles were mutated February 2014: The first Lair Games was held 2014-2016: Donnie made his first battleshell, goggles, and tech bracer Early 2018: Piebald was flushed August 2018: Mystic Mayhem (the series begins), Down with the Sickness September 2018: The Turtle Tank was created (The Fast and the Furriest), Bug Busters, Hypno part Deux October 2018: Bullhop,  Evil League of Mutants, Shelldon was first created (Smart Lair), Shadow of Evil November 2018: April’s 16th Birthday (Warren and Hypno), April meets Sunita (Operation: Normal) December 2018: Snow Day January 2019: S1 Finale February 2019: The sixth Lair Games was held (Lair Games), Repairin’ the Baron March 2019: Air Turtle April-May 2019: S2 Finale

(Reasoning below the cut!)

So. Assuming that the episodes occur in chronological order, we can reasonably assume that the course of the show proper takes around or slightly less than a year.

In Hypno Part Deux, April is going to a homecoming dance; homecoming dances happen usually around the beginning of the school year, in late September or early October. Since she is canonically 15 at the time (she says she’s 16 in Always Be Brownies, which happens after her birthday) and has a birthday that comes after homecoming, that would likely make her a high school junior! That’s not important, just a fun fact. Placing the beginning of the series around August makes sense, then, since it’d be before April started school and during flu season, giving Splinter a good reason for catching the rat flu in Down with the Sickness.

The other solid time marker we have is Snow Day, which obviously takes place during snow season in New York (which is usually December to March). It’d likely be closer to December, since I’d like to imagine that they would have gone out to have fun in the snow as soon as they could have, potentially even at first snow. Since Lair Games comes chronologically after Snow Day and confirms the year as being 2019, we can assume that most episodes that happen before Snow Day happened in 2018 while those after happened in 2019.

Another, slightly more tenuous time marker is Bullhop, where a calendar is shown that says the 21st of the month was on a Sunday; by our previous assumption, this is 2018, so a calendar shows this must have been during the month of October, which falls in line with the rest of our timeline here! Neat. The 2018-2019 NBA season went from October 6 to April 10, so, since Air Turtle presumably showed a late season game with potential for turnaround, early March seems like a fair bet. All of those episodes combined give a pretty good sense of time throughout the series, spanning from probably around August 2018 to Mid-2019. The finale could have happened any time after March and before June (when high school would end, meaning Sloppy Joe wouldn’t have had to be working Draxum’s kitchen). Because there were quite a few episodes that should have happened before the finale, though, I’ll split the difference and say the S2 finale happened in or around May.

Fun detail: by this timeline, April’s birthday is sometime between October and December/January, likely November (seeing as it comes after Bullhop but before Snow Day, and judging by the fall colors of the foliage in Operation Normal which comes directly after her birthday episode.)

As for the brothers, we can assume that they might have different birthdays judging by how in Lair Games, Mikey says that one of his favorite days is “my birthday”; if they all shared a birthday, he might have been more likely to say “our birthday”. They were mutated sometime close to October, but since they didn’t seem to see the date of their mutation as anything special in ELoM, we can assume they don’t celebrate it as their birthday. We know that at the beginning of the show, Mikey is 13, Leo and Donnie are 14, and Raph is 15; at no point during the show do any of them have a birthday, which leads me to assume that they are the same ages by the S2 finale. They COULD have had a birthday offscreen, but since birthdays are a pretty big thing for teenagers, I’d think that if one of them had a birthday it would be pretty noteworthy. I’ll just guess and say they didn’t have one. If that’s the case, then all of their birthdays would be some time between April-ish and August-ish. By the time the show starts, then, they would have already had their birthdays, confirming for us their (probably only guessed anyway but whatever) birth years as 2003, 2004, and 2005. Realistically, Splinter probably didn’t know how much older Raph was from any of the others or anything like that, but the years are still somewhat important for age calculation purposes. I could try to guess their birthday months by saying they might all have wanted a unique birthday month, but that would be complete conjecture on my part (as compared to the rest of this which is just mostly conjecture), and would honestly be more headcanon territory than an educated guess? So for the timeline I’ll just say that their birthdays are between April and August.

Now, reaching further backwards to figure out Splinter’s life timeline!

In Splinter’s memories in E-turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we see a clip of a teenage Splinter. Said “teenage splinter” looks to be on the older side of teenager, as he seems to have his own apartment and just looks older besides, so I’d place him at either 18 or 19 (leaning towards 19). Additionally, taking a look around his room, it looks like he might be using a Sony Walkman (first made in 1979), and has what looks to be a Star Wars poster on his wall (1977). Additionally, he has a TV in his room that looks to be a Toshiba Blackstripe model that was popular in the mid-to-late 70s. While I can’t tell if he does actually have a walkman or not, I’d probably place this scene as being 1978 or 1979 anyway, so let’s just say it’s 1979. If he was 19 in 1979, that would place Splinter’s birth year as 1960, which is nice and even so I’m keeping it. That would make Splinter 58-59 during the course of the show, which seems to track! He has a birthday in Mascot Melee (the turtles are buying him a new robe as a birthday present), which, according to my episode timeline, puts his birthday around early September.

The flashback of Splinter as a kid is a little bit tricky, since he looks to be about five or six judging by how he acts in the scene? But he’s also holding a Kamen Rider doll, and that show didn’t exist until 1971. I nonetheless place the scene in 1966, since this is a cartoon and hey, maybe the Kamen Rider equivalent came out a few years earlier in this world, who cares. The bottle flip challenge already apparently happened in 2014 here, why not move some other stuff around? This exercise has already had me comparing calendar days, I will not be deterred

In Many Unhappy Returns, the clapperboard for the film “Crouching Shrimp, Hidden Tiger Prawn” in Splinter’s flashback shows that it was 1984 when he first met Big Mama, meaning that he was not only Lou Jitsu by then (at just 24 years old!), but that he had been making movies for at least a few years. After all, he and Big Mama were supposedly inseparable after meeting, and in The Shadow of Evil, it’s shown that Splinter did date around a bit as a star. Assuming that rat dad isn’t the cheating type, that would have had to be before meeting Big Mama. In Fists of Furry, Splinter mentions that he hasn’t seen any of his dojos in thirty years; while he may not have meant literally thirty years on the dot, assuming he’s at least close, that would mean that he was first abducted around 1989 (age 29). At that point, he and Big Mama would have been dating for around 5 years, which seems like a reasonable amount of time for him to wait before proposing. He also would have had time to build up quite a bit of fame as a movie star; the game he had of him looks to be on a system similar to the Atari 2600 and in fact looks pretty similar to the real life game “Kung Fu Master” that came out on Atari in 1987, a year which would have been the prime of his career. Sure, that date works as well as any. After that point, we know he was imprisoned in the Battle Nexus until Baron Draxum kidnapped him in order to use his DNA to mutate the turtles 13 years before The Evil League of Mutants. That would have placed his kidnapping and their mutations at around October of 2005, judging by the monthly timeline of the show. So, Splinter would have been around 45 when he adopted the turtles, after having been imprisoned and forced to fight for ~16 straight years. Dang.

Finally, I figured that the whole deal with Shredder and Karai would have happened at some point in the 1600s as it was 18 generations ago, judging by the number of “greats” in Karai’s grandma title, and if you average out a generation to be about 20-25 years, that lands you in the range of the 15th century. That works especially because Ninja apparently first started becoming a thing in the 15th century, so the timing checks out well enough.

(and, just as an extra fun note for the timeline, the lair games was said to have been going on for 6 years as of early 2019, meaning it must have started in 2014. We see that, in 2014 (year 1 of the Lair Games), Donnie doesn’t have his goggles or battleshell and is instead wearing glasses. In 2016 (year 3), though, he looks about the same as he does in the present, meaning he must have created all his tech that he wears on him (battleshell, goggles, tech bracer) between 2014 and 2016.)

So, the above timeline is a guesstimated and shoved around compilation of all this totally meaningless investigation, typed in a form that makes some kind of chronological sense! I hope that someone finds it useful, or just fun to think about :D

[mercuryonparklane]

I seriously debated keeping this one in the drafts...

Okay, I felt compelled to analyze the timeline of all of Taylor’s rumored/alleged boyfriends (barring any that she supposedly dated pre-fame) and why I believe they could have been fake/pr setups...

Disclaimer: this is all speculative and is just my opinion. No one has to agree... we don’t all have to agree because really the only people who know the truth are Taylor and those she has shared it with. I do have a very skeptical view of the entertainment industry and pr, so that is a bias I will own up to. I especially think Taylor, for a very long time, was willing to play along with the pr side of things, but eventually reached a breaking point (as any normal human under that amount of pressure and scrutiny likely would). Whether that means she has faked all of her public relationships or some of them or just aspects of them... I can’t really, truly know that. So, just keep in mind that this is one little, insignificant person’s view of Taylor’s public relationships and that I do not personally know any of the people involved...

Don’t take this too seriously, peeps... I’ll even tag it as crack theory...

Joe J.: June/July-September/October 2008

If nothing else this feels like a typical pr setup of two young stars. He had Camp Rock, a Jonas Bros’ album and a tour and concert film to promote. Camp Rock came out on 6/20/2008. The Jonas Bros’ third album, A Little Bit Longer, was released on 8/12/2008. In August, Taylor joined the band on stage during the filming for a concert movie that would be released in February 2009. 

Taylor had an album that was released just weeks after their alleged breakup. An album which contained a few songs that would be attributed to Joe J. due to the publicity surrounding their relationship. Hmm... what a great way to drum up interest in an album that includes quite a few heartbreak songs. Not saying I know that is the case, but they both had a lot to promote between June and November 2008.

Lucas T.: March-April/May 2009

He was in the Hannah Montana movie, which was released 4/10/2009. Taylor had a cameo in that movie and also wrote a song for the soundtrack. Lucas also played Taylor’s love interest in the mv for YBWM, which premiered 5/2/2009 on CMT. He was in one of her Myspace vlogs in April 2009. IMO, this was a setup to promote the Hannah Montana movie and the YBWM mv, but it didn’t really take off. Lucas later said they dated briefly, but he realized that he just saw her as a friend...

Taylor L.: August-December 2009

 They played a couple in Valentine’s Day. In September, just days after the VMAs where KW interrupted Taylor on stage as Taylor L. stood a few feet away, Taylor went to an Owl City concert at the Bowery Ballroom where she met the man who would supposedly inspire “Enchanted”. Umm... “please don’t be in love with someone else”... even though I am currently dating Taylor L. and he is my forever crush, but like, I am totally crushing on you actually. I have no clue if any Swifties have ever picked up on that discrepancy.  

Oh, and Taylor L. also “dated” Selena in early 2009 and I doubt Taylor would go there, even if they ended on good terms. I mean, it’s possible, but idk it seems unlikely to me. 

John M.: December 2009-February 2010

I think Taylor admired him as a musician (this seems to have been mutual with John praising her talent multiple times) and she may have seen him as a mentor at first. I do not believe that anything happened between them beyond that. I think he was so thrown off by “Dear John” because of that. He was already tweeting in the spring of 2009, hinting at wanting to collaborate with Taylor. The album their duet was on came out in November 2009, right before they started “dating”. Although it wasn’t released as a single until June 2010.

Besides, Liz (friend or otherwise) has remained a fan of John and even went to his concert a few years back. So, either she didn’t care that he screwed one of her supposed good friends over or it didn’t go down how people were led to believe it did.

Jake G.: October 2010-December/January 2011

Unless this relationship started much earlier than everyone has been led to believe, it is very unlikely that ATW is about him. It certainly seems to have been written prior to the maple latte/scarf/sister’s house articles that were abundant after that pap walk. Either Taylor used him as a scapegoat for a song that wasn’t about him or he was a willing participant in a pr scheme to make sure people thought the song was about him. 

He couldn’t have been setup with his costar, Anne H., because she was already in a long term, committed relationship. At the time Taylor was still good pr since she was still known as a kind of girl next door, all American type with genuine talent. 

I’m not saying I know for a fact it was fake. I’m saying there are plenty of reasons why I think it was. Everyone has different perspectives... mine is that this was purely a pr setup.

Will A.: sometime in 2010 and/or mid or fall 2011-January 2012 or May (?) 2012

They were likely just friends, but people did think they were dating back then. The songs that people think he wrote about Taylor (”White Dress” and “Kiss Me Slowly”) were recorded in 2010. So, if she started dating him in September 2011, which people think because the dress she wore to his May 2012 birthday party was the one she is wearing on the “Begin Again” cover art, then those songs aren’t about her. About the party dress...  Sarah B., who took the picture, was also friends with the Parchute guys, so maybe the photoshoot that the picture on that cover art came from happened earlier that day. 

He was friends with Liz’s ex Jason and one of his best friends is still to this day very close friends with Liz, so that’s probably how he met Taylor. I think Taylor hung out with that crew a bit back then. AND those times Will and Taylor were seen hanging out in late fall/early winter 2011, Jason and/or the other friend were there. Yes, I am saying that Taylor was hanging out with Jason in November/December 2011, just a few months after he and Liz supposedly broke up. She was also still hanging out with Liz a lot at that time and after, though, so I think it was all good.

Conor K.: July 2012-September/October 2012

This was Taylor’s worst pr. If it was a real relationship... it is borderline predatory. If it is fake... still a big yikes... I don’t have much to say about this one. I think it was fake and an attempt at making him the muse for “Starlight” (how cute, this song she wrote about his grandparents sort of became about them), “Begin Again” (nevermind that the copyright record say the song was written in 2011), and EHC (nevermind that the song was written in May 2012). It would have been great pr, though, if he was a couple years older. Taylor should have fired Paula after this one... (because the public should have never known about it, real or fake).

Harry S.: November 2012-January 2013

Similar to all the others before (and after), there were “random” sightings, including a birthday trip to “the lakes” and blatant pr (go on and wear that fox sweater and paper airplane necklace, Taylor...). That NYE kiss, though...

Calvin: February 2015-May/June 2016

Taylor finally dropped her old publicist and brought on Tree. First step, was to erase the “boy crazy”/“man eater” label (and possibly the “professional beard” label) and become an independent woman who just wants to have fun with her gal pals. It got a bit gayer than expected (whether Kaylor was really a thing to some degree or not is irrelevant to the point). The gay rumors were actually catching on even faster and people were like “oh, that’s why she couldn’t keep a man” (sexist/homophobic as all of this is/was, ofc). 

Enter Calvin... a playboy DJ who some might deem “tall and handsome as hell” (peeps, I am not really the best judge of a man’s attractiveness, so this is just how I think people see him). He seems sooo straight. I don’t know how else to say it. All of her other supposed boyfriends had gay rumors, whether or not those rumors were just people gossiping or had some basis in reality... I think he is the only one that doesn’t have them, that I know of anyway. 

I know a lot of people think they were really together, but I think this was an attempt to have her in a more serious, long term relationship to counteract both the gay rumors (not necessarily as a cover for a woman because I don’t think all of the guys have been or need to have been covers for a secret relationship with a woman, it’s about appearing straight) and the “can’t keep a man” narrative that had followed her around. Even if they were in some sort of situationship (not what I think, just theorizing here), it wouldn’t have been a steady thing and they seemed to not like each other very much when all was said and done.

I still laugh that he said Taylor was the opposite of his type (and specified that he likes brunettes) in November 2014 and then he allegedly dated her for almost a year and a half, starting literally a few months after he made that comment. If that was a real relationship, he was either playing it cool when he said that or he misjudged her or Taylor was determined to date him because it was a challenge.

Either way, it seems like her team controlled the public narrative and maybe Calvin was okay with that at first, but over time it seemed like he wasn’t a big fan of that. Maybe that visit to the strip mall massage parlor was a bit of a rebellion... 

At least they both got some royalties out of it...

Joe A.: September 2016-Present

Taylor’s team absolutely has control of the public narrative and he seems okay with that. He is a literal mirrorball. He is whatever Taylor supposedly says he is in her songs/whatever Swifties want him to be.

He likes to drop fun facts like how his family jumps into a freezing pond at Christmas or that he worked at a yogurt shop as a teenager. Whether they are real or not... he seems to be playing into the pr. Dropping little bits of information that will tie him to her songs... it is very “maple latte”/“paper airplane necklace”/dark jeans and Nikes... OR Taylor is just taking the few facts people know about him and using it to pin songs on him.

If he is a beard (which imo he likely is), I think he gets along with Taylor and doesn’t mind the minimal pr of it all.

I don’t think he is WB, either way...

Again this is just my view of things. This has no bearing on which women Taylor may have dated. I could do a separate post on what I think that timeline might look like.

One point I will reiterate is that I do not think that a beard would always be a cover for a secret relationship with a woman. I think it sometimes is, but it can be more of a general cover for someone who is gay. So many people think Taylor is the straightest person who has ever lived simply because of her public dating record. I mean, heteronormativity and homophobia also play a big part in that...

Edit: I completely skipped Tom lol. I just don’t buy that one either. Maybe he thought it would be good publicity or maybe he was led on to think it was more real than it was or maybe he was just having fun. Idk. All kinds of articles written about them at the time included some caveat about how they seemed fake or were maybe filming something...

[ixalit]

You said everyone has their own headcanons/theories for evanstan... what’s yours? 😘

Ooh good question!

Let me just preface this by saying:

This is RPF

Based on real people and real events, but largely fiction. This is my interpretation used for the purpose of fan fiction.

Please do not take this as fact, or use it to harass anyone.

Now. I love all headcanons and theories about how their relationship came to be and progressed, but in my mind, this makes the most sense:

They met when they started The First Avenger. Might’ve been peripherally aware of each other or been in the same room at a couple events, but they’d never formally been introduced.

During TFA production and press, they got to know each other and flirted a bit. Spent time in London... maybe got together to run through scenes... bonded over TFA being both of their first “big movie.”

Maybe they messed around a bit, but tbh I think it was mostly just “don’t want to blow this chance but you’re really hot oh god” flirting and dancing around each other

Fast forward to TWS, circa early 2013. I think this is when they actually got together, although it was a mutual stress relief/FWB situation. They knew each other from TFA, they were friends, and they fell back into their earlier flirting (but now they were more secure in their fame, with less anxiety surrounding the whole thing). They both had... feelings... but both thought the other didn’t share those feelings, so they kept quiet.

Note: a smaller headcanon is that all the *ahem* fight choreography was the thing that pushed them over the line from flirting to fucking

Also, a quick aside... the quote "I wish you guys could know Sebastian, he's the sweetest human being on the planet. He's such a good guy and he's so positive,” was said by Chris during TWS press. And here’s a few pictures from TWS premiere + press:

They finished up TWS with every intention of keeping in touch, but—as these things often go—life got in the way. After press later that year and post production early 2014 (and the release in March), they both got busy. They texted and called some, but there just wasn’t many opportunities to actually see each other for the next year.

Now. The majestic time that was Captain America: Civil War. I am of the opinion (and I know a lot of people who share this one) that something changed in their relationship. Whatever it was, they spent the 2016 Civil War press tour in some sort of honeymoon phase. All blatantly checking each other out, seemingly unable to stop touching each other, Mackie being all knows-y... Y’all know what I’m talking about, but here’s some pictures to remind you.

My personal headcanon (and a story that might be in the process of being written) is that they saw each other again in 2015 and started the choreo for fights again and,, fell back into their old habits. (For reference, filming ranged from May-August 2015, with training and choreo happening earlier that year.)

Seb had filmed The Bronze a few months earlier, then got seriously beefed up for CW (while probably keeping up flexibility training for stunts) so... y’know... there was a portion of time—specifically, the time during choreo and the beginning of filming—when Seb had increased flexibility and was jacked af, and,, uh,, let’s just say I’ve imagined the many effects that had on Chris.

Anywho

Back to the big picture

My headcanon is that during filming, their relationship deepened. Exploring certain dynamics, pillow talk that verges into areas of “I’ve never been this open with anyone before holy shit”.

The aforementioned press tour in Asia happened in April 2016, and some time in those eight months, there was a big ol’ love confession. Because I simply do not believe they weren’t in a relationship during that honeymoon caught on film.

Since then (2016-2020) I like to believe they’ve been in a loving, committed relationship with weekend trips between Boston and New York and time in LA when they’ve got business in Hollywood.

Little note: Seb isn’t rumored to have dated anyone (before Alejandra) since 2016. Chris reportedly dated Jenny Slate briefly in 2016 and again from the end of 2017 to Spring 2018, but no one since (as far as I’m aware). Since you’re asking about my personal headcanons, I’ll just say I choose to believe Jenny was a beard situation to divert attention from a new relationship between Chris and Seb 🤷‍♂️. Of course, you’re free to believe differently and I’m in no way saying this is true.

[pleasereadmeok]

A Goode Year? Review of 2020

Can’t believe it’s that time again.  What a weird year.  Despite Covid and Lockdowns we have actually seen quite a lot of Matthew Goode this year - so this is a long post to save for when you are bored of eating over the holidays!    I’m not adding links to vids, etc. like previous years because tumblr doesn’t like them anymore [Grr] but all of them are still available and I’ll signpost them. 

In January Matthew was finishing filming A Discovery of Witches Season 2 in Turin and we had some glimpses of his leather clad bod in some Teresa Palmer instastories - 

...and in Sky’s ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ Excellent sneak peek. 

... and Joshua’s uncle Lee gave us a few gorgeous pics ...

In February we saw Matthew and Sophie having fun at the Pre - BAFTA party 

[Pics - Dave Benett] 

The rest of that month was all about Leap Year’s 10 year anniversary and we drooled over Declan all over again ....

In March Matthew was finishing filming Silent Night with Keira Knightley when the world changed.  We were introduced to ‘social distancing’.    We had to keep a full Matthew Goode length away from other people - a handy reference is below to remind you -

[Pic - Ellen Von Unwerth]   On the upside the news broke that Matthew would be playing Keira’s husband in Silent Night (as we suspected) and that they had finished filming before lockdown in the UK.  

In April Matthew had his 42nd birthday.  Check out all of the fabulous birthday tributes posted on here around 3rd April.  As a special birthday present Sky released ‘Four Kids and It’ on their cinema channel on the same day with Matthew playing the role of slightly harassed parent David.  It was a goode family movie and just what we needed in lockdown. 

[Pics - Sky Cinema] 

In May we got our first glimpse of Matthew in lockdown when he made a poignant contribution to Bletchley Park’s VE Day celebrations - 

[Vid available on Bletchley Park You Tube] 

It was perfectly judged - just Matthew filming himself on his phone, in his garden, complete with birdsong.  

“This is your finest hour.”

According to James Purefoy and Joe Fattorini Matthew shaved off his hair with the dog clippers in lockdown so he looked a bit different the next time we saw him in June!  

Matthew appeared via zoom on ‘Dan Nicholls Really Likes Wine’ show - ‘Drinking the Goode Stuff’.  It was great seeing these old friends bantering away and drinking wine.  Of course Goode fans immediately campaigned to get Matthew on The Wine Show @ Home and we got our wish a few weeks later when Joe and Matthew had a virtual wine tasting on zoom - 

The whole session was hilarious.  Matthew was completely adorable and funny as usual.  Amongst other things Matthew told us that Sophie had gone off pork (not a euphemism) and we got another peek at his beautiful home with Sophie’s interior design skills on show.   This is also still available on The Wine Show @Home You Tube. 

June also gave us the new trailer for ‘The King’s Man’.  We heard Matthew’s unmistakable voice as the Scots bad guy and there were some tantalising peeks of his character’s mysterious alter ego ‘Shepherd’ - 

In July we finally got to see one of Matthew’s Q & A sessions for actors in training at Bow Street Academy in Dublin that he had recorded in May - 

Matthew gave frank, funny and very practical advice on auditions, preparation for roles and demonstrated how to be scary with a knife! 

August was a bit quiet - we got news that A Discovery of Witches Season 2 would now be aired in January 2021 but a new promo image helped soften the blow of that delay. - 

[Pic - Sky]

Kingsman was delayed yet again....  but at least we got some new promo images of Matthew’s character - Captain Maximillian Morton.  (Morton? Hmm - someone on here (not me!)  spotted the relation to Roxy!]

[Pics - Total Film/Empire]

In September Matthew’s new movie ‘The Duke’ received glowing reviews at the Venice Film Festival and we got confirmation of my speculation that he would play barrister Jeremy Hutchinson.  

Tantalisingly goode info about Matthew’s up coming movie Silent Night came from Baz Bamigboye from the Daily Mail as he called it ‘the most astonishing Christmas movie ever made’ - hopefully he meant it in a goode way!  We had fun spotting Matthew’s body parts in the pictures accompanying the article ...  

[Pic Daily Mail] 

Production on A Discovery of Witches season 3 started under strict Covid rules and Matthew was seen filming for ADOW Season 3 in Bristol - 

[Anthony Ward]

October was a very goode month!  

It kicked off with The Wine Show Season 3 teaser - 

Matthew ‘sub-section’ Goode joined in with the ADOW cast Q & A.  He was a funny and engaging as ever including an unforgettable impression of a ‘wafter’ and a hasty exit at the end!  

We had the official ‘first look’ trailer for season 2 of A Discovery of Witches - 

[pic - my edit]

The Wine Show season 3 landed on Amazon Prime in the UK and it is SO goode even tho’ there is less Matthew than usual due to filming clashes with ADOW.  Matthew was still his adorably goofy self and gave us the usual interesting fashion choices and jokes.  

[My Edit] 

October also brought us a new tie in cover for Shadow of Night - 

[Pic - Deborah Harkness Twitter]

And as if that wasn’t enough excitement for October we got the official news that there will be another Downton Abbey movie - starting to film in March 2021. Hopefully we will see more of him in this one! 

[Pic - Carnival]

Matthew usually keeps his charity projects private but in November we saw him donating his ADOW ‘wedding day’ boots to be auctioned for the Small Steps Project ....

...complete with on mud from the set.  Some lucky person is probably stroking that suede as I write this! 

[Pics - Small Steps project] 

Matthew also recorded some charming contributions to the #SaveJenny campaign.  He evicted the dog from her favourite chair by the radiator in the kitchen and sat there to read the opening chapter of Wind in the Willows - 

and later ‘The Night before Christmas’ poem complete with music! 

You can still see these contributions and most importantly DONATE  - links are listed below - 

December has been all about A Discovery of Witches season 2 - with a stunning second trailer and plenty of teasers and pictures from Sky and Bad Wolf - there are too many to include but here’s a few - 

[Pics my edit / sky/badwolf]

So what of next year?  So many goode things to look forward to.  I’ll do ‘Goode Things coming in 2021′ a bit earlier next year because January is gonna be BUSY for Goode fans!   

Thank you SO MUCH for making time to read this blog.  And a big thank you to Goode fans who create content to share with others on here and on matthew-goode.net.  We really appreciate the effort that everyone puts in to sharing the Goode Stuff.  

Lastly I have to thank Matthew Goode who patiently tolerates the fan nonsense while he tries to pretend that he doesn’t actually have any fans anyway!  

Cheers Matthew! 

[leggomylino]

[𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐… 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝…]

❧

You notice in the hall on your way out of the kitchen that Han’s taken off as well, with his things gone. You’re a bit puzzled and disappointed that he didn’t bother to let you know he was leaving, or why he’d even come by in the first place, but you decide to ignore it and make your way into the family room instead. 

When you get there you plop yourself down on the leather sofa and immediately begin to flip through your Netflix account. 

Anime...action movies...comedy...romance…

You manage to narrow it down to two choices by the time Jae walks in with your drink and his, along with a few bags of chips and other junk food shoved under his arms.

“What are we watching? Your Lie In April?” 

“I finished it already,” you say, having binge watch the second half a few days ago. “It was really sad. I cried. A lot.”

“You watched it without me?!”

“Sorry. The power went out from that storm, but I had the rest of the series downloaded on my phone, so I watched it while I waited for the lights to come back on. Thankfully I keep three wireless power banks in my room so I was good the whole night. ♥ ”

“Hmm...I guess your half of the city did go through a power outage…”

“What do you mean you guess?!”

He smirks and flicks a chip your way, dropping a handful of trail mix into his mouth. “Just play something already. I oughta make you suffer back through it, but because I’m such a nice caring brother I won’t.”

You both smile as you put on a random movie. ❧

It’s about two-thirds into the movie when you look over and realize Jaemin is fast asleep. He’s leaning back in a hunched-over position, a few chip crumbs on his face and a pretzel stick hanging out of his mouth as he’s snoring softly. You giggle to yourself, muting the volume and silently shutting off the tv, since you weren’t really that interested in what was going on anyway. Something about a guy skipping town to chase after the girl he likes, only to realize she’s already moved on...then halfway through the film he gains superpowers…? You dunno, it was weird.

You get up as carefully as you can, not wanting to disturb him (though you made sure to remove the pretzel to avoid a choking hazard) and gently toss a blanket over him, collecting the trash and snacks and turning out the lights on your way out. 

Curiosity gets the better of you as you’re tossing empty things into the recycling bin, and your jaw nearly hits the floor when your eyes meet the label on Jae’s drink.

𝖵𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂 𝖬𝗈𝖼𝗁𝖺 𝖠𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗈 𝟣𝟢 𝗉𝗎𝗆𝗉𝗌 𝖬𝗈𝖼𝗁𝖺 𝟧 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗌 𝖾𝗌𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈 𝟪 𝗉𝗎𝗆𝗉𝗌 𝖲𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋 𝖤𝗑𝗍𝗋𝖺 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗉

The worst part was that you knew your brother: every morning he had a triple shot cappuccino. He had since he first started working at sixteen.

How on earth was he asleep right now?! Wait, scratch that-- how was he even alive?!

He shouldn’t be drinking something this strong and ridiculously sweet in his worn-out condition; heck, no one should. Ever. Even if they weren’t overly sleep deprived and sickly. Having anything over five shots of espresso a day (not at once) was overkill and should be labeled a health violation, in your humble opinion at least.

It takes all your willpower not to march back in there and flip his sorry butt off the couch to yell at him for being such a dummy. But he needs his rest, you know, so you decide to take a rain check and scold him later; instead you get him a glass of water and a couple Advil in case he wakes up with a headache, as well as a few crackers to take it with.

You notice it’s raining as you make your way upstairs to your room. April showers, as they say. You couldn’t wait ‘til May, when the flowers would begin to fully bloom around the neighborhood and out back in your parent’s garden.

The first thing you notice when you cross the threshold into your sanctuary, however, is that your phone is blowing up like crazy. 

Sheesh. Now what’s going on?

You shuffle over to check what the four-one-one is all about, having to shield your eyes a moment because you forgot you left your brightness setting on max. 

You frown, wondering what it is they want to talk to you about.

Then you remember what day it is.

Tomorrow is the official release of Ultrascape!

Exhilarated, you type back a quick reply.

You sigh; you don’t even wanna ask what the cop thing is about. Maybe you should just walk or take a cab instead…

❧

[𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚞𝚙! 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, (𝚢/𝚗) 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝟸. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍.]

[𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐… 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝…] 

❧

There’s a persistent ringing sound when you wake up, though it sure as hell doesn’t sound like your alarm. Who the Davy is here so early…?

Probably just one of those door-to-door salesmen trying to sign you up for cable or high-speed internet. You choose to ignore it…

...Then it hits you like a ton of bricks. April 29th. Ultrascape. Felix’s house. Han. Not only that, but Jaemin--

...No, he probably went to work already. But you had work to do as well! Starting with your hair!! Shoot, what were you going to wear?! You hadn’t even showered yet!

Springing up into a sitting position, a few cheese puffs and potato chips go flying out of your hair and off your bed as you look around groggily yet wildly for your phone, clearing away the bags of junk food and five varying consoles and controllers you’d shifted through almost the entire night. You hadn’t been able to sleep regularly; you weren’t sure when you finally crashed; you were too worried about Jaemin, and what the heck you were going to do with all that annoyingly fake “fan mail.” Ugh. Normally you just stuffed it into the trash and one time down the garbage disposal; but that had resulted in too much wasted time and effort, so most likely trash it was. You’d haul it on your way out; for now you leave it shoved into the closet and pick out something to wear at random, jumping into the shower. 

You hear your phone buzz mid-shower, only checking it after you’ve secured on your outfit consisting of an oversized T-shirt and jeans, whipping your hair up into a messy ponytail to match. You grab your crossbody bag on your way out, texting down the stairs.

The moment you throw yourself out the door Sungie starts the engine, checking over his shoulder left and right.

You give him a bizarre look as you clamber into the passenger seat. “The heck are you looking for?”

“Cops. One drove by earlier and I had to hide in the backseat.”

“Wouldn’t he recognize your car and license plates…?”

“Not with how fast I was going.”

“...Should I walk? Or call an Uber?”

“If you’re gonna keep being a thot.”

“...That’s not...that’s not even…” You sigh, laughing. “Just drive. Legally, please.”

“I am the most legal--”

You groan. He stares at you a moment before rolling his eyes, shifting into Reverse.

“Yes ma’am.”

❧

[𝙷𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢.]

❧

During the drive your mind wanders whilst staring sleepily out the window. Thankfully Han keeps within the speed limit, but though his mouth is running ninety miles an hour, you aren’t hearing a word of it. There are more important topics clouding your thoughts right now.

Firstly, there’s Jaemin. He looked just awful when he came to visit. You recall the way his cheeks were sunken in slightly, his whole posture rigid and looking like it was ready to crumble any minute. You didn’t remember him being so pale before. Or looking so worn out and utterly exhausted. The fact that he was keeping it from you didn’t help ease your concern either; if anything, it made it worse. It definitely made it worse.

But what about you? What about your health? Lately you’d been feeling mostly fine, with a few minor episodes here and there mainly due to late nights staying up to tackle the Elite Four or work tirelessly to unlock secret otome routes. No big deal.

Wasn’t it, though? Isn’t what you’re doing no different than what Jae was doing to you?

The thought of this stings a little, you’re not gonna lie. You clutch your bag in your lap a little tighter. Maybe you should be more open and honest about what’s going on in your life…

But why? Why should you? Your health has been basically average. Nothing particularly bad to report. And it’s not like they’ve asked you to tell them. And you wouldn’t want to worry them anyway…

...That’s probably how Jaemin feels. Not wanting you to worry. Keeping it locked up inside. Brushing it off as nothing. That wasn’t healthy. You’d want him to tell you the second he felt a sneeze coming on...y’know, if it was related to something serious…

So should you tell them then? Han and the others were your friends, after all. Jaemin was your brother, for Pete’s sake.

And yet…

It was just anxiety. Just a bit of anxiety, y/n, that’s all. Nothing to freak out and have anxiety about. ...Dear stars, you were about to have anxiety about anxiety.

Ugh.

The four dorks...okay, three, since one was here...the three dorks waiting for you now with the fourth one running his mouth over the speed limit were your friends: Hyunjin, Jisung (or Han, as he often went by), Felix, and Jeongin. After you’d gotten sick and your university granted you a leave of absence, most of your old friends, who mostly consisted of girls...scratch that, all of your old friends, who all consisted of girls...had basically dumped you, completely cutting you off. They only pretended to be your friends now in the form of “fan mail” to get to Jaemin; you never heard from any of them otherwise. They just didn’t get it, didn’t know how to handle you up and leaving all of a sudden. You didn’t look sick; you looked fine to them. So why were you quitting school? 

You weren’t quitting, you told them. Just taking a break. Doctor’s orders.

They still didn’t get it.

So it’s needless to say you had concerns about whether or not to tell these guys. Would they feel the same way? Would they cast you out as well? 

They hadn’t so far. At least not the one that found out; but up to this point it’d been okay. Felix just seemed like the kind of guy you could tell anything to, and he’d respectfully keep it in confidence. And as of yet, he’d kept that promise.

The day you told Felix was only a week ago. ...Well, the day he found out, rather. He’d showed up unexpectedly at your door while you were having an episode, almost like fate had called him there. While you fought to get your breathing under control and keep your eyes focused on him, the world spinning around you, he tilted his head and asked you what was the matter. 

“It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“...You don’t look fine. Can I come in?” 

You’d let him in, it would have been rude and suspicious not to after all, not to mention proving his point that you were indeed not fine. He closed the door behind him just as the last snow of February began to fall.

It was like he knew exactly what to do; he walked you right to the back of the house, to the garden your mother had planted for your father when he needed inspiration for his photography. You loved that garden; you could sense the love your mother had put into it every time you walked out there, strolling aimlessly among the flowers and strawberry crops. The two of you sat curled up on the carpet for hours, where he told you random facts about flowers, stories of his childhood, and the things he both loved and hated about the gaming world, all while watching the last snowfall before Spring collect silently on the roof of your father’s greenhouse.

It was nice. Your mother was a travel agent and your father was always traveling for his job as well, so they were rarely ever home, mainly just during the holidays. It’d been nice to have such company other than Jae’s weekly visits...warm...intriguely inviting... 

You’d only known them for a few months, but so far they’d treated you like family. Every one of them had become a precious friend to you.

Which is why it broke your heart that you couldn’t tell them about your condition. 

What condition? I don’t have a condition, I’m fine. It’s just random attacks of anxiety. Not even “attacks” really, just--

“(Y/n)?”

“Wha!!”

You launch yourself back in your seat, suddenly reconnected with reality. The car’s stopped running, and you’re sitting on the side of the road in the middle of a really ritzy neighborhood. These people have to do something big for a living to afford the luxury here.

You’re wondering why y’all didn’t just pull into one of the huge spacious driveways, but when you look to your left you see that it’s already full; if that is indeed Felix’s house, that is. You aren’t sure, honestly; you’ve never been to the guy’s house before.

But now you understand why he’s always wearing the latest fashion.

Han’s looking at you like you’re a bit off your rocker, and he slowly takes off his seat belt, tucking his keys into his jeans pocket and unlocking the doors. “You okay? Have you been spaced out this whole time?”

“...I mean...I would say no, but that’d be a lie.”

He makes an offended memey expression before opening the door. “Stay there. I’ll open the door for you. I’m scared you’ll attract the cops with how wacky you’re acting.”

You tell him, politely put, shove off and drop the stupid cop scare already, then scramble out of the vehicle. 

But as you’re walking up the driveway and onto the sidewalk leading up to what you hope is the right house, Han suddenly cringes, turning around and awkwardly...striding?...back to the car.

You glare at him over your shoulder. “Where are you going? Is this not the right house?”

He’s waving you off without looking back, fumbling to pull his keys back out of his tightass hoochie pants. “No, no! That’s it! 363 Ambers Street! Just ring the doorbell or whatever and he’ll be down in a sec! If he’s not playing anything...I, uh, got something I forgot to do!”

He’s hightailing it out of there before you can even begin questioning him.

❧

[𝙷𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢.]

❧

Very nice. Ditching a lady at a place she’s never been before...even if it is another friend’s house…

You shake your head, making the rest of your way up the sidewalk. 

You pause just before the door, feeling something inside you freeze. Nerves, maybe? …

❧

[𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 (𝚢/𝚗) 𝚍𝚘?    𝙵𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝  ➤𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢    𝙱𝚊𝚐    𝚁𝚞𝚗 ]

You look around. It’s only you.

[𝙳𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 (𝚢/𝚗)?  ➤𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢    𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢    𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑    𝙸𝚝𝚎𝚖 ]

[𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾/𝚂𝙺𝙸𝙻𝙻𝚂/𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚂 -

𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: (𝚢/𝚗)

𝙻𝚟. 𝟸 

𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚎: 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 (𝙼𝙸𝙰)

𝙸𝚝𝚎𝚖: 𝙿𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢

𝚁𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚗 (𝚢/𝚗)’𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚟 .𝟷

𝙷𝙿: 𝟷𝟾/𝟸𝟶

𝙰𝚃𝙺.: 𝟷𝟶

𝙳𝙴𝙵.: 𝟾

𝚂𝙿.𝙰𝚃𝙺.: 𝟷𝟸

𝚂𝙿.𝙳𝙴𝙵.: 𝟺

𝚂𝙿𝙳.: 𝟿

𝙴𝚇𝙿.: 𝟸𝟽

𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢: 𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 - 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.]

There’s nothing else for it.

[𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 (𝚢/𝚗) 𝚍𝚘?  ➤𝙵𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝   𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢    𝙱𝚊𝚐    𝚁𝚞𝚗 ]

❧

You knock on the door at first, but halfway through your usual method of knocking you realize you could have just rang the dang doorbell. Nice one, (y/n)...why am I so nervous?

You quickly ring the doorbell, taking a step back and clinging for dear life to the strap across your bodice. You can feel your hands start to sweat, causing you to let go every few seconds to swipe them against you shirt or the sides of your jeans. Felix answers not too long after, an annoyed expression on his face as he squints into the harsh sunlight. It morphs into a lopsided grin at the sight of you standing on his front porch. “Hey.”

C’mon, (y/n)...if you can just say something not dumb…

You wrack your brain for something smart and witty to reply with. Something cute and charming that doesn’t sound too forward or, for lack of a better word, desperate. 

There’s just...something about this guy...

You swallow dryly. Cute and charming. Not forward, not desperate. Cute and charming cute and charming cute and charming━

“Uh...hi.”

Was that good? Did I do okay? I━

[𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚞𝚙! 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, (𝚢/𝚗) 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝟹. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍.]

[𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜! 𝙵𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚡 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢!]

[𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢. 𝙱𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚛...𝟶𝟷𝟶𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟶𝟷𝟶𝟷𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟷𝟷𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟷𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟶…]

[𝙵𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚡 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍.]

He chuckles at the strange look on your face from thinking too hard, holding the door open wider to welcome you inside.

“Hey. C’mon in. The others should be here any minute.”

It takes your legs a minute to get the memo, but once they do you follow him into the house, the door closing behind you.

❧

[𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎? ➤ 𝚈𝚎𝚜    𝙽𝚘]

[𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐… 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛…]

[(𝚢/𝚗) 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎.]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙼𝚢 𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎  → 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 |  [𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛!𝙹𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚡 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛!𝙵𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚡]

[ 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 ���/𝚈 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 //  ➤ 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙰/𝚇 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 ] 

[soulfulauror]

Tina’s story in CoG and the apparent police brutality taking place in the wizarding world. It’s been a while but this is a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while now. The idea that Tina is in Paris against orders when she fought so hard to return her to her job was something that left me well... bitter. It was the one thing she had for herself, a statement that Katherine furthered in this round of press so to simply, well, go MIA in it did not fit Tina. It undermined her whole story in FBAWTFT. Yesterday I watched the movie again and my thoughts remained on this topic the whole way through: Puzzling through Tina’s story. Along the way I started paying attention to the references of the current climate of Aurors in Europe (and worldwide). Which in two words was simply: Not Good.

Now before we continue I’d like to note that I am currently in the process of moving so both the Archive of Magic and my copy of the Screenplay is currently packed up. Because of this I cannot directly reference either and am going from memory. Certain details I’ll be pulling from my previous posts here on this blog (the rough timeline of the movie and the information about Tina’s tracking of Credence). As always I will try to go by fact only, but without the screenplay I can’t give you exact wording.

I’m not really sure what to label this as, but I’m going to put it as a headcanon.

PLEASE NOTE BELOW WILL BE COG SPOILERS. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF THAT BOTHERS YOU.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room first that I think lends to Tina’s straying away from her job: The current climate of Aurors around the world. It’s not just Newt who thinks that the Aurors are being hypocrites and acting against their duty. Dumbledore speaks of it, Grindelwald speaks of it, and the public as a whole seem to be well aware of the behavior of the Aurors. Dumbledore specifically states to Travers that his, “method of suppression and aggression were leading Grindelwald’s followers to his arms”. Travers specifically tells the Aurors to arrest everyone on sight at the rally whereas Theseus, when leading, tells them not to do anything because it’s not illegal to hear Grindelwald speak. This ends in a man using a killing curse on a woman unflinchingly.

We go now to Newt who aggressively tells Theseus earlier that he would not act in a way where, “the ends justifies the means”. Theseus does not deny this is, in fact, the way the Auror department is working. The Wizarding World has always been a slightly darker place-- remember, America’s ideas of dealing with serious infraction was the Death Chamber and Azkaban is used for evading travel bans-- it’s quite clear that in the era the idea of having total control is important to this world. Grindelwald does not lie to his followers-- He tells them what they want to hear. What he tells them regarding the Aurors killing their followers isn’t untrue and is in fact shown to us on screen.

Newt calls them “careerist hypocrites” who “kill everything they don’t understand” which if we read into the current climate tells us even further. Yes, he’s absolutely discussing creatures to an extent but he even pointedly tells Tina that every other Auror wants to kill Credence but her-- Which means he’s aware of the situation (and has to be) and knows that the Aurors will stop at nothing in order to do so. So despite the fact they say they speak for justice and do the right thing, they’ll stop at nothing to achieve this idea of peace.

Specifically, they’re using force to stop people going to Grindelwald. Despite the fact that it’s not illegal to listen to Grindelwald, Travers wants to arrest all. They use killing curses in close quarters at hexes sent to them. This is classic police brutality lending its way to allowing a revolutionary to come to the forefront, which is exactly what Grindelwald manages at the end of this film. It’s what he wanted-- To show that they were the ones “peaceful” while Aurors used killing curses. All done in front of dozens upon dozens of Purebloods who already think themselves some level of royalty.

We know from the Archive of Magic that Aurors were deployed Europewide in early August. We also know this wasn’t just merely British wizards, but apparently American ones too.. Although I don’t think Tina was there on duty (a fact I’ll get into here in a bit), it does seem France has a record of every international Auror working the cases. These Aurors would have been a result of multiple things: searching for Credence, looking for Grindelwald, and wrangling up followers who were being rowdy. We know from newspaper headlines that most of the news was revolving around Grindelwald and his followers during this time.

Now where does this leave Tina?

Thanks to the Archive of Magic, we know that she was searching for Credence’s real parents since before the first movie started (Nov. 30th to be exact). We know from a letter with Newt that she never stopped thinking about Credence, but oddly doesn’t tell Newt that Credence is alive (or at least Newt is really good at faking that he doesn’t know). We do know that she knew in late December that Credence escaped New York on a cargo train to the circus. What we don’t know is when she got that particular information, but I’d imagine it was a few months later.

David Yates states that Tina was not in New York at the end of the last movie during the bakery scene. He’s very mysterious about it saying she’s on a top secret mission. Queenie went to see Jacob only after Tina was out of town, as Yates said once more which leaves a few more complicated questions regarding Tina specifically: Was she looking for Credence in March? Likely, yes. When did she see Newt’s article in the tabloid? (This was released in late Feb early March) How/When did she start dating Achilles Tulliver?

Obviously, the last few questions are merely for piecing togetheLetr certain elements of her story. Because unfortunately, CoG  for Tina is less about her finding Credence and more about her playing a love subplot for Newt. So figuring out these things in regards to her timeline, given how minimal it is, becomes important since if she knew in March than she... Stopped speaking to Newt for roughly half a year despite “thinking of each other every day for a year”.

Let’s start with the important bit: Credence. So we do know that the Purebloods are looking for a lost Lestrange. We know that the Ministries of Europe and America are looking for Credence. One, because he’s an Obscurial. Two, he’s a pawn Grindelwald wanted. Their search only furthers after Grindelwald escapes.

So if Tina was not in America as of March 1927 I am under the belief that she was one of the first Aurors sent out to look for Credence-- Perhaps even the first. Out of all of them she’d have the closest connection to Credence. Picquery would have understood that out of her current Aurors Tina would have had the best bet in finding the boy. So when Tina was reappointed-- this was officially put in the papers in Jan-- I do believe her assignment was look for Credence and it eventually sent her overseas.

I do not think she necessarily had the information that Credence was in Paris proper in March. Here’s the reason: She knows that he had some connection with the circus. So if she did it shouldn’t have taken her six months to find him in Paris with that direct information. My belief is she got that information later which makes her storyline even odder. Because then-- where was she? In limbo, I suppose. Maybe she was actually sent to help wrangle in some of Grindelwald’s followers in Europe which would establish a few more things:

Tina doesn’t recognize who Theseus is when Newt changes into him. If she’d seen the tabloid then she would have known who that was. So most likely, Queenie told her about it in a letter since we know that they were released in late Feb through March and Tina was definitely out of NY in March. Which would explain why she took (multiple) tabloids at face value if her sister told her that it was in the news-- Tina has no reason to not believe Queenie, she wouldn’t think she’d intentionally hurt her that way. 

Which also on the way means that wherever Tina was she wasn’t working alone at the time, but is in fact working in some kind of team. Since she’s close enough to another Auror at the time to apparently go on dates. Though we’re not given exactly what happens and it could even be Queenie exaggerating again-- Tina having to work closely with him, stopping for dinner with him, etc. We don’t know if this is a legitimate “dating” or not simply because apparently Tina’s not even near Queenie when she does. For the benefit of the doubt we’ll say she went on a few dates with him and it likely didn’t go further--

Largely because if we do this in a very rough timeline:  Queenie writes Tina in March about Newt. Queenie likely tells her about Jacob in another letter. Tina in a returning letter probably begins arguing with her and talks about Achilles. Queenie stills stays with Jacob. Eventually ends in not talking. So with the space between them: An ocean. With the method of communication: Owls. I’d say roughly the sisters corresponded for two-two and a half months and Tina stops talking to Newt in April. This would also match up with Newt’s book launching in March and his failure to get to America hurting Tina more. So if this is the case Tina and Queenie likely stop talking just around Grindelwald’s failed extraction from MACUSA in late May. As I’ve mentioned before the movie (apparently, regardless of student presence) takes place in late August canonically. 

Which means that Europe would be under high alert very, very quickly in June. And we’re told in mid-August that it’s officially hit headlines that they’ve been put out Europe wide. A fact that likely happened a little earlier but the Prophet didn’t get news of until a little later. So everything they were looking for before would have been doubled down on and the rumors about Credence would have started in... about mid-June. Enough so that all of the Purebloods are talking about it, Tina knows of it, and it comes into Ministry hands. The Ministry does not have an official idea of where Credence is even in August, which is why they want Newt to look for him. It’s Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Tina, and Yusuf that seem to have exact laction.

Let me state that the timeline for this movie absolutely makes no sense and trying to put Tina’s search for Credence into it makes even less sense. Because we do know she knows exactly where he is and is trying to reach out to him at the start of the movie but she’s also specifically trying to find out information on who he is to dispute this pureblood theory and/or allow him to live, which is why she lets Yusuf  capture her and whatever else.

Now the problem here comes in the fact: Is she acting under orders being in Paris or no?

Everything points to no. Yes, Tina is probably supposed to be on a force looking for Credence specifically. So in one sense she is coloring within the lines but apparently she is not on record for being in Paris. We could argue that Queenie didn’t say her full name, “Porpentina Goldstein” (which Tina does in fact use for records and work related stuff-- friends and family are who call her Tina). But what I get that we’re supposed to take from that scene is Tina is not officially in Paris. Which, yes, she could be acting under cover but that goes against what she’s doing--

Tina is an Auror looking for Credence to help him not to kill him. Which is the exact opposite of what every other Auror and ministry official is out to do. Officially, she is looking for Credence. But if she put down on paperwork she was in Paris then she’d have to answer questions and they’d probably call in other people and-- more specifically-- they’d expect results. And as we know Tina’s result would not have been what they wanted.

In a sense Tina is an Auror gone rogue-- not exactly unfamiliar for her character either. She’s acting just within the constraints of her boundaries while finding information to save Credence rather than kill. She hopes to obtain that before the Ministries find him or Grindelwald. So she’s not entirely abandoning her position overseas but she’s still jeopardizing her job should the Ministries find out she was in  Paris without permission and had crucial information on where Credence was. Tina is a woman who is borderline reckless but has a desire to protect and-- She’s well aware of the Ministry’s stances and behaviors on things and is purposefully acting against them because she does not agree.

[that-thing-that-feeling]

Re: ST, well we still have the first trailer and poster (plus release date) and the final trailer and poster to go. S3’s teaser poster was released abt 6 months before the season, so I think we can expect to see it in Feb/March. And the first trailer typically comes out about 3 months before the season, so probably around April/May. Hopefully we’ll get some crumbs for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas, like bts pics or a zoom reunion or smth.

Re: Charlie, I think it’s just hard bc being an actor is one of those jobs where unless you’re an A-lister you don’t have steady work. And bc it’s all so private there’s no way to know what an actor is up to until an announcement comes out. Charlie could v well be going to auditions and just not getting them - both he and Nat have spoken abt how they still don’t always get the roles they audition for even now - or he could just be taking a well deserved break to spend time with his family, or he could be secretly filming something rn. That’s the frustrating thing abt being a stan sometimes; you don’t always know what they’re up to, you just gotta trust that they know what they’re doing. Speaking of, I hope Sp2 will have some kind of event/premiere in January. Anyway Charlie has just given us the great gift of two great movies that came out p much at the same time, so I’m content with giving him a break for now 😂 And at least Nat has a movie allegedly coming out within the next few months, but I have heard rumors that the plot might be a tad bit biphobic, so I guess we’ll see.

Okay ugh it better not be that they are going so far into summer that the first trailer won’t be until April/May 😔. I hope it at least comes out in June, so that would be like March for the trailer (even that…smh). But, at the same time, they can’t wait that long to drop new material, so right prob a poster and maybe actual release date will release earlier—like January or February. Also, could see them using the super bowl or something for some content.

As for Charlie, yeah, I wouldn’t have expected him to shoot something right now, but to be in the UK, see fam, etc. I hope he’s auditioning tho. I’m just surprised by how much more reclusive he’s become really since NM press or tribeca, and missing the tsp2 premiere (idk tbh that it will have another uk premiere), and now disguising himself in london? That’s just a kinda big change for him that makes me wonder what caused such a change. And also makes me think he’s also prob avoiding events too. I just rlly hope he films something new before ST comes out. And hopefully attends an event, like any signs of career life would be good to see. It’s just weird imo. Agreed tho it’s great his two films came out!

And re: Natalia, I’m really looking forward to chestnut and hope it gets that fest premiere early next year—they seem very on top of things and it has good producers. I don’t think the film should be judged at all until seen—we don’t know Annie’s journey with her sexuality yet or like how she as a character thinks about it, and feel like they didn’t drop a lot abt the plot. Curious if Natalia will also shoot an additional new project and attend any events.

[mercadosadaf]

The Value of Swimming In Uncertain Times

Hi Swimmers

Firstly, apologies for the radio silence over the last few weeks on the blog - we've had the whole Swim Smooth team busily engaged in a complete revamp of the entire www.swimsmooth.com website and coaching interface, and whilst we are not quite done, we are getting very close and hope to resume the blog and our usual community engagement very soon. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Today, Head Coach Paul Newsome, has prepared a reflective piece for you on the value of swimming and what it means to us all, especially in these uncertain times. We hope it allows you to pause over a cup of tea or coffee and think a little bit about your own swimming and how your relationship with the water might have changed somewhat in the last 12 months.

Paul features three brief stories of some inspiring swimmers he has had the pleasure to work with and how their swimming journeys have been significantly altered by the coronavirus, mostly for the better. Paul summarises with some of his own take-home points on how this period has changed his own thinking on swimming somewhat and how his ordinarily extrinsic competitive goalposts have shifted to a place of intrinsic challenge and finding a new calm with that. So please, relax, put your feet up and let’s get a little zen for a moment.

The Value of Swimming in Uncertain Times

I was recently invited as a guest on the new An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast with host Will Ellis (release date: 28th February here) to discuss my love and passion for swimming - an easy topic for me! Will is a great host and someone I'd taken for a Swim Smooth analysis session as part of a group over a decade ago in the UK. Given my area of technical interest in swimming, many podcasts that we've done with other hosts have always centered on these elements, but Will took a very different slant, one which focused very much on the "why" of swimming.

Why do I swim? Why do I enjoy the water? Why swimming and not another sport? I came away with a headful of thoughts that I'd either never given due consideration to before, or maybe some that crystallized a growing appreciation I've started to foster of late?

Given the current state of play with COVID-19 restrictions on our sport over the last 12 months, I feel my own relationship with water has not necessarily changed per se but it's definitely evolved. Perhaps though, it's me who's changed and it's this period of intrinsic reflection that has heightened the "why" behind what we all love to do? For many of you, could the absence of being able to do the thing you love or the thing that perhaps challenges you the most (as a triathlete maybe?) be the necessary catalyst to kick your swimming to new heights of appreciation (however you measure that) when we do all come through this? I'm certainly seeing that in myself and my squad of very lucky swimmers over here in Perth, Australia.

Lady Luck

Over the last 12 months, Perth has been heralded as one of the best places on the planet with respect to the relatively few restrictions and impact of the coronavirus - many of us scarcely realizing how lucky we are. Next week will see 3,500 people start one of the largest open water swims on the planet, the Rottnest Channel Swim, in which I will be competing with a good friend over the 20km distance. We have, however, just come out of a heavily publicized (albeit very short) 5-day lockdown here in Perth which restricted access to the pools and saw us only being able to swim solo in the open water or with one other family member. This incident garnered international press on account of the very rapid and focused response to a single case in the community transferred between a quarantined hotel guest and a security guard. The whole state came to a grinding halt for just one case - everything ceased and panic was high. Despite extensive testing (myself included) of those who may have been in the vicinity of this one person, fortunately, no other community transmission has occurred. Consequently, life is returning to some form of normality again. 

One of the hardest things I've personally struggled with over the last 12 months though is being able to fully appreciate and empathize with just how brutal this period must have been - and continues to be - for many of you from the perspective of being able to simply enjoy the pleasures of a nice swim. Lady Luck has shone down on me, and for why, I do not know? I feel a toiling mixed sense of guilt, of pure luck, and of umbrage at myself for the seemingly petty feeling of missing the ability to travel overseas and share my love of swimming with you all, wherever you might be. I miss it so much and yet feel I have no right to do so given where I have the good fortune to be right now. 

I had a frank conversation before Christmas with my Mum about this. Many of you know Linda as "Mother Smooth" and if you've ever ordered anything from us, she'd have sent it to you. True to the adage that "Mum always knows best", I finally managed to pluck up the courage and expand on how excited I was to be taking my wife and two kids camping over the Christmas holidays to a beautiful town called Albany in the South West which we'd all visited together as a family a few years earlier. Mother Smooth couldn't understand why I'd not told her sooner, to which I responded that I didn't want to make her feel bad. "Feel bad?" she quizzed, "I am at my happiest when I know you are happy". Profound stuff - good old Mum!

The Changing Tide

So, what has this all really got to do with swimming? If you are in the northern hemisphere, chances are you are sick to the back teeth of hearing about the coronavirus and maybe even more so the thought that other pockets of the world are experiencing far fewer restrictions than yourself currently. Last week's swift lockdown gave me a rapid reminder though just how uncertain these times can be - the tide can change on a dime so easily. What has been remarkable for me has been watching how those of you who still continue in enforced lockdowns have survived this last 12 months and I'd like to recognize some of the cool - and crazy - things you've been doing, obviously simply for the joy of needing to get your swim in! Perhaps you can tell us more about how you've weathered this storm so far?

Helen Webster, UK

I met Helen in March 2014 at the 220 Triathlon Show in London. As the editor of the 220 Triathlon Magazine, Helen had taken it upon herself to learn to swim freestyle properly for an upcoming triathlon and I was tasked with assisting her with that goal in an Endless Pool and in front of hundreds of people. For someone with very little swimming experience at that point, Helen did amazingly well in front of such a crowd and it’s a testament to her bubbly “can do” spirit that she took on this challenge!

We spent a good hour or so filming her stroke, analyzing it (in front of everyone!), and then getting back into the pool to correct her issues which mainly centred around developing confidence in the water and improving the timing of her stroke, specifically her breathing. Back then, Helen was what we’d have described as a classic Bambino - someone very new to swimming with a relatively high level of anxiety in the water - so to see the following images circulating on Helen’s Facebook page in the last couple of weeks simply blew my mind! Helen’s gone all Bear Grylls on us and now is not happy unless she has to break the ice in her backyard pool just to ensure she gets her swim in! I’m so proud of her as a mate!

Here's Helen on what the last 12 months have meant for her swimming:

"Open-water swimming has been a key part of my training week ever since taking those first steps with Paul all those years ago! Lockdown had made me realise just how important swimming is to me though and in so many ways. Not living near the coast and with managed venues nearby forced to close I've realised how much I rely on swimming for lifting my mood, giving me a pause from a busy world and fully immersing myself in nature. I'm a pool swimmer too and with centres all closed I'm even missing the tang of chlorine and having to do kick drills!!

It sounds melodramatic but a tearful moment on the phone with a friend prompted her to gift me a garden pool and swimming tethered has given me a route back to the water (thanks to Swim Smooth Coach Jason Tait for the tethered swim sets!). It's also led me to a new swim community who are making the most of what they have and finding humour in sitting in ice baths and under hosepipes, or sharing tips for how to stop your garden pool freezing!

I can't wait to have my 'proper' swimming back and believe me, will never take it for granted again. I'm planning a swim challenge for September and keeping fingers crossed it goes ahead!"

Sue Allingham, Denmark

Sue attended one of our 3-day Swim Smooth Coach Education Courses in Mallorca, Spain back in May 2019 and was clearly a super-passionate swimmer and coach. We’ve remained in close contact via Messenger since and she frequently sends me crazy pictures of where she’s been swimming, however, nothing could quite prepare me for this one - her frozen Margarita experience (as she calls it)!

When I asked Sue about what the last 12 months have meant for her swimming, she said this:

"A year ago I entered the World Ice Swimming Championships in Bled Slovenia for a laugh. 2 weeks later I broke both my wrists and then Lockdown! By April I was going stir crazy and the day I had my casts removed, I got back into the sea, as the pools were shut. Little did I know that I would continue going in every day since! As my wrists got stronger, I could swim longer but the thought of trying to pull on a wetsuit was hanging over my head. By the time I probably could get one on I no longer felt the need. I continued to swim throughout the year and ended up becoming the Danish age-group champion in 25m & 100m Freestyle - Ice swimming and 5k Openwater. 

A year on from Covid and we are still in the sea and simply just grabbing any opportunity to jump in the water, to try new beaches or temperatures. As you can see from the picture, we’ve started making our own frozen Margaritas! 

What will I do when the pools open again? Dive in and just keep swimming! Never thought I’d miss the black line so much. Swimming as always is such a social thing & drinking coffee with friends after each swim has really made Lockdown actually enjoyable. Already looking at SwimRuns in Sweden, hopefully as it’s close by we may be allowed to travel. Otherwise lots of pre-paid events carried over from last year. I live in hope. 

One thing is for sure, the sea is always open!"

Mark Turner, Switzerland

Mark also attended one of our other 3-day Swim Smooth Coach Education Courses in Mallorca, Spain (the week after Sue) and had just a few months prior completed the Rottnest Channel Swim here in Perth. Mark set up the world’s most prestigious multi-day cycling event for amateurs, the Haute Route, which is a brutally tough challenge in a breathtakingly beautiful landscape. Mark was also the man behind Ellen MacArthur’s sailing career (who set the world record in 2005 for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe), the Offshore Challenges/OC Sport business, and the Extreme Sailing Series, and is widely seen as a visionary in the sport of sailing. And, if all that wasn't enough, Mark led the Volvo Ocean Race series as CEO in 2016/17. Needless to say, Mark is not someone to do things by half and is always up for a (big) challenge! 

Mark now lives in Switzerland on the banks of Lake Geneva and is fastidious about his swimming, especially a weekly completion of the infamous 10 x 400m Red Mist Endurance session! Like with many parts of the world, Mark has had unreliable access to his local pool over the last 12 months and so has turned to the great outdoors instead…even during the middle of winter! Hooking up regularly with like-minded souls in these freezing temperatures has been what has kept Mark going and will stand him in good stead when the world finally comes back to some sense of normality.

It Is What It Is

I think one of the most obvious things with each of these three swimmers - and yourself hopefully too - is that they’ve simply rolled with the punches that 2020 and beyond has brought their way. They’ve got on with it, adapted, pivoted, and thrived in a new environment and in doing so sought out other goals to keep them motivated and in the game. Resilience personified. We always talk so virtuously in training and racing about “control the controllable”, and clearly, none of this is in any of our control right now. Way back in April 2020 when we were still in lockdown and I was personally unable to coach, a very close friend and one of my athletes, Nolan McDonnell told me to “stop trying to save us all - we can look after ourselves!” in response to me frantically trying to work out how to keep everyone fit and engaged when I couldn’t be with them face-to-face. It really struck a chord with me, and whilst it didn’t happen overnight, I did begin to accept the situation. 

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to travel and spread the Swim Smooth word - as has been my life over the last 16 or so years - was a real blow, but ever so gradually I started to move beyond this and to focus on what I could do, not what I couldn’t. For me personally, that’s meant plenty more time at home with the family, and as we are seeing on the pool deck at the moment, plenty of opportunities to be super consistent with our respective training schedules too. The squad here in Perth has never swum so quickly before, ever! Why? Everyone has their groundhog day schedule dialled in and they’re sticking to it because there’s nowhere else to go, and there’s something very centring about that, zen even. 

Fancying a challenge myself - and recognizing the collective benefit of encouraging others to follow suit - I have even got myself back into doing a few triathlons, marathon swims, and even the odd SwimRun event too! Taking on a range of varied challenges was in an effort to not put all our eggs into one basket in case events got canceled or postponed. 

Again, I’m super privileged to be able to do these things right now, and part of that appreciation brings a whole new angle on why we do what we do. For me, it’s all been about my shared experience of training up with one of my best mates Chris to do the Rottnest Channel Swim together as a Duo next week. With last week’s unprecedented lockdown it looked certain to be canceled but you know what, I wasn’t bothered in the slightest! The religiously attended Sunday morning swim with Chris in the river is what it’s all about - not the event itself. Swimming + Best Mate = Win. 

Sure, the race will be a nice finale, but the old adage of “the journey is better than the destination” is what this whole crazy period has really taught me. We egg each other on even in the middle of winter and for me, this has seen a major step away from the profound sense of training for competition’s sake, to training for training’s sake, and for the social camaraderie that this has brought. I wouldn’t change that for the world.

Even if you haven’t had the opportunity (yet) to be quite so free in your activities, that time will come again, hopefully very soon, and in the meantime, just set yourself some little consistency of routine benchmarks to tick off. Get creative like our friends above (just maybe not quite so crazy!). How many swims in the river can you consistently do every Sunday? Can you always ensure you meet up with Bob for your Friday lunchtime jog in the park? Make sure you commit to that group ride on Zwift you booked in for on the Companion app etc. It’s the little things, done often that will keep you going and when the world opens up again, you’ll be ready! 

Thanks for reading. Swim on!

Paul

from Sports http://www.feelforthewater.com/2021/02/the-value-of-swimming-in-uncertain-times.html via http://www.rssmix.com/

[nerdybookahs]

Writing about my Top Games of 2019 was a bit too short-sighted, apparently. I have seen others talk about their games of the decade – most recently Rakuno’s post. And then I figured that I could add another “top games” post here. I mean, it is my blog and it has been filled with lots and lots of talk about games… not in the past decade, but close (I started in March 2011)!

So let’s see… which games deserve to be called favourite or even best games in this time span? Should it be the games that gave you the most hours of entertainment? Or should a game of the decade be one that surprised you somehow? That was breathtaking in graphics (or audio, etc.) or just so immersive, you still think about it? I’m not going to dwell on these questions for too long and will go with my intuition, which means that it will probably be a good mix of all of these points. There is no ranking of games as I did in my other posts. Each of them earns a spot in its own way.

I tried to remember what I did at the beginning of the decade. At that time, I had more or less stopped playing LotRO and Warhammer Online was about to close, but I had left that one much earlier already. Despite not playing either Rift or Guild Wars 2 anymore nowadays, both have been my MMO home for quite some time. Rift (launched March 2011) most of all for its open world events and its housing system. Guild Wars 2 (launched August 2012) also because of the open world events and the horizontal progression at endgame. Even though I found the living world season 1 to be too stressful with its content being available for 2 or 4 weeks and then disappearing forever, in hindsight I still think it was the best content they released (not every single piece of it, but taken everything together). If only it hadn’t been time-limited. But most of all, I love the game for the community. Being a part of Dragon Season (our guild) has given me the opportunity to get to know so many amazing new people and I remember many fun hours spent together, doing guild missions or our guild events.

If I go by time played, other than the MMOs, I will have lots of city builders and management games come out on top. In some cases, this is certainly fitting and these games belong in my top list. With others, the advantage of being a game that is built on taking a long time to play would be unfair. So, out of the long list of games from these genres, Tropico 4 (launched September 2011) immediately comes to my mind. The music, the humour, the gameplay. I love everything about it and it’s a game that I can still launch and play and have fun with today. Then there is Jurassic World Evolution (launched June 2018) which belongs in my top list simply because it amazes me how real the dinosaurs seem and when I think back to my early days of playing on the C64 and how amazed I was by printing out birthday invitations made on… the C64 or the Amiga, I actually don’t remember… It was certainly pixel art, that’s for sure… But let’s get back to the past decade: My inner child is still amazed by graphics like these! And my inner child who loved the first Jurassic Park film is also amazed that suddenly, she can create her own park on her PC!

One thing I do not like is side-scrolling games – except for Terraria (launched May 2011) where I think it works perfectly. I especially like how open the world feels despite being 2D only and how immersive it is despite the simple graphics. However, once Trove launched (July 2015), I more or less stopped playing Terraria. I know, Trove isn’t a Terraria-clone, but it fills the space of digging through the world for me. Part of the appeal of Trove is certainly having a lot of other players around. I just like seeing others around me, even if I usually play on my own.

Whenever I played Civilization, I kept whining that there is too much of a focus on war. I didn’t want to fight! Also, the stacks of doom in Civilization IV were annoying. I wanted to conquer peacefully through culture instead. And then I found the first Warlock game (Warlock: Master of the Arcane, launched May 2012)… and I conquered through war. And I loved it! The game has a sequel, Warlock II: The Exiled (launched April 2014) which I like even more. So, the game series as a whole is in my top list.

L. A. Noire (launched November 2011 for PC) is one of the first games I actually played through. And the immersion level has been amazing! I’m still not happy about the ending, but I guess that just shows how much I could identify with the main character. Another detective game is Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (launched September 2014). Ever since playing this game, I want more like it! Unfortunately, the sequel, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter, couldn’t win me over like the other one did. And then there is The Painscreek Killings (launched September 2017) where your task is to figure out who killed Vivian Roberts. Other than that, you’re on your own exploring the now abandoned village. I did not like the little extra play sequence at the end, but other than that, it was a really good game. There is no guidance where to go first and what to do next. There are no quests or missions and no direction. I did manage to figure out everything in the end and it was a very enjoyable journey.

Life is Strange (launched 2015) cannot be missing from my list. If I did any ranking, it would be very high up. I’m still pestering bookahnerk to pick up the game and play through it because I want to hear his opinion about this one moment (no spoiler!) where you need to make a certain choice. I think you only have this one choice in order to advance, so it’s basically not a choice. But I sat here with tears in my eyes imagining how I’d feel if I was ever asked to do something like this by a person close to me.

Last but not least, I haven’t listed any action RPGs (as you may have noticed, I did dig through my favourite game genres to detect all possible games). There is definitely Torchlight 2 (launched September 2012) followed closely by Grim Dawn (launched February 2016). In this case I say “follow”, because I feel that even though I’ve been playing it for a long time, I haven’t even seen a third of the content that Grim Dawn has to offer. And yet, it is such a strong game with an interesting world and very compelling classes. Torchlight 2, on the other hand, seems like a lightweighted action RPG in comparison. But it has the pet system and no matter which ARPG I’m playing, I always wish I had a little helper like that who I can send to town to sell all the items I found. It saves so much time and adds convenience, but not at the expense of immersion.

I’ve got one honorable mention: The Secret World/Secret World Legends (launched June 2012). I absolutely love the idea and the atmosphere of the game! However, I find the gameplay itself too clunky and I never liked how combat felt, including the character’s animations. So while it has something that makes it very memorable for me, I just couldn’t play it for a long enough time. Hence, the honorable mention. It tried, but it didn’t really succeed with me.

I guess that’s it – unless I forgot some game now which I probably did. There are so many more games that I enjoyed playing, of course. But these do stand out for one reason or another.

My Top Games of the Decade Writing about my Top Games of 2019 was a bit too short-sighted, apparently. I have seen others talk about their games of the decade - most recently…

[whittlebaggett8]

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are expecting their third child together. Here’s a timeline of their relationship., Defence Online

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The couple has been together for almost eight years.

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Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

For almost a decade now, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been a Hollywood power couple. Between their chic red carpet appearances and their social media jokes about each other, they are constantly making headlines.

Here’s a look at how they met, what they’ve said about each other, and what they’ve been up to, leading up to their third pregnancy announcement:

July 2010: Lively and Reynolds met on the set of “Green Lantern.”

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They attended Comic-Con together.

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Kevin Winter / Staff/Getty Images

Back in the summer of 2010, Lively and Reynolds were cast as the lead roles in “Green Lantern” and made their first public appearance together at Comic-Con in San Diego. They weren’t dating at the time: Lively was still dating “Gossip Girl” co-star Penn Badgley, while Reynolds was married to Scarlett Johansson.

September 2010: Lively and Badgley called it quits.

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They had apparently split earlier.

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Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Shortly after filming started, Lively and Badgley ended their relationship. An insider told Us Weekly they had been keeping the news quiet for a while, but that they were still friends.

December 2010: Reynolds and Johansson announced their divorce

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They were married for about two years.

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Kevin Mazur / Contributor/Getty Images

Not long after, Reynolds and Johansson released a joint statement confirming their divorce. It read, “After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we’ve decided to end our marriage. We entered our relationship with love and it’s with love and kindness we leave it. While privacy isn’t expected, it’s certainly appreciated.”

June 2011: There were reports that Lively was dating Leonardo DiCaprio.

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They split by the end of summer.

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Eugene Hoshiko/Ap/Ethan Miller/Getty

Lively and DiCaprio reportedly spent a summer dating. The two were photographed together several times, including at the Cannes Film Festival. Sources told E! they split at the end of the summer.

October 2011: Sources confirmed that Lively and Reynolds were dating.

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They made it public.

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Lester Cohen / Contributor/Getty Images

After months of reports, a source confirmed to People that the co-stars were “very much a couple” and that they were “really happy together.” Lively was spotted leaving Reynolds’ apartment on his birthday weekend.

September 2012: Reynolds and Lively tied the knot in a surprise wedding.

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No pictures have surfaced.

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Bauer-Griffin / Contributor/Getty Images

After months of keeping things relatively low-key, the pair got married at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina in front of their family and friends. Although they never released photos, they did reveal details on Lively’s couture ball gown by Marchesa, their giant dessert table, and the bouquets.

October 2012: Lively said in an interview that she had “never been happier.”

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She also said wanted kids.

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Brian Rasic / Contributor/Getty Images

In an interview with Allure, Lively revealed how happy she was with Reynolds, saying, “Right now, I’m so peaceful. I’ve never been happier in my life.” She also made it clear she wanted kids, saying, “I’ve always wanted a big family. Oh, I’d love 30 (children) if I could.”

May 2014: They made their first red carpet appearance as a couple at the Met Gala.

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They both wore Gucci.

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Mike Coppola/Getty Images

The couple hit the red carpet for the first time together (as a couple, not just co-stars) at the Met Ball. They both wore Gucci.

August 2014: Lively gushed about Reynolds to Vogue magazine

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She called him a “beautiful writer.”

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VALERY HACHE / Staff/Getty Images

In an interview with Vogue, Lively wasn’t shy when it came to expressing her love for her husband. She said, “Everything we do in life we do together. If I’m working on a movie, he helps me with my character; I do the same with him. Picking out a coffee table. What we’re going to eat. He’s a beautiful writer – he’s written a lot of stuff for us. And he’s got a great barometer and he knows me, so he will tell me if it’s not as good as it can be.”

October 2014: Lively announced she was pregnant for the first time

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She announced it on her website.

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Dimitrios Kambouris / Staff/Getty Images

Lively took to her new lifestyle website, Preserve (now deleted), to announce her first pregnancy. She posted a photo of herself among other photos of other pregnant people.

“Congratulations to all the expecting mothers out there,” she wrote at the time.

January 2015: Lively gave birth to their first child.

Page Six reported that Lively had given birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter who came a bit early. She gave birth near their home in Bedford, New York.

After a few months without many details about the baby, Reynolds finally revealed their daughter’s name on “The Today Show.” He said, “It’s James. Everyone knows. I didn’t want to be the first guy screaming it out to the media, because as we know, little girls turn into teenage girls and little teenage girls sometimes scan through the archives and go, ‘Why did you do that?’”

February 2016: Reynolds dished on how he and Lively first got together.

At an amFAR New York Gala, Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly they were “buddies” when they first met. Apparently, they went on a double date together, except she was with another man and he was with another woman. He added, “That was the most awkward date for their perspective probably because we were just like fireworks coming across. It was weird at first, but we were buddies for a long time. I think it’s the best way to have a relationship is to start as friends.”

April 2016: It was announced that they were expecting their second child.

After a few weeks of rumors, Us Weekly confirmed that Lively was pregnant again.

July 2016: Lively told Marie Claire Reynolds was her best friend.

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She said she liked him and loved him.

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Michael Stewart/Getty Images

In an interview with Marie Claire, Lively gushed about their relationship. She said, “I knew he would always be my best friend for my whole life. That was the biggest thing to me. I’d never known anything like the friendship that I had with him. I could like him as much as I loved him.”

October 2016: Lively and Reynolds welcomed their second daughter.

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Ryan Reynolds (L) and Blake Lively with their daughters attend the ceremony honoring actor Ryan Reynolds with a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame held on December 15, 2016 in Hollywood, California.

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Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Page Six confirmed that Lively had given birth to their second child at a hospital in Manhattan. Taylor Swift was spotted heading to the hospital to visit. Us Weekly later confirmed that the couple had named their second daughter Ines Reynolds.

November 2016: Reynolds revealed the moment he knew Lively was the one.

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It was a scene right out of a movie.

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Frazer Harrison / Staff/Getty Images

In an interview with O magazine, Reynolds talked about the date when he knew he wanted to marry Lively. He said, “We were hanging out at this little restaurant in Tribeca that’s open really late, and this song came on and I was just like, ‘Want to dance?’ No one was in there, so it was just totally empty. And it was just one of those moments where halfway through the dance, it was like, ‘Oh, I think I just crossed a line.’ And then I walked her home.

“And, uh, you know, I don’t really need to go into what happened after that.”

March 2018: Reynolds addressed breakup rumors with a joke.

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He made light of it.

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Michael Loccisano/GettyImages

After hearing rumors that the marriage was on the rocks, Reynolds tweeted a joke, saying, “I wish. I could use a little ‘me time.’”

May 2019: Lively and Reynolds are expecting their third child together.

Lively debuted her third pregnancy in May 2018, showing up to the “Detective Pikachu” premiere to support her husband.

Sources later told People magazine that the celebrities are delighted to be parents of three.

“They are so happy and excited about having another baby,” the source told People.

The post Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are expecting their third child together. Here’s a timeline of their relationship., Defence Online appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/05/04/blake-lively-and-ryan-reynolds-are-expecting-their-third-child-together-heres-a-timeline-of-their-relationship-defence-online/

[recentanimenews]

My Week in Manga: April 10-April 16, 2017

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga was relatively quiet, but I did post the Bookshelf Overload for March. As mentioned in that post (and I think sometime prior to that as well), I’m currently in the process of changing jobs, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied to say the least. (If you follow me on Twitter, this largely explains my sporadic appearances there.) This week is my last week in my current position, so I’m understandably pretty busy with meetings and tying up loose ends and such. I still plan on finishing up and posting my review of the first volume of Nagabe’s The Girl from the Other Side sometime this week, but it will probably be towards the end.

Over the last week, Seven sees announced a couple more new licenses: Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s Perfect Blue novels (which were the basis for Satoshi Kon’s anime film of the same name) as well as Jin and Sayuki’s manga series Nirvana. Yen Press also had a slew of announcements: Natsume Ono’s ACCA 13 (probably the one I’m most excited about), Kudan Naduka and Nakoto Sanada’s Angel of Slaughter, Matoba’s As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Rihito Takarai’s Graineliers, Afro’s Laid-Back Camp?, Mufirushi Shimazaki’s The Monster Tamer Girls, Koromo’s A Polar Bear in Love, Matcha Hazuki’s One Week Friends, Fuse’s Regarding Reincarnating as Slime light novel (Kodansha Comics has licensed the manga), both the light novel and manga of Carlo Zen’s The Saga of Evil Tanya, Okina Baba’s light novel So I’m a Spider, So What?, Keiichi Shigusawa and Tadadi Tamori’s Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online, Abec’s Sword Art Online Artworks artbook, Reki Kawahara and Shii Kiya’s Sword Art Online: Calibur, Mai Tanaka’s Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, Kakashi Oniyazu’s Though You May Burn to Ash, and Ryousuke Asakura’s Val X Love.

As for crowdfunding efforts, Digital Manga will be launching its most recent Juné Kickstarter sometime later today in an effort to publish print editions of some of Psyche Delico’s manga which were previously only released digitally. (This is in addition to recently announced print licenses of Psyche Delico’s Even a Dog Won’t Eat It and Choco Strawberry Vanilla.) Another Kickstarter project to keep an eye on is Retrofit Comic’s Spring 2017 collection which includes Yuichi Yokoyama’s Iceland. (In general Retrofit Comics releases some great books, but this will be the publisher’s first manga to be translated.) Finally, the wonderful people behind Queer Japan are currently raising funds for the film’s post-production as well as some of the non-profit organizations featured in the documentary.

Quick Takes

Dawn of the Arcana, Volumes 7-13 by Rei Toma. I enjoyed the first part of Dawn of the Arcana a great deal and so was looking forward to reading the rest of the series. As the manga progresses it becomes less reliant on the standard fantasy tropes that form its base, although it never escapes them entirely. However, even considering this, Dawn of the Arcana is still a satisfying and enjoyable series. The story’s most dramatic plot twist I guessed at long before it was actually revealed, but there were still developments and directions that the story took that managed to surprise me. At times it felt like Dawn of the Arcana was only scratching the surface, as if the manga was only providing a summary version of a much more complicated narrative. The characters and story have depth to them, but not everything is thoroughly and completely explored, much of the more nuanced interpretations being left to the readers to form. I really liked Dawn of the Arcana. It can be heartbreaking–the characters’ struggling with circumstances that have no easy resolutions–but also thrilling as they find ways to take control of their own fates.

Murciélago, Volume 1 by Yoshimurakana. I was forewarned about the violence, gore, and otherwise explicit nature of Murciélago, so I was well aware of what I was getting myself into by picking up the manga. Murciélago is ridiculous, absurd, extreme, over-the-top, and a great deal of fun if someone doesn’t have a problem with the series’ aforementioned blood and brutality. Interestingly, the risqué lesbian sex scenes which both open and close the first volume, while being deliberately lewd, scandalous, and outrageous are also entirely consensual and in a way are bizarrely one of the more wholesome aspects of the manga. The lead of Murciélago is Kuroko Koumori, a dangerous, murderous, and lecherous woman who has been sentenced to death for her crimes. Kuroko is a monster and is portrayed as such. (She’s an awful person, but I really like her as a character.) The only reason that she’s still alive is that the police have indefinitely postponed her execution in order to take advantage of her impressive skills as an assassin. So, yeah, Murciélago definitely isn’t a series for everyone, but I certainly plan on reading more of it.

Triton of the Sea, Omnibus 2 (equivalent to Volumes 3-4) by Osamu Tezuka. It has been a very long time since I read the first half of Triton of the Sea. So long ago in fact that I had forgot that I hadn’t actually finished the series yet. Fortunately, the manga was pretty easy to pick up again. I seem to like Triton of the Sea best when the story centers its focus on family. In the first omnibus, it was Triton’s relationships with his human family that really captured my attention and in the second it was his experiences as a new father that most delighted me. (It probably didn’t hurt that the baby merfolk were super cute.) Triton of the Sea is also a story of revenge. Triton is determined destroy the Poseidon clan for the sake of his people who have been nearly driven to extinction, his desire for retribution blinding him from seeing other courses of action that might allow the two clans to establish a lasting peace. This of course only serves to continue the cycle of violence that puts him and his loved ones in danger. Triton of the Sea isn’t Tezuka’s strongest or most notable work, but I did appreciate the themes that Tezuka was exploring with the series.

Wandering Island, Volume 1 by Kenji Tsuruta. The premise of Wandering Island is fairly simple: Mikura Amelia is a pilot for an air delivery service based in the Izu Islands that she and her grandfather established together. When he unexpectedly passes away, she understandably takes it pretty hard. While in mourning she discovers package among her grandfather’s belongings with an address on it that shouldn’t exist, leading Mikura to become obsessed with a search for a mysterious, disappearing island. Although there are some wonderful scenes of Mikura in flight, there’s not really much action in Wandering Island. Instead, the manga is rather leisurely paced with a contemplative and melancholic feel to it. Wandering Island is also beautifully illustrated, Tsuruta’s artwork being one of the series’ highlights. I love how Tsuruta is able to capture a sense of place and the people who live there. I’m not sure when or if the second volume of Wandering Island will be published in English (the Japanese edition itself isn’t even scheduled to be released until next month), but I would definitely like to see it translated.

Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure: A Tale That Begins with Fukushima by Hideo Furukawa. Fukushima has been on my mind lately which reminded me of the fact that I had yet to read Furukawa’s Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure, one of the first major literary responses to the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters associated with March 11, 2011. The work is rather curious, but it’s also worthwhile and powerful. In part it’s a sequel of sorts to Furukawa’s novel Seikazoku (The Holy Family), which hasn’t actually been released in English. However, familiarity with that earlier work isn’t at all necessary. Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure also delves into the history of Fukushima as a whole, both before and after 2011. But perhaps most importantly, it’s an incredibly personal memoir. Though he was away at the time, Furukawa was originally from Fukushima. Soon after the disasters struck, he traveled back to the area in order to witness the aftermath of the events himself. A fair amount of the volume is devoted to Furukawa’s profound experiences while on that trip, combining fiction, history, and biography in a compelling way.

By: Ash Brown

[itwilltoteshappen]

I know you've probably talked about this already but could you give a usual rundown on when typical movie promo starts? Like when would Harry start doing interviews/appearances for Dunkirk? I'm curious because if his album comes out in May/June how close is it cutting it to Dunkirk stuff? And usually album promo doesn't stop immediately after it's released so is he going to have to choose music vs movie promo, as in they would be happening at the same time? Thank you so much!

so!  Normally, the answer would be print interviews happening in May, press junkets in June Buuuuut Dunkirk is in an interesting situation right now where there’s a chance in might end up premiering at Cannes instead of its scheduled July box office date.  Cannes is taking place May 17-28 this year.  Producers have until March 14th this year to submit their films for consideration so we have a bit of wait time before we find out if it’s accepted (and that’s if it’s even being submitted).  

so basically, my answer is  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at this point.  i don’t think it’ll affect promo TOO much...if anything there will be more print articles earlier than anticipated.  Then there’s the festival itself where I’d assume he’d go to promote the film.

A single MIGHT be doable.  it’ll still be a lot, but easier than a full album.  but even then it’s a very precarious balancing act.  Even HDD reported today that now they think it’s a single that would drop in April/May, not the album.  If I were in charge and he was desperate to release something before Dunkirk (which if I were in charge I wouldn’t do but whatever, just go with me), it would probably be best for the single to come out in April, do some promo for that, go to Canne in May, promote the film from May-July then maybe another single in August/sept once Dunkirk stuff has died down?  Full album in October?  

Hope this is somewhat helpful! 

[pink-earmuffs]

The following are non spoiler-y reviews from ARC books I’ve recently received - these are copied over so they aren’t as detailed to avoid spoilers and other issues

Caraval - 4.9/5 – LOVED this. I’m just pained I’ll have to wait SO LONG for the sequel. This book reminded me of The Night Circus but had its own charm about it (the way it was formatted was a lovely plus as I’m a sucker for things like that). It’s been a while since I could visualize a book in my head and this was completely gorgeous. The film should be stunning. The only issue I had was minor words and phrases that probably will be tweaked when it officially releases.

Release Date: January 31,2017

Defy the Stars - 5/4.8 I really enjoyed this but I gotta say I did see the one twist coming after being familiar with her earlier books. That kind of fell flat with me (there’s one thing early on that was different) but I did like how the entire plot was a mashup of Blade Runner/A.I./ and a bit of Star Wars. I liked that Gray seemed to be pushing her limits which makes me excited to see where she goes with this and these new characters.

Release Date: April 4,2017

Gilded Cage - 4.5/5. I liked this one and it didn’t make the choice of 10+ years of slavery seem watered down either. It started out difficult to follow with the POV’s but once it got going it was good. Also, I like that the ending wasn’t what I expected (and it’ll probably have a sequel) but I did like the few twists that were there but they weren’t totally unexpected.

Release Date: February 14,2017

Long May She Reign - 3.9/5. I liked that this was a standalone and didn’t need a sequel. Also I found this interesting because the main character cared more about solving things instead of “romance” A+ for that - down side? The reveal felt kind of forced a bit and the world building was lacking but I liked it for being what it was on the tin (for the most part).

Release Date: February 21, 2017

Nemesis - 5/5. I LOVED this and devoured it in 2 days. The concept and the way it plays out reminded me of STRANGER THINGS but also it’s got a little bit of THE BOX mixed in – I gotta wait for a long time for the sequel which sucks but this was SO good. I was surprised at WHAT the reveal actually was for once.

Release Date: March 21,2017

[placetobenation]

Steve’s Box Office Report: April 2009

Top 10 Films for the Month of April:

1. Fast and Furious – $155,064,265

2. Hannah Montana: The Movie – $79,576,189

3. Obsessed – $68,261,644

4. 17 Again – $64,167,069

5. State of Play – $37,017,955

6. Earth – $32,011,576

7. The Soloist – $31,720,158

8. Observe and Report – $24,007,324

9. Fighting – $23,091,010

10. Adventureland – $16,044,025

Honorable Mentions:

1. Crank: High Voltage – $13,684,249

2. Sunshine Cleaning – $12,062,558

3. Dragonball: Evolution – $9,362,785

April Winners: Fast and Furious, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Obsessed, and 17 Again

As we continue on through the year of 2009 and dive deep into the spring season, the year had leveled out a slight bit coming out of March after the year started pretty well. With the slate of films that were set to come out this month, it was pretty clear that at least one movie would do well and it was up to how the rest of the films would end up doing. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the film that was expected to do well and that is Fast and Furious, the fourth film in the franchise which sees Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner team up to avenge Toretto’s lover’s murder and capture a drug lord. After the dismal performance of Tokyo Drift and originally being set for an early June release, the film would be pushed back to April which would end up being very beneficial as it would be the highest grossing film in the series thus far which we will touch on later in the review. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the musical comedy Hannah Montana: The Musical, based on the TV series of the same name which sees Miley Stewart taken back to her hometown to gain perspective on her life and career. Following the success of the concert film and the ongoing run of the TV show, they finally hit the big screen with a traditional film that did fairly well despite the mixed reviews and played out well with a lack of family films released this month. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the erotic thriller film Obsessed, a film about an office temp who tries to seduce her boss much to his wife’s chagrin. Like the previous two films, this film would receive mixed to negative reviews from critics who considered it a cheap rehash of other erotic thrillers, but there was just enough there including the final fight at the end that drew moviegoers in and it would debut at #1 in its opening weekend while finishing with close to $70 million. The fourth and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the comedy 17 Again, a film about a man who is turned back into a 17-year old and looks to rebuild his life in this new body. The film would also receive mixed reviews from critics which seems to be a trend for the films released this month, but this would also end up drawing in plenty of moviegoers as it also finished #1 in its opening weekend while finishing in the top 5 for the month. It just goes to show you that the critical reviews itself don’t matter completely because as long as the films look intriguing enough, they will end up doing well which we see from the films that made it into this category.

April Losers: State of Play, the Soloist, and Dragonball: Evolution

So as I mentioned earlier, the grade for this month was mainly going to hinge on how the remaining slate of films would end up doing because it was pretty obvious that Fast and Furious was going to dominate the month. While the month ended up having a solid amount of winners for the month, we did have our fair share of losers for the month though now it’s about how bad they were and if it was enough to drag the month down. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is the political thriller State of Play, based on the BBC miniseries of the same name which sees a journalist try to uncover the details behind the death of a congressman’s mistress. Unlike the films that made it into the winner’s category, this film actually received positive reviews from critics though it would end up failing to find its footing amongst the mainstream audience, and while the film would have a decent opening weekend it would end up disappearing into the background and ultimately lands in this category. The next film from this month that makes it into this category is the drama film the Soloist, based on the life of Nathaniel Ayers who became homeless after developing schizophrenia. The film would also receive mixed reviews from critics and had been moved from a previous release date, and as a result it would end up underperforming in its opening weekend and would fall flat which we will get into later in the review. The third and final film from this month that makes it into this category is the sci-fi film Dragonball: Evolution, a film based on the Dragonball manga which sees a young Goku try to save Earth from Lord Piccolo who seeks to obtain the powerful Dragon Balls. The film would receive negative reviews from critics as well as from fans of the manga who felt the film wasn’t honoring the source material, and it would end up bombing in the box office and thus killed off any plans for a possible sequel or franchise. So the failures of these three films were of different ranges and didn’t do enough to totally effect the bottom line of April, but it was just enough to keep April from reaching a decent ceiling that it could’ve reached.

The Surprise/Story of April 2009: Fast and Furious power slides to top spot of April 2009

As we head into the month of April, the year had leveled off a bit which I mentioned earlier and there was a feeling that this month had to heat things back up heading into the month of May which was looking pretty loaded. As I had also mentioned earlier, there was at least one film that was guaranteed to do well and that was Fast and Furious, and thus the eyes were going to be on the remaining films of the month to see if they could do well. Well as expected, Fast and Furious easily took the top spot for the month of April as it makes over $150 million and now three out of the four months this year has as least one film make over $100 million. As for the rest of the films from this month, there were three films that made over $60 million with Hannah Montana coming close to $80 million, so the top half was fairly strong while the bottom half were relatively close to each other. So while this month doesn’t completely regain the momentum that had begun at the beginning of the year, it is about on par with March and doesn’t derail the train so there is at least a little bit of fire going into the month of May.

Overachiever of April 2009: Fast and Furious

Going into the month of April, there were a lot of eyes on Fast and Furious and to see if it would end up being successful especially after the terrible performance of the last film in the franchise which was Tokyo Drift. Obviously, this film had a lot more going for it as the entire original cast appeared for this film and this was considered the true sequel to 2 Fast 2 Furious instead of Tokyo Drift which was considered a standalone film. After being originally scheduled for an early June release, the film was moved to early April which ended up being a smart move given how loaded May was and the studio didn’t want it to get lost in the shuffle amongst some other films. Ultimately, the move would pay off as it would debut at #1 with over $70 million and finished its run with just over $155 million, making it the highest grossing film in the franchise to this point four films in. Even though the film would end up being the lowest rated film of the franchise in terms of critical reviews, it was still popular enough with the mainstream audience that they came out to see it and helped propel it to the highest grossing opening weekend for the month of April. As a result, it was clear there was still plenty of gas left in the tank of this franchise and thus there is no question that Fast and Furious deserves its title as the overachiever of the month.

Underachiever of April 2009: The Soloist

Heading into this month with most of the focus on the success of Fast and Furious, most of the other films released this month didn’t have much focus behind them though you would hope that some of them did better than expected. As a result, choosing a film to be the underachiever of the month was a bit of a challenge and it was hard to choose a film that deserved this dishonor. Ultimately, I ended up going with a film that seemed to have some potential and didn’t pan out as well as hoped and that was the Soloist. Granted, many people were probably not fully aware of Nathaniel Ayers or the story that Steve Lopez wrote on him, but given that it was being led by two big names in Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. seemed to think that it could get by just on star power. But as we know from past reviews, star power can’t carry a film alone and coupled with the dismal reviews from critics would lead to the film being buried behind Obsessed and Fighting along with the second weekend performance of 17 Again. As a result, the film would end up finishing in the bottom half of the top 10 for the month and it ends up being named the underachiever of the month, but it will be interesting to see how it pairs up with the remaining underachievers for the rest of the year.

April 2009 Awards Watch: Hannah Montana: The Movie and Obsessed

As we were continuing into the spring, we now kick off the new year in terms of the award season as we look ahead to next year and what films will be jumping into the fray for the big three. Last month only saw two films make it into this category as the award year was coming to an end, and now with a new year beginning this month only has two films that make it into this category as well. The first film from this month that makes it into this category is Hannah Montana: The Movie which ends up being nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actor) though it wouldn’t win either one. The other film from this month that makes it into this category is Obsessed which was also nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards (Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actress) though it also wouldn’t win either award. Ultimately, the month of April 2009 ended up being a fairly forgettable month in terms of potential award contenders.

Overall Thoughts of April 2009:

So overall, the month of April in 2009 ended up being a pretty down the middle month with one standout film and nothing else pretty substantial to help carry the month higher than it ends up going. As mentioned a couple of times in this review, the month was pretty much going to be carried by one film and it was about whether the rest of the films were going to carry their weight, but ultimately nothing else broke away from the pack and things seemed to be in a holding pattern going into May. It was a good sign for this month in that a film made over $100 million which was not common at that time for the month of April and we will see going forward that it does become a theme where April has at least one major blockbuster come out just before the summer season. 2009 has been a pretty decent year thus far in that the year started pretty well with January and a little bit into February, but things did level off in March and April kept things on the same level without moving the needle too far either direction. We will see as the summer season officially begins next month if the year gets back on the fast track and can finish ahead of what 2008 did. As for the month of April in 2009, it was a pretty straightforward month with one major film doing well and everything else being on par with each other.

Final Grade: C