#bbc production

[mistofstars]

Rewatching "North and South" BBC 2004 production again (2nd?) time this year and it's still sooo good 😭👌😩

I love everything about it.

I love the characters, the storytelling, the music, the scenery.

Also, how funny of Fanny(?) when she looked at Margaret with pity "I wonder how you can exist without a piano" 😂😂 comedy gold.

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

I recently saw a post theorising that Sir Oswald and Sir Ethan are a couple (if anyone can find it, please share) and holy shit they so are

not only do they travel together, but when they arrive in Camelot, Arthur only knows Oswald, not Ethan*. He simply assumes they are together and offers Merlin to serve both of them

Then! when Oswald tells Merlin to move their (shared) luggage trunk from one side of the (singular) bed to the other, Ethan says it will 'get in my way there' despite this room being established as Oswald's chambers

we later see Oswald sleeping on his side of the bed (shirtless, no less)

but Ethan is immediately there in the next scene (maybe he just popped out to go to the loo in the first scene idk)

what's more, Oswald then says that Ethan can vouch for him as a witness, implying that the whole court already knows that they're sharing the bed

so yeah, openly gay couple in merlin, we love to see it

(*or, Dagr and Ebor masquerading as Oswald and Ethan, but I'll refer to them as the later for convenience)

[spooksicl-e]

but first, watson, we smoke.

no, we don’t.

yes, we do.

we don’t.

we must.

[gaius-chambers]

[Merlin LEGO set idea proposed by lego user PrimeMerlinian in 2014] "Filled with magic, action, and monsters, Merlin would be a perfect addition to LEGO. This set is loosely based on the episode “The Fires of Idirsholas,” in which the villainous Morgana releases a group of ghost knights (the Knights of Medhir) to attack Camelot. The main feature of the set is Gaius’ iconic room, which also includes Merlin’s room at the back. The setting is spacious and show accurate, with lots of potions and books to recreate the feel and ambiance of Merlin’s place of residence. I attempted to replicate the show’s architecture in my building style. Included are several show accurate elements and play features such as: the entrance; a hiding place under Merlin’s bed where he keeps his Sidhe Staff and magic book; the stone dog Merlin brings to life in “Valiant”; a function to blast Gaius (or anyone you choose) through the railing of the second floor; one of the shield snakes from “Valiant”; and, of course, the sword Excalibur. Five minifigures are included: Merlin (with Sidhe Staff), Arthur Pendragon (with Excalibur), Morgana, Gaius, and two Knights of Medhir (with swords). This set would allow Merlin fans to reenact many key moments of the show in LEGO form, as well as create their own stories in a land of myth. If you want LEGO Merlin to become a reality, please support, and thank you for reading!"

[aq2003]

smth i like about "and her hair shall be re- OF WHAT COLOR IT PLEASE GOD" in the 2011 much ado (besides the fact it is extremely fucking funny) is bc red isn't a common hair color. you immediately know he's being strangely specific out of nowhere and thinking of beatrice when coming up with his Perfect Unattainable Nonexistent Woman That Would Convince Him To Marry. like catherine tate is the only redhead woman in the whole cast. it's a joke that is exclusive to that production and i think it's very cute

[sofancydancy]

The beginning sketch to the final result...Oh, 20 of work hours later? 😅😂

[lochlot-moved]

arthur sketch from last night

[princess-of-morkva]

to find you again

Arthur Pendragon was ten years old when his world finally began to make sense.

It was in his fifth grade, when his class went on a week long camping trip. He didn't know, at the time, what compelled him to sneak out of the tent in the wee hours of the morning, when the first rays of dawn lit up the treetops and his legs carried him towards the shore of a lake. It's surface was shimmering in morning light, and he could feel his breath halt, afraid to disturb the serenity of the sight that felt so otherworldly. It may have been some divine compulsion or simply his innate, childish desire to explore that made him go further, then, until his rubber flipflops were left on the shore and his bare feet touched the water.

There was a hand then, that rose out of the water, translucent and not entirely present, an image out of mist. There was a hand, and then another, and then the head and the body — a figure arose from the lake, smiling at the little boy that intruded her realm.

"Hello, Arthur." She spoke, and her voice didn't carry through the air like a human's would, rather, it sang with the wind, hit the ears like tiny drops meeting the water. "It's good to meet you at last."

He stared at her, for a long moment, before answering.

"How do you know me?" He frowned at her. Father told him not to talk to strangers, and this might have been a very pretty woman made out of mist, but she was still very much a stranger. Still, he didn't step out of the lake, for his curiosity was much greater than his father's teachings which felt so far away at the moment, and there was no one around to see anyway.

"The world speaks to me. I can't leave this lake, but I can see far beyond it." Her answer was not an answer at all, Arthur thought. His confusion must've been evident, because she smiled at him again, and there was a mischievous hint in the corner of her lips that made her look not so much like a spirit in a lake but a living and breathing young girl, but the next second it was gone and Arthur was left to wonder if he imagined it entirely.

"Why can't you?" He asked.

"It's were I was put to rest." She spoke the words so evenly, as all of the things she previously said, that it took Arthur a few seconds to catch the meaning of it.

"Does that mean you're dead?" He asked, hoping not to offend her with it.

"Not exactly. I'm here, aren't I?" Once again, her answer gave more questions than it answered.

"There are ghosts." He said. Arthur wasn't sure there were, actually. His father didn't believe in such things.

"I am different from ghosts."

"What are you then?"

"A guardian."

Arthur nodded, as if it made perfect sense. It didn't.

"Do you have a name?" He asked. It was only polite to ask for a person's name when first meeting them. Than again, lake-guardian-spirits could have entirely different etiquette.

"I was called Freya, once." There was a small smile, again.

Arthur nodded musingly.

"It's a pretty name."

She hummed.

"Do you often speak to people?" He never heard of such entities as her. It couldn't have been a common occurrence, surely. But wouldn't that be lonely? Having no one to talk to?

She shook her head, and there was a wistful look in her eyes.

"I haven't spoken to anybody in centuries." That couldn't have been nice, Arthur thinks. If she could speak to him, why didn't she speak to others?

"Why'd you speak to me than?" Freya didn't answer immediately, pausing the flow of their measured back-and-forth. It almost looked like she was unsure, but her features were still so calm, it was impossible to tell.

Then, she asked. "Do you have dreams, sometimes?"

It was a silly question. Everybody had dreams. Arthur understood immediately though, it wasn't the regular kind of dreams she was talking about.

Because the thing is, Arthur did have dreams. Ever since he was little. He remembers dreaming of white towers and battlements, of bright red banners and capes. Of metal clanging and laughter and a weight of a sword in his hand, on his hip. Of familiar faces he could never quite place. Of raven curls and bright blue eyes, especially often.

He never told his father about them — he'd call such things foolish. Arthur didn't think they were.

Arthur looked at Freya and nodded. There was a glim of relief in her eyes, he thought.

"Would you like to see more?" She asked, offering him her hand. Not solid in any common way of the world but in that moment, more real than any other thing around them.

Arthur didn't think twice before grasping it.

-----

please tell me if you'd like to see more of it because i love the thing in my head so far

where is merlin in it? he's gonna be there. with a twist. it's a reincarnation fic but with a twist. it's also very merthur. or as much as it can ever get with my aromantic ass.

also it's modern au but i still haven't decided on a more specific setting- should i do college au? i'd be horrible at it even though it would make sense thematically- i haven't been outside in years how does society function? how do i write it?

can you see i love freya? i love her very much

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

I went and saw a play at a theater that's doing "Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors" in October and it's abundantly clear from the synopsis that it'll be another Drac the Sexual Liberator type deal (which is FINE it's a comedy whatever, people can do what they want I'm just sick of the adaptational choice) + it's gotten me back thinking about Dracula and how so few adaptations actually get his character to resemble his role in the books.

Idk I think that we've just gotten really bad at making unapologetically evil characters unapologetically sexy. Like no one is saying Dracula shouldn't be sexy + no one is saying Mina shouldn't be attracted to him as he feeds on her- every vampire victim is attracted to the vamps in the novel as they're being attacked, it goes with the territory. Nobody wants an unsexy Dracula- his sexual magnetism should be extremely high, but like... He's not tortured Byronic Hero sexy, he's serial killer sexy! I feel like we have forgotten how to do serial killer sexy. Cape Fear, Night of the Hunter, Nick Cave's murder ballads... we used to know how to portray people using their sexiness to lure you into a state of vulnerability to attack and murder you. No tortured regret about it or moments where he urges you to flee. Just murder. We used to do this. We used to be a society.

[mistofstars]

I'm I shambles, I'm in bits. I forgot how much beautiful pain and love also is in North and South and how much deaths 😭

It's like so obvious and heart-warming how people care for each other.

Bessie and Margaret's deep friendship, Dixon's (the housekeeper) undying devotion for Margaret's mother, how Margaret and her father take care of Mr Higgins after Bessie's death.., obviously the love of Thornton's mother for her son and how she is stern all the time but melts when it comes to John... the Hale's family's love for each other And the mutual respect between Mr Higgins and Thornton as they finally work together.

There's so much of the very human and heartfelt interactions I love about this!

[thekenobee]

Cabin Pressure + Poirot (Part 4 of many)

[carpe-mamilia]

The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream starring Mat Baynton as Bottom is coming to London at the end of this year!

[natjennie]

she's actually so iconic for this. I can't get over it.

[nemo-me-impune]

Thick of It/Ghosts crossover where Adam's evil homophobic grandfather dies and he and Fergus are going through his stuff and finds pics of the Captain but he's never heard of this man before even though they're clearly related so he does a bit of digging and decides to visit the Button House guesthouse and make Alison scream.

And then they go digging through the House because they're both pricks and don't have boundaries, and find Mike's ghost board and are like what, and meanwhile the ghosts are going nuts assuming Cap has some secret great grandchild even though Cap insists that is Literally Impossible for Unspecified Reasons.

And also at one point they realise it's the house Julian died in and Fergus is a bit creeped out about dead doppelgangers and dead politicians and weird shit that keeps happening around them while Adam thinks he's an idiot and they do the classic asshole couple in a haunted house thing.

And eventually it turns out that Adam is Cap's great nephew, and his brother never spoke of him after his death, and one of the reasons his evil grandad was so evil to him was because he's the spit of him and also attracted to men (which are the only two things they have in common lol) and his grandfather hated the fact that Cap's legacy had lived on despite everything they'd done to try and erase him from their family history.

[akajustmerry]

new doctor who can have every gay member of the actors guild in its cast for all I care but i'm not budging on my distrust of rtd. I REMEMBER martha and mickey and how they were written/treated, and it still brings freema to tears in interviews to this day, so I'm not gonna give a shit about cast announcements until I know there are people capable of writing characters of colour with empathy in that writers room and the cast of colour are going to be looked out for in the writing of the show.