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ebaeschnbliah · 4 years ago

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SHERLOCK’S WEBSITE

‘Reading the document is the same as seeing the author’

This says a Chinese proverb (X). What does it mean then, when John tells Sherlock in A Scandal in Belgravia: ‘nobody is reading your website’?

SHERLOCK: I have a website. JOHN: In which you enumerate two hundred and forty different types of tobacco ash. Nobody’s reading your website.

Some more musings about Sherlock’s website ‘The Science of Deduction’ and its content below the cut ...

Just a little while later in the same episode - while he writes aboout the unsolved plane crash case in Düsseldorf ... ‘Sherlock Holmes baffled’ - John describes his own blog as Sherlock’s ‘living’.

JOHN: Look at that. One thousand, eight hundred and ninety-five. SHERLOCK: Sorry, what? JOHN: I re-set that counter last night. This blog has had nearly two thousand hits in the last eight hours. This is your living, Sherlock – not two hundred and forty different types of tobacco ash. SHERLOCK: Two hundred and forty-three.

‘This is your living’ is basically the same as ‘this is your life’. This is YOU. The way John describes Sherlock on his own blog, shapes how the public eye views the great detective. The same way as Dr Watson did in canon in his stories for The Strand. This fact becomes even more clear during the greenhouse scene in TAB. Although Dr Watson is aware that he doesn’t tell the truth about Holmes, he doesn’t change his stories about him either.

HOLMES: .... as I have often explained before, all emotion is abhorrent to me. It is the grit in a sensitive instrument ... the crack in the lens. WATSON: Yes. HOLMES: Well, there you are, you see? I’ve said it all before. WATSON: No, I wrote all that. You’re quoting yourself from The Strand Magazine. HOLMES: Well, exactly. WATSON: No, those are my words, not yours! That is the version of you that I present to the public: the brain without a heart; the calculating machine. I write all of that, Holmes, and the readers lap it up, but I do not believe it.

If John’s statement ‘my blog is your living’ can be translated into ‘my blog is your life’ - my blog is YOU - what then can be said about John’s other comment, regarding Sherlock’s website ‘The Science of Deduction’, when he tells Sherlock: ‘nobody’s reading your website’? If the document, the blog, the website reflects the personality of the writer, the author and when nobody is reading Sherlock’s website because nobody is interested in its content ... doesn’t this translate into: 'nobody’s interested in who you really are’? I assume one can indeed read it that way, because the plot confirms such a translation as well.

Oh, don’t worry. I know who you really are. I’m never off your website. (THOB, Dr Frankland)

If Dr Frankland knows who Sherlock really is, just by looking at his website - at Sherlock, the author - maybe it would be a good idea to take a look as well. ... the same way Sherlock advices Kitty Riley in TRF: ‘Well, look at ME and tell me what you see ... you can just read what you need’.

First of all, I’m not going to use the external internet website created for Sherlock BBC in this post. @possiblyimbiassed did already a detailed and very interesting analysis of it in ‘The Science of Reduction’. In the comments of that post I tried to exlpain the reasons for my doubts as to whether those external informations - as fascinating and tempting as they are - could lead to a solution for the story told on TV. Anyway, in this post I’m going to look at Sherlock’s website just as it is presented on screen. But what can be deduced about The Sciene of Deduction by using solely informations from TV? There’s not much to go on, one might say ... and as I’m no Sherlock Holmes either, I will most likely ‘miss almost everything of importance’, like John did with Carl’s shoes. But looking at Sherlock, the author, is definitely worth a try ... :))))

The Science of Deduction

Sherlock’s website ‘The Science of Deduction’ can be seen already in the Unaired PILOT when he is about to answer requests from various people. The very first message he is just writing, is directed at his brother Mycroft who apparently contacted him in a somewhat ... ‘impossible situation’. Sherlock’s answer is a quote from canon, probably the most well known and often used statement of the great detective ... in canon as well as in many adaptations:

Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth. (The Sign of the Four)

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? (The Sign of the Four)

It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. (The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet)

We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. (Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans)

When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. (Adventure of the Blanched Soldier)

Five more requests wait for Sherlock’s attention. His Inbox is indeed well filled ... at least six possible cases ...

Sherlock answers Gregson’s request about a ‘Church bell theft’. This done, he is clearly pleased about DI Lestrade’s not very informative message ‘Please call me’. When he is about to answer Jones request about ‘Samson and Del’, Mike Stamford and John Watson enter the room and Sherlock stops working through his Inbox.

The next day Sherlock and John meet for the first time at Baker Street 221b. John mentions that he’d found Sherlock’s website the night prior but contrary to Sherlock’s big expectations, John isn’t much impressed (unlike Jeff Hope who thinks Sherlock’s Science of Deduction is brilliant). This scene happens in both versions - PILOT and ASIP - almost identically.

JOHN: Oh, I, um, looked you up on the internet last night. SHERLOCK: Anything interesting? JOHN: Found your website, The Science of Deduction. SHERLOCK: What did you think? JOHN: Quite amusing, I suppose. SHERLOCK: “Amusing”? JOHN: You said you could identify a software designer by his tie and – what was it? – a retired plumber by his left hand. SHERLOCK: Yes; and I can read your military career by your face and your leg, and your brother’s drinking habits by your mobile phone. JOHN: How? SHERLOCK: You read the article. JOHN: The article was absurd. SHERLOCK: But I know about his drinking habits. I even know that he left his wife.

Sherlock BBC, PILOT

One of the small and also strange differences between the two versions is the ‘identification’ text line from Sherlock’s website, quoted by John. In PILOT Sherlock refers to a plumber and his left hand and in ASIP to an airline pilot and his left thumb. “It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles” tells Holmes in The Man with the Twisted Lip and “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important” in A Case of Identity. A lot of such little, seemingly unnecessary modifications and inconsistencies can be found throughout this adaptation. Maybe they are indeed there for a reason?

JOHN: I looked you up on the internet last night. SHERLOCK: Anything interesting? JOHN: Found your website, The Science of Deduction. SHERLOCK: What did you think? JOHN: You said you could identify a software designer by his tie and an airline pilot by his left thumb. SHERLOCK: Yes; and I can read your military career in your face and your leg, and your brother’s drinking habits in your mobile phone. JOHN: How?

Sherlock BBC, ASIP

Why had the profession to be changed from plumber to airline pilot and the body part from hand to thumb, one wonders? Unless it’s because plumbers have to do with water and work down to earth or even underground. They install pipes/tubes or mend broken ones. By the way, in german language the phrase ‘install a pipe’ (ein Rohr verlegen) has the same meaning as the english ‘put up shelves’. Airline pilots on the other hand often tend to be situated high up above the clouds. Well, this sort of topic runs like a red thread throuout the whole story. And that strange change of profession isn’t the only ‘small’ modification from PILOT to ASIP either.

(Strange little changes Plumber musings)

Also interesting ... there are no visuals of Sherlock’s website in the official episodes ASIP and TBB. Only in the following episode, TGG, the viewer is able to take a first ‘official’ look at The Science of Deductions, when Sherlock writes his messages to the bomber. The look of his website has changed completely.

The Great Game: the first entry in the Forum is about Carl Powers shoes and botulinum toxin ... that’s the reason for food poisoning. (Under the microscope)

Next time the website can be seen, is after Sherlock solved the second case and sends his congratulations regarding Ian Monford’s relocation to Columbia ...

And a third time when Sherlock has solved the murder of Conny Prince ...

There is no picture of Sherlock’s website connected to the fake Vermeer painting because this time Sherlock sends the solution not on his laptop but uses the pink phone dublicate instead (Yes, besides 2 Johns, 2 Faiths, 2 Charles, 2 serial killers, 2 empty houses, 2 flights of the dead, various pairs, doubles, twins ... etc, etc ... there are also 2 pink phones present in Sherlock BBC). Anyway, the Science of Deduction can be seen again when Sherlock suggests a meeting with the bomber at the same pool, where once little Carl died, to hand over the stolen missile defence plans ...

There’s no picture of Sherlock’s website in ASIB. The Science of Deduction turns up only in the two short but very interesting pieces of dialogue between John and Sherlock with which I started this post.

John utters the opinion that their clients come to Baker Street just because of his blog. Sherlock reminds him that he too has a website. John then mockingly mentions Sherlock’s analysis of 240 different types of tobacco ash on said website and adds ‘nobody is reading your website’. Sherlock is clearly offended and corrects the number of tobacco ashes from 240 to 243. Some time later John raises the tobacco-ash topic once more, proudly refers to his own blog - and the 1895 hits on it - and tells Sherlock ‘this is your living’.

The next visual presentation of the website can be seen in THOB, when Sherlock shows John the Inbox message of little Kirsty about her vanished, luminous rabbit Bluebell ...

In the same episode Sherlock tells Mrs Hudson that a ‘little blog on the identification of perfumes’ can be found on his website. It turns out that Sherlock hasn’t only extensive knowledge regarding ash, he also knows a lot about perfumes. (Perfumes in Sherlock BBC by @gosherlocked )

The HOUND-episode is also the one in which Dr Frankland tells Sherlock: ’I know who you really are. I’m never off your website’. The Baskerville scientist knows John’s blog as well and is a bit confused that Sherlock isn’t wearing the deerstalker hat, as shown there.

The Science of Deductions turns up next in TRF, in an newspaper article about the recovery of Turner’s masterpiece, the ‘Falls of the Reichenbach’, that Sherlock was able to recover (last line on the left column).

Sherlock’s website is mentioned a last time in TSOT. Not on Sherlock’s laptop but on John’s phone. Mary suggests that John should go on a case with Sherlock. John opens The Science of Deduction on his own phone and asks Sherlock to pick a case from his already ‘bursting Inbox’. Sherlock chooses The Bloody Guardsman. Sadly it’s impossible to get a clear shot of the small mobile-screen. (John’s blog stops at TSOT by @gosherlocked)

THE LOOK

Blue is the main colour Sherlock has chosen for his website ... shades of different blue ... a dark midnight blue and the skyline of a city by night can be dimly seen in the background and - a little bit clearer - on both sides.

As Sherlock Holmes is one of London’s most popular characters, it’s easy to assume that the skyline used for his website is that of GBs capital. With this in mind, the water in the bottom right corner, that can be seen rather good on the first pic above, should be the Thames and the shallow arch above it, most likely one of its many bridges. On the opposite site, in the upper left corner, next to the small, pale tower and right behind the ‘The’ of the website’s headline, the vast vault of Saint Paul’s Cathedral can be dimly seen (the view is better on a TV screen).

If one connects the images of river and bridge on the left with St Paul’s on the right, I guess the background of Sherlock’s website could be a panorama photo similar to the one below. That’s a view from the Southbank of the Thames with Blackfriars Bridge in the foreground. And this location does play a role in the story ....

Blackfriars Bridge is located between Southwark Bridge and Waterloo Bridge. The name derives from Black Freres ... the French 'frère' meaning 'brother'. This referes to the black habits of the Dominican monks. A monk is also called a brother, a nun is also called a sister and the opposite of a ‘black brother’ would be a (ghostly) ‘white sister’. Just saying. :)

(The Roads we walk Vatican Cameos A Christmas Tale)

As mentioned above, this particular cityscape plays a role in Sherlock BBC. It’s a crime scene from TGG.

SHERLOCK: View of the Thames. South Bank – somewhere between Southwark Bridge and Waterloo.

At this place, Alex Woodbridge was found, the security guard and hobby stargazer, killed by the Golem, in the Vermeer case ... the same case which doesn’t turn up in the messages on Sherlock’s website because he uses the pink phone and conveys the solution verbally. Viewed metaphorically ... he speaks through the heart.

Blue is the colour of the sky ... high up, where the aeroplanes fly. Blue is also the colour of the water, deep down below ... where powerful emotions run freely and London is Sherlock’s city. The country, the city, the houses, even cars are closely linked to the famous detective. They seem to represent his ‘body’.

Just put me back in London. I need to get to know the place again, breathe it in – feel every quiver of its beating heart. (Sherlock, TEH)

Brother Mycroft IS government and ‘queen’ at the same time. There are all kinds of networks above and below ground and steam trains run behind fake facades. Saint Paul’s Cathedral and the river Thames are often special eye-catcher. The coat of arms ... with dragon, lion and Saint George’s cross ... make their appearance as well as the great fire of London in 1666, the Isle of Dogs and the Greenwich pips. ‘Transport’ goes from standstill to movement ....

666-The number of the beast Every quiver of his beating heart Saint Paul’s Cathedral Still at the centre of the web From standstill to movement

WEBSITE ... A SITE FOR THE WEB

Sherlock has a website .... John has a blog. Why the difference? Both men, Sherlock and John, are given strongly internet-related nicknames ... Hat-man and Robin:The web detectives ... Sherlock & John: Blogger Detectives. Sherlock is also called ‘Net Tec’ and ‘net phenomenon’. What’s the difference between Blog and Website:

BLOG: The word ‘blog’ is short for ‘weblog’ (web=net + log=logbook), jokingly broken into the phrase ‘we blog’. A blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries. Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. 'Blog' and 'blogging' are now loosely used for content creation and sharing on social media, especially when the content is long-form and one creates and shares content on regular basis. (X)

WEBSITE: The word website consists of web=net + site=place. Literally web-site means ‘a place in the net’. A website can be used in various fashions: a personal website, a corporate website for a company, a government website, an organization website, etc. Websites can be the work of an individual, a business or other organization, and are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web. (X)

Of course, the word ‘web’ immediately reminds me of Jim Moriarty. The spider at the centre of a criminal web, woven with thousands of threads and Jim knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances. Sherlock is going to monitor the underworld in order to notice every quiver of that web, so he will notice when the spider makes his move.

As mentioned above, all kinds of networks - above and below ground - play a major role in Sherlock BBC. There are Mycroft’s people, his agents and spies. There are terrorists who threaten London with a massive attack. General Shan has a vast network with thousands of operatives and Sherlock calls it ‘a cult’. A surveillance web is closing in on Baker Street, their attention focussed on Sherlock. An Underground network as well as an underground network runs below the surface of the big city. A secret cult of revenging birdes meets in the crypt of a desanctified church. Sherlock is convinced that the ‘world is woven from billions of lives, every strand crossing every other. What we call premonition is just movement of the web. If you could attenuate to every strand of quivering data, the future would be entirely calculable, as inevitable as mathematics’. So many threads - linked and interwoven - they create a web, a net .... a web-net. Basically, that’s exactly how brains work as well. Every brain is a very vast and highly functional biological network ... and Sherlock’s is faster than most ‘... still catching up with my brain. It’s terribly fast’.

Recent models in modern neuroscience treat the brain as a biological computer, very different in mechanism from an electronic computer, but similar in the sense that it acquires information from the surrounding world, stores it, and processes it in a variety of ways. Neurons typically communicate with one another by means of long fibers, which carry trains of signal pulses to distant parts of the brain or body. (X)

And then there's also Sherlock’s ‘own’ network ... the ‘homeless network’ it is called. According to Sherlock, it is ‘indispensible and faster than the police’. Those group of people is based on the Baker Street Irregulars from canon. There, in Victorian London, they are street boys, sometimes employed by Holmes to run errands for him. Holmes speaks of them as ‘division of the detecitve police force’. Dr Watson describes them as ‘little scoundrels’ and ‘half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped eyes on’.

While the idea of homeless people who sometimes assist Sherlock in his cases is taken from canon, the name - homeless network - is not. Names are always important in this story. So basically, what is a homless network? It is a network that has no home. At times it is usefull for Sherlock and he pays them for their help. In a way this reminds me of Eurus. She says abut herself: 'to remember everything one just needs a big enough hard drive’. Her intellectual abilities are also of occasional use for the government. In return she requires treats. Similar to Sherlock’s homeless network, Eurus has no home either. She lost it long ago in her childhood days. Sherlock has a website ... a site, a place in the web ... but only very few people are interested in it. Actually just Jeff Hope and Dr Frankland as it seems. Sherlock has a homless network ... a network without a home.

The women of the ‘cult’ from TAB first gave me the idea that all those dangerous groups ... agents, spies, terrorists and the various networks ... could actually be metaphors for something that happens inside Sherlock’s mind. That all those groups represent the awakening of emotional stirrings ... desires, fears, impulses ... that haunt the great detective. There seem to be aspects of Sherlock’s personality which he views as rightous criminal and puts them behind padded walls or elephant glass. Others are just annoying and distracting. Some he ignores most of the time because he considers them to be irrelevant for his system. Some have no home, although they turn out to be usefull now and then. Then something unexpected happens ... something new is coming ... and this marks the beginning of a change of perception in Sherlock Holmes, maybe a revolution.

The reptile in 221b Underground networks AGRA-Under the sign of four Eurus, the emotional memory & The cold war by @raggedyblue

FOUR MESSAGES and a GAP

Four messages can be read on Sherlock’s website. All of them are from TGG, related to four of the five cases, written by Sherlock and directed at ‘the bomber’. As it turns out at the end of the episode, this person is none other than Jim Moriarty, the spider in the centre of the web.

FOUND. Pair of trainers belonging to Carl Powers (1978-1989). Botulinum toxin still present. Apply 221b Baker St.

Congratulations to Ian Monkford on his relocation to Columbia.

Raoul de Santos, the house-boy, botox.

xxx

Found. The Bruce-Partington plans. Please collect. The Pool. Midnight.

Only one of the cold cases is not mentioned on Sherlock’s website, because Sherlock uses the pink phone duplicate, sent to him by the bomber in a strong box at the beginning of the ‘great game’, to submit his message. Sometimes it is useful to ‘mind the gap’ as Sherlock says. Sometimes that, what is left out, is just as important as that, what is there. The ‘gap-case’ is the one about the fake Vermeer painting, whose forgery was first noticed by security guard and hobby stargazer Alex Woodbridge, murdered because of it by the Golem. His body was found at the Southbank of the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge ... the same location Sherlock uses as background for his website. Sherlock discovers and proves the truth due to the display of an impossible supernova on the painting.

A picture pretends to show a scene from the past, but the massive explosion painted on it reveals, that the picture has actually been created much more recently. That massive explosion had never happened in the past.

The bomber’s hostage in the Vermeer case is a kid who is never shown on screen. The little boy transmittes a countdown from 10 to 1, that mirrors Sherlock’s own countdown in TFP (Countdown) while the boy’s plea for help mirrors that of the girl on the plane and also that of Victor Trevor, the boy in the well near Musgrave Hall. Victor Trevor and Musgrave Hall represent two canon stories - The Adventure of the Gloria Scott and The Musgrave Ritual - both set in Sherlock Holmes’ university time, long before he met Dr Watson. Both cases lead back to a time ‘where Sherlock began’.

(Why Victor Trevor was turned into a child by @sagestreet)

THE HOUND & THE GUARDSMEN

Little Kirsty Stapleton’s cry for help in THOB to ‘please, please, please’ find Bluebell, her vanished, luminous rabbit, marks the beginning of the HOUND case. Chemistry, triggered by the pressure of feet, fills the air and drives everyone exposed to it, crazy. Love is in the air .... At the end Jim Moriarty (Mr Sex) walks free, released from his cell by Mycroft Holmes himself ...

Private Stephen Bainbridge’s request in TSOT, regarding a mysterious stalker, marks the beginning of the GUARDSMEN case. Jonathan Small (literally: Jonny Little), a brilliant, ruthless monomaniac (who strongly reminds me of Jim Moriarty), stabbs guardians/facades with a ‘meat dagger’. At the end Mary Watson is pregnant ... ‘stabbed’ by ‘Johnny boy’ (Hamish=James) Watson ... the HOUND hidden behind the facade of the facade .... Matroshka ‘poppets’ indeed.

“Mary – lots of love ... poppet ... oodles of love and heaps of good wishes from CAM.” (Telegram from Magnussen, keeper of the deepest and darkest secrets and scandals,TSOT)

THE BLUEBELL COMPANIONS

Alongside little Kirsty’s message about Bluebell there appear two more requests on the Inbox page of Sherlock’s website (they can be easily read on TV screen). In films neiter images and certainly not texts appear on screen out of coincidence. Pictures are there for certain reasons, even if it’s just for the purpose of a fitting decoration. Texts on the other hand are much more specific. Someone must have had the idea to put it there and someone had to create the image. Especially the makers of Sherlock BBC have repeatedly mentioned that everything that appears on screen has its meaning. With this in mind, what can be deduced about those two earlier requests in Sherlock’s Inbox?

1- Please help victims of China earthquake. It costs just 5p.

China - right from the beginning a certain ‘easterly’ theme appears and runs from there throughout the whole story like a red ribbon until the moment the Eastwind finally approaches in the shape of Eurus. In a metaphorical reading I connect the East to emotions and memory.

An earthquake is a sudden outburst of held back and bottled-up energie. When the pressure gets too high it results in a violent release of that energy. Explosions .... rocks crack, the earth shakes. Earthquakes can trigger landslides, volcanic activity or cause a tsunami. Major changes are also often referred to as ‘earthquakes’.

Costs of 5p ... A penny (p) is a coin and a unit of the britisch pound (£), the official currency in the UK (a currency Sherlock doesn’t know how to spend?). 5p is money. The saying goes that time is money. A minute is a unit of time. Viewing it in reversed order ... money is time = 5 penny are 5 minutes. ‘It took her (Eurus) just five minutes to do all of this to us.’

Reading it that way, a possible translation of the first request in Sherlock’s Inbox could be: “Please help victims of emotional upheaval. It takes just 5 minutes.” :)

2- Re. Mudchute Query

Mudchute is a railway station situated in the Millwall area on the Isle of Dogs. The name Millwall has its source in the large number of windmills built on the river wall in the 19th century. They were needed to ground corn and wheat into flour that was brought along the Thames. The original station was located on an old Victorian railway line that had been disused for many years. An elevated station opened 1987. When the line was extended under the Thames, the station was rebuilt close to the tunnel entrance. It opened 1999 and was finally completed 2009. The station was originally intended to be named Millwall Park but then renamed in Mudchute, refering to the engineering overspill when Millwall Dock was being created in the 1840s. (X)

Basically ... the second request in Sherlock’s Inbox is about a query regarding a railway station, built in the Victorian area at a place linked to mills (♪ Remember the maid ... the maid of the mill ...♪, TAB), disused for years, rebuilt and elevated, named, renamed ... until it was completed in 2009, the same year the Unaired Pilot was created. Well .... that sounds a bit ... familiar?

PERFUME AND TOBACCO ASHES

Appart from Sherlock’s cold case messages addressed to Jim Moriarty and two requests from - Kirsty Stapleton and Stephen Bainbridge - there are only two other entries on The Science of Deduction ... Sherlock’s own analysis about perfumes and tobacco ashes. Basically that’s about ... scent/smell and fire residues.

SCENT: From Kasbah Nights to Claire de la Lune, perfumes play a significant role in this story and Sherlock is a true expert in smellig and recognizing the different brands. The first thing that comes to mind, related to the word ‘scent’ is a dog - more precisely a scent dog. One of the most prominent representatives of that breed is the Bloodhound. And it is well known that Sherlock Holmes is indeed compared to a blood hound in ACDs The Sign of Four. That same quote has been adopted in TEH (Sherlock the Bloodhound), it appears on John’s Blog and is read by Mary. But in Sherlock BBC the bloodhound isn’t only linked to Sherlock himself. The HOUND is also connected to John Watson, Jim Moriarty, Victor Trevor, Eurus and Redbeard the Irish Setter, also a scent dog.

(The dogs in Sherlock’s mind palace The bloodhound in his hands Transformation of Redbeard and the ‘Follow the dog’ series by @sagestreet)

FIRE RESIDUES: Sherlock has an extensive knowledge regarding tobacco ashes. This characteristic has also been taken from canon.

I have made a special study of cigar ashes—in fact, I have written a monograph upon the subject. I flatter myself that I can distinguish at a glance the ash of any known brand, either of cigar or of tobacco. (ACD, A Study in Scarlet)

In TSOT drunken Sherlock proclaims loudly ‘Ash! I know ash!’ Almost the same words (‘I know human ash’) uses the guy from ASIB, whose aunt had been among the plane crash victims in Düsseldorf (’Sherlock Holmes baffled’). In the same episode Sherlock steals an ashtray from Buckingham Palace. In TEH Sherlock’s return from hiatus is underlined with at least half a dozen scetches of phoenixes, rising from the ashes, at the walls of the Landmark Restaurant. Another bird that has great resemblance with a phoenix can be found on Brenda’s gravestone at Musgrave Hall (Among the funny gravestones).

Ash is the residue of a fire damage. Fire and burning is one of the main themes in Sherlock BBC. From Jim’s threat to burn Sherlock’s heart out to the gingerbread man burned to a crisp, from John’s Guy Fawkes bonfire to Sherlock’s admission ‘I’m burning up’, from the Baker Street living room in flames to the great fire at Musgrave Hall ... not to mention all the exploding or not quite expoding bombs throughout the show ... fire anf burning is never far away in this story.

(Love is a burning thing A case ablaze Set this house on fire by @gosherlocked)

TOBACCO ASHES ... CHEMISTRY BURNED

Tobacco s the common name for plants belonging to the Nicotiana family. It contains the highly addictive stimulant nicotine. The dried leaves of the plant are mainly used for smoking in cigars, cigarettes, pipes, etc ... Nicotine is a widely used legal drug. The burning of tobacco results in smoke and the residue left behind is ash. Sherlock knows ash. Interestingly and unlike to canon, in this modern adaptation Sherlock doesn’t simply know ‘any known brand of cigar or tobacco ash’, he has analysed exactly 243 different types of those ashes and he explicitly corrects the number 240, cited by John. Is this seemingly unimportant correction just there to emphasise Sherlock’s annoyance over John’s mockery or is maybe another meaning hidden behind that corrected number?

243 ... ‘This is your living, Sherlock – not two hundred and forty different types of tobacco ash’ - ‘243!��

243 different types of tobacco ash are not Sherlock’s living. 243 different, tobacco products - burnt to ashes - are not Sherlock’s life.

As mentioned above, tobacco contains nicotine and nicotine is a drug. Viewing Sherlock BBC on a metaphorical level ... all drugs are chemistry and chemistry is love. The chemistry of love, burnt to ashes ... 243 times over. Hmmmm .... Then an idea hit me and I asked Google a question:

This answer is from January 2020. The first official series of Sherlock BBC aired 2010 and the Unaired Pilot has been produced in 2009. I seem to recall that the first and the second series have been accepted by the BBC at the same time and since 2009 several more Sherlock Holmes adaptations have seen the light of day (Guy Ritchie Holmes, Elementary, New Russian Holmes, Miss Sherlock, Mr Holmes, Sherlock Gnomes, Holmes&Watson, Enola Holmes ... to name just a few).

Could it be that the number of different tobacco ashes, analysed by Sherlock, mirrors the number of different adaptations about the famous detective? Sherlock Holmes ... reborn again and again with each adaptation, like a phoenix from the ashes, and yet he was never able to live a full life ... including emotions, love and sex?

‘All lives end. All hearts are broken’, that’s what Mycroft tells Sherlock in ASIB. Chemistry burned to ashes in an endless row. ‘So many days not lived, so many words unsaid’ ... says Eurus in TFP and referes to the coffin whose lid is adorned with a brass plate, I LOVE YOU, written on it (A coffin for love). You are absolutely right @loveismyrevolution with your idea of Sherlock standing between two ‘angels’ in that scene, although I would rather call them ‘choices’. Because this scene has great resemblance with the three solutions/choices Sherlock has to choose from after the event on Barth’s roof (Solutions or choices).

At that time Sherlock is confronted with two elemental forces ... love and sex. The one is represented by Molly (mirror for John) and the other one by Jim Moriarty, Mr Sex. Sherlock chooses neither one of the two. He backs away and walks a third path. He decides to live a celibate life - married to work - solely dedicated to reason and intellect, represented by Mycroft. That’s why he needs to create a strong facade to hide his true feelings for John. But then, unexpected and without noticing it at first (delayed action stabbing), even this facade gets ‘penetrated’ by John. Love (Rosie) is conceived and this changes everything. (Changing of the guard)

After the first shock (shot), Sherlock starts to go deeper into himself than ever before. He repeats the investigations about himself (the pink case) from a different perspective. Everything that happens in S4 reflects, in one way or another, occurances from S1-S3 ... arranged differently and some new actors are added. For example: the morgue-scene in TLD is a mirror of Sherlock’s fall in TRF ... it’s another Reichenbach. Eurus’ five tasks of Sherrinford seem to be a sort of ‘final distillate’ of Sherlock’s repeated analysis. In the coffin-scene Sherlock is once more confronted with a choice. This time though SEX is excluded. Sherlock has to choose between LOVE or BRAIN. And just as he did after the ‘first’ Reichenbach, Sherlock tries again to back away. At that stage though Eurus doesn’t let him. Sherlock’s emotions force him to go back to the very beginning, to find the truth. What that truth is and what consequences will come from it .... is still untold in this story, as I read it. There’s a final distillation but not a final solution at the end of S4.

“This is your living, Sherlock ... not 243 different types of tobacco ash”

... says John, refering to his own Blog. But is this really the truth? The counter on John’s Blog stops at 1895 in ASIB and the text entry, read by Mary in TEH, is a quote from canon. Already in the first series, in TBB, Sherlock asks John - his blogger/biographer - to pass him the pen and near the end of S4, in TLD, John’s Blog has ‘gone a bit downhill’ and people actually think it's Sherlock’s Blog. This leaves the question: is Sherlock taking over the narrative of his own story now? What kind of story will it be? How will it end? Will Sherlock have to make a third choice in the future? A choice between Dr Watson, the ‘fixed point in a changing age’ and John Watson, who could be so much more than just an ‘eternal’ friend? After all, there are two Faiths in the story, two serial killers and Hamish (Jim, Mr Sex) hides right in the middle of John (H) Watson ... at the very centre of the web, one might say.

Two times John Pairs-Twins-DoubleOHs Double OH seven Bond Air is go The big question and an excellent explanation of the idea about ‘Two-John’s’ in the comments on this post by @lukessense

Will Sherlock BBC turn out to be one more adaptation that ends as a ‘missed oportunity’ ... one more chemistry burned to ashes .... another sample of tobacco ash for Sherlock to analyse and add to his list? Or will it be different this time? Something new ... something big? Will it be the story about the emotional and sexual awakening of the literary character Sherlock Holmes?

Only the future will tell ....

Thanks for reading and thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.

February, 2021

#sherlock bbc #the science of deduction #sherlock's website #reading the document is seeing the author #nobody is reading your website #nobody is interested in who you really are #this is your living #this is your life #messages #inbox #analyses #tobacco #perfume

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cheri-translates · 5 years ago

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SOS! My husband is wallowing in jealousy and can’t free himself! (a translated one-shot)

I translated this one-shot, “SOS! 老公沉迷吃醋无法自拔”, written by 谢谢我知道我很可爱z on Weibo (with permission) because it’s adorable :>

She intentionally used very basic Chinese with few descriptors, so I embellished it slightly for a fuller reading experience!

I’ll be keeping the original writer updated on comments left on this work because she’s the one who deserves all the credit 💕

[ present ]

“Gavin. Gavin?” You wave your hand in front of your husband’s face. “What’s wrong? You’ve been lost in thought ever since we returned from the amusement park.”

Gavin whips his head towards you, responding flatly. “Ahem, it’s nothing. I... I need to use the washroom.”

As though he’s fleeing from something, he rises from the bed and bolts straight to the bathroom.

“That’s strange,” you muse with a frown. Turning towards the gigantic, ridiculously soft bunny resting near the headboard, you nuzzle into its arms and a contented sigh escapes from your parted lips. “Mm, whatever.”

There’s just something comforting about plush toys.

[ earlier today ]

The pink bunny was a prize from the amusement park.

When you and Gavin walked past the shooting game booth earlier in the day, the plush had immediately seized your attention. However, you also noticed the group of young children who were looking eager to have a go at the booth.

While having a husband from the police force would make winning an easy feat, you felt that it was embarrassing to basically snatch a lollipop from a baby.

Out of sight, out of mind, you thought to yourself.

Tearing your eyes away from that adorable and tempting plush toy, you matched Gavin’s pace. Fortunately, the array of attractions which followed provided a much needed distraction.

Halfway through a simple lunch, Gavin left to get drinks. Or at least, that’s what he claimed.

More than ten minutes had gone by since he left, and you were starting to feel worried. Just as you decided to give him a call, he walked through the doors.

With a pink stuffed bunny in his arms.

Your eyes sparkled.

Paying no heed to the other diners, you lunged over to him, giving him a generous kiss. Gavin’s ears remained flushed for almost half the day.

“Gavin, you...” your words came out a little clumsily due to excitement, pressing the huge bunny to your chest, burying your chin in its softness. Your eyes flitted from the bunny to Gavin. “You didn’t ‘bully’ the kids, did you?”

He patted your hair, and you heard his gentle laugh and clear voice from the top of your head.

“I didn’t. Most of the kids are having lunch now, so the booth was pretty much empty. Also, there are other prizes available.”

“That’s good to hear.” You clutched the bunny with one arm, then pulled Gavin back to your seats contentedly. “How did you know that I wanted this bunny?”

“Ahem,” his face was once again coloured with a reddish hue. “You kept looking at it just now.”

“That’s not true, I only looked at it for three seconds at most...” you explained, but was cut off by his following sentence.

“And this bunny looks like you. It’s very cute.”

You quickly lowered your head, feeling your cheeks turning warm.

“L-let’s dig in. Are there any other attractions you want to try? It’s rare for the both of us to have time after a year of being married, so we definitely have to play to our heart’s content.”

“All right, whatever you say.”

You were in an incredibly good mood when the evening set in and the two of you were ready to return home. You suggested walking home, and Gavin agreed.

As usual, he carried the bags in one hand, and took yours in the other. He noticed that you were holding the rabbit in your arm. “Let me.”

“No need, no need,” you laughed and gently waved away Gavin’s outstretched hand. “How could a strapping young lad like you carry such a childish stuffed toy?”

You loosened your grip on his hand.

“Here, I’ll carry it with both hands, so I won’t be tired.”

The right hand you had let go of paused for a moment. Gavin’s brows furrowed imperceptibly, but his expression smoothened out in an instant.

“All right, let’s go home.”

After reaching home, you immediately rushed into the bedroom and placed the bunny on the headboard, utterly satisfied.

Gavin frowned when he saw this, as though he couldn't quite understand something.

“Does it need to sleep?”

You grinned broadly and responded, “It’d be much more comfortable to hug it to sleep.”

“You need to hug it while sleeping?” He questioned.

“Bingo~ You snapped your fingers, tossing Gavin a glance, wanting to see his reaction.

You didn't expect Gavin to sit at the side of the bed wordlessly, an unreadable expression on his face. You waved your hands in front of him, but he hurriedly escaped to the bathroom.

With the door closed behind him, he whispered under his breath, too softly for you to hear. “Am I not comfortable enough?”

[ present ]

Outside, you rub your chin and mutter to yourself.

“He isn’t angry, is he? Did I say something to make him angry?”

You sigh.

A man’s thoughts are truly difficult to decipher.

At this moment, a familiar ringtone resounds, notifying you of an incoming message.

It’s Minor.

[Message from Minor:] Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law! What happened between you and Bro Gavin?

Confused, you reply with a:

The next thing you receive from him is a voice clip. Grabbing your wireless earpieces from the bedside table, you press ‘play’.

From the speed at which Minor is talking, you can immediately tell that he’s incredibly frantic.

“Argh! You have no idea how aggrieved my Bro Gavin feels! He says you’ve been giving him the cold shoulder, so he had no choice but to send me a message asking what to do if his wife’s heart has taken off with someone else. Didn’t the two of you go to the amusement park today? How could such a thing happen? Even though this is a relationship between the two of you, I was once your great deskmate and now your employee at work. Sis-in-law, I’m not trying to be judgmental, but Bro Gavin is talented, handsome, and outstanding in so many areas. How could there be a young man in the amusement park who’s even more attractive and you can’t bear to part with?”

“No, Minor...” you reply with a voice clip, your eyes fluttering shut as you pinch the bridge of your nose. “I didn’t meet any young man... And no, I didn’t give him the cold shoulder. I’ll talk to him properly, all right? In short, this is all just a misunderstanding, and we’re sorry to have made you worry.”

After removing your earpieces, you recall the afternoon’s events and come to a conclusion:

Gavin. Is. Jealous.

And he’s jealous of a stuffed toy.

Didn’t you simply hug it in the afternoon? Didn’t you simply place it on the bed and plan to hug it at night? Does he not understand the heart of a woman? How could he get jealous over this?

You find yourself laughing softly, recalling the forceful kiss he once gave you when you were on that blind date a few years ago.

He does look pretty cute when jealous.

Suddenly, an idea flashes across your mind, and you know exactly how to coax him.

At this moment, Officer Gavin returns.

You instantly lean back against the bunny, pretending to be scrolling through your phone in a casual manner. “Hubby, did you have fun today?”

You seldom call him “Hubby”.

Keeping a close eye on Gavin’s reactions, you notice that he falters in his steps once he hears the rare term of address.

“It was okay.”

“What do you mean ‘okay’? We had so much fun, and you even gave me this stuffed bunny. I’m really happy!” You place your phone to the side, looking straight at him with a grin.

Another pause.

Gavin lifts the covers and sits on the bed. “...you must be tired from today. Go to sleep.” Then, he lies down and no longer makes a sound.

Gavin’s looks really upset, you think, laughing internally. Could he be regretting winning the rabbit for me?

After laughing wildly in your heart a grand total of 800 times, you purse your lips and say, in a serious voice, “All right, let’s go to sleep.”

After switching off the lights, you settle under the covers with your back facing Gavin, squeezing the bunny to your chest.

Not too soon after, an arm slowly snakes across your waist from behind, and you can feel Gavin’s warm breaths on your ear.

“Honey.”

He seldom calls you "Honey”.

“Mm? What’s wrong?” you ask, feeling your heart clenching in mild guilt.

“Did you sense that... I wasn’t in a good mood today?”

“Mm... I sensed it...” you slowly turn to face him. “But since you aren’t willing to tell me about it, I won’t probe.”

He coughs lightly.

“Could you let go of that rabbit? You’ve already... hugged it for half the day.” After speaking, he even gives you a sincere, puppy-eyed look.

No longer able to control yourself, you burst into a stream of laughter.

“Officer Gavin,” you twist your body slightly to place the rabbit on the bedside table. Without any obstructions, you wrap your arm around his waist. “Can I understand this as you being jealous, and jealous of a stuffed toy?”

“Ahem... I’m not.” Even in the dark, you can see a visible redness crawling up a certain person’s face.

“Liar,” you immediately plant a kiss on his cheek, and lean closer to whisper into his ear. “Your face is red.”

Chaos ensues after that.

Gavin presses you down, the bed sinking under the weight as he leans down to kiss you - your forehead, the tip of your nose, your chin, your exposed collarbone.

He draws back, keeping his gaze on you.

“Then I’ll admit it.”

Another kiss. This time, on the lips.

You can’t tell how long this continues, but by the time you come to your senses, your lips are slightly swollen and his fingers are fumbling to unbutton your pyjamas.

“Hey,” you swat his hands away, splaying your right hand on his firm chest. “You said that I was tired.”

With breathy laughter, he grabs your wrists and clasps them on the bed. Leaning in close to your ear, he says in a hoarse voice:

“You said that I was a liar.”

[ a while later ]

“Actually, the bunny isn’t just for you.” Gavin muses quietly, playing with the ends of your hair as you lean on his chest.

“Hm?”

“At first, I was thinking that if you didn’t like it, we could give it to our child in the future.”

#mlqc #mlqc gavin

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kinda-just-chillin-here · 5 years ago

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Greek Mythology and Julie & the Phantoms

My first watch through of Julie and the Phantoms (JATP), I noticed a few similarities and parallels to certain myths within Greek mythology. On my million rewatches, I paid more attention to see if there were others. This post is all my observations of the parallels, as well as a few possible theories for season 2 the writers could follow for certain storylines. This is a ridiculously long read, I apologize.

**Disclaimers:

There are spoilers, so if you haven’t finished watching for the first time yet, don’t read this.

The content in Greek myths can vary depending on the source. This is largely due to the fact they are just super old. So some of the myths might be slightly different. I did my best just to compare to the gist of the myth.

I’m going to refer to Luke, Reggie, and Alex together as either Sunset Curve or the boys to save space.

I apologize for any typos and mistakes; midterm season has left me with an empty head.

1. Orpheus

Obviously a major motif in the first season is the Orpheum. Orpheum literally means House of Orpheus.

Background information of Orpheus:

His mother is Calliope (muse of epic poetry), and depending on the version of the story, his father is either Apollo (god of the sun, healing, music, medicine, archery, and poetry) or King Oeagrus of Thrace.

Orpheus was considered to be one of the greatest musicians. He had a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” no god or mortal could resist his music.

Let’s look at some of his myths.

Orpheus and Eurydice:

The basic summary of this myth is that Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife, died after being bitten by snakes while running away from a man, Aristaeus, or a satyr (depends on source) who wanted her for himself. Devastated, Orpheus began singing sad songs until he was advised by nymphs to go to the Underworld and bring her back. After singing to Hades and Persephone, they agreed to let Eurydice return to the main world. However, they warned him not to look back before they both entered the light of the surface. He happily began his trek back to the surface. When Orpheus reached the exit, Eurydice in toe, he turned around to see her, anxious to make sure it wasn’t a trick, that she was really there. Only, Eurydice was still in the Underworld, she hadn’t crossed over yet. Orpheus turning around when he did, caused Eurydice to remain in the underworld.

So who’s who?

Julie = Orpheus (talented musician and desperate to save their love from the Underworld)

Sunset Curve = Eurydice (dead and trapped)

Caleb = Aristaeus and Hades (wants Eurydice/Sunset Curve for himself; controls the place the dead are)

Hollywood Ghost Club (HGC) = The Underworld

How do they relate? Stand Tall (s1e09) is where it all goes down.

Like Aristaeus, Caleb is pursing Sunset Curve because he wants them for himself (and Caleb is also threaten by the power they have).

Caleb has the boys trapped in the HGC, just like Eurydice in the Underworld.

Julie had to deal with the idea the boys died (again) when they didn’t show up before the performance. At first she couldn’t, she ran out until she had a sign from her mom, telling her to go on stage. You could argue this sort of parallels the nymphs telling Orpheus to plea to Hades, or that it parallels Orpheus on his journey back to the surface after Hades agreed.

This is where Julie and Orpheus differ. Julie goes onstage, fully believing in the sign from her mother; that even if the boys don’t come, she can do it. The lyrics of Stand Tall are pure genius. “Keep moving on, never look back.” That’s exactly what Julie does. Unlike Orpheus, Julie doesn’t look back. And the boys appear, no longer trapped by Caleb at the HGC. Julie breaks away from the Orpheus formula and wins.

@multifandomterrors wrote an essay on how it relates too! She has three theories of how it fits and I definitely recommend you check it out!

Bonus reasons Julie is Orpheus:

Orpheus joined Jason and the Argonauts. When the ship was approaching the Sirens, Orpheus saves the crew from death by playing his own music, drowning out the Sirens’ Song. Likewise, Julie is able to save the boys from Caleb. You can argue that her singing Stand Tall acted as a beacon, beckoning the boys away from Caleb and back to her, saving them in the process.

This one is more of a long shot but oh well. Orpheus is said to have a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” that no god or mortal could resist his music. The boys say that Julie has “the voice of an angel.” Throughout the season, as soon as Julie starts to sing, people are generally drawn in, even Carrie by the end.

Onto the next parallel...

2. Lotus Eaters

As soon as the slightest idea of the boys missing the dance was hinted at I knew it was going to happen because ~formulas~, but once they got to the HGC, I had a strong feeling it was going to be a Lotus Eaters situation.

Summary of the Lotus Eaters:

In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew encounter the Lotus Eaters. They do as their name suggests, they eat the peculiar Lotus flower. When the lotus flower is eaten, those who eat it are “overcome with a blissful forgetfulness,” and want to do nothing more than stay where they are. The crew mates had to be dragged back to the ship, otherwise they never would have returned to their duties. The most well known adaptation of this is probably the Lotus Casino in Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, where the characters spend days/years there, only thinking it was a few hours/days. It’s a time warp per se.

So what’s what?

Hollywood Ghost Club = Lair/island of the lotus eaters (everyone there appears to have no other worries in life)

The music & dancing = Lotus flower (sucks everyone in)

How do they relate?

Once Caleb starts performing, Sunset Curve are sucked in. Eventually, they are overcome with a “blissful forgetfulness” and forget about Julie and the dance. They only get sucked back out once Caleb mentions it’s the witching hour.

Alex literally says “This place is some sort of time warp.”

When the boys try to leave, the dancers and then Caleb try to reel them back in.

The next is not directly Greek mythology, but distantly related:

3. Disney’s Hercules

The story in Disney’s Hercules isn’t exactly what the myths of Heracles are. It’s Disney, so of course the stories are romanticized and changed significantly. First of all, in the original myths, Hercules is really named Heracles, and Megara is nothing more than Heracles’ wife that ends with a tragic story.

In the movie, Hades wants Hercules dead since he is the only one that can ruin his plan to take over the world. He enlists Megara (or Meg, whose soul he owns) to get to know him and find his weakness. As Meg gets to know Hercules, they fall in love. Hades uses this as Hercules’ weakness, and once he outs Meg for working for him, Hercules is emotionally defeated. However, he still gives up his power for 24 hours, as long as Meg remains untouched by harm. Of course that doesn’t happen, and Meg dies while saving Hercules. Her soul is returned to the Underworld, and Hercules journeys down there to save her, even though he might die doing so. Except he doesn’t; he saves Meg, and it’s happily ever after.

So who’s who?

Alex = Hercules

Willie = Meg

Caleb = Hades

How does it relate?

Like Hades wants Hercules dead, Caleb wants Alex (and the boys) under his control because they are too powerful. He’s threatened by them.

Even though Willie didn’t mean to bring the boys into the mess with Caleb, he still did (no hate, I love my son). Willie acts as Meg in this situation because Caleb still uses him to get to the boys. Caleb gets to put his stamp on them.

Willie, just like Meg, decides to not help Caleb anymore, though he’s still stuck. He cares about Alex, he doesn’t want him to be stuck at the HGC like him forever; he doesn’t want Caleb to own Alex’s soul. So, Willie helps Alex and the boys with their plan to crossover.

In Stand Tall, right before You’ve Got Nothing to Lose, Caleb appeals to each of the boys’ weakness. Caleb says “Everything you want, including Willie, is right here.” Just like Hades uses Meg against Hercules, Caleb uses Willie against Alex.

Potential Season 2 Willex Storyline

The parallel to Hercules and Meg isn’t finished. Alex hasn’t saved Willie from Caleb yet, and Caleb hasn’t been defeated yet. We don’t see Willie after the Willex hug in Stand Tall. I think it’s safe to assume that Willie is not safe from Caleb, especially since he helped Sunset Curve escape Caleb’s curse. There’s a lot of things that could happen. One of my assumptions is that Caleb is going to use Willie as bait to lure Alex back in. Another is that, like how Hercules goes to the Underworld to save Meg’s soul, Alex is going to actively choose to return to the HGC to try to save Willie from Caleb.

And the last parallel to Greek mythology in season 1...

4. Cheyenne Jackson

He plays Hades in Descendants 3, a Disney movie, meaning he’s the same Hades as in Hercules.

Caleb Covington, you could argue is the “king of the dead” in JATP

That’s it, that’s the parallel.

Possible Season 2 Storylines

Cephalus and Procris (I’m not as familiar with this myth, but it basically goes like this)

Cephalus and Procris are happily married and very in love with each other. One day, the goddess of dawn, Eos, kidnaps Cephalus because she wants him to herself. Depending on the version you read, Cephalus either sleeps with Eos, or he doesn’t, but regardless, his only concern is how much he loves his wife, Procris. Eos finds that annoying, and plants the idea in his head that Procris is cheating on him when she releases him eight years later. Cephalus returns to Procris, disguised as another man, to see if she would remain faithful. A disguised Cephalus continuously brings Procris presents, and slowly, Procris is swayed by the mysterious man. When Cephalus reveals himself, Procris runs away, ashamed, and joins Artemis’ hunt. Eos wins essentially. She get’s Cephalus... until Procris returns, trying to make amends with her husband. He takes her back, but not long after Procris hears rumors that Cephalus has been unfaithful. She follows him on a hunt, hiding behind a bush. Cephalus hears a bush move, and thinking it’s an animal, he shoots, killing Procris. In the end, Eos still wins as Procris is no longer in the picture, and she could theoretically be with him. Expect Cephalus exiles himself and Eos is never seen again.

How could this apply to JATP season 2?

Julie = Procris

Luke = Cephalus

Caleb = Eos

Caleb-Possessed-Nick = Disguised man

Since Caleb possessed Nick at the end, I assume his plan is to get Julie to pick Nick, thus pushing Luke away from her. Caleb wants Luke and the boys to himself, and as long as Julie is in the picture, that won’t happen. As Caleb-Possessed-Nick tries to flirt and get closer to Julie, Luke will see this and get jealous. His jealousness could lead to tensions between Julie and Luke, making the band a bit awkward, maybe even a big fight that pushes Luke to think about joining Caleb, or at least isolating himself where Caleb would have easy access. I think it would be a very loosely applied parallel, but the idea of Caleb working to cause a rift between Luke and Julie to get Luke by himself is a major possibility. Regardless, Caleb-Possessed-Nick is going to get in the way of Luke and Julie’s slow burn pining for each other.

A General Thought Not Related to Greek Mythology

Regardless of what the writers end up doing, I think Caleb’s best plan would be to target the boys individually; like the continuance of the Hercules parallel with Willex and potential Cephalus & Procris parallel with Juke. I don’t know how he would isolate Reggie, maybe something with his family, but targeting the boys one-on-one would be the most strategic move for Caleb. He could even get super manipulative with it. He could say something like “Alex already agreed” or something along those lines to try to persuade the boy he is talking to.

Additionally, I don’t have any theories on where Carrie and Julie’s relationship may go, but i’m looking forward to a Carrie redemption arc. As far as where Bobby fits in, I read someone’s theory that Caleb may approach him, offering to help keep his reputation as Trevor Wilson, if he helps deal with the boys somehow. I’m sure there’s a potential greek myth that fits a potential Bobby and the boys storyline, but out of the ones I can think of right now, there aren’t. Betrayal is a huge theme in greek mythology though.

Anyway...

While the original target audience was kids and the show probably wasn’t meant to be this deep, as a screenwriter myself, I find it super useful (and fun) to parallel classic stories and myths when I write. It can add a sense of nuance to the story, especially when done right. I hope the writers (assuming at least the Orpheus and Lotus Eaters parallels were intentional) continue to parallel the season with some form of myth or classic story, only to then completely flip the ending.

If you actually took the time to read ALL of this, my god, I applaud you, you amazing human. Thank you so much for reading it. I’d love to hear what y’all think or what theories y’all have as well!

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #jatp #julie molina #madison reyes #luke patterson #charlie gillespie #alex jatp #owen patrick joyner #owen joyner #reggie jatp #jeremy shada #caleb covington #hollywood ghost club #carrie wilson #trevor wilson #dirty candy #flynn jatp

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mask131 · 3 years ago

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Hercules: Disney VS Mythology (2)

So, let’s begin our study with the first part of the movie – the opening, from the first “Gospel Truth” to its reprise.

# The Muses. Now, the number of Muses has varied and changed throughout the time – originally they were three, and this interpretation of them as a triad stayed a minor interpretation for centuries; while in late Greece the Muses were seen as four. But the classic number of the Muses, the one adopted by the most popular writers and artists and that was thus the basic, common, almost “canon” number of Muses, was nine. Of course, Disney couldn’t possibly have the nines all at once so they decided to rather limit themselves to five of them: the Muses of the movie are Calliope (the muse of epic poetry), Clio (the muse of history), Melpomene (the muse of tragedy), Terpsichore (the muse of dance) and Thalia (the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry). They left out of the group Euterpe (the muse of music), Erato (the muse of love poetry and lyric poetry), Polyhymnia (the muse of sacred poetry and sacred hymns), and Urania (the muse of astronomy).

# Contrary to what is shown here, Zeus did not defeat the Titans alone. The fight of the gods against the Titans was actually a whole war called the “Titanomachia”, fought between the Titans and the first of the gods: the siblings Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia (who also had the help of all sorts of other allies). So yeah, banishing the Titans was a team-work and on top of that one very long war – it lasted ten years. And they were not regular years, they were divine years, so that’s technically even longer.

# Of course, this is the big stain here – Hercules birth was WILDLY different in the original myth. In the proper legend, Heracles was not born from Zeus and Hera, he was not born a god – in fact, technically speaking it is impossible for a god in Greek mythology to become mortal. Heracles was actually born when Zeus seduced the human woman Alcmene, and this is why Heracles was half-god half-mortal. Fun fact about this birth, there is a clear story about it in Greek mythology – as for most of his conquests Zeus seduced his lover through a transformation. In this case, Zeus did not want to disturb or scare Alcmene away so he actually took the shape of her husband, Amphitryon, who was currently away at war, and so she welcomed him “back” home and they slept together – and Zeus even used his magical powers to make this “one night” last as long as three whole nights. The very next day the real Amphitryon returned and was surprised to hear from his wife that she had already welcomed him back and slept with him. Angry and disturbed by all that, he had to consult the prophet Tiresias who revealed that his wife did not cheat on him – but rather she was visited by Zeus himself.

Another fun fact you might not know – Heracles has a false twin. Indeed, Alcmene fell pregnant with two boys from the two Amphitryons: the son of Zeus/fake-Amphitryon was Heracles, while the son of the real Amphitryon was Iphicles, Heracles’ half-brother.

# No, Narcissus is not a god. He shouldn’t be on Olympus. He was a mortal man, and when he died he was turned into a flower. He is a flower, not a god.

# Pegasus was not created by Zeus, and has no relationship whatsoever with the myth of Heracles. In the real Greek mythology Pegasus was the spawn of Medusa the Gorgon (and the father was later identified as Poseidon, the sea god), and he was involved in the myth of Bellerophon, a very different Greek hero. Though it should be mentioned that after Bellerophon’s death he reached Olympus alongside Athena and became one of Zeus’ personal servants, carrying for the god his thunderbolts. And after many long years of service, Zeus thanked him by turning Pegasus into a constellation.

# Of course the other big trouble here is that Hades was not the villain Disney depicted him as. In fact Disney is the main reason people nowadays think that Hades is the bad guy of Greek mythology. Far, FAR from it. If you wanted your local bad guy, you could pick up Ares the god of war – and in Heracles’ legend the big bad was Hera, Zeus’ wife. In fact Hades is just a secondary/background character in the legend of Heracles.

It is true that Hades was considered a dark, sinister and gloomy god ; and it is true that the Greeks feared him, feared his name and his domain, but that was not because Hades was a malevolent entity. Rather it was because the Ancient Greeks disliked strongly anything related to death – for them death was not something pleasant or happy, it was something you should fear, dislike and avoid at all costs (in fact in Greek religion death was considered to “taint” and “soil” people and places, and you had to clean everything up after a death). So they avoided speaking Hades name and feared him mostly because they did not want to offend the dead, or attract the force of death upon them. In a similar way we know that the gods rarely descended in the Underworld and couldn’t stand the sight of the dead because they felt the same disgust and repulsion that the Ancient Greeks – being the embodiment of health, eternal youth and immortality, the gods had a hard time with the dead or death.

But again, it doesn’t mean they disliked or hated Hades, far from it. While he was not an Olympian per se and did not join the other gods on top of Olympus, he was still one of the “three kings” of the world, and the brother and equal of Zeus and Poseidon (he was even called the “Chthonic Zeus”, the underground Zeus). In fact, the Disney movie got one thing right: Zeus was very friendly and on good terms with Hades (every time Hades came to Zeus for help or counsel, such a with Persephone or Asclepius, Zeus always helped him, gave him what he wanted or thought of his brother first). The movie also got right the fact that Hades was one busy god – in fact the reason why he does not join the other gods is not because he was ostracized or rejected, but rather because being a god of the Underworld was a very demanding and full-time job, to which Hades was very dedicated ; and it also didn’t help that the Underworld was conceived as basically a form of prison, where you could enter easily but would have an extra-hard time getting out – it was truly removed and cut-off from the rest of the world. However, the movie claiming that Zeus “bestowed” or forced his brother to take the Underworld is much more shaky and untrue – everyone agrees that the first six deities shared the world equally among themselves, through a common and fair decision, so Hades either did ask to be ruler of the Underworld or fully agreed to be the Underworld ruler.

# Hades in Greek mythology was not associated with fire as Hercules’ Hades is. In fact, the Greek Underworld was associated with darkness, silence, the dead turned into shades and shadows – it was the last place you would find light, warmth or fire. In a similar way, Hades was not a wrathful god – in fact, Disney’s Hades is the very opposite of Hades in the original mythology, because the Greek Hades was said to be a harsh and serious god, the kind to act in a very serious, cold, business-like manner, without any real empathy or emotion, mostly caring about the rules of the dead, the order of the world and all things like that. Not that he did not had emotions (after all he fell in love, and he could get rightfully angry – but they were exceptional cases, for example he usually only got angry when the natural order of life and death was disturbed).

Disney’s Hades actually looks a lot more like Poseidon from the Greek mythology: indeed of the three brothers Poseidon was the one who was the most wrathful, and he also was the one who had an ambition to “conquer the world” like Hades – he kept fighting other gods for the control of countries, cities and regions; and he participated in a plot to overthrow Zeus and become king of the gods. Hades never had such intentions, and he just chilled peacefully in his Underworld.

# Pain and Panic are not mythological characters – in fact it should be noted that their appearance seems inspired by the Christian demons, and Ancient Greeks did not had those back then (they had “daemons” but it was a general term for all spirits and creatures between the mortals and the full-gods, beings like satyrs and nymphs and such). However it seems Pain and Panic were influenced by a famous duo of Greek mythology; Phobos and Deimos, minor gods and twin brothers, the sons of Ares the god of war, and respectively the embodiment of fear/panic and dread/terror. They were the servants and companions of their father (which they especially escorted during slaughters and massacres)

# The character of the Fates here are a mix-up of two triads. One are indeed the Moirae, the three goddesses embodying destiny and fate, and who were known to regulate the human life through spinning a thread and cutting it ; and the Graeae, a trio of witches born as old women and that shared a single eye and teeth among themselves (fun fact, they were the sisters of the Gorgons).

# Now if we were in real Greek mythology, Hades’ plan would never work. Because in Greek mythology Hades would never unleash or release the Titans – he helped to imprison them, and if the Titans were ever released not only would they overthrow Zeus but they would also take their vengeance on Hades too. Though it should be noted that there visibly was a side of Greek culture (mostly in Greek theater and literature) that claimed the Titans were actually forgiven by the gods and released at some point, upon which they coexisted in harmony – but this tradition was explicated and described in texts that are lost today and of which we only have descriptions and fragments.

# I mentioned it already but a god cannot become a mortal. They can have their powers limited, they can be restricted, they can be bound, imprisoned, wounded, but they cannot turn mortal (though mortals can become gods). However it seems that the whole idea of the “potion of mortality” sent by Hades is a reverse of a late Greek myth according to which Heracles’ super-powers were given by Hera. There was this legend that Alcmene, his mortal mother, upon learning of Heracles’ real father, feared the wrath of Hera (Zeus’ wife) and so abandoned him. The goddess Athena decided to help her half-brother, and so she took the baby and brought it to Hera – Hera did not know it was Heracles and Athena just told her it was an abandoned child. Hera being a motherly goddess and a goddess of family took pity on the hungry baby and let it drink her breast milk – which was Athena’s plan, because a goddess’ breast-milk would offer a mortal baby divine powers (such as Heracles’ super-strength). But Heracles drank so hard Hera was hurt and so she pushed the baby away and a bit of her milk spread across the heavens, forming the Milky Way. Then Athena gave back the baby to its human parents.

# Here Pain and Panic turning into snakes and being thrown away by Hercules is of course a nod to the most famous myth of Heracles – according to which he strangled as a baby two snakes that had crawled inside his cradle. The snakes were actually supposedly sent by Hera, and this is another big difference this movie has with Greek mythology: in the Greek myths, Heracles’ archnemesis was Hera, Zeus’s wife and queen of the gods. Hera was usually a big villain for most of the Greek heroes, because they were illegitimate sons of Zeus, and not only was Hera Zeus’ legitimate wife, but she was also the goddess of marriage, so she always felt the existence of those being was an insult. She was the original evil queen, the first “evil stepmother”. Heracles was without a doubt the hero that suffered the most, and the one she hated the most, because every time she tried to bring him misery or pain it failed, and everyone took Heracles’ side against her.

A good example of another myth around the birth of Heracles: Hera learned of Zeus’ infidelity when Alcmene fell pregnant, and so she decided to have her revenge here. She made Zeus wear an oath that a descendant of Perseus born on a certain day would become a “high king”, as in not just become a king, but a king powerful enough all the other kings and cities of Greece would respect and obey him (because Ancient Greece was a set of city-states, each with its own king). Zeus, knowing his son Heracles was to be born on this particular day, agreed to the promise (other versions rather have him announce it on his own, in an attempt to bless and gift Heracles) – but Hera meddled with the human business by capturing and forcing the hand of Ilithyia the goddess of childbirth (and also Hera’s daughter and servant). Alcmene, who began delivering her babies, found herself unable to give birth, and so the birthing process kept taking longer and longer, so that Heracles would not be born on the day Zeus announced ; while Hera forced her daughter to have a cousin of Heracles, another descendant of Perseus, be born prematurely so that he could become the high king prophesized by Zeus.

Of course, when Zeus learned about it, I can tell you he was absolutely furious. Another fun fact: Heracles was originally named “Alcide” by his parents. It is only later that they decided to rename the baby “Heracles”, which means “glory of Hera” or “pride of Hera”, in an attempt to appease the goddess’ wrath. Spoilers: it did not work.

# You can see here the fairytale influence on Disney – they made Heracles the son of gods (royalty/nobility) raised without knowing his true origins by a couple of peasants/farmers. Except here his mortal parents are Amphitryon and Alcmene… and in the original Greek mythology he was a prince and she was a princess, both were of royal blood, part of Greek’s upper-class, and in fact this is why Zeus could easily promise Heracles would become king.

#greek mythology #disney #heracles #hercules #muses #zeus #hades #hera #fates

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thekillerssluts · 5 years ago

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Will Butler explains how his Harvard degree developed into his second solo album

“Yeah, it’s terrifying,” Will Butler says, pondering how it feels to be releasing music away from the umbrella of Arcade Fire.

“It’s the classic thing about all writers,” he continues. “The creative process makes them wanna puke the whole time they’re writing something, then they read something back and it makes them feel worse, then a year later they read it and think ‘yeah, it’s okay’. It’s a glorious experience, but it really makes your stomach hurt.”

On the one hand Will Butler is well accustomed to this writing process, being a multi-instrumentalist in the Canadian indie-rock band fronted by brother Win - Arcade Fire. But on his own terms, it’s an entirely new process. Butler’s second solo album Generations arrives five years after his debut Policy, a collection that rattled with a ramshackle charm and what he describes now as a ‘consciously very unproduced’ sound. Arcade Fire wound down from their Everything Now tour in September 2018, leaving Butler with the last two years of playtime. Most musicians, particularly those accustomed to big album cycles, set aside their downtime for family or other musical projects. Somehow Butler’s managed to do both while also completing a masters degree in Public Policy at Harvard.

“I went to school for a variety of reasons but there was an artistic side to it too,” he says. “I have always tried to let music and lyrics emerge from the world that I’m in; you fertilise the soil and see what grows. It was a way to better understand where we are, how we got here and what's going on. You know, ‘where am I from? What's going to happen?’” Both of these questions explored in his degree are used as fuel for Generations.

It’s easy to imagine an album by somebody who’s just pursued a Public Policy MSt to form in reams of political commentary, probably set to an acoustic guitar. However, Butler instead engages character portraits soundtracked by a broad range of thrilling sonics. Opener “Outta Here” is shrouded by a monstrous bass that lurks beneath the depths of the instrumentation before bursting out midway through. “Got enough things on my plate without you talking about my salvation,” he screams.

While the cage-rattling “Bethlehem” is mania underpinned by a thrashing guitar and bubbling synths that help lift the track to boiling point.While there’s no current world leaders namechecked or any on-the-nose political commentary across the LP, the angst of its contents is instantly tangible, backed by the intellect of somebody who’s spent the past few years studying the ins and outs of government processes. A perfect combination, you could say.

This fuel was partly discovered through Butler reconnecting with the music that defined his teenage years: namely Bjork, The Clash and Eurythmics. While these influences certainly slip into frame across Generations, they were paired with something of an unlikely muse: “I got into this habit of listening to every single song on the Spotify Top 50 every six weeks,” Butler explains. “So many of them are horrible, terrifying and just awful but there’s something inspiring about how god damn avant garde the shittiest pop music is now. Just completely divorced from any sense of reality - it’s just layers upon layers upon layers - it’s amazing. It’s like Marcel Duchamp making a pop hit every single song.”

We turn from current music to current events. Navigating Covid-19 with his wife and three kids in their home of Brooklyn, a majority of 2020 has been caught up in family time for Butler. “The summer’s been easier because everybody’s outside, whereas in spring it was like ‘it’s family time because we have to lock our doors as there's a plague outside.’” While being surrounded by the trappings of lockdown since his second solo album Generations was completed in March, the album itself wriggles with the spirit of live instrumentation, which at this point seems like some sort of relic from a bygone era."I think eventually rediscovering this album back in the live setting would be amazing - we’re a really great live band, it’s a shame to not be in front of people."

The source of this energy can be traced back to the way the songs came together; they were forged and finessed at a series of shows in the early stages of the project. “It just raises the stakes. You can tell how good or how dumb a lyric is when you sing it in front of a hundred people,” he reflects. “It’s like ‘are you embarrassed because what you’re saying is true?’ or ‘is it just embarrassing?’ It’s a good refiner for that stuff. I think eventually rediscovering this album back in the live setting would be amazing - we’re a really great live band, it’s a shame to not be in front of people.”

Like his day job in Arcade Fire, Butler’s solo live group is something of a family affair - both his wife and sister-in-law feature in the band, alongside Broadway's West Side Story star, and the student of the legendary Fela Kuti drummer, Tony Allen. Together this eclectic mix of musicians conjures an infectious spirit through the raw combination of thundering synths and pedal-to-the-metal instrumentation; an apt concoction indeed for lyrics that are attempting to unhatch the bamboozling questions that surround our current times.

The timing for Butler’s decision to study Public Policy couldn’t have been more perfect, with his course starting in the Fall of 2016. “I was at Harvard for the election which was a really bizarre time to be in a government school, but it was great to be in a space for unpacking questions like ‘my god, how did we get here?!’” he reflects, with a note of mockery in the bright voice.

“I had a course taught by a professor named Leah Wright Rigueur. The class was essentially on race in America but with an eye towards policy. The class explored what was going to happen in terms of race under the next president. The second to last week was about Hilary Clinton and the last week was about Donald Trump. We read riot reports - Ferguson in 2015, Baltimore in 2016, the Detroit uprisings in the ‘60s and Chicago in 1919 - it's certainly helping me understand the last 5 years, you know. Just to be in that context was very lucky.”

As we’ve seen with statues being toppled, privileges being checked and lyrics of national anthems being interrogated in recent months, history is a complex, labyrinthine subject to navigate requiring both ruthless self-scrutiny and a commitment to the long-haul in order to correct things. The concept of Generations shoots from the same hip employing character portraits to engage in the broader picture.

The writing, at times, is beamed from a place of disconnect (“had enough of bad news / had enough of your generation”), from a place of conscious disengagement (“I’m not talking because I don’t feel like lying / if you stay silent you can walk on in silence”) and from a place of honest self-assessment (“I was born rich / three quarters protestant / connections at Harvard and a wonderful work ethic”).

“I’m rooted in history to a fault,” he says. “My great grandfather was the last son of a Mormon pioneer who’d gone West after being kicked out of America by mob violence. He wanted to be a musician which was crazy - he got 6 months in a conservatory in Chicago before his first child was born. He always felt like he could have been a genius, he could of been writing operas but he was teaching music in like tiny western towns and he had all these kids and he made them be a family band and they were driving around the American west before there were roads in the deserts - literally just driving through the desert! He would go to these small towns and get arrested for trying to skip bills and just live this wild existence.”

Butler’s grandma, meanwhile, was just a child at this point. She went on to become a jazz singer with her sisters and married the guitar player Alvino Rey. “The fact that me and my brother are musicians is no coincidence,” he smiles. “It’s not like I decided to be a musician, it’s down to decisions that were made at the end of the 19th century that have very clearly impacted where I am today. The musical side of it is very beautiful, it is super uncomplicated and a total joy to have a tradition of music in our family...but also in the American context - which is the only context I know - it's also these very thorny inheritances from the 19th century and beyond that influence why my life is like it is.

“For me it’s like, ‘I made my money because my grandpa was a small business owner’ or ‘my grandpa was a boat builder and got a pretty good contract in WW2 and was able to send his kids to college’. Both of which are so unpoetic and unromantic but it is an important thing to talk about, that's a personal political thing to talk about; there's horrifying and beautiful aspects there.”

The lament of “I’m gonna die in a hospital surrounded by strangers who keep saying they’re my kids” on “Not Gonna Die” could well be croaked by somebody on the tail end of a life lived on the American Dream. At times, Butler plays the characters off against each other, like on “Surrender,” which chronicles two flawed characters going back and forth played by Butler’s lead vocals and his female backing singers that undermine his memory; “I remember we were walking” is cut up with the shrug of “I dunno” and “maybe so”. “I found having the backing voices there gave me something to play with,” he explains. “Either something threatening to the main character or something affirming to the main character, just providing another point of view.”

Elsewhere, “I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know” explores the feeling of being unsuitably equipped to unravel the complexities that surrounds us day-to-day. “The basic emotion of that song is very much ‘I don’t know what I can do’ which is an emotion we all have,” he ponders. “There’s also the notion that follows that, like ‘maybe don’t even tell me what to do because it’s going to be too overwhelming to even do anything’.”

Some of these portraits materialised in the aftershows Butler began hosting while on Arcade Fire’s Everything Now tour which found him instigating conversations and talks by local councilman, politicians and activists on local issues. “On some of the good nights of the aftershow town halls, you’d feel that switch away from despair and into action,” he says smiling. “The step between despair and action is possible, that sentiment isn’t spelled out lyrically on the record but it’s definitely there spiritually.”

“I learned anew what a treasure it is to have people in a room. Getting humans in a room can be absurd. And we were having from 5,000 to 15,000 people in a room every night, most of them local. I’m very comfortable with art for art’s sake; I think art is super important and it’s great people can like music that's not political. It was sort of like ‘well we’re here and I know a lot of you are thinking about the world and you’re thinking about what a shit show everything is. You want to know what we can do and I also want to know what we can do!’ So I put on these after shows.”"The dream lineup would be to have a local activist and a local politician talking about a local issue because that’s the easiest way to make concrete change."

Butler would find a suitable location near the Arcade Fire gig through venue owners who were often connected to the local music and comedy scenes to host these events. “The dream lineup would be to have a local activist and a local politician talking about a local issue because that’s the easiest way to make concrete change. Arguably, the most important way is through the city council and state government. The New York state government is in Albany, New York. The shit that happens in Albany is all super important so I wanted to highlight that and equip people with some concrete levers to pull.

“In Tampa we had people who were organizing against felon disenfranchisement, like if you’ve been convicted of a felon you couldn’t vote in Florida, and something absurd like 22% of black men in Florida couldn’t vote and there were people organising to change that - this was in 2018 - and you could just see people being like ‘holy shit, I didn't even know this was happening!’

“These were not topics I’m an expert in - it’s like these are things that are happening. The thought was trying to engage, I’m sad to not be doing something similar this Fall, I mean what a time it would have been to go around America.”

Understandably the looming 2020 election is on Butler’s radar. “It doesn't feel good,” he sighs. “I’ve never had any ability to predict, like 2 weeks from now the world could be completely different from what it is today. There was always a one-in-a-billion chance of the apocalypse and now it's like a one-in-a-million chance which is a thousand times more likely but also unlikely. It’s going to be a real slog in the next couple of years on a policy side, like getting to a place where people don’t die for stupid reasons, I’m not even talking about the coronavirus necessarily just like policy in general. Who knows, it could be great but it seems like it's going to be a slog.”

There’s a moment on the closing track “Fine”, a stream-of-consciousness, Randy Newman-style saloon waltz, where Butler hits the nail on the head. “George [Washington], he turned to camera 3, he looked right at me and said...I know that freedom falters when it’s built with human hands”. It’s one of the many lyrical gems that surface throughout the record but one that chimes with an undeniable truth. It’s the same eloquence that breaks through as he touches on the broad ranging subjects in our conversation, always with a bright cadence despite the gloom that hangs over some of the topics.

The live show is without a doubt Arcade Fire’s bread and butter. While Butler questions how realistic the notion of getting people in packed rooms in the near future is, he reveals the group are making movements on LP6. “Arcade Fire is constantly thinking about things and demoing, it's hard to work across the internet but at some point we’ll get together. It probably won’t be much longer than our usual album cycle,” he says.

You only have to pick out one random Arcade Fire performance on YouTube to see Butler’s innate passion bursting out, whether it’s early performances that found him and Richard Reed Parry adorning motorbike helmets annihilating each other with drumsticks to the 1-2-3 beat of “Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)” or the roaring “woah-ohs” that ascend in the anthem of “Wake Up” every night on tour. It’s an energy that burns bright throughout our conversation and across Generations.

https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/arcade-fires-will-butler-new-solo-record-generations

#Arcade Fire #generations #will butler #interview #hq

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jeyned · 5 years ago

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heya everyone ! i wrote a really long intro / backstory which i’ve linked below, but in case you’re lazy like me i’ve also put a little tl;dr under the cut with the cliffs notes. there’s also a bunch of plot ideas in case anyone is interested ! like this, drop me and IM, or message me on discord ( do you like yuice ?#6373 ) if you want to plot !

⤷ the courts offer bread and salt to jeyne whent née lannister of house whent. many say that the twenty - seven year old ruling lady of harrenhal is known to be lively and insightful, though ill tongues whisper that she is condescending and selfish when her name is uttered , one is reminded of a pretty smile hiding bloodied teeth; the hiss and raised hackles of a cat that thinks itself a lion; a languid and velvety darkness; heartbeat made of war drums. may she be blessed and protected in this war of crowns. ( fc: caitlin stasey )

full backstory / statistics page / development tag .

trigger warnings for ; death & murder, illness, forced marriage, misogyny & misogynistic slurs (1), war.

basics.

name. jeyne whent née lannister. nicknames. the little lioness. age. twenty-seven. traits. + clever, intrepid, lively, protective, insightful, tasteful. - hypocritical, cruel, condescending, proud, selfish, spiteful. titles. ruling lady of harrenhal, heir apparent to lannisport. loyalty. [ lana del rey vc ] money, power, and glory. also the starks of winterfell, i guess.

tl ; dr .

jeyne is the youngest child and only daughter of the lord of lannisport and his wife. well - raised, courtesied, if admittedly spoiled. even as a little girl she plays pretend at being a king. her father teaches her what words like wartime and loyalty and ambition mean ; the sacrifices she must make for their family name, for gold and glory.

the ironborn raids come to the shores of the westerlands and both her brothers are sent to fight. the younger dies first ; there is no body to bury. her mother falls ill with something they can only call grief.

jeyne is married not long after, a rose in bloom at nineteen. when she first hears, she weeps and begs and rages. her father reminds her of her duty, of the joy it would bring her ailing mother. jeyne knows then what must be done, and plans.

when her first husband dies just shy of two years into their marriage, jeyne is irreproachable. he dies in winter, already ill ; goes to sleep coughing and doesn’t wake up. jeyne isn’t even in the castle when it happens, although unfounded rumors fly of witchery and murder.

nine months pass, and she plays the part of mourning widow exceptionally well. it helps her mummer’s farce that news comes from the war : her remaining brother is dead now too, and her mother’s health is failing. without her brothers, she’s the ostensible heir to lannisport ; her father’s displeasure with this is made quite clear to her. he even suggests she isn’t his ; bearing too many of her mother’s features, not enough of his.

she is remarried quickly to lord lucas whent, without a fraction of the pomp and circumstance of her first wedding ; now a widow, with a reputation tarnished by unproven but incessant whispers, the newest match is rushed, necessary but insignificant. she doesn’t cry or beg this time, just goes coldly.

she hates him before she even meets him, hates the harrenhal the moment she sets eyes on it, hates the cold and the rain and the gloom of the castle and its people. spends all her considerable energies complaining and making life generally miserable for anyone around.

word arrives that her mother has died ; her father remarries quickly in the hopes of a new male heir, and draws in his nephews and nieces. weighing his options. jeyne prays to the stranger to take them all.

she resents the lot of them ; her father for using and betraying her, her brother and mothers for leaving her, the ironborn for killing her brothers, the starks for suing for peace and making their deaths worthless, her husband merely for existing. mostly, though, she resents herself, not clever enough to find a way out of the cages she’s been locked in.

plots.

enemies. the very best plot type and you cannot convince me otherwise. gimme intimately plotted hate-your-guts-smile-to-your-face frenemies who overthink everything the other says and press each others buttons incessantly. gimme ‘our houses have fought each other and i blame your family for this or that’. gimme petty jealousies and annoyances and people too much like her for them to get along. gimme people who think she’s a traitorous, murdering bastard and a whore to boot, and aren’t even wrong to think so.

close friends. i don’t imagine she has a lot of these ; those not deterred by her reputation often are dissuaded by her personality. still i love the idea of her having a few lords or ladies with whom she gets along quite well, the kind of people you only need to meet briefly to know you understand each other. can be from pretty much anywhere ; stuck at harrenhal i imagine jeyne to be an avid letter-writer.

cousins. i’m also considering sending in a wc for this, but gimme all the family plots ! could be paternal cousins, potential contenders for inheriting lannisport, & probably childhood companions. could also be maternal cousins ! i listed her mom as being a westerling but i’m more than happy to change that to another house for plot reasons, it doesn’t really matter ! her father could’ve also had sisters who married into other houses, there’s lots of options.

failed betrothals. i can imagine her father made a lot of offers, both when she was first getting married and after she was widowed. and i can imagine a lot of reasons why someone might reject that ; she’s a lannister, she’s not .... great as a person and her reputation isn’t phenomenal either. after the death of her first husband, too, i can imagine her prospects were pretty slim. still, the lannisters are ambitious and would have sought out as good as match as they could have.

family of her late husband. yea, i specifically didn’t pick a house for her first husband to be from because i wanted to leave ‘em open for other applicants but also because i wanted to leave it open in case it’s a plot anyone would like to take up ! most of the story around that is also very vague so as to fit with pretty much any ideas/plots someone has going on. would be really fun, tho ; possibly they can even have been co-conspirators and this person inherited jeyne’s late husband’s title and lands ? or they absolutely hate jeyne and think she’s a murderer which .... she very well might be.

sister in law. the widow of jeyne’s older brother, irwyn ; i hc that they had a daughter but tbh that’s just flavor text and i am open to changing pretty much anything i’ve got going on. i may send in a wc for this at some point too ? anyway, whether she stayed at lannisport or returned to her family home or anything, idk. seems like an unlikely connection to get picked up but it’s definitely out there if it happens to fit for someone.

brothers’ connections. again kind of vague ? would probably work best for men from the northern kingdom who may have known them or trained with them, or else fought alongside them against the ironborn. could also be ladies with pretty much any kind of attachment to either of them idk ; jeyne doesn’t have a whole lot of family left so this is my way of trying to have connections thru her family anyway.

childhood friends. idk how many characters from the westerlands there are around rn, but bring them to me pls. would love some childhood friends for jeyne ; whether they fell out of touch, or still write each other monthly letters. them being a ward at lannisport, or jeyne being a ward at theirs for a time is also a neat option !

allies. not quite friends, but potential partners whose ambitions align with hers. she has connections to the wealth of lannisport and the might and strategic position of harrenhal ( though harrenhal is truly weaker than she’d ever admit ) and honestly would support just about anyone if it meant she got lannisport. she’s power hungry what can i say ?

former flings / secret lovers. firstly these can be of any gender as jeyne is ... peak evil bisexual tbh. yes i’m queercoding my villain and i think that’s very sexy of me. these are also just pretty vague ideas, and absolutely do not need to be particularly romantic ; they could have had a more lengthy affair or just hooked up at a wedding or a tourney or something.

travellers. both lannisport and harrenhal are pretty common places to pass through. on a sea journey on the western coast one is likely to stop by lannisport, and harrenhal stands practically at the center of westeros, which is a fun opportunity for jeyne & your muse to have met even if they live very far way or are unlikely to have met in other ways ! especially considering harrenhal’s size it’s a good stop over for travellers with a larger retinue. idk i just want an excuse to plot with everyone.

#broken.intro #⧽ always half hidden ∖ development .

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birdyisanightingale · 4 years ago

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THT S4 Predictions: Brazil Trailer

Back by popular demand, I’m going to be doing a comprehensive set of predictions based on the Brazilian S4 trailer which has additional footage to the main one. If you want to watch it, here’s the link: https://www.handmaidsbrasil.com/2020/12/exclusivo-assista-ao-novo-teaser-legendado-da-quarta-temporada-de-tht.html

SPOILER ALERT!! Please be aware that if you keep reading there will be major S3 spoilers and potentially some S4 ones too!!

First up, we appear to have some sort of scene where June has been captured by eyes (or someone posing as the eyes - I’ll come back to this) . I think this must be at least an episode or so in because she seems to be walking fine and she doesn’t have any obvious injuries (she was basically dead at the end of S3). Another good sign is that she appears to be alone, so if she has indeed been taken by the eyes, they haven’t managed to capture all of the ‘magnificent seven’ (this is the new term being given to the fugitive handmaids from the end of the S3 Finale).

However, considering the remote location, it looks likely that this scene may be an attempted execution of June. I know what you’re thinking, this is Gilead - if they want to kill you they won’t bother making it private, they’ll make an example out of you and leave you hanging on a wall until you rot. But think about it - at this point, killing June will not be an example, the resistance in all its different forms has gotten too big for that. If they kill June now, they will only be creating a martyr, and the only way to avoid that is to kill her secretly and get rid of all the evidence so no one knows if she’s dead or missing or maybe even escaped to Canada without telling anyone - a great way to crack a resistance is to take away the element of trust! Anyway that’s why they’d make her execution a quiet affair.

But here’s why I think it was only made to look like the yes have taken her. Judging from the location and costumes (although admittedly costume variety is particularly limited in this show), while this is later in the trailer, it looks like a continuation of the same scene. It looks almost like Nick knew that June was in a situation where either he intervened or she was captured (or worse) for real. He obviously still has to make it look somewhat legit because he’s a commander now and he needs to keep good standing to be able to help June and Mayday (not to mention, staying off the wall).

I think this element of Nick being an asset to Mayday will be explored quite a lot this season, and beyond. Nick’s character development is particularly interesting because we’ve almost had a different Nick every season, but the writers are still finding new ways to surprise us with new dimensions to his character. In S1 we had ‘Nick the Eye’ who was battling this sense of duty and obligation that he had never bothered to question whether he agreed with his orders or not, with finally finding a reason to question those orders - June. Then in S2 when he’d finally gotten to a point where he’d chosen June over duty, we saw ‘Nick the husband’. We know from his flashbacks that he had a religious background before Gilead so he’s had ‘the sanctity of marriage’ instilled in him from a young age. So he’s somehow trying to reconcile his new role as a husband with his love for another woman who’s carrying his baby. And then we get the (admittedly infrequent) S3 ‘Nick the Soldier’ who we know absolutely nothing about, and how dominate that side of him is. Not dominant enough and Nick won’t have enough influence to be useful to Mayday, too dominant and he could potentially betray Mayday... we’ll have to wait and see...

“You can’t save her; some women don’t want to be saved.” Oof, literal chills. I’m really looking forward to this character dynamic. Both are commanders, both helped to create Gilead and regret it, and both have a connection to June. I know this is scene is talking about Nick wanting to save June and probably get her to Canada, but I can’t help thinking that the writers specifically wrote this line to have an underlying tone about Eleanor as her death will still be very fresh for Lawrence.

This isn’t a prediction so much as a musing but I really hope there gets to be some sort of interaction between June and Lawrence about the circumstances of her suicide. Every time I watch the funeral scene where June and Lawrence just look at each other, I get more and more sure that Lawrence knows that something else happened that she’s not saying - he’s a smart man, after all.

Maybe this scene is a continuation of the ‘secluded forest/potential eyes’ scene. He could have asked her to stop “playing handmaid commander” (I believe this was a direct quote from S2, tell me if I’m wrong) and go with him to Canada and she refuses, hence why he goes to see Lawrence. That would fit the potential timeline as Lawrence would have to have been released from the interrogation scenes we saw in the main trailer, and we’ve established that the forest seven must be at least a few episodes in.

Speaking of rebel handmaid shenanigans, this looks fun! June is heard saying “Where we’re going isn’t safe.” and Mrs. Keyes (Mckenna Grace) replies “It’s not safe anywhere!”. I mean, straight off the bat, it looks like we’re going to get one hell of a performance from Mckenna Grace who seems insanely talented for 14! We’ve had it teased to us by different producers and show runners that Mrs. Keyes will be the confident teenage wife of a commander, who helps to facilitate the resistance. And, I mean being a child bride is horrifying so I can understand why she’s willing to help!

As where they’re actually going, I’m thinking that it’s got to be another ‘attack’ by Mayday. What that will look like is hard to say - another Lillie Fuller style bomb seems unlikely since the bomb-maker was moved and it doesn’t really seem like June’s style anyway (she’d rather go for the targeted kill without Handmaid/Martha casualties), and all remaining kids in Gilead will be under heavy security after the S3 Finale. My money would be on a plan to get out Handmaids/Marthas - in the originally trailer we hear June saying “These women deserve to be helped” which supports that theory. I think her efforts will particularly focus on handmaids since a lot of the kids they got out were kids of handmaids before Gilead so she’ll want them to be reunited where it’s safe to do so.

Right - my guess is that this scene must be following whatever Mayday attempted (successful or not...). Remember in S2 when June was looking at all the Marthas who had been hanged and she said that they had been hanged for being heretics and not for being part of resistance because officially there was no resistance because there was nothing to resist? I think what we’re seeing is June has been caught and she’s being given one of the hanging bags with the symbols on to say why they were hung, pre-execution (which I assume June will somehow survive - my guess would be Nick gets her out before the execution). June’s bag has a cross because she’ll be hung for being a heretic, because officially there is no resistance - although this seems like a bit of a stretch of a story even for Gilead considering what Mayday just pulled off. It’ll be interesting to see the story that Gilead do use to explain what happened.

Another thing I just want to quickly touch on is the costume - mustard yellow with a red strip. It’s a bit out there but I’m putting my money on ‘death row uniform’ - here’s why: the colours of the uniforms all have biblical connotations e.g. the wives where blue because it symbolises the purity of the Virgin Mary, handmaids wear read to symbolise Mary Magdalene who is a redeemed sinner etc. In Revelation (final book of the bible that talks of the end of the world and second coming etc.) the four horsemen (bringers of the end of the world) are described as being yellow as sulphur and red as fire. So the colours yellow and red would symbolise ‘the end’ i.e. a salvaging/execution. This is purely speculation so make sure to comment your thoughts!

Now the opinion you’re probably all here for - Hannah. In the shots shown in the trailer, she can be seen in some sort of glass prison with a doll, and she draws an eye in the dust. There’s been a lot of speculation about the context of this scene with the overriding theory being that this scene is a dream. In some ways this makes sense: June is in the yellow costume but she doesn’t have the same injuries shown in the other footage where she’s wearing this costume (although this could just be that this scene is slightly before that scene), the idea of a glass prison doesn’t really make sense in relation to what all the other cells look like that we’ve seen, the eye that Hannah draws is just way too precise for a drawing done with dust let alone a drawing done by a child, the idea of Hannah drawing an eye is also a strange drawing for a child whereas June would dream that because of the connotations to Gilead spies and ‘under his eye’. Not to mention it makes sense that June would be dreaming about Hannah being trapped as she’s been spending time with Mrs. Keyes who is a child bride close to Hannah’s age.

In all honesty, I don’t really know what I believe. I think that placing Hannah in a glass prison and allowing June to see her and be centimetres away but not be able to get to her is a very Gilead style power trip. Gilead officials know that the only reason that she’s still in Gilead is because of Hannah so it makes sense for them to hold her in a place that is blatantly obvious to June so she can be used as leverage in stopping an on-coming attack. Gilead pretend to be all about protecting children but we all know they’re not above cutting off a limb or two - as long as she still has a working uterus. So if this isn’t a dream and Hannah is being used as leverage, this puts a spanner in the works on my death row theory because you only keep leverage on someone if you need them for something and they won’t kill her if they still need her for something. There’s a number of things that could be - stopping an on-coming attack, intel on Mayday and the Martha network, maybe they’re blackmailing her to tell Luke to stand down on trying to get Fred and Serena convicted?

Anyway.... that was A LOT. Please reply to this post with any ideas you have or to prove me wrong - this is all we have till S4 drops!

Blessed be the fruit loops, bitches x

#thtedit #thehandmaidstaleedit #the handmaids tale spoilers #the handmaid's tale #hannah tht #moira tht #janine tht #June Osborne #nick x june #nick blaine #june tht #predictions #spoiler #thehandmaidstaleonhulu #blessed be the squad #blessed be the fruit loops #under his eye #nolite te bastardes carborundorum #mckenna grace

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whatwouldyourbiasdo · 5 years ago

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Finding Cinderella | Series | Chapter Two

Title: Finding Cinderella

Pairings: Donghae x reader,(Primary) Heechul x reader (Secondary), Kyuhyun x reader (Secondary)

Author’s Note: I have been planning this story for a while but have been battling many writers’ blocks in doing so. This story will mainly focus on Donghae and the reader but will have branching stories between Heechul, Kyuhyun and two secondary OC characters.

Sidenote: Yes, this series will include Kangin and Sungmin. This was originally started back when the two of them were still active members and in my heart they will always be members so I will include them wherever I see fit.

SM Entertainment plans to host the event of the century and you are invited!

The news headline offered as click bait got a lot of people talking. It wasn’t a complete lie as SM Entertainment was gearing up to host what they believed to be the event of the century and even a handful of lucky fans were going to be granted access to this exclusive party. But there was a catch.

Only a few lucky fans were going to receive a V.I.P. invitation to the party, a chance to meet all their favorite artists and celebrities as well as experience the best food and music they had ever come across.

In order to be considered for an invitation, fans had to record a video message stating why they loved SM Entertainment, what they felt like the company’s artists changed their lives and why they should be one of the honorable guests for the party. SM Entertainment artists would judge the videos and each group would collectively vote on one fan to personally invite to the party.

Some netizens criticized the requirements, stating that they were basically begging for people to praise them on video so they could use that to their advantage later as part of a sneaky promotional stunt, while other netizens praised the company for including fans who helped the company gain so much success over the past year.

Videos came flocking in as soon as the signup had opened, people had to create a personal account on the official SM Entertainment event page, fill out their profile and personal information and upload the video. On the first night, the event page managed to crash due to the traffic from all over the world though many netizens claimed the company would end up picking fans within Korea as they always seemed favorable to their country.

Not all the applications were valid to the competition, however. Some people thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get their own rise to fame and uploaded a video of them dancing, singing or acting in a desperate attempt to get discovered. Paying tribute to their favorite artists they sang their hearts out and tried to mimic the complicated choreography for as much as possible to showcase their own talents and abilities. Unfortunately for them, SM Entertainment wasn’t looking for new trainees and took no heed of these desperate audition attempts. And then there were the desperate fans who were just grasping the chance of conveying their messages to their favorite idols, hoping that their love confession would set off a series of events only seen in dramas.

Some, however, took it to the extreme. This platform was also the perfect opportunity for the so-called “sasaengs” to come forth with extreme and desperate messages stating that their “oppa” needed to love them and whoever would love them instead would face serious consequences. Most of them would receive a message that their account had been disabled for not following the rules and the company even issued a warning that those would continue sending disturbing messages would face legal repercussions.

Lee Chanhee had hesitated several times about signing up and giving it a shot. She had been a big SM Entertainment fan for years, their artists and music ignited a light within her which sparked her passion for singing. There had even been people who told her she had actual star potential, the only thing that held her back was her fear. A fear to audition and get rejected. A fear of people who were supposed to be experts, rejecting her and crushing her dreams, killing the fire that fueled her passion. And the idea of the stress and demanding schedules she had heard about, it definitely made the idea of signing as an artist less favorable. Having all eyes on her, judging her every action and movement, commenting on anything she did or said or didn’t do or say, the pressure of being perfect… That was something she rather lived without. Instead, she decided to keep it low and sing for fun. Releasing online songs under a pseudonym to keep the mystery going, she gathered quite a fanbase of followers and viewers. And that was enough, for the time being.

But a chance to be invited inside SM Entertainment, to meet, greet and party with her favorite artists and get an idea of how the people she admired were in real life, without the cameras and the pressure to keep up their good image, that intrigued her. And so her mouse hovered over the signup button on the event page. But she didn’t click.

“Signing up means I have to record a video...” She let out a soft sigh as she considered her options. “Which means people will see my face… And they’ll judge my story...” They made it quite clear in the promotions that the artists were actually going to be reviewing the applications themselves and personally pick out a fan to invite. Which would mean she could have the chance to personally convey her feelings and experiences with her favorite artist, but that could also mean making a great fool out of herself. She could just imagine the groups watching her video, laughing at how ridiculously cringeworthy she looked.

But what exactly did she have to lose? None of them knew her and if her video was laughable at best, they wouldn’t invite her over which means that they would just as easily forget about her embarrassment. And if she did get invited then maybe, just maybe her video wasn’t as cringeworthy as she imagined it in her head.

“Yah! Chanhee-ah!” A voice called from the hallway as she heard the front door slam shut. Footsteps approached her bedroom door and a second later the door flung open revealing the dark haired girl that had burst into her apartment. Sometimes she regretted giving her the password. “Aish, there you are!”

“Oh, Miya-ah!” The curly haired girl nodded as she finally moved from her spot behind her computer and greeted her friend. Miya was a student at the Korean National University of Arts, majoring in vocal and dance courses whom Chanhee had met online right after she released her first ever song online under the pseudonym 월광 신데렐라 (moonlight cinderella). Miya was her first subscriber and commenter and had proceeded to comment, like and even promote every song she released after that. When Miya sent her a message asking if she was a student at her university and that she could introduce Chanhee to one of the music producer majors, she took the plunge and met up with Miya. And they have been friends ever since.

“Sorry, I’m late since the semester is ending they are killing us with exams and preparations,” The slightly shorter girl huffed as she dragged her bag over the floor.

“No problem!” Chanhee smiled as she inched closer to the girl with a curious gaze down on the bag she was dragging along. “So… You got the goods?”

“Ah?” Miya exclaimed, looking up at the taller curly haired girl with a somewhat confused gaze before realizing what she meant. “Oh! Yes! Miya's goody supplying service has done it again!” She grinned proudly as she crouched down and rummaged her bag until she pulled out the small USB stick. “Tadaa! I swear, Yunghwa was going to have a mental breakdown since his program kept crashing and it deleted his final project, you should have seen his face!” She mused, showing no signs of consideration towards her music producer friend she put in charge of helping produce and mix Chanhee’s releases.

“Aigoo, please thank him for me!” Chanhee humbled as she held her hands out for the USB stick, impatiently waiting to hear the final product. She had worked hard on this release, usually, she only produced covers of popular and lesser known songs, but this was the first re-write of a song she composed and she was eager to hear how it turned out before releasing it online.

She did feel sorry for putting so much pressure on Miya’s friend who she could imagine was under a lot of stress as was with finals creeping up. And to top it off, Yunghwa wasn’t even getting paid for the producing he did. Chanhee did offer, but Miya somehow found a way to have him do it without any reward. Chanhee decided not to ask questions.

“Psh, all he needs is a couple of cups of coffee and he’ll be good to go!” Miya smirked as she placed the USB in her hands. “So what were you up to?”

“I was wondering if I should sign up for the SM Entertainment event...” She muttered as she made her way back to her computer, playing with the USB in her hands.

“Oh, right… The fan event where they’re asking you to stick some feathers up their butts to make them feel good,” Miya hummed thoughtfully. She had heard about the event, not surprising since it was advertised everywhere and several of her fellow students had signed up. Not to mention her former roommate had been talking about all the things she had to arrange for it seeing as she found a full-time job at the company after dropping out of university.

Personally, she didn’t feel the appeal of the event, she highly doubted those lucky fans would even catch a glimpse of their idols and would most likely be stuffed in one corner of the venue. She could imagine most of the people that signed up merely did so to get to meet their wannabe husband or wife.

“It would be a chance of a lifetime to attend… Even if it’s just for the food.” Chanhee explained. “But I’m not sure if I’m so comfortable with recording a video message. Especially since the artists will hand pick the winners themselves.“

“Huh, you would think they’d have better things to do than to go through millions of fan videos.” Miya clicked her tongue as she brushed her fingers through her already messy hair. The thing about college students was that after a certain amount of time you stopped giving a crap about your appearance, the dress code was pajamas and dark eye circles most of the time anyway. “But these idols don’t know you, right? So what’s the worse that could happen? You’ll be one of a million rejected and they’ll probably not even remember your face or voice or anything.”

“See, that is what I was telling myself but still...” She bit the inside of her lip as she stared back at the signup screen.

“C’mon! Just do it, you know you want to or you wouldn’t be hesitating so much!” The smaller girl pressed her finger onto the curly haired girls to make her point. “Don’t think too much and just do it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!”

“Yes! Yes, you’re right! Let’s do it!” Chanhee encouraged herself as she finally clicked the sign-up button and filled out the information they requested. It also asked for a preferred group, seeing as they were going to divide the applications between all the groups to limit the amount of time their artist had to spent on watching and judging the videos. After thinking about it, she decided to sign up for Super Junior, reasoning that the group barely seemed to take themselves too seriously so if she ended up making a fool out of herself they would most like just brush it off as adorable at least. Or that’s what she kept telling herself as encouragement.

“Lemme know how the track sounds before releasing it and if you need anything changed hit me up and I will pester Yunghwa into fixing it!” Miya mentioned as she hoisted her bag over her shoulder again. She didn’t have enough time to stick around unfortunately, a student’s duty called and she had to get back to campus for a couple more classes.

“Thanks a lot, Miya!” Chanhee beamed as she turned to look at her friend. “I owe you a lot!”

“Aye, what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t go to the extreme for my precious unnie!” She flashed her a cheeky smile and winked as she finished her words before heading out. “Good luck!”

Chanhee waited for her friend to leave and the sound of the door falling back into its automated lock before opening her recording program and turning on her camera. She stared at her own reflection in the screen, huffing as she brushed her fingers through her soft curls trying to get them to twirl a way that would look decent on camera. Patting her cheeks she wondered if she needed to add some more makeup or if it were best to just go with the natural look to give them the right idea of the girl proclaiming her love to the company.

“Ok Chanhee,” She took a deep breath, her finger hovering over the record button. “It’s now or never, I can do this!” She cleared her throat and hit the red button.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Lee Chanhee imnida. Twenty-five years old, veterinary assistant... “ the curly haired girl introduced herself with a shy smile and soft voice. She was fidgeting with her curls as she seemed to try and think of the right words to say.

“I guess I should be answering some of these questions…” Her eyes darted off to the words on the screen for a moment as she mouthed the question first before turning back to the camera with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Um… How has SM Entertainment influenced my life? I guess I would say it has turned my world upside down...” A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she finished her words. “Ah, but not in a bad way! Not at all… It has shown me that music is so much more than a simple melody and some words. It’s about the feeling and message that it’s trying to convey. Connecting people with a mutual feeling, regardless of boundaries set by society… I think that’s what makes it beautiful.”

She seemed to really be contemplating her words as she no longer focused on the camera and as her mind wandered off to the message she was trying to convey, she seemed less nervous. “The first song from SM Entertainment that I had ever heard was sung by Super Junior, and it seemed to speak to me in a way I never expected music to do… In particular when Kyuhyun’s part came up. His voice managed to capture the words and the message, touching every heartstring by singing. It felt like he was conveying the message straight to my heart without ever having met. That’s the power of real talent, it says a lot about the artist's abilities.”

A soft hum escaped her lips as she let her own words sink in for a moment, hesitating whether or not she should keep speaking. It was clear that there was more to say, but she wasn’t sure if she could. “Music has saved my life in more ways than one. And to show gratitude I have always supported all the artists. If I ever had the chance to meet them, I would like to thank them for all the strength their music has given me…”

Her eyes moved up to the question on the screen again as she read the final question. “Ah… In all honesty, I’m not sure if I can answer the last question. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would deserve being invited more than me. So I’m not going to answer why I think I’m more deserving or special than all the other fans, everyone has their own reasons for being and their own story to tell. So if I get chosen I will feel blessed and thankful, but if not then I will still be right here, supporting the artists to the best of my abilities, that’s the least I could do.”

As she spoke her final words the screen turned to black as the video had finished. The boys stared at the screen for a moment as they let the message sink in before speaking.

“Wow, that has to be the most genuine message we have seen so far...” Sungmin finally spoke up, breaking the silence filling the Super Junior office.

So far they had seen fans declaring their undying love to the company and them as artists draped in every single Super Junior merchandise they could find. Swinging lightsticks, screaming out their names, high on energy drinks and showing the posters that covered their bedroom walls.

But this girl seemed to really take the requirements seriously. She recorded a video and answered the questions diligently and genuinely. Judging by appearance compared with some of the other videos, you could hardly tell she was a fan. But listening to her words, it was clear she thought long and hard about what she wanted to say and she actually knew what she was talking about.

“Tch, unbelievable she chose Kyu’s voice over mine!” Heechul smirked as he nudged the younger male playfully. He had seemed flustered when the girl started speaking about his ability to convey a message. Sure, he had been praised for his voice and talent before but for some reason the way she praised him felt different.

“She knows her stuff, that’s for sure!” Ryeowook nodded in agreement, it wasn’t surprising that someone praised Kyuhyun’s voice. He was one of the main vocalists after all.

“Let’s just pick hers since I doubt there will be any other actual entries on this list!” Kangin stated as he pulled out his phone. They had been watching videos for several hours now, some more cringeworthy and loud than others. He could understand that people were excited to have a chance to meeting them, but after several hours of sitting in one spot and watching these videos, he was in dire need of some change of scenery.

“That wouldn’t be fair towards the other fans,” Leeteuk felt somewhat guilty about the idea of skipping the rest of the entries right away. “I’m sure all of them put a lot of thought and dedication into it.”

“Well, can we at least call in for some food and drinks then?” Shindong suggested, maybe if they had food to keep them busy, enduring these videos would seem a lot less tiring. It was nice to hear all the praise their fans had given them, it definitely made all of them feel grateful for having such a dedicated fanbase.

“Pizza?” Yesung suggested, feeling peckish himself.

“No, chicken!” Eunhyuk protested as he was craving the taste of juicy fried chicken a lot more at the moment, already licking his lips at the thought of it.

“Why not both?” Donghae shrugged, it wouldn’t be the first time they mix and matched their food preferences because honestly, trying to decide on what to eat with ten - thirteen different cravings wasn’t exactly the easiest task in the word.

“Pizza and chicken sound good to me!” Kyuhyun nodded, finally joining in on the conversation. His mind had been replaying the words of praise Chanhee had spoken before, wondering why those specific words seemed to get to him so much.

“I’ll be right back, you guys keep watching!” their manager nodded as he left the room and headed down the hallway. “Ah! Park-ssi!”

The girl stopped in her tracks as she heard her name being called, turning in the direction of the voice as her crimson locks danced around her face. She bowed in greeting as the manager approached her.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

“I need you to order a couple of pizzas and boxes of fried chicken,” the manager told her as he nudged his head back to the office behind him. “The boys are going through the applications and they’re starting to get restless so they need some food to tie them over.”

“The boys?” She arched a brow curiously as she glanced over at the door leading to the office, hearing muffled voices from the other side. “Ah, Super Junior right? Pizza and chicken? Sure, of course, I can arrange that for you.”

“Thank you, I knew I could count on you!” he smiled thankfully as he bowed his head in gratitude. “Don’t take too long, though. They still have a lot of applicants to review.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have them deliver in fifteen minutes,” Eunmi grinned as she nodded in understanding. “You know how persuasive I can be after all.”

#super junior #super junior donghae #donghae #lee donghae #super junior scenario #super junior scenarios #super junior imagine #super junior story #donghae scenario #donghae scenarios #donghae imagine #donghae story #donghae x reader

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bittybattybunny · 5 years ago

Note

I'm enjoying the various facts of the RuClipse Aus, mostly because I was planning to do RuClipse month. So Im curious how many you have? I know you got A LOT, I mean, I remember the list you post before and apparently you have more under your sleeve (Im looking at that Regis kills Eclipse D':). Im just curious as which ones are more present in your mind/you have more facts and lore. -from a RuClipse fan

dlkgjsdkgkldsngkladnklgsfd

I JUST

IM SORRY IM JUST BLOWN AWAY I HAVE FUCKING RUCLIPSE FANS

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE SHEER SHOCK THIS GIVES ME AND DELIGHT

dgfisjkgfjdskg

Speaking of Ruclipse month I’m makign a proper “banner” with teh prompts this is the WIp image

As for Aus!!

this is gonna get long---

Ummmm The lsit wasn’t full full cuz like I have some AUs tied into others and some I’ve made since then... Like i have a number of Aus I don’t talk about since they are mostly JUST RuClipse focus like I have a Kelpie AU in which Arulius is a Kelpie who’s been trying to eat Eclipse since she was a child but winds up falling for her when she’s older because she’s facinating and eventually starts staying with her because humans age too fast. I also have a Red Riding Hood AU that’s cute fluff. Plus my Fairy Cinderella one.

IDK an exact number tbh I’d have to like. Sit and count. I just like to write them cuz it’s relaxing and I really need that (like man i need relaxing... i had a break down at my day job and my manager had to drive me home by force cuz I wanted to keep working----but that’s because im a severe workaholic with some trauma involved with perfectionism)

Which are my focus/most lore

Right now it’s @eclipseofthehat that’s a big one!!! I’ve been working a lot on the comic scripts and figuring that plot out since I consider that AU kinda my “hub” Au in which everything else is the AU of if that makes sense?

Other than that I’m slightly obsessed with the Nutcracker AU and the Triassic Planet AU but I’m not the main writer on those so I can’t do much lore there.

Well I’m making a shit ton of angst in the Triassic Planet AU but that’s cuz Gin is as angst fueled as I am.

The thing with me is I get inspired off pretty much anything and can come up with a full damn lore plot in a matter of hours.

Sometimes I go ham on them and they become full-fledged things (like the Lamia AU i have was based off of the simple fact of I was watching Anime, a lamia showed up and I went ‘hey what if’ and now I wrote about 7 short chapters i need to finish) or I just do a snippet (the phantom of the opera au. Like i do have the full plot figured. but I really just wanted to write a small snippet)

I have a lot of like partially written things I just worked on while I was bored, sometimes I sketch things randomly and run off.

I get stressed out pretty easily and over whelmed with day to day stuff so I use this as my escape.

anyhow here’s a smallish list of AUs i have rn I think are new from that list im too lazy to look up:

Under a read more CUZ IT GOT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT

Lawbound (Hattie summoned poor law student Prynce Arulius Law who is dead by his fiancee’s hand and trying to solve his own murder. Chapter one is written to post Im doing the cover. chapter 2 is started. Epilogue is also already written)

Red is the Wolf (Red riding hood au, Eclipse is a young woman who’s slowly become a wolf forest spirit due to being born with too much magic. If she interacts with humans she’ll remains human. however she has a terrible fear of people. Her life gets thrown when she accidentally encounters the Prince in the woods and discovers he’s similar to her but his curse is more damaging. She winds up trying to break his curse while slowly falls for her)

The Snake prince (based off my favorite fable from childhood ‘the enchanted snake’ in which Arulius is a Prince who was turned into a snake for the sin of signing the order to execute the forest guardians. his fiance was unable to bear his snakeness and had him trapped in her basement where he escaped injured. he was found by folklorist Eclipse who is a witch and the lone survivor of the massacre. they have no idea of the other’s identity but this is the one AU he’s pretty open about his feelings and while she’s trying to break his curse they end up in love and eventually she has to do the kings trials and Ru semi breaks his curse and the two flee his father who wants her dead. I actually drew a really cute picture of right after eclipse properly breaks his curse. it’s a super fluffy au tbh)

Sunken Ship (new au from the past week. Eclipse is a sea witch who loves ship wrecks. she met the ghost of Arulius Law, a law student who passed away when his fiance shoved him off the sinking ship. She took his skull back to New york with her so he can try to move on. Bittersweet story of them growing close but he’s dead... but mermaids live a long time. and im a slut for reincarnation)

Whipped Water Horse (this is the kelpie au i talked about above. Arulius is a Kelpie who’s been threatened with a whip by Amaris Nightingale since she was a small child and she doesn’t fear the fae. ends up falling in love with her and saving her several times from her human suitors under the guise of “youre my target so no one can have you” has some major angst and some not so fun stuff nearly happen)

The contractor’s wish (Snatcher is a demon who has to grant the whims of those who form contracts by writing in the book he’s bound to. Eclipse found the book while cleaning her attic out and ends up freeing him without question. he sticks around and slowly recalls being human and how he wound up in his situation while trying to figure what his actual wish is)

Cute Barista (a coffee shop au with a cinderella twist. Amaris is a graphic design student who works at her brother’s cafe “the horizon” and attracted the attention of a law student named Arulius law who visits daily. Her brother tried to get him to piss off but sadly the two actually enjoy chatting with each other. As a peck you to her brother they start going on dates. She’s very down on herself and he’s secretly the reclusive prince who’s been in hiding because he’s afraid of peoples reactions after he was scarred by an accident in his youth. he’s trying to find the best way to tell her the truth but also doesn’t want to scare her away. He’s a single father in this having adopted Harriet while doing volunteer work)

the Art Student’s muse (this one is fully written i just haven’t posted it. Basically, Arulius is an art student who became obsessed with this one nude model they had. Like not persay in a creepy way she just captivated him. he gets a lot of shit from his best friend Vanessa but winds up keeping the model in mind despite not seeing her. In his senior year they cross paths again and she has a break down but they wind up together.)

Swapped (a short one shot chapter in which TLC eclispe wakes up as Moon guardian Eclipse and gets very confused emotions when snatcher kissed her)

Darkrai’s Wish (a pokemon au Ive posted one chapter of already in which Arulius is a darkrai but used to be human and doesnt remember this. he has to deal with being human again thanks to a little jirachi and dealing with the fact he loves Eclipse who has issues cuz he used to be a pokemon)

Wolf bite (Prince Arulius was cursed as a werewolf in his youth. as an adult when he got out one full moon he bit a village girl giving her the curse as well. She winds up nearly being burned at the stake for witch craft and he has her saved and brought to the castle. he’s trying to make it up to her but she’s understandably pissed off. It’s a lot of him trying to get her to be not angry but also they start liking each other and she helps teach him a lot about how the world works because he’s naive and sheltered)

Familiar (Amaris lives in a world magic exists. many people have famialars to help do day to day tasks and the more impressive your family the better. Most meet their famialar when they are children, however, Amaris didn’t. But one day her past returns and she is taking care of a small chubby dragon who to everyone else looks like a deformed ferret and has to learn her magic may not be as limited as thought as well as the truth behind her familiar and the strange young man who keeps stopping by her work with flowers for her)

The Prince’s Pet Snake (this is the lamia au. Eclipse is a dangerous lamia with venom to take down an army. Arulius is a naive prince who thought of her as an animal and came to realize she’s far more human than he thought and being dumb to the fact he loves her despite he’s engaged. Has a sad ending)

Tangled Adventure (tangled au: Arulius law was cursed by his wife and is now trying to find the horizon and the daughter of the moon to break it. he picks up a changling child along the way who’s also searching for the horizon to find out where she came from. they meet the daughter of the moon but it seems to break the curse isnt as simple as they think and after making a deal with her to show her the outside they get into trouble when the queen comes looking for her lost prince)

Going Ghost (a danny phantom au idk if i’ve mentioned at all lol. hat and bow are twins and friends of arulius and they are inspecting a weird floor at his girlfriend's house. he winds up getting stuck when they trigger a gate to the horizon and becomes the snatcher. thankfully MJ and Eclipse where there and can somewhat help him calm down but it’s nuts)

Princess and the Rogue (a fantasy Au in which Eclipse is a runaway princess who became a fighter and teamed up with the rogue Snatcher who was cursed after wooing a noble woman. the two have been traveling for a few years and have one of those totally love each other but wont say it but also the search for the princess is getting intense and his curse is getting worse.)

Undergrounded (this is just my undertale au. )

Skates on Point (an ice skating au. Arulius is part of a famous olypic duo, Amaris is a selective mute woman who teaches at her daoptive father’s rink and an ex-ballet dancer. her brotehr was the gold medalist in the olympics but had to quit when he lost the use of his legs in a car wreck. Arulius is stressed over his realtionship and skating and winds up going to skate at the owl express rink where he sees the young woman skating alone in the morning. the two wind up bonding and spending more time togehter and she with his urging and her brother’s urging starts skating competitivly while he starts show skating under and alias and the two wind up performing togehter and realize they may have a thing. Eclispe is in teh process of adopting two little girls but having issues and ru helps and its jsut a lot of healing for everyone. Chapter 1, 2 and 3 typed as well as various snippets)

The little sea wolf (a little mermaid au but eclipse is the mermaid and a sea witch who winds up befriending teh prince after she saved him from thugs. things get sticky when the mermaid princess fell for him after seeing the sea witch save him from a shipwreck and deamnds to have him. the sea witch beause of teh strain of her magic starts to break down and unless she gains a soul she’ll die. Sena punches ru in this one and its great)

So yeah thats the ones on top my head im sure i probs have more but i cant think

#ask #anon #long post #Eclipse Guardian #Prince Arulius #sketch #digital #themoonguardianandthelostprince #anyhow sorry im so wordy weep #also like most these aus i deabte if ill ever post #a few i will when done but idk #ya get me???

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matterofperception · 4 years ago

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MUSTAT LESKET FINAL MUSINGS

Okay, so I finished the second (and last) season of Mustat Lesket (Black Widows) a little while ago. It ends on a significant cliffhanger, and with a number of loose ends, but the series was never renewed despite the success of its first. Excuse me while I rant into the void, because there is zero fandom here for me to bounce things off (it’s an old show, 2014/16 AND not in English, so...) and I have so many thoughts...

Firstly, I actually really enjoyed the first season of Mustat Lesket, and would recommend it based on that (and because I think Pihla Viitala is wonderful). It had just the right balance of mystery/thrills and drama, but also black/dry humour (I laughed a lot in S1). A lot of it was far-fetched and beyond belief, but you could kind of let that slide because the show never took itself too seriously. As far as character introductions went, I loved Veera and Johanna, and could understand the trajectories that had led them to feel like killing their husbands was a viable way out. Kirsi, well, she just felt like a necessary caricature, designed to milk the drama for everything it was worth. The dynamic between sweet, gentle Veera, emotional, crazy Kirsi, and strong, wilful Johanna somehow worked in S1.

And when Jukka returned, his redemption arc in S1 was done fantastically. Suddenly, you could understand (although not necessarily condone - same as with the widows and the boat) why he’d been such an asshole, and you could also see Veera start to come to that realisation too. The build up to their reconciliation at the end of S1 was the most authentic and believable in the entirety of the series (with the possible exception of Johanna and Petri, though they didn’t have the romantic chemistry that Veera and Jukka had).

S2 however, was an odd and fragmented ride. With the truth of the boat blast that bonded them no longer a looming threat, suddenly the widows were thrown into very separate storylines. Kirsi, despite Veera and Johanna inexplicably taking her back into the fold after her betrayal, spends half the season away from them locked in a genuinely abusive marriage to a man she’s known for about half a minute. She pushes so far past the point of what is forgivable in terms of her friendships with Veera and Johanna, and becomes increasingly difficult to sympathise with. The bulk of Veera’s storyline is focussed on her weird open relationship with a high-profile MP/author who she has absolutely no chemistry with (I used to think Pihla would have chemistry with a rock - she’s had it with basically everyone else I’ve ever seen her paired with - but I don’t see it at all with this guy) while her own husband becomes a mere inconvenience, and Johanna...well I can’t even remember what Johanna was doing half the time, besides the will-they-won’t-they dance with Petri. The widows then intersect at the tiniest dribs and drabs to talk about the DVD. That’s really it.

And Jukka, oh my god, did they write him into the ground or what? S1′s redemption arc shows him falling back in love with his wife, so much that he’s willing to leave her to make her happy, and then to go to jail to keep her and their daughter safe. And S2 opens with him trying to drown her, not even stopping to question the legitimacy of what Kirsi - who has just been coming on to him behind Veera’s back - is saying? He then spends half the season locked in a basement, and when he does finally get free and worms his way back into Veera and Siiri’s lives, there isn’t a single proper conversation between him and Veera about all that’s gone down between them. Yeesh. By the end of the season, he’s gone legitimately off the rails. Even if there had been a S3 (and Jukka hadn’t been shot in the S2 finale), it would’ve been really hard for him to redeem himself.

I honestly don’t know what drove the storyline decisions here. You’d think that logically, the Veera/Jukka conflict and relationship would have the most potential for drama and rich storytelling (not to mention the strongest bond to the underlying trigger plot of the show - the boat blast). We saw nothing of it in S2. Nothing. It was just swept under the rug. They barely even interact.

I guess I’m just really disappointed in where they took this. I wonder if even the writers/actors were in the dark about where they would take that relationship in S2, because the way they played Veera and Jukka’s reconciliation in S1 was just so…emotionally romantic? In that post-sex scene where they’re talking by the fire, Jukka looked like he absolutely adored her, like he’d have done anything for her. The show had also made an interesting decision to not show them having sex (only the prelude, which was incredibly loving and tender), in contrast to Veera/Erno and Veera/Anttu who we quite graphically see having sex... For a while I’d wondered if they were using the whole ‘making love vs having sex’ contrast to highlight that her relationship with Jukka was special, but that quickly got blown out of the water in S2.

(An aside - it’s interesting that Veera and Anttu barely ever kiss throughout the whole relationship, and I wonder if there was a recognised chemistry issue between Pihla and the guy who plays Anttu).

Based on what they’d shown us about their feelings, realistically both Jukka and Veera should’ve been way more devastated by Kirsi’s reveal. Surely, he would’ve wanted to understand. Surely a part of him wouldn’t even believe it until hearing it from her (especially bearing in mind Kirsi has just been coming on to him behind Veera’s back)? Surely he’d have been heartbroken as well as angry? And surely Veera would’ve been more hurt by his reaction, would’ve understood his anger, and would’ve wanted to explain things to him (they basically wrote S2 as if she didn’t care enough to try)? S2 made a huge mockery of the redemption arc of S1. It made Veera look fickle and unattached and Jukka regress into the volatile asshole he’d been presented as at the start of S1. And perhaps most significantly of all, it denied Veera of a redemption arc of her own. The reality, is that she should’ve wanted that redemption - she was wrong about him, and had nearly killed him because of it. Why didn’t the writers address that?? It really pissed me off that they just had Veera brush that whole thing under the carpet.

And Anttu, oh my gosh I don’t even know what angle they were going for with this storyline? Were we supposed to be rooting for him? Because I was really not. First off, I don’t believe that Veera would ever be so desperate to seriously pursue the relationship in the first place - she is fiercely protective of her daughter (to the point she was willing to kill her husband to protect her) so I doubt she would’ve engaged in a relationship that she knew would never provide any stability for Siiri.

And Anttu himself, what the hell? He takes her out for a public dinner, and then everyone acts like it’s such a shock when the media snaps them out together and reports on it as gossip? Veera’s humiliated and hurt, but doesn’t even have enough pride to walk away from a) him b) the job she has working for his wife until way later on? All the while, her own husband is popping in and out of her life and it’s like she’s just flicked the off switch on her feelings for him? It just makes no sense to me!

And then there’s the fact that we aren’t shown any great emotional connection between Veera and Anttu. They basically had no emotional or sexual chemistry. We’re meant to believe that the pull between these characters is so strong, and the audience is told by way of the characters that Veera and Anttu are supposedly so attracted to each other, but the chemistry is so non-existent that we don’t see it. The clincher though, is that he was actually kind of an asshole. The show tried to present him as this wholesome guy, but he didn't actually seem to give two shits about her wellbeing at all - he showed up at her house the first time she broke it off basically to convince her to keep sleeping with him on the side (telling her how attracted he was to her while her kid was in hearing distance, wtf), took her out to dinner knowing that people would likely talk, brushed off her concerns about the photos, outed her name to the press against her wishes, stood by his wife and basically belittled her and treated her like the other woman on live television, then when she tried to break it off for good he kept pursuing her because he wanted her, like she was some kind of trophy (and ‘I’m not used to being dumped’ - OH PLEASE!). He had no regard for her feelings or wishes at all. The scene where he shows up at her house with the party invite and wouldn’t even let her speak raised my hackles - I mean, was that supposed to be romantic? Him constantly stalking her despite her saying ‘no’ on multiple occasions, and showing up at her house (and scaring her kid) despite her wishes? Honestly, it just about killed me seeing Veera allowing herself to be treated like that. She deserves so much better, and it was really unsatisfying to see the series end with her going back to him (the fact that he left his wife is really the least of the issues).

So maybe I wrote all that just to come to the conclusion that - I’m actually kind of glad that we’ll never see beyond the ending of S2. Perhaps I’ll just pretend that this universe concluded at the end of S1, before Kirsi had the chance to make that phone call. I’ll pretend that Veera eventually told Jukka of her own accord, that they fought and got angry, and made up and were able to understand each others’ circumstances. That they talked and kissed and made love at the villa, and plotted a way to keep the police off Veera’s back. And then they lived happily ever after with Siiri. Sigh.

#mustat lesket #black widows #finnish tv #pihla viitala #Ville Tiihonen #veera joentie #jukka joentie #veera x jukka #I love them and am bitter about how they were written post S1

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liamoftheirish · 5 years ago

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Task 24 - OOC About Your Character

1. What do you want to get out of playing this character(s)?

To see him and his story develop, especially with relationships.

2. Describe your character(s) with three words.

Strong, fierce, caring.

3. What made you decide to write this muse?

Liam was my first muse in this game, and I always wanted to play someone that went against typical fantasies of wealth and power, instead someone simple-life oriented, quiet, reserved, cold who could develop into something more if unlocked.

4. If you could change one event in your muse’s life (in their main or canon verse), what would you change?

Nothing really, everything is carefully crafted to put Liam in the mindset he needs to be in; I already re-wrote his history when I left the game and came back, to flesh him out better.

5. If you could tell your muse one thing, what would you tell them?

Don’t be afraid to open up and love again.

6. If you could give your muse one gift, what would you give them?

He’s not very sentimental or materialistic, but if possible, maybe one more day with his wife that would let him get closure.

7. If you had to take one positive thing away from your muse, what would you take away?

His unwavering conviction: He has his beliefs, he has his loyalties, and those don’t stray, and it’s an admirable trait to have a strong conviction that you don’t let falter.

8. If you could “borrow” one aspect of your muse and apply it to yourself or your own life, what would you borrow?

His confidence in himself and his beliefs, to not care so much what others think.

9. Do you genuinely want your muse to be happy? What do you think would make them most happy in life?

I would love Liam to be happy, I thought there was a chance at first, but that fell off; since then, it seems the options are there, but it’s on him to be more open to allow for it. Clearly the man has lived a violent, angry, and lonely life, one that he created himself because of his nature. He hasn’t allowed himself to love since his wife passed (by his hands in a blood rage), and he hasn’t allowed himself to love again. There’s been a few that have nearly unlocked that, but it’s not until he allows himself to admit it and forgive himself, that he’ll ever be truly happy.

10. Do you enjoy putting your muse through angst? What do you think would break their heart the most?

I do, even if he doesn’t seem ‘angsty’, fact is stuff bothers him inwardly and he worries. He just doesn’t like to show weakness or too many sides to himself. He has been more open, and recently been questioning some of his actions. Hurting him the most would be him harming someone he cares deeply about.

11. What do you love about your muse?

His confidence, and again, his unwavering conviction. His simple-life mindset is also something I greatly appreciate.

12. What do you hate about your muse?

His coldness and closed off mindset.

13. What about your muse amuses you?

The fact that pop-culture references just go flying over his head, because he just does not care a thing about film or TV.

14. What about your muse makes you sad?

The fact that he feels so lonely despite his friends.

15. How would you describe your muse to someone about to meet them, in person, for the first time?

He’ll be cold, distant, a bit stand offish. May be a bit intimidating, and maybe a bit too matter-of-fact in speaking, seems to lack any real filter. If you can accept that and work past it, he’s a good friend to have though.

16. Would you like your muse as a person if you met them in real life?

Probably, but it’d be hard for me to feel comfortable to call him a friend; I’d be pretty intimidated around him until I got to know him.

17. In what ways are you better than your muse? In what ways are they better than you?

I’m more open, empathetic, able to befriend people easier, but Liam has a confidence and conviction that I lack and wish I had. I wish I could care less about what people think of me, and be more confident in who and what I am.

18. Why do you think you connect to your muse?

We both care deeply about people we love, we’re both a bit quieter, and both of us aren’t the most social of butterflies; while Liam would prefer to sit at home wood working and working on cars, I’d more than happily sit at home and write or watch movies.

19. What aspect of your muse’s personality is most important to you? What aspect of your muse’s personality do you think is most important to them? Is it the same? Why or why not?

Again, it’s his pure and unwavering confidence and conviction. I think that probably is the same with Liam as well, holding onto his identity is so invaluable to him, because if he loses that he’ll lose control and that’s when he’ll slip back into what he used to be. He struggles with the fact that he’s a violent, insatiable killer, but at the same time has compassion for life and doesn’t WANT to just attack and kill. And he has to make sure he accepts that aspect of him, of what he WANTS to be, so he can balance that against what he can be. His confidence and conviction helps maintain that balance.

20. Has your character(s) changed over the time that you have been playing them? How have they changed?

While Liam’s fundamentals, his rules to live by and moral convictions have mostly stayed the same. He has slowly opened up more, been more open to listen and talk with people; though, he doesn’t often talk about himself, he can let a bit of his past slip in here or there. He’s learned to not look at others as potential enemies or victims, but instead daring to call some of them friends. He’s able to laugh more, joke more, hopefully someone’s willing to push that to the next level someday.

About You!

1. What is your name?

Matt

2. What is your profession?

Beer and Wine Steward

3. What do you do to relax?

Listen to music, write, watch films, play video games.

4. What is your favorite treat (desert)?

Ice Cream on fresh-baked brownie/cookie with fudge dripped over it all.

5. Favorite movie -

I’m a massive film buff, so almost every movie is a favorite to me in some fashion. I adore Star Wars for several reasons, not all of them good. Maybe my favorite movie is probably a toss up between The Big Lebowski or No Country for Old Men, any film with incredible dialogue really. But then I also absolutely love beautiful BS like the MCU films and got shivers during the Portals scene in Endgame, so yea... no idea really.

6. Favorite book -

Currently: The Immortal Irishman - Timothy Egan (This needs to be made into a movie)

7. Favorite vacation spot -

My favorite vacation I ever went on is a toss up between trip with friends to Portland for a wedding, and Chicago for Star Wars Celebration, but I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland. I intend to try next year.

8. Favorite Disney movie -

The Lion King (I’m basic bitch like that, don’t at me.)

9. How did you first get into role playing?

I started playing back when I was around 13 or 14, back on AOL, playing a Jedi in a D&D like setting... because that’s what I knew. People were accepting of it, and it was some of the greatest experience. I love story telling.

10. What was your first platform? If it was something other than Tumblr, what made you get into Tumblr?

AOL. And why Tumblr? AOL moved to Greatest Journal, which died, and moved to Insane Journal, and I met a girl there who told me about Tumblr RP, which I said ‘that sounds stupid’... and now I’m here. So there’s that. I still really don’t know what I’m doing half the time on Tumblr, no idea how to discover games on this platform, lol.

11. What’s a grammar rule you find yourself breaking or ignoring a lot?

100% it’s tenses. Past/present, I just write how I talk and it’s bad writing, I know. I will also simultaneously explain way too much in depth, and other times get ridiculously lazy writing in-depth.

12. Are there any languages besides English in which you think you could comfortably roleplay?

Just English. I’ve tried to learn other languages, but for whatever reason it’s very hard for me to wrap my mind around sentence structure and grammar rules in other languages.

13. Do you listen to music while your write?

Depends. If it’s just basic writing, an easy-going scene, probably not? I can get distracted from time to time; however, if I’m trying to get into a specific mood most definitely. Or if I feel a scene is heading somewhere that needs a good soundtrack? I’m a sucker for soundtracks in film, and music can really drive my mood (which is why it can be a distraction). And sometimes I write a scene specifically because I was hearing music that put me in that mood.

14. Are you a morning, day, evening, or night writer?

Evening. Which is why changing positions at work will help me, when I start working more during the day. When I work at night it’s hard for me to get up and get going enough in the morning to write.

15. How does tiredness affect your writing?

Do you know how many times I write something exhausted, and when I come back to read it I absolutely hate it? It affecs me greatly...

16. What is your biggest obstacle to writing every day, if time doesn’t count?

Motivation, mood. I’m up and down in my moods, and sometimes I’m feeling down, exhausted, both, or sometimes I just feel inadequate in my writing and hate writing because I judge my abilities and suddenly don’t want to write.

17. How many drafts is a paralyzing amount?

None? It’s more my mood and how far I get behind that’s paralyzing, but when I’m not feeling down or depressed, I’m in a normal mood or a great mood, I can write 30 threads in a single sitting and not miss a beat. I’m sure others can attest to how far I can turn around a reply when I’m on my game. (probably annoyingly).

18. Is there anything character-wise or writing style-wise that you can’t stand?

It’s probably Godmodding, it takes away from the fun of writing WITH people if you’re trying to control their actions.

19. What kind of anonymous questions are your favorite?

Things that make me think about my character, or have my character think. Things that make me really develop my character’s mind.

20. What is your weakest point in writing? Angst, fluff, dialogue, etc.?

I love dialogue in film, so maybe it’s a bit ironic that writing dialogue can easily be an achilles heel for me. It’s hard for me to write fluff or small talk, because I’ve personally never been very good at small talk, and focusing that in my writing is difficult. Fluff is kind of the same way, because it’s all romantic and cheesy and really? I feel a bit embarrassed when writing it. Though that’s more or less for some characters more than others. Murad I can get a bit more fluffy and small talky because I can be outwardly weird with him, where as Liam... his quiet reserve and demeanor make those difficult.

#theinstitutetask #task 24

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singledarkshade · 5 years ago

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The Doctor And The Nurse

Summary: On his way to work, Rory Williams meets a strange man on the strangest morning of his life. So far. Author’s Note: I saw this Tumblr Gif set with Rory as the Tenth Doctor's companion and this appeared. All Eleventh Doctor canon is gone, as is River (at the moment). I intend to write more in this as I have quite a few ideas but until then, enjoy. ********************************************* “Hi, Rory,” Amy’s grinning face appeared on the screen, “I’m in India, not that you would know since I’m in my gorgeous hotel room,” the camera moved and panned around the room before moving to the window, “I can’t even show you the sights through the window cause I’m over the pool.”

The camera returned to her smiling face, “We’re here for a few more days, maybe a week depending on how things go then we’re heading to Peru. Can you believe it?” She paused and tilted her head, “I miss you and I wish you were here to see all this, but I know you’re too busy keeping everyone healthy.” She blew him a kiss, “I will be home for your birthday so I will see you then. Bye.”

Rory sighed as he watched Amy’s message for about the hundredth time since he’d received it six days ago. She had surprised everyone when she suddenly announced she’d gotten a job working with Clayton Gove, a well-known writer, and his wife, Julia Gove as their new assistant. He was writing a new novel, while his wife was researching a travel book, so it meant going to far-flung and exotic locations for the next year.

But that was Amy, adventurous and capricious, a whirlwind in his life since childhood but his best friend he couldn’t imagine life without.

With a sigh, Rory finished his coffee before getting his things together to go to work.

Looking around his tiny flat, Rory sometime wished he’d stayed in Leadworth but that would have meant still living at home and he had been trying to assert his independence.

The thing was he was supposed to be moving to London with Amy and sharing a flat with her, except she got her fantastic job, so he’d basically fallen on his face.

Realising the time, Rory grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

The TARDIS landed.

Wondering where he’d ended up since he’d used the random setting, the Doctor slid his coat on and opened the door.

“Really?” he asked, looking out the door to see a sunny morning in a park in what he was sure was London, “I thought we’d be somewhere much more fun.”

Musing for a moment, he knew that when the TARDIS stopped somewhere there was usually a reason for it so, closing the door, the Doctor stepped out into the warm morning.

He would admit he was a little bored since Martha had left, and he was on his own which meant he ended up talking to himself far too much these days.

Sticking his hands in his coat pocket he strolled along the path, smiling at people as he passed them. It was a quiet day but there was something…something he couldn’t quite put his finger on but something.

“Sorry,” a young man said when the Doctor bumped into him.

“My fault,” the Doctor told him before heading away.

Continuing he frowned hearing a strange scuttering from nearby. Stopping he strained to hear the noise, getting onto the ground and pressing his ear to the grass.

“Are you hurt young man?” a woman asked from above him.

He grinned up at her, seeing the perfectly set grey hair and pink jogging suit, “Just checking that the worms are able to move around freely.”

She gave him a confused looked before power walking on.

And then all hell broke loose.

Rory heard screaming and turned to see people running as what looked like bats rose up from a hole in the ground. The man in the long brown coat who had bumped into him was ushering people away as he pointed a strange pen at the sky.

He saw several people stumble, an older woman wearing a pink jogging suit fell to the ground with a cry. Pushing through those running in the opposite direction Rory reached the woman just as the strange man did.

“Here,” Rory said as they both crouched to help her, “Slowly.”

Helping her to a bench, Rory dug into his bag for his first aid kit as the strange man finally cleared the strange creatures.

“You’re prepared,” the strange man said as he sat on the back of the bench with his feet on the seat.

Rory glanced at him as he began to clean the cut on the woman’s arm, “I’m a nurse.”

“Good,” the man said, nodding, “Excellent. That was good luck you being here. But then I suppose this is on your way to work.”

Frowning slightly confused Rory nodded. He checked the wound and started to put some antibiotic cream on it.

“So, you’ve never seen anything odd?” the strange man asked, “No one weird hanging around?”

Rory turned to him, “Other than you?”

“Good point,” he chuckled, before continuing, “I mean it’s strange for the Chrilckingkiki to attack like that.”

Looking at the woman he was helping who shrugged back at him, Rory knew he was going to regret this but asked, “The what?”

“The things that attacked,” he explained, “But they never would come to Earth…”

“Earth?”

“You would expect to see them on Mars,” the man continued not even acknowledging Rory’s question, “Which begs the question, why are they here?”

Finishing bandaging the woman’s arm, Rory looked up at the strange man, “My question is what are you talking about?”

The man laughed, “Never mind. You should get to safety.”

With that said he bounced away leaving Rory and the woman staring after him.

“That was odd,” Rory said.

She nodded, “Yes, it was.”

“Oh,” the man reappeared again making them both jump, “You wouldn’t happen to have any chewing gum?”

Distracted as a policewoman appeared to check on them, Rory nodded, “In my bag.”

“Thank you,” the man said as he ran away again calling back, “Get to safety.”

Rory sighed.

“What’s wrong, dear?” the woman asked as the policewoman started her moving.

“He took my bag,” Rory looked in the direction the strange man had run, he glanced at the policewoman, “Please ensure she’s checked for a concussion.”

With that said he ran after the man who had stolen his bag.

The Doctor checked the sonic and fixed the frequency, if he could find their nest then he might be able to work out how they got there. He opened the bag to find the chewing gum and frowned that he couldn’t find what he was looking for.

The bag was snatched from his hands making him jump to see the nurse standing there.

“I told you to get to safety,” the Doctor reminded him.

“You stole my bag,” Rory told him.

The Doctor stared at him for a moment before realising, “Aww, sorry. Where’s the chewing gum?”

Rory opened the front pocket and pulled out the packet he had, “Here.”

“Excellent,” the Doctor said before realising he had no idea who he was talking to, “What’s your name?”

“Rory, look I…”

“I’m the Doctor,” he cut the younger man off, shoving a few strips of chewing gum in his mouth, “Chew this.”

Rory looked confused with two strips of gum sitting in his mouth, so the Doctor motioned what he wanted him to do. The bemused expression didn’t move as he began to chew.

Checking the signal on the sonic he began to move again, Rory following on. Reaching a large tree in the centre of a grass circle the Doctor frowned.

“The signal stops here,” he grimaced, shaking the screwdriver, “That’s rubbish. A tree.”

“That’s new,” Rory spoke up from his side.

The Doctor spun, “What?”

“I walk through this park every day,” Rory told him, “I have never seen a tree here before, especially one that looks older than I am.”

“Really?” the Doctor stared at it, “Give me your gum.”

Rory stared at him, “You want my chewed gum?”

“Why do you think I gave you it?” the Doctor rolled his eyes, “Gum, now.”

With a disgusted look, Rory took the gum out his mouth and handed it across. Nodding at the young man, the Doctor rummaged in his pockets and pulled out the atmosphere sensor he had. With the gum and the sonic he altered it so he could check for portals instead.

“What are you doing?” Rory demanded watching intently.

“The Chrilckingkiki aren’t from here,” the Doctor explained as he worked, “So they must have come through my portal. Now, if there is a portal there is someone who has created it and considering there is a tree bang smack in the middle of the park that wasn’t there yesterday then we know that there is someone orchestrating this.”

“So…”

“So, I am going to do a feedback loop and close the portal,” the Doctor told him.

Rory stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging, “Okay.”

With a nod the Doctor activated the scanner, finding the frequency he glanced at Rory who was watching thoughtfully.

A high pitched squeal began to sound from the tree.

“What is that?” Rory demanded.

The Doctor winced and grabbed Rory’s arm, “Run.”

Rory was a little surprised as the Doctor grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the tree. The Doctor skidded to a stop and snatched Rory’s bag off him again, opening it he dumped the contents onto the grass.

“Hey!!” Rory cried, picking up his stuff from the ground.

“Sorry, Rory,” he said, “I need this, the portal isn’t closing and unless I close it then it will rip a permanent hole between the worlds and…”

“And?” Rory demanded automatically taking the bag when the Doctor handed it to him.

“I need to be able to detonate a large enough explosion and need a way to deliver it without getting either of us killed.”

Staring at the other man, Rory nodded and didn’t resist when the Doctor took the bag back. Using the handle, he began to swing it in a circle around his head before letting it go.

“Allonsy,” the Doctor cried as he released the bag.

It flew through the air in a smooth arc, and Rory gripped the Doctor’s arm as he watched it hit the tree. The explosion threw them both backwards and they slammed into the ground.

The Doctor sighed in relief that his plan had worked, he knew it had been a long shot but sometimes they worked the best.

Pulling himself to a stand, the Doctor offered Rory his hand to help him off the ground.

“You okay?”

“Ahh, yeah,” Rory sounded winded, looking around. He stared at the empty space where the tree had been, “What happened?”

“We closed the rift and made sure that it can’t open again,” the Doctor smiled, patting Rory on the shoulder, “Well, that’s us fixed everything so you should go and get to work.”

Looking a little shell-shocked, Rory nodded and holding all his things in his arms wandered away. With a smile the Doctor headed back to the TARDIS.

*********************************************

Rory finished his shift, his supervisor had heard of the chaos in the park so he hadn’t received any reprimands for being late. He’d managed to get it out of his mind while he worked but now, as he wandered home Rory kept thinking about the insane morning.

As he walked along the side of the park, it was still cordoned off after this morning’s insanity so he couldn’t follow his usual route home. Rounding the corner to his street, Rory stalled as the Doctor stood in front of a police box sitting on the street.

“I thought I would check up and see how you were after this morning,” the strange man said, pushing himself off the box.

Rory stared at him for a second before asking, “Who are you?”

“I told you,” he grinned, “I’m the Doctor.”

“I know a lot of Doctors and none of them are like you,” Rory replied.

The Doctor continued to grin, “I like you.”

“Thank you?”

“So,” the Doctor said, “Where are you from? Because you don’t seem at ease here.”

Looking bemused at the questioning Rory took a moment before he shrugged, “I’m from Leadworth.”

“Never heard of it,” the Doctor mused.

“It’s in Gloucester,” Rory replied before shaking his head, “Why am I telling you this?”

The Doctor smiled, “I’m listening?”

Rory stared at him, still bemused.

"So, you've never been anywhere other than here or some tiny village in the middle of nowhere?" the Doctor asked.

Rory shrugged, "Never really had the inclination to travel much."

"Then you've never thought of another sky above your head, or different grass beneath your feet?"

"My friend Amy was always the adventurous one," Rory told him, "She’s currently in India, I think. It might be Peru by now."

The Doctor chuckled, "Since I destroyed your bag, how about I make it up to you by giving you one trip."

"How?"

Pointing to the TARDIS, the Doctor waited for the young man's reply.

"In your wooden box?" Rory asked, the scepticism clear in his voice.

With a grin the Doctor opened the door, "Have a look."

Confused Rory moved closer and stopped as he saw the room through the door, turning he walked around the box, his hand trailing along the outside to ensure there was nothing there to create an illusion.

Returning to the door he stepped inside and looked around.

“Well?” the Doctor said, waiting for the normal response.

Rory turned to him, “After today, this doesn’t surprise me.”

Laughing the Doctor threw his coat over the railing, closing the door before he jogged over to the console.

“I should probably ask,” Rory joined him at the console, “Trip where?”

With a grin the Doctor pulled the lever.

#fic #doctor who #tenth doctor #rory williams #alternate universe

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