#but I am not like... I could never be played by alan rickman. I am not that man

[obstinatecondolement]

Trying to think which of Austen's romantic leads is the most like me and, um:

Edward Ferrars was not recommended to their good opinion by any peculiar graces of person or address. He was not handsome, and his manners required intimacy to make them pleasing. He was too diffident to do justice to himself; but when his natural shyness was overcome, his behaviour gave every indication of an open, affectionate heart. His understanding was good, and his education had given it solid improvement. But he was neither fitted by abilities nor disposition to answer the wishes of his mother and sister, who longed to see him distinguished—as—they hardly knew what

... yeah.

[dufferpuffer]

Dude, I need someone to simp over David Thewlis with and I have no one to go to. I have a feeling I know your opinion about David Thewlis as Remus Lupin (and I think it's a positive one? correct me if I'm wrong, I know some people don't think he did the character justice).

To be honest, I don't think the movies did his character justice, but I think David Thewlis was THE cast for him. The movies made him too soft, too gentle, too perfect. Book Remus is a lot more polarized than that. For every soft quality, he has a YIKES counterpart that is never shown in the movies. The only time we truly see this "yikes" counterpart is the Shrieking Shack scene when he smirks menacingly at Sirius and you think he's a villain. David pulled that off really good. I saw the movie before reading the book (I was a young kid at that time and PoA was too much to read for me) and I felt cheated, I suddenly didn't think I could trust him anymore.

The thing David Thewlis pulled off best, imo, is the fatherly quality of Remus. I know, Remus is a pathetic man with an avoidant personality, but we can't deny he is fatherly. And I feel that, no matter what movie I watch with David in it, the fatherly vibes just radiate from him. In a way I am glad it is like that in the movies because I use PoA as a coping mechanism in life. Stressed? PoA. Sad? PoA. Crisis? PoA. David absolutely nailed the comfy professor aura. Everything about him in PoA is inviting, it draws you in. His voice, his smile, the way he carries himself, his quiet strength. Who could've done it better? I love him.

Enjoy this young David Thewlis edit that I'm obsessed with. Cheers my tumblr friend <3

https://www.tiktok.com/@.dearlupin/video/7410813583577091334

David Threwlis is a fucking GEM and the PERFECT pick for the character in every aspect, yes. I can't think of how anyone could actually think otherwise. He looks perfect and acts perfect.

To the point where I would actually be happy if he played Remus AGAIN for the TV series or whatever - even though he looks so much older. Play up the fact he looks 'older than his age' or do some makeup, I dunno, I don't care. I would be alright with it.

I don't think any of the movies do anyone justice, TBH - ignoring the fact that of course things will have to be trimmed and simplified. I think most people agree though that the way they chose to do so was destructive and missed the point of the overarching story.

OotP and HBP were enjoyable as individual movies - but cut out so, so much that it damages the series as a whole. OotP especially should have been two movies, to REALLY get to know the Order Members, the adult world harry desperately wants to enter - revisit Lupin and Sirius, get attached to the real Moody - set up Tonks... maybe end the first one with Dumbledore leaving...?

But some actors pulled through wonderfully with the limited time they were given to portray their role, Alan Rickman of course being one - and I think David Threwlis is an underrated other. He did fucking BEAUTIFULLY and it made up for imo a half-assed performance from Gary Oldman as Sirius. He has perfect aesthetic and his fatherly moments with Harry were gorgeous... but most of the time he felt like his heart wasn't in it.

Remus, in the movies, HAD to be soft... but always carry a touch of coldness. A comfortable room but the heater isn't on. A cup of tea but you're asked to leave right after. Gentle eyes that pierce. Slightly odd expressions that feel kind, but also... off. He nailed that. Absolutely. That softness that makes you want to cozy up close, but a constant distance that makes you wonder why. Also the mustache was absolute genius. If only they gave him greys...

THIS LOOK? Underrated. SO MUCH PACKED INTO IT. Displeasure, surprise, 'oh shit im in danger' - but then forced innocence, a bit of weariness, a cheeky idea...

How he came out of the darkness, too - Snape specifically calling Lupin to show him the map was meaningful in the books, but Remus walking out of the pitch black was symbolic in the movies. It was a decent change. THIS is when I felt a 'Hm...' about Remus. (I saw it as an adult though, first time last year. I had no idea I'd love him so much.)

I LOVVEEEE going on and on about Remus being a wet tissue paper - because he is so often mischaracterized in so many different ways... but he IS good. He IS strong, compassionate, wise, clever... Fatherly. He will put himself aside to comfort someone in need. He just can't do that for himself. He will punish himself for the things he is gentle with in others.

"His voice, his smile, the way he carries himself, his quiet strength. Who could've done it better? I love him." YEAHYEAHYEAH David can pack layers of depth into every movement he makes. His little head bobbles, the ways his eyes pin on something and stare, his control of exactly how he smiles... ITS SO GOOD AHH

Normally a link to tiktok earns an instant vaporization but you get a pass aight I wont kill you God he's so wonky looking, look at him, he is delightful, I am going to spread him on toast with my vegemite

[ingravinoveritas]

Something I’ve noticed that interests me is how David & Georgia & Michael refer to Michael as “David’s other wife.” They use ‘partners’ occassionally, but most of the time it’s “other wife,” which reads as feminine and a possessive

Anna (is that her name? She’s so nonessential I forget) is never mentioned & it’s always in the context of a female David “owns,” yet secondary, underneath. It could be interpreted as something silly & innocent but I just think the positoning and delineation is very specific and interesting in the dominance + stability in whatever dynamic they have

Hi there! Oh, yes, this is something I have also noticed and talked about previously on my blog. I agree with you that the positioning/delineation is specific and done for a reason (calling Michael "other wife" instead of David's "husband," for instance).

What's really interesting to me, though, is how many times Michael has done it himself. The first instance was even before the whole "other wife" thing happened, which was on a breakfast show that he and David were interviewed on during the GO season 1 press tour. Georgia was pregnant with Birdie at the time, and the host mentioned that there was "another one on the way," to which Michael said this:

And while I mentioned in my timeline Georgia initially calling Michael David's "other wife" in 2021, what I didn't include was a screenshot of Michael's response, which is just as notable:

So for those who have not seen the movie, Love, Actually is a a very British romcom from 2003. Emma Thompson plays a character who is married to Alan Rickman's character, and he subsequently cheats on his wife with another woman, his secretary.

What makes Michael's tweet above so interesting, however, is that Michael chose to identify with the main spouse, rather than the side piece/mistress. The suggestion here is that Michael views his relationship with David as something deep and meaningful, rather than a cheap affair. He sees himself in a place of prominence in David's life, rather than relegated to the back burner (can we say "Nobody puts Michael in a corner?" I think we can...).

I think for some time now, Georgia has known and seen the place that Michael has in David's life, and setting up these boundaries/demarcations has likely been part of multiple conversations over the last few years (between her and David, and between David and Michael, though I am guessing Michael and Georgia haven't spoken directly very often). If Michael and David did start to become involved during the GO season 1 press tour (which is when Michael said that they got "very, very close"), it would make sense for things to be laid out then, before Georgia started slowly "testing the waters" on social media in 2020 and then more so later on in 2021.

Taking all of this together--"mother," "other wife"--I think there is a deliberateness to this because it reflects the emotional need that David fills in Michael. That is, it seems as if he doesn't feel like he "belongs" to someone, and for Michael, being taken care of is as important as him taking care of others. We've seen Michael be protective/possessive of David in the past, but letting himself be "owned" speaks to a level of vulnerability that he allows himself to have with David that he doesn't have with anyone else, and it shows exactly who Michael belongs to (and vice-versa).

So yes, those are my thoughts on the aforementioned dynamic between Michael, David, and Georgia, and all that it may imply. I do agree that it is very interesting, and it will remain interesting as we see all of this continue to play out...

[mija-novella]

I remember the day that Alan Rickman died like it was yesterday.

It was a sunny Thursday and I'd just finished my shift in a retail job I'd only been at for less than a year. I was ready to go home and waited to leave. I checked my phone and had three text messages from my friend. I could only see the last message on my Lock Screen: "I'm so sorry!"

I wasn't sure what she was sorry for in that second. I thought it was an "I'm sorry wrong person" message but it wasn't. I opened the texts to find these three messages:

"OMG Mija"

"Alan Rickman's died."

"I'm so sorry"

I just stared at the screen for what felt like hours but had to have only been seconds. I couldn't comprehend what was happening and was panicked. A colleague came down to leave so I asked them to check if it was true. She did and it was front page news. I was devastated. It was like part of my world had come crashing down!

Ileft work and started walking through the town centre. My vision was blurry with tears so I called my dad to pick me up. I couldn't walk home. I got home after crying in the car, with a couple text messages from other friends who were sending messages saying sorry.

I put on my pyjamas, ironically it was a shirt that said "I Solemnly Swear that I am up to no good," made myself a cup of tea and just sat staring out the window of my bedroom, wishing it had been a dream.

The thing is, Alan meant so much to me, not only as Snape, the main character I had ever watched him play, but through his interviews and behind the scenes of movies he had done. I, like many others, found comfort in him and the way he was. I never knew him personally, but I knew him through the screen.

It's bizarre in the end, how one man changed the way my mind worked the things that made me smile so immensely without a second thought, who when mentioned today makes my cheeks go red with happiness as I just speak on his brilliance. I miss him every day and this tattoo just reminds me of his impact on my life. Xox

[kallypsowrites]

Have you ever thought about writing a severitus fic? It seems like the dynamic could be similar to Tywin and Arya (I myself am partial to them being not blood related). Thanks for your time, you're a wonderful writer!!

I did have to look up what severitus was lol. Short answer, no, I never considered it. It's been a long time since I've participated in the Harry Potter fandom. I don't have anything against people who are still in it. My main moral line is I won't give JK Rowling anymore of my money (Trans women are women, TERFs do not interact), but I don't think there's anything wrong with rereading the books that you already own or reading/writing fanfic that she doesn't profit from. In my HP days, I always had a particular fondness for Snape as played by Alan Rickman (I do not like him at all in the books lol, I actually find him insufferable 90% of the time). He is a character SO elevated by the performance of his actor.

My main fic idea was always what would happen if the whole Golden Trio went into Slytherin. Slytherin Harry was always a popular AU idea. But I think the Slytherin traits in Ron and Hermione would be just as fascinating to explore (Ron as the only Slytherin in his family, Hermione as a muggle born in Slytherin etc).

In that fic idea, obviously Snape always featured as the head of Slytherin house. I think the Harry and Snape dynamic could have been infinitely more interesting and dynamic in the books in a way that it just isn't, so there was always a temptation to explore that in fanfic.

I appreciate your ask!

[voidsentprinces]

I continue poorly explain ffxiv

Welcome back to Final Fantasy XIV or as I like to call it Fantasia Character Rotissiere. Last time we fought secondary dragon satan who possessed the unwashed elf boy that is Estinyan. Saved our baby boy’s sister from being assassinated by Identity Fraud and his gang of back up dancers and watched our one true boy Papalymo sacrifice himself to stop another calamity. So naturally Spike from Buffy the Vampire shows up and convinces us to activate an alien super weapon to break our boy’s sealing spell and we’re like SIGN US THE FUCK UP! So naturally after that happens a new war begins between the Eorzean Alliance and the Garlic Jr. Empire cause Garlic died last time and there was a civil war but we didn’t see it. All you need to know is Blond Alan Rickman is now the Emperor and his right hand man is...still probably on those floating islands safe and sound and is still very much alive because I unlocked Aurum Vale for roulette and I am unlocking nothing else that is essential to progress that isn’t MSQ. Where was I? Oh yes, Ala Mhigo which lies somewhere between the Red Wood Forest and Death Valley. Whose people are subjigated by the Garlic Empire. The time has come to free them and by free them I mean get told off by the local populace fight an angry scottish woman and then get one shot by Rocky from the Horror Picture show if he was ten feet tall and carried a golf bag of SWORDS! So many swords he probably swipes left if you’re not at least metallic and SHARP! But enough about that, Al Pacino has the bright idea that in order to free Ala Mhigo we first must free Doma who is under the same rule as Ala Mhigo working with the same exact problems Ala Mhigo does but I am sure this will turn out just find. So after black mailing Captain Elf Sparrow, we send Al Pacino where he belongs. Into a ghost graveyard and we leave his ass there because now its time to arrive at Kugane, where we’ll attempt to climb a tower for five minutes, get pissed by invisible collision boxes, log out and swear we’ll never play this stupid fucking game ever again. But the game knows you’ll be back, YOU’LL BE BACK! So we start up Genshin Imp--hahaha fuck no, log the fuck back in we got a catfish to punch, an old samurai to save, and the lost Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle to save all while running away from the POLICE! And what better way to evade arrest than to flee the fucking country so out into the Ruby Sea we go, which is controlled by the Confederacy. Don’t worry its not the racist one its the pirating one. But I hope you like swimming because you’ll be doggy paddling back and forth between these small islands for about 2 hours before we are hooked up with DIVING! So come visit the Ruby Sea. We got manta rays, grotesque demon walruses, an armored turtle with a giant fuck off sword and getting STEPPED ON by an angry woman who I am 20% spends half her scene time smoking opium. Don’t worry though despite the Garlic Empire being a big problem they’re not so much a big problem that you and the Scooby Gang can’t handle them. In fact we can handle them so well we only get our asses kicked by the giant top heavy Ken doll ONE more time before we’re allowed into the LIZARD KINGDOM. Where reptiles roam the earth and every single one of them want to kill you. So like Heracles we have to do a bunch of tasks to win their trusts like breaking into their sacred holy ground and stealing their parrow, picking unwater sea kress, and talking to Sadu Dotharl the baddest motherfucker this side of the Hildibrand questline. Seriously if you ever wished you could be a crater on the ground, this woman will GRANT THAT FUCKING WISH! Sorry where was I. Oh yeah, after descrating their holy ground we are invited to a blood contest to choose their next leader so naturally falls to you and your first decree is maybe show up to class when the Garlics are ready to rumble. Cause if you don’t well...this entire trip was completely utterly useless. Lets just blow up the castle and call it a day--actually we kind really do just blow up the castle in the process of freeing Doma. Who knew the only thing you needed to do to win a revolutionary war was raise up an army of dragon people and causing FLOOD DAMAGE to the Historical District. Don’t think too much about it because now that we’ve TOTALLY freed Doma from the iron fist of the Garlics its time to go back to Ala Mhigo...despite there...still be an entire empire out there that will definitely reinforce their lost territory but don’t worry about it. They don’t seem the type to just level an entire territory on at the slightest scent of revolution anywhere else...right? Anyway after crossing the sea and remember Alphinaud exists, we return to Ala Mhigo with none of the Doman army to back us up and we...actually do very well. We run into Braveheart again but its alright she just pisses off the snake people and summons a GIANT WOMAN TO ENSLAVE US WHEN WE SLEEP! So after knocking that one out of the park. Rock the Ken Doll arrives and decides he likes us blowing up buildings so much he’s going to give Fordola a cannon. And blow us to kingdom come...and thus ends our life in Final Fantasy XI--I am fucking kidding Estinien comes back and ONE SHOTS A FUCKING CANNON! If you think that sounds dumb, it isn’t it is the most awesome thing ever. Imagine watching a War Documentary where after the battle of Gettsyberg, the ghost of George Washington juiced up on the blood of Satan got into fist fight with a tank and WON! It is EXACTLY as awesome as I just described and will be taking no criticism at this time because after a wardrobe change for Yda definitely Yda, she is definitely Yda don’t worry about it she would Lyse to you now would she? We go to the Lochs. Where we take in the sights, get caught by border patrol, beat the Guinness World Record for longest breath ever held, listen to a soldier talk about getting the BEST head ever before killing him and his comrades and facing off against a woman I am surprise isn’t wearing 20 belts and using some healing crystals to give her a migraine. All in the name of saving Krile who will DEFINITELY give us black mail material so we can hold Alphinaud hostage. Sorry, I meant we’re going with Alphinaud to fight a bunch of Samurai wolves and if you think that sounds awesome, you’re kind of fucking right. After punching them so hard PETA is probably going to ram a jeep into my front room, we kick open the door, fight through the streets of another castle and whoa would you look at that Doma finally shows up to give us aerial support...like...at the last fucking minute seriously we re-capture 99.9% and Doma comes in acting like its 0.01% is going to get us the A+ on the project. Anyway, all you really need to know is Ken turned into a DRAGON and we fight on a convinently placed platform in the sky before he kills himself and we play the National Anthem....seriously what the fuck did I just pl

[thistlecatfics]

As someone who is nearly the age the marauders were supposed to be during the books, I am increasingly upset by the movie’s casting?? My coworker is actually their age and has the most sirius/james energy and I’m like, where is that energy? Like, dad/guardian whose language/humor horrifies his teachers, but kid who is loved and nurtured like hell?? Alas, they made sirius so very serious

It's the worstttttt. The tragedy is that they died so young! They could have just let Alan Rickman play Snape and just say Snape aged very quickly lol.

It's one of the reasons I never bothered watching the movies after the first four.

[belethlegwen]

Does Henry have a voice claim?

Or Daniel?? Or Miller?? OR ANY OF YOUR BLORBOS?👀

I have never had a voice claim really for anyone, I know generally what their accents are and I can hear their voices in my head, if that makes sense? But I can't REALLY think of anyone's voice in particular that I would listen to and go "oh this is DEFINITELY them".

Their accents across the board, save for Melanie, are varieties of european and those general areas, mostly British/English with Irish mixing in from the more rustic/rural folks, Scottish is definitely in there. I don't know the regional accents of England/Wales/etc, I am sorry. I know I could be trying to narrow shit down York/Cockney/London/so on but I have no idea what any of those sound like specifically.

Members of the Royal family (the Duke included) have a strangely almost Spanish accent? Possibly Italian? But the accent itself has been warped to trend KIND OF more toward English, still keeping some of their speech patterns/accent of Spanish/Italian kind of deal just enough to really stand out from that crowd.

Lionus has a really unique accent that's a very strong and chipper mix of Irish/Scottish blended to SOUND like a British accent of some variety. When asked about it, he tends to just shrug it off as a product of being moved around a lot when he was younger and leaves it at that.

So yes! That's about all there is to the accents and voice claims. There definitely aren't some ideas I vaguely tossed around pre-coffee this morning that I got semi dragged for under the cut.

Thank you so much for the ask! <3

So like

I threw out these ideas to my future spouse, bless their fun-print-designed socks

and immediately got back the response of "love that I can tell exactly what kind of UK media you've consumed" so

Read me as you will I guess, just be kind to me.

DISCLAIMER: These are just vague ideas of people who sound similar/have played roles/delivered lines in a way I thought was close!!

Henry - Simon Pegg Miller - Nick Frost Peter - Martin Freeman (specifically from his portrayal as Bilbo) Daniel - Benedict Cumberbatch (a more flat, moping kind of Benedict??? Though for real now that I'm thinking about it, like a younger-sounding Alan Rickman?)

so yeah judge me as you will on this but it's the best I got, my ass doesn't watch anything and I don't know voice actors very well.

[hismercytomyjustice]

Let me preface this by saying things got wildly out of hand. I am so so so so sorry. I have a lot of feelings and I’ve seen way too many musicals. Do not even remotely feel obligated to read this veritable novel.

Under a cut to protect the innocent from the wall of text below.

Apologies if some of the YouTube links start in the middle. I was trying to make sure they were the right ones and idk if I have it in me to go back and fix the links to get them to start at the beginning. ಥ_ಥ

Anastasia - Gotta second this! It deviates from the cartoon movie (no Rasputin), but is still SO GOOD. This scene will FOREVER HAUNT ME. In addition to others! And it has Ramin Karimloo (my fave Phantom) in the OG cast. Amnesiac orphan Anastasia unknowingly agrees to pretend to be herself to help a pair of con men swindle her only remaining family member. Feelings are caught and secrets come out.

Bat Boy - A friend introduced me to this one and I thought she was kidding but oh my god I love it. I’ve never seen it BUT OH MY GOD IT’S ON YOUTUBE AND I’M DEFINITELY GONNA SOON! Tells the story of a vampire boy trying to be human.

Pierre Natasha and the Great Comet of 1812 - Omggg this is on YouTube too?! Sorry I am just ECSTATIC. Based on a portion of War & Peace. OG MC is Josh Groban and he kills it. Saw a local production and was completely blown away. OG MC for Natasha is same for Eliza in Hamilton. Sweet, funny, and has a lot of heart.

Epic the Musical - This is a concept album only but oh my god it is SO GOOD. Highly highly highly recommend!!! There are a ton of really cool animatics out there for it too. Follows the plot of the Odyssey. Completely sing through and a WIP tho a lot’s done already. Truly stunning music.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder - OG MC is the VA for Stolas in Helluva Boss. Looks like you can find it on YouTube too. A down on his luck man finds out he could be the heir to a vast fortune so long as he murders all the people in line before him!

Beetlejuice - OG MC plays Adam in Hazbin and Fizz in Helluva Boss. So funny and irreverent but also a really poignant story about grief and found family. Might not be able to find online, but there are clips of the songs.

Repo! The Genetic Opera - This one is actually a film. It includes Sara Brightman (OG ALW Christine ftw!). MC is actually the girl from Spy Kids. Story about a future megacorporation loaning out organs to a struggling populace and repo-ing them if they miss their payments.

Legally Blonde - Full version (originally aired on MTV which is where I saw it) is online! Yup, it’s based off the movie/book! OG actor for Emmett the main love interest is none other than Vox’s VA in Hazbin! He is SO SO SO good in this! He also plays Willy Wonka in the OG soundtrack for the Willy Wonka musical (which I also recommend).

Hadestown - Musical based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Music is more NOLA jazz and catchy af. Looks like it’s online too. Recommend going into it knowing the story if you’re unfamiliar. Went with some friends who didn’t and they had strong feelings about it lol.

Sweeney Todd - This is the one about the barber who seeks revenge through serial murder and his “situationship” who bakes his victims into meat pies! Lots of catchy songs! You can probably find on YouTube or somewhere similar but there’s a film version too starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things Vecna in a musical?!). I really enjoyed the movie when I saw it years ago.

Groundhog Day - This one is based off the movie/book too and on YouTube! The story of the guy stuck in the time loop until he learns how to not be a dick! I have only seen the YouTube version but I’m a huge fan.

Six the Musical - This one is about Henry the 8th and told from the POV of his very unfortunate six wives. There are a couple of recordings on YouTube. The music is kind of more poppy and it’s presented like a concert.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - I think it was free originally but it’s on streaming now (I think Prime). MCs include Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion. Created by Joss Whedon. Story is about a wannabe supervillain trying to make his way up the food chain while dealing with a love triangle (including his archnemesis) in the process.

Fiddler on the Roof - You might be able to find a filmed production of this online but it also has a really great movie version from I think 1971. Very sweet, but with some darker themes mainly around antisemitism. A poor Jewish man tries to find husbands for his three daughters. The daughters have their own ideas about who they want to marry. Hijinks ensue.

Mamma Mia - The ABBA musical! Love the actual musical and the film (starring Meryl Streep, Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Cher, Colin Firth, and more)! They put out a sequel a few years ago too that made me cry like a bitch! Story about a girl about to marry her soulmate who is trying to figure out which of the three men her mother was seeing at the time of her conception is her father. Includes found family and it is just such a sweet and heartfelt story about love in its many forms.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Musical tv show! This one is about a successful lawyer who has a panic attack and runs away from her life to pursue her childhood crush. I gotta admit I haven’t seen the full show (I think I’ve seen through the second season?), but I really enjoyed it! The songs are a bit silly but fun! Stars include Rachel Bloom, Santino Fontana (first 2 seasons, he’s also Prince Charming in the OG soundtrack for the Cinderella musical - also highly recommend), and other great cast members!

Annie - This one will always have a soft spot in my heart. Huge fan when I was a kid. The 1982 film is great (Tim Curry is in it, need I say more), but the 2014 remake is phenomenal too (and includes Jamie Foxx)! It has the famous “You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” song in it, which apparently heavily played a role in Alastor’s character in Hazbin. Annie’s an orphan holding out that her bio parents will return for her one day. Meanwhile a rich workaholic decides to temporarily sponsor her for the holidays for the sake of his image. She teaches him life isn’t just about money and legacy.

Big Fish - This is also based on the movie/book! If you haven’t seen the movie, HIGHLY recommend. It’s up in parts on YouTube. It follows the story of a man’s grown up son trying to uncover the real version of his father under the fantastical version of himself he’s always played. It’s a story about fatherhood, optimism, and mortality.

The Prince of Egypt - This is an older movie but I still listen to the soundtrack to this day. You often see it on lists of “soundtracks that didn’t need to go that hard” haha. Follows the story of Moses from the Bible, reckoning with his destiny and how it will destroy his relationship with his brother. Extremely star studded cast and music is composed by Hans Zimmer.

Nevermore - This one I’ve only listened too but I’ve really enjoyed it. Loosely based on the life of Edgar Allen Poe. There are clips on YouTube but I’m not sure if a full version exists somewhere online.

guys drop more musicals for me to watch pleaseeee

so far i’ve seen phantom/hamilton/rocky horror picture show/frankenstein/dr jekyll & mr hyde/les miserables & some others i can’t remember lmao

[charming-gremlin]

do you ever read a fic that’s just. SO good and it’s  quickly become your favorite fic and you just are always super excited for updates and then. And Then. In one of the end of chapter notes. The author talks about their fancast. And the people they have as these characters are just SO WRONG and you just feel SO betrayed. 

[avrelia]

Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born

I finished the book Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born by Evan Ross Katz. A month ago, and I did a twitter thread review of it, since a lot of my Buffy friends are over there and not here, and now I collected it all here for myself and people of DW. :)

It is an easy read that covered a lot of ground fast but not particularly deep. I got in for the new interviews with the cast and crew, and the interviews were delivered. I could do without opinions on quality of the last seasons and continuous sniping at Marty Noxon, but well… The time for the perfect book shall come one day.

1) Best new tidbit of information: Antony Stewart Head played Giles as a mix of Prince Charles and Alan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham. This already is worth the price of the book.

2) Best duh moment – Cynthia Erivo telling her understanding of Anya reflecting an experience of an immigrant. The most surprising part was why didn’t I pick up on it before, as I was watching and connecting with Anya twenty years ago.

3) the best interview was with SMG. The author is her biggest fan, and she comes off really great there. Of course she is also frank, respectful, sweet and supportive of all the people she worked with, and very appreciative and proud of Buffy’s legacy.

4) the weirdest interview was with Nicholas Brendon. It is understandable, given his unhappy trajectory over the years. And I was glad to read his warm words about CC and SMG, but I also didn’t really care about his latest feud with DB. Overall, it was really sad to read, the whole story of NB, but it definitely added to the whole perspective.

5) the most emotional interview turned out to be with Cynthia Bergstorm, the costume designer for seasons 2-6. Reading her account on the atmosphere on set before she left I almost cried. No, not tears of joy. More like tears of anger

6) the most notable interviews we didn’t get were with AH and Michele Trachtenberg, as they were planned then canceled after February 2021, following the newest wave of conversation about Joss. I understand their reluctance to discuss it at the time.

7) Out of the writers we saw Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson and Drew Z. Greenberg. Marty Noxon didn’t answer the requests and for some reason the author was really mean about it several times and it was really annoying to read.

I was quite happy to see also interviews with Amber Benson, Emma Caulfield, CC, Julie Benz, Mark Blucas, Danny Strong, Seth Green, Tom Lenk, JM, ASH, Bianca Lawson, . Am I forgetting anyone of the cast?

There were no any profound revelations, after all I’ve been a fan for twenty years (soon – yay!) and generally had an idea how it came to be, but the picture became clearer and more detailed. From the history, to the process, and the behind the scene stuff

The interviewees rarely got into any details, and never shared anything lurid or scandalous, but I got the following picture: it started with them being very young and mostly inexperienced. JW was a writer, but had no idea how to run a tv show or direct episodes. And if he successfully managed to do later, the former proved to be problematic.

One of the details everybody talks about is their insane working hours: an average workday during the filming season was 18-20 hours, which is genuinely crazy even if you don’t take into account all the makeup, fight rehearsals, and expected precision in delivering dialogue.

The Beloved Buffy-speak is literally Joss speak. Joss speaks more or less like this and all his characters speak like this, and all his writers write like this and if not he changed the lines to be more like this and the actors had to say lines precisely, re-doing the takes until they manage.

They started a one small happy family, then as the show’s popularity grew, as they had more money, fame and pressure, they become “middle school with more money” according to Mark Blucas, then really, really tired group by the end of the series.

The blame for growing toxic atmosphere on set all the interviewee put on being young, overworked and “someone” on top constantly stirring s*** up and pitting the actresses against each other. (some interviews were done before Feb.2021 and the latest round of allegations)

This story, told by Emma Caulfield is very representative. I'll just add it all here

Mark Blucas, btw, gave a very sweet interview, where he several times apologized for having caused problems for cast and crew due to be totally new to acting and having no clue what he was doing and, of course, praised SMG for being very patient and very helpful

I need to finish the write-up, I guess. So, a month after finishing the book I have to say that it was a fun read, fast, not very engaging. It confirmed what I, as an old fan new or guessed, or explained details that made me go “Duh!” - of course, they were young, mostly inexperienced and over-tired.

Of course, JW was messing up. I mean, I wasn’t even very deep into details, but I always knew that the cast was divided into “favorites” and “not favorites”. I didn’t really think that it was an intentional division, that JW created and exploited, but apparently it was. Oh, well. I was happy to know that the actresses mostly reconciled by now.

And the most pleasant part of the book was SMG – both her own interview with an author, and what everyone said about her. I remember, in my early days in the fandom there was a strong anti-SMG streak, where by calling her “professional” people meant she was cold, unfeeling and un-fun.

Whereas it actually meant she cared about cast and crew and doing her job without wasting everyone’s time (remember those crazy hours!) and without creating extra problems for her colleges. She helped her cast-mates, she helped the crew, she worked a lot, she wasn’t always right, but who was?

So, anyway. That was not a definitive book by all means, but an ok one. There are more books to be written, about Buffy, and the fandom, and all the ways it is still changing our lives. I personally want more books on Buffy fandom.

[nuatthebeach]

What's your top 10 Harry Potter favorite characters?

To start off, just want to make it clear that while I like some characters more than others, I actually appreciate each and every one of these characters for the roles they exercise in the books. Appreciating vs liking do not always equate, and certainly nor do respecting vs liking. This Top 10 is purely based on my opinion, and the reasons that are subsequently provided are simply that - reasons - and not evidence. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Also, after writing all of this, I realized this ended up being a very long character analysis instead of being purely based on liking, so please enjoy this very chaotic list because I felt chaotic writing it for sure.

With that being said…

10. Lily - I know. Crazy. You must be thinking what the hell is wrong with me to put her last in the first place. I can already feel the backlash from fandom, but I’m kind of beyond caring by this point because this fandom is crazy as hell. My issue with Lily is that from my standpoint, she’s truly not developed enough for me to gravitate to her. The main characteristics that we get from her is that she’s smart, funny, selfless, and cool. However, not only do we not see real canon evidence of these traits (besides being selfless), but that’s pretty much all the details we get of her personality. I guess you could argue that she learned to see the nuance in people and overcame her stubbornness by falling in love with James - in this case, I agree, she had some development there, though how much of it was her “overcoming” her stubbornness and not just James becoming more “worthy” of her, it’s hard to tell. For the most part though, I think she was mainly written - by JKR, not fandom - as a plot device: a prize to be won by either James or Snape to determine who is more “worthy” of her love and a sacrificial lamb that must represent the ideal Harry must hold to successfully kill Voldemort - love. All in all, it’s a pass for me, sorry. Still makes the ranking though, so there’s that!

9. Snape - I know, I know. How in the world am I putting Snape above Lily in my ranking? I need it to be known I really dislike Snape from the bottom of my core. He is cruel, petty, and arguably never really cared about Harry beyond his “love” for Lily. I think Alan Rickman definitely made his character a lot more palatable because when I first read the books, not a single tear shed for him when he died (in contrast, it did while watching the movies, but that doesn’t come as a surprise since the two mediums are so different). However, saying this dude didn’t absolutely nail his double agent role and completely throw people off in his complexity is just simply dismissive. He’s just…really complicated, and reading that in books, not real life, is incredibly fascinating from a literary point of view. Don’t like him, but I don’t exactly hate him either.

8. Draco - speaking of annoying assholes. Honestly I kind of want to rank him lower but alas I went through a Drinny/Dramione phase ten years ago and unfortunately fanon Draco (who as we all know - regardless whether you like him or not - is very different from both book and honestly movie Draco too) seems to loom occasionally. In the books, he’s classist, racist, snobbish, spoiled, an actual bully, and a bunch of other adjectives I’d need a dictionary to pull out to describe him with. With that being said, his sixth year was quite troublesome for him and I don’t put a lot of blame for his actions and conflict there because he was a kid who like Ginny was manipulated by Voldemort in his own way, even if he played a more conscious role in it. I give him a 3/10 for personal preference, 5/10 for development.

7. Luna - I gotta say, when I was a kid, I liked her a lot for all the reasons you normally would gravitate toward a whimsical, strange, funny-without-trying character, and though I still appreciate all of these characteristics - and her value as friends to Harry and Ginny in particular - I see some flaws in her arc now. I am a firm believer that often times, whenever authors want their characters to appear more complex, they just tack on a tragic backstory (one we never really saw on scene) and call it development while keeping their characterization relatively static. Case in point, Luna. There’s no argument that she’s one of the most loved characters in Harry Potter, and I think the reason for that is because there’s simply nothing to not like about her. She almost doesn’t seem real. Though I can appreciate the beauty in that too because she - just like the things she believes in - are open to interpretation as well.

6. James - surprisingly, I don’t have a lot of strong feelings for James either way. This just seemed like a neutral area to put him in so here we are. He’s pretty decent. He reminds me of the perfect mix between Harry and Ginny: brash, arrogant, impulsive, but also caring and willing to do the right thing when it counts. It actually really surprises me when people bash James - a lot of the times, I think it’s because they only really watch the movies, which never show the positives of his character. He’s even shoved to the side further in DH2 movie with dead Lily saying “Always” to Harry in the Forest of Dean, which I’ve always considered a big fuck you to the supposed great love story that is meant to symbolize the main theme of love and everything it means to fight for it. He even has GREAT development mentioned in the books as well, considered he, I don’t know, changed by helping out Snape in the end, proving he’s not the senseless bully others make him out to be? And yet, people feel more sympathy for Snape even though he continues his petty rivalry by enacting it on literal kids who did nothing to him? Anywho.

5. Hermione - I’ve always had mixed feelings about Hermione, unfortunately because of the ever present shit show that is the movies. Seriously. Fuck the movies. With that being said, I actually think her characterization is not bad…it’s similar to Lily’s arc (but a lot more actualized in my opinion) in that she went from being stubborn and single-minded in some ways to understanding there is a lot more to life than books but rather friendship and bravery (her words, not mine). She’s smart, intense, scary, and compassionate, and honestly just writing about her gives me the chills. However, my problem with her character arc is that it just keeps repeating in every single book (SS, OOTP, HBP especially). She learns this lesson over and over and it makes me feel like JKR kind of didn’t know where to go with her after a while.

4. Neville - speaking of character arcs that keep repeating. I like his arc because it’s the typical shy/awkward boy finds grounding and confidence, which with me having gone through that myself (and lowkey still going through it lol), many can relate to this a lot. Because this arc is repeated so much though - particularly in the movies - he’s a bit overinfantilized and babied when he’s proven himself time and again that he’s actually quite capable. He doesn’t really have much flaws like in the case with Luna (unless you count being shy and awkward, which it seems he’s more endeared for it than anything), but overall a great lad.

3. Ron - probably one of the most developed characters in the books because both of his strengths and flaws are clearly shown page after page, time after time again. Also probably the most hated. And probably the most relatable. I’m, uh…starting to see a correlation. Honestly I could talk about him for hours, but to quote Ms. Marvel: Good is not something that you are, it’s something that you do. And Ron’s actions speak for themselves. He leaves the Trio in DH? He comes back and atones for it. He treats Hermione badly in HBP? He makes efforts to improve his “lack of an emotional range” (which is BS btw) by reading the book about How to Charm Witches. He has an argument with Hermione about Crookshanks and Scabbers? He offers to make up for it by helping Hermione in her research on Buckbeak. And c’mon. Don’t tell me that when you read the scene in DH of him crying (NOT being angry, jealous, petty) after killing the Horcrux that your heart did not absolutely shatter for this tender, precious moment of vulnerability that hardly any other character besides maybe Harry displayed in the books at that age. A King 👑.

2. Ginny - honestly, this one alternates with my number one sometimes but because I’m going with the answer I know in my heart is right, I’m sticking her here for now. This girl. If she were real, I’d give her my babies. She is almost the most developed female character in the book series, considering the little number of relevant scenes she was given. I say almost because I actually do think JKR missed the concluding bulls-eye with her arc, particularly in HBP and DH. I, like everyone else, expected her to do a lot more than she did (c’mon she’s one of the only kids connected to fucking Voldemort, that had to have counted for something?!?!). With that being said, she’s the only female character who has a consistent rise in characterization throughout the books: starting off as a bubbly 10 year old waving and crying to see her brothers leave, a shy 11 year old who can’t speak around Harry but can to her diary and trauma ensues, a quiet 12 year old who still doesn’t talk to Harry but is overcoming her reputation as the girl who opened the Chamber and was victimized by literal Voldemort himself, and so on and so forth to the flawed, stubborn, angry, petty, defensive but also caring, compassionate, funny, clever, sassy girl we have by HBP and DH. As the books go on, you really see her shine and become a woman in her own right. And interestingly enough, her arc doesn’t repeat, like Hermione’s and Neville’s does; it has a clear direction that journeys from Book 1 to the end. For all of these reasons, I notice a lot of people claim she isn’t very developed - and while I agree she could definitely be more - I’d also argue she’s one of the most obviously developed too. Plus, I’ve always been fascinated by her connection to Voldemort and wish JKR explored it more herself: from her wand being made of the same wood as his (while Harry’s is made of the same core…hmmm interesting) to the interactions being much more gendered and personal than I’d even argue Harry’s. If I had to read about someone’s relationship with Voldemort other than Harry, Ginny definitely takes the cake, sorry Draco. I could go on and on about her, but if you want more Ginny meta, just check out my other posts dedicated just for her.

1. Harry - …MAN does this boy deserve more recognition in his own damn franchise. I don’t think the book series would have been more interesting if it was told in literally anybody else’s point of view. He is so witty, caring, headstrong, brave, stubborn, and beautifully flawed that I can’t help but adore him. I will forever hate the Steve Kloves and company for making him appear one-note, static, and absolutely positively bland in the movies because the truth is that he has so much freakin’ depth. Order of the Phoenix was the book that sold me on him. He had every right to be feeling angry at not just the adults in his life but the system and those who keep it under cover and even with a lot of that hurt and anger he STILL let Bellatrix go after she killed the closest loving parent figure he bloody had. Like, dayum. And what’s even more heartbreaking than that is only after all of the death and hurt and suffering in Deathly Hallows did he even further surprise all of us by throwing the Cruciatus curse at a Carrow for just simply talking bad about McGonagall. Talk about a Reputation album Taylor Swift era. You just can’t help but root for him while also being just the tiniest bit (okay, a large bit) intimidated by him. Regardless, he deserves better and if you want more examples of my defense for him (or anyone I’ve mentioned thus far), you need not but ask.

Honorable mentions include Fred, George, and Sirius, who I do adore but my feelings still tend to stay in the neutral area such that they couldn’t make it on this list.

If you couldn’t already tell, my love for characters stem from the amount of development they go through - it’s not always based on their “likability” or “toxicity.” I think an environment like fictional books provides a safe medium to explore morally gray, complex, dynamic, complicated, nuanced characters, and to completely dismiss or even “cancel” fictional characters is a bit…well, naive. That’s why for others it seems a little contradictory to put Snape and James in the same list together, but to me, it feels appropriate considering the complex traits the two have.

This was fun. I might consider doing a Top 5 or Top 10 ship ranking if this gets enough attention or if anyone wants one.

Thanks for the ask!!!

[twistedtummies2]

Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary - Number 13

Welcome to Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary! Over the course of May, I will be counting down My Top 31 Favorite Performances by my favorite actor, the late, great Sir Christopher Lee, in honor of his 100th Birthday. Although this fine actor left us a few years ago, his legacy endures, and this countdown is a tribute to said legacy! Today’s Subject, My 13th Favorite Christopher Lee Performance: Grigori Rasputin, from Rasputin: The Mad Monk.

Rasputin has become a dark legend in modern society, a byword for evil itself; the reality of the man is, in many ways, a sort of tragic story of a man who could never properly balance his worldly passions with his more religious attributes. I’m not saying he wasn’t a scoundrel, but rarely, if ever, is anything so black and white in history as it is in fiction. If one were to ask me to offer up a portrayal of Rasputin that I would call “definitive,” I would point to Alan Rickman in the TV movie “Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.” To me, that is perhaps the closest anyone has come to giving us something like what the real Rasputin would have been. If, however, you want the perfect ROMANTICIZED Rasputin – one who embodies the myth of the man more than the reality – then I would argue that Christopher Lee gave us exactly that in “Rasputin: The Mad Monk.” Lee actually had some personal ties to the figure, as he had, in his real life, met the people who reportedly assassinated the infamous holy man decades before. It was for this reason he was interested in playing the part onscreen, and while much of the movie is complete and total fiction, based more on the legends and rumors surrounding Rasputin’s life than anything from actual history, Lee actually did a great deal of research on the man to try and bring to life something that was as authentic as possible through the madness of the script. The result is breathtaking. Apparently, while making the film, Lee actually met Rasputin’s biological daughter, who, after talking to him for a bit declared, “You know, you look like him.” Taken aback, Lee pointed out that her father would have been much shorter, at which point she replied, “You have his eyes.” Whatever you think of such a comment, I am inclined to agree: the reason Lee’s Rasputin works so well is because he feels larger than life, yet frighteningly close, all at the same time. The hypnotic presence Lee mastered in films such as The Mummy, with so much of his power coming through his eyes and a series of carefully selected gestures, is given extra weight by his powerful voice. Rasputin in this film is exactly how you would IMAGINE Rasputin to be: alluring and yet repellent, powerful and yet crude, completely unhinged and yet alarmingly rational. It’s a chilling and surprisingly complex performance, and for many remains one of the most iconic of the actor’s roles, as well as perhaps the most iconic take on Rasputin in cinema. Well…aside from Christopher Lloyd, I suppose, but that’s another story. Incidentally, what I wouldn’t have given to have Christopher Lee sing that song…“in the dark of the night, terror will strike her…” Tomorrow, the countdown continues, as I present my choice for Number 12!

[ashesandhackles]

The use of truth, half truths and Lies in Spinners End chapter

I think Spinner's End chapter in HBP is a very effective show of how Snape plays his role as a double agent. It's an interesting mix of half truths, truth, lies and using people's own understanding against them. It's quite clever. So let's begin, shall we?

When Narcissa calls for his help, he is immediately responsive with her that one can even go as far to call kind. The Malfoys think highly of him (and we know Lucius was a prefect at the time of Snape's sorting), so this is possibly built on years of good relationship. In contrast, he has a "mocking smile" when admitting Bellatrix into his house, and the scene will go further to show why.

When Bellatrix starts questioning him, Snape counters with "don't you think the Dark Lord asked me every one of those questions? Do you think I fooled the Dark Lord, the most accomplished Legliemens the world had ever seen?". What Snape is doing here is using Bellatrix's extremely high opinion of Voldemort against her. He does this several times in the scene. ("Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord? You think Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with Death Eaters and fought against the Order of Phoenix?").

Just because Dumbledore is the kind to take in Hagrid, send envoys to giants etc, he is seen as someone who sees the "best in everyone". As we know from DH, that is categorically not true. Dumbledore's trust in people is very calculated and not at all based on "seeing the best in people". However, Snape uses that wide prevailing assumption about Dumbledore against Bellatrix (and also the reader at that point of time). "You overlook Dumbledore's greatest weakness, he has to believe in the best of people. I spun a tale of great remorse and he embraced me with open arms".

After he says this, he says an interesting bit of dialogue which I think is true. "- he embraced me with open arms, though I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help". I think there is an element of truth in what he is saying here. While one reason that Dumbledore doesn't allow Snape on the DADA job is because the job is jinxed, the second reason is that Snape's fascination with Dark Arts is a temptation. It was temptation enough in his youth that it strained his friendship with Lily, and it clearly something he speaks of with passion in HBP, so I imagine Dumbledore is very careful about this. Snape isn't too happy about this though - he has a lot of pride in his role as someone Dumbledore trusts. So when Umbridge asks him about his unsuccessful attempts to get the DADA job in OOTP, Snape responds "jerkily" : " I suggest you ask him". I think it offends Snape that Dumbledore isn't trusting him enough here.

Then he says: "Dumbledore is a great wizard - oh yes, he has, the Dark Lord acknowledges it". This is true. No matter what kind of role he is playing, he is not going to pretend he doesn't respect Dumbledore, so he says the truth. Interestingly, the other person he speaks his true opinion of apart from Dumbledore is Harry. The "mediocre, obnoxious and self satisfied as his father before him". He says as much to Dumbledore in DH, so this is how he truly feels. He also talks, interestingly, of being curious about Harry and his powers (before dismissing him). This is also corroborated in Chamber of Secrets, when Snape is throwing Harry a "shrewd, calculating look" after Harry speaks Parseltongue.

After which, here is his interesting use of half truth. "I am pleased to say, however, Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with Dark Lord shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions were slower than they once were". While it is true that Dumbledore is injured and he is slower, it is not because of the duel with Voldemort but of the incident with the ring. Once again, Snape is using Bellatrix's high opinion of Voldemort against her.

Then, of course, Snape's mocking of Bellatrix's loyalty. "oh, indeed, most admirable. The gesture was undoubtedly fine" "I had a rather more useful welcome back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is"- I think he finds Bellatrix "brawny" rather than "brainy" lol. Snape seems to value high intellect, and magical capabilities quite a bit ("you have loads of magic," he tells Lily). He insults people on their capabilities rather than anything else, which gives you a good indication of what he values. Snape as a character craves respect, rather being universally liked. It makes sense, considering his abusive home situation, his half blood status in wizarding world and his poverty in Muggle world - he feels powerless in every instance. I don't think being disliked bothers him as much as being disrespected (see his reaction to being called a coward by Harry in HBP).

The movie version of this plays up HBC as Bellatrix and she moves the scene forward, with Alan Rickman's Snape being more conflicted. In the book, Snape is playing her like a fiddle.

[gisellelx]

Hey Giselle!! I was reading some of your Peter F. Posts and I was wondering, do you have any fancasts of him or an approximation? I'm ver queries, Carlisle is my favourite character both in the books and movie, but I'm very fond of his actors 😅. Anyway, thoughts? (I di think he maybe should've had longer hair for the century he was born in lol)

You know, I don't? I don't like the movies really at all except for a handful of very small subtle moments. I only ever bought the first one, even, and that was in an era where I bought many more movies, so that's saying a lot. And I am bad at actors and movies. I like stories; it is usually very inconsequential to me who is playing a given character and I will often see an actor three or four times in different roles without realizing they are the same actor.

I loved the graphic novels for this reason. I felt like I did when I saw Alan Rickman as the cast for Snape (this will date me; I was reading HP back before they ever cast the films--I still remember standing in my dorm room and seeing the grainy photo of Dan, Rupert, and Emma and dissecting their appearances to death with my hallmate) and went "Oh my god, I've never really thought about what this person would look like, but yes this is what they look like." That's what I feel about graphic novel Carlisle. He's the character in my head, and it's why you'll almost never see me posting a picture of PFach when I could post a snapshot from the graphic novels instead. @kellythepitiablefangirl's rendition of GN Carlisle is similarly lovely to me, as is @needahugfromesme's.

But I have given this some thought lately and I have an answer? Which is not completely satisfying to me. But if someone handed me the Twilight script in 2008, I would've cast Sam Clafin. He has a face that is very gentle and expressive, and he has the range as an actor to be "whoop it up fratboy" and also "deadly serious if I told you I was 40 you'd believe me" gravitas. That's essential to who Carlisle is; he carries himself in such a way that even though people are like, "Wow he seems young" nobody thinks he's a Doogie Howser or a Sean Murphy. They believe him that he's passed his boards; they accept when he's yelling at them about their incompetence. And yet, he could easily pass for a frat boy when pal-ing around with his sons. So the actor has to be able to pull off that ambiguity.

I think Sam Clafin would be able to do that. He looks boyish and adorable, but he also can carry himself with an aura of churlish wisdom. He dances this line really nicely in Me Before You and to a lesser extent in the Mockingjays.

Mind you, he's not what I picture Carlisle as looking like. But I think he could pull off the role better than Peter did.

That being said, I get it. Nobody expected Twilight to be the blockbuster it was. They cast a solidly B-list cast, which made complete sense from a filmmaking perspective—part of the reason the first film is my favorite is that it is just so unapologetically bad. And then the fangirls were so rabid that recasting any of the main characters seemed like a very bad idea. They caught enough flak for recasting Bryce Dallas Howard. So I get why they ended up with PFach. But he just can't carry Carlisle, and he absolutely does not do so at any point in the series.

[sunshine304]

Recent PastPost pictures of your first ever (fictional/celeb) crush to the latest one and tag five others to continue the game. 

So, I was tagged by @bang-won​ uhm... quite a while ago.

Thank you for the tag! ♥ It took me forever to get around to it, but yesterday I was motivated enough to run Photoshop and do the little graphics, because if I talk about celebrity crushes, this post should at least look nice. XD

Everything else under the cut, because it's a lot!

Also, it's been so long I'm not going to tag anyone, I don't even know who of my mutuals already did this... Anyone who sees this and feels inspired can feel themselves tagged! ;D

Crushes in my early Teens

John Partridge: If you have seen the 1998 “Cats” video, you'll know where this comes from. XD I was so into him, especially because he got the role of Roger in the German “Rent” production. I do have the recording of a concert with the whole cast when they promoted the show on “Rock am Ring”. I thought he was really good-looking, but mostly I was extremely in love with his voice. Ugh so good. Was my crush for years and I still know his birthday. XD

Peti van der Velde: She was Mimi in the German “Rent” cast. She was super hot and I love her voice!

Cary Elwes: You might think it's because of “The Princess Bride” - but it's not! I first saw him in “Robin Hood – Men in Tights”, which is just a hilarious movie in general! But I also found him very attractive in that – I guess it was the humour and his objectively good looks. Then I saw him in TPB and my fate was sealed. Swoonworthy and again, so funny!

Matthew Porretta: He was Will Scarlett O'Hara in “Robin Hood – Men in Tights”, and yeah, I also thought he was hot. :D Never saw him again in anything else, I think? Oh no, that's not right – he did a Robin Hood tv show, where he played Robin! Yeah, I saw that, too. But that was it – it was the days of yore, no internet to speak of, so no chance for a young teenaged girl to get info on him.

Will Smith: He was super famous back then already, and yeah, for me it was “Men in Black” and “Wild West West” - the songs were sooo cool, and he looked really good and cool in both movies. (Yes, I know that WWW is objectively a bad movie, but it had Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek, and a very good theme song.)

Shakira: I loved her music and her dancing.... XD Years later it occurred to me that this might've been a crush.

Catherine Zeta-Jones: “The Mask of Zorro”, anyone? Oh my God, she was so hot in that. T_T

The Period Drama Phase

So, these are all around 2005, I guess? I watched a lot of Jane Austen / period dramas back then.

Colin Firth: He was such a perfect Mr Darcy. *swoons* I also watched a lot of his other movies and  still like him a lot. Funniest thing was that my boss also adored his performance in “Pride & Prejudice” and went on a “buy every movie he's in” spree. Which included “Where the Truth Lies”, so she one day came to work and complained about this Colin Firth movie that really was very bad and why would he act in such a movie etc. I'd already seen it and just had to laugh internally, like, “I'm sorry he destroyed this idealised version in your head with the bisexual orgy...” XD

Jeremy Northam: Yeah, Mr. Knightley from “Emma”.

Richard Armitage: And he was John Thornton in “North & South” (which I should rewatch because it was really good). God ugh, he was so attractive in that! But I find him to be very attractive in general, still do. Always happy to see him in anything and I'm still pissed that “The Hobbit” movies did turn out to be a mess.

Ewan McGregor: He was in “Sense & Sensibility” (honorary mention for Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet, who I also crushed on a bit...), but! That wasn't what I saw first. Instead, it was “Big Fish”, which I rewatched a thousand times or so, because I loved it as a movie, and he looked good in it. Then I saw him in “Moulin Rouge”, and that fucker could sing! (´▽`ʃ♥ƪ)

Thomas Godoj: Oh hey, hello DSDS winner 2008! I immediately found him kinda hot in that “he's had several rough rock star nights and someone should feed him” way, you know? XD He seemed very humble and kind in his interviews, and in the top 15 show he left everyone in the dust with his version of “Chasing Cars”. They later published the voting numbers and he won every show with at least 40%... He's also a good songwriter. I'm not crushing on him anymore, but I still buy his albums and like a lot of his songs. I think he's the best winner that show every had (except for Alexander Klaws, who won the first season, and went on to become a great entertainer).

Character Crushes

Kinda parallel to the Period Drama Phase but also “feeding” into my Fandom Crushes, of course. It's all coming together.(¬‿¬)

Sawyer: “Lost” was a huge phenomenon for a while – the first few seasons were actually really compelling – and I definitely crushed on Josh Holloway as Sawyer. He was so hot in that show, and also a bit of an cocky asshole character (with Hidden Depths™), so there you go.

Legolas: The “Lord of the Rings” movies were so formative for my generation, I think, and pretty much all of my friends were crushing on someone from that cast. XD I was watching this and thinking, “Ohh that Legolas actor is really handsome” and he also got dubbed by one of my favourite voice actors! I had a poster in my room. I did not take up archery, though.

Aragorn: Aaaaand the other character from LotR I crushed on hard. XD But only in his down and dirty Strider form, with sweaty hair and that half-ass beard and the worn-in clothes. Not the cleaned up King Elessar version, that just wasn't the same anymore after watching about 11 hours of rugged manliness! But yeah,  I think he and Legolas were the two characters most of my friends were crushing on in some way. (It's also a really good movie for horse girls!)

Here begins the “Pirates of the Caribbean” phase, my One True Love, you Perfect Trilogy That Will Forever Hold an Important Spot in My Heart.

Will Turner: It was the guy who played Legolas in an action costume movie doing swashbuckling things! He got to wear a fashionable hat and cape! Together with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann he was the Heart & Soul of these movies! There was funny banter! He often was wet and dirty, with his clothes clinging to him! ♥

Captain Jack Sparrow: I found him super compelling as a character at first, and then I got into the fandom (my first real online fandom) and we wrote a lot of meta, and then I read fanfiction, and he quickly turned into my favourite character. XD And with that came a huge crush on him. Yeah, I know that in RL he'd reek of alcohol and... other things, but luckily Smell-O-Vision never head a break through and so we can all just imagine that he looks like a street bum dragged through the muck but that he smells of a mountain meadow in summer or something! But jokes aside, I just loved him so much as a character, because there were so many layers to him. Movies 4 and 5 are kinda there, you know, but I don't really take them into account much. For me it's the trilogy and all the fantastic fanfic I read for it.

James Norrington: I really liked him as clean and proper Commodore Norrington, but “Dead Man's Chest” brought him down to eye level and made him hot. The Sparrington pairing also got me into Slashfic like whoa, because a lot of it was hot as burning. XD (And it also taught me to set boundaries for myself, because some stuff was too explicit for my tastes at the time, so I skimmed it or clicked out of it etc. You know, what the teens of today could actually learn to do once in a while, ahem.) Anyway, this character was great and I'll be eternally pissed that they killed him off.

Fandom Crushes

These were huuuuge, my friends. HUGE! It was the time of me really getting into fandom, the peak of Livejournal, lots of great fanfic and online content, and I met some dear friends through it that I'm still in contact with to this day. ♥

Johnny Depp: Got hooked by PotC and then watched loads of his movies afterwards. I head seen him in some stuff before, of course, but PotC made me appreciate his acting ability. This was also the time when he had cleaned up his act, was happily married, and did a lot of hot-as-burning photoshoots. I had mostly moved on by the time he spiralled out of control (midlife crisis and addiction are a bad mix), but it was still very sad to watch. Now, I just hope that he gets the help he needs and finds his acting mojo again.

Zoe Saldaña: Of course from PotC as well, because I adored Anamaria! But I already knew her from “Center Stage”, where 'd liked her. Through PotC I checked out some of her movies. I think she looks gorgeous and beautiful, and she's got this dancer's grace, you know? Also, trivia time if you ever are on “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” – she's the actress with the biggest box office to her name, a fact that many random people on the street wouldn't know. (Male counterpart is of course Samuel L. Jackson.)

David Tennant: I really crushed on him during his “Doctor Who” era. It was never this kind of big crush I had on some of the others on this far too extensive list, but still. Crush kinda came back a bit because of “Good Omens”.

Benedict Cumberbatch: So yeah, you might've heard about that BBC tv series called “Sherlock”... This was an even bigger fandom for me than PotC, I think, simply because at this time the internet had really gone off and you could find everything. (✪ ω ✪)  I also crushed on the character Sherlock, but I think it was very much connected to Cumberbatch in this role, IDK. The look was great and is kinda my type, the show was fun. So much great fanfiction. So much! I checked out all of his other work as well, as you do. It's calmed down considerably now, mainly because season 4 was such a mess that it killed my enthusiasm for the show and therefore for him, too.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Martin Freeman: To a lesser degree than Cumberbatch, but yeah, I also crushed on him because of “Sherlock”. I thought his acting was even better, subtler, and I was very disappointed of the direction they took with the character in season 4. Freeman was too, it came through in his interviews at the time. And god, I loved him in “The Hobbit”, such perfect casting and it got kinda wasted. Never over it.

Sebastian Stan: Ugh yeah, he's hot, what can I say. XD Love him in the MCU, and for a while I read a lot of Stucky fic. It was never a huge crush, but it flared up there for a while.

Recent Past

Chris Evans: He was so great as Steve Rogers! He also provided very nice eye candy to some rather middling movies in the past, and I love his humour and that he speaks up so much about social and political topics. Also he loves dogs!♥

Dylan O'Brien: So yeah, “Teen Wolf” anyone? XD I actually never watched a lot of that show, because they aired it in such a disconnected way on German tv that I gave up. So I saw... season 2 and then the first few episodes of season 3? But by then I'd already gotten into the fandom, because … of fanfiction? I don't even know anymore how I got into it, likely some of my fav writers started writing for it, or I saw all these Sterek gifsets and thought, “Oh they're both hot!” XD anyway, that's how I became aware of him. He was even hotter in “Maze Runner” and I'm still kinda bummed out that so far he hasn't had a big break, because I think he is a really good actor and deserves to be more successful. Love his sarcastic humour and that he throws shade at TW every chance he gets, because that show deserves it (or rather, the people behind it do).

Tyler Hoechlin: Oh look, the other half of the Sterek 'ship! XD So yeah, he is very conventionally fucking hot, guys. He was also shirtless a lot in TW. Sometimes you just want to have some serious eye candy you know. But! He also seems to be a really likeable person, and he brought much more depth to his character Derek than was on the page. And he was very open about how disappointed he was about the direction the show took with his character, and that they queerbaited the hell out of it. My crush on him is very much tied with TW, I haven't seen him in other stuff, I think. But he seems to be doing well enough, so good for him! (Also, yeah, he is the perfect Superman.)

Natalie Dormer: Well, she kinda became famous for being sexy and hot in “The Tudors”, what can I say. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I loved her in that. Might've been the permanent smirk she's got going. I also really enjoyed her in “The Hunger Games” and liked to stare at screenshots of GoT (which I haven't watched), because she had stunning costumes there and always looked gorgeous. I really need to get around to watching “Elementary” one of these days...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: So, there was this movie called “Inception”... XD I still low-key ship Arthur/Eames (honorary mention for Tom Hardy, I'm sorry, I cannot name every crush I've ever had or we'd be here all day). JGL was looking very attractive in well-cut suits and he was also very competent and got one of the best fight scenes. That was the time when he suddenly was in many movies that I enjoyed, like “50/50”, “The Dark Knight Rises” (okay, that one was soso, but he was great in it), “Premium Rush”, “Don Jon” (ugh, yeah that♥). I also kinda remembered that he was in “10 Things I Hate About You”, which was forever ago, and I thought he was cute in that. Also, he can sing and dance, which is always a plus and makes a man exponentially more hot in my opinion. He also seems to be a chill dude who's very much into music and got married without anyone noticing. XD He just does his thing and I respect that.

Current Crushes

Xiao Zhan: This man. So beautiful. So handsome. (❤ ω ❤) Most of the people reading this are in CQL fandom as well, so you all know how hot he is. XD Yet again the lethal combination of singing, acting, and dancing, as well as killer looks. Honorary mention for Wang Yibo, who I crush on in specific circumstances but often find weird to crush on because he's so much younger than me. Xiao Zhan, I crush on without remorse. ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ That smile. *swoons*

Robert Downey Jr.: Yay, I liked him before it was cool again! XD I'd watched “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, which I adored, and he was fantastic in it. Then he did “Iron Man” and “Sherlock Holmes”, and I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for his look with the beard/goatee thing and the dark slightly tousled hair and the dark eyes. Helps that he's a really great actor and also very funny. It's crazy to look at his filmography and it's mostly MCU movies for the last 10 years... So I guess it's good that they killed him off and he can do other things now (like OMG “Sherlock Holmes 3”!!).

Janelle Monae: She's gorgeous and she's got talent for ten people! I love her! Makes great music, very outspoken and in your face, great style. I also loved her in the few movies I saw her in, she was fantastic.

Hugh Jackman: Oh no, the whole package. XD Can sing, can dance, can act, handsome, unbelievably likeable, great entertainer. It's bad. I saw him on his concert tour in Cologne, it was an awesome show, he was amazing, so funny, nice interactions with the audience, too. I prefer his current look to that overly buff Wolverine one, and I'm pretty sure he's happy that he doesn't have to bulk up like that anymore. He's just, so damn nice!(*/ω＼*)

Ben Whishaw: Oh yeah, and I might have a thing for the nerdy looking guys. XD He is an amazing actor, and yet again I'm a sucker for the dark tousled her and dark, deep eyes, sorry not sorry. Loved him as Q in the Bond movies and enjoyed him a lot as that tortured artist character in “Cloud Atlas”, just for the drama of it all. I still got a lot of his stuff on my watch list (some of his tv shows have taken a loooong time to make it to Germany, I think one or two are still not dubbed).

So that was that. A huge list of crushes and I've surely forgotten a lot of celebrities, especially in the music department. XD No boy band members, though, because I kinda liked their music but never became a fan of any of them.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you made it through all of this, congratulations, I admire your resilience and determination! ♥