#but because he was drawn to be hot (or the actor who plays is hot) some chicks are READY to paint him as a poor baby

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

People on social media will get mad as hell and call you problematic if you enjoy a villain for being, well, a villain.

[yourmomsawh0r3]

I loved Juno! Would you consider writing more Glenn x pop star/reader? It was amazing 🤩

absolutely!! hope you love it !

Hot like fire

pairing:glenn powell x popstar f!

As the stadium lights burst to life and Y/N strutted onto the stage, she oozed confidence and allure. Her outfit was dazzling, hugging her figure in all the right places, and her movements were smooth yet powerful. The crowd went wild, the energy electric as she began to sing the first notes of her hit, “Hot Like Fire.”

“I’m burnin’ up, can’t keep it cool,” she sang, her voice smooth and sultry, her hips swaying to the beat. With every step and flick of her hair, Y/N commanded the audience, moving with a teasing confidence that had the fans screaming. She reached the edge of the stage, winked playfully, and ran her hand down her side, making the entire crowd erupt with excitement.

Glenn watched, completely captivated. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, mesmerized by the way she seemed to play to every person in the crowd while throwing sly glances his way. The way she looked at him during the chorus made him feel like he was the only person in the room.

The stadium was buzzing as fans filled every seat, awaiting pop star Y/N’s performance. Her sold-out concert had drawn massive attention, not only because of her talent and latest album but also due to the ongoing speculation about her rumored romance with actor Glenn Powell. The press had been buzzing for weeks with photos of them at events together, fans piecing together clues on social media, yet neither had confirmed anything.

After the final song, Y/N took a bow, grinning from ear to ear as the audience chanted for an encore. She threw one last glance into the crowd, where her eyes met Glenn’s. A small, secretive smile played on her lips as she raised her hand, giving him a subtle wave. It was barely noticeable to anyone else, but fans with sharp eyes caught it immediately.

Backstage, Y/N barely had time to catch her breath before Glenn was there, weaving through the crew, his face lighting up when he saw her. Without hesitation, he grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

“Ready to blow up the internet?” he whispered, his tone playful but eyes soft with affection.

With a giggle, Y/N replied, “Let’s give them something to talk about.”

Hand in hand, they dashed out of the backstage area, ignoring the photographers who were quick to capture every step. Glenn helped her into his car, and before she knew it, they were speeding down the freeway, laughing and giddy from the adrenaline of it all.

They decided to stop by Taco Bell, both too hyped up to think about anything other than fast food. But as soon as they stepped inside, they were met by a group of fans who recognized them immediately, gasping in disbelief and pulling out their phones. One fan managed to get a video of Y/N ordering tacos with Glenn right beside her, laughing as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Within minutes, photos and videos were posted online, and the internet exploded. Fans tweeted about seeing Y/N and Glenn at Taco Bell, speculating about their relationship status even more fervently than before. The hashtag #YNNGlennConfirmed shot to the top of trending topics within hours.

Meanwhile, Glenn and Y/N just laughed about the whole situation, eating their tacos and completely absorbed in each other. He leaned over, brushing a crumb from her cheek and murmuring, “Well, guess we’re officially out of hiding.”

She grinned, eyes shining. “Guess so. Ready to be my partner in crime?”

“More than ready,” he replied, giving her hand a squeeze as they prepared to face the world hand-in-hand, unafraid of what anyone might say.

As they finally made it back to Y/N’s penthouse, the city’s lights cast a gentle glow through the windows, creating a cozy, intimate vibe. Y/N kicked off her heels and let out a deep breath, still feeling the adrenaline from the concert. Glenn smiled as he watched her, clearly still mesmerized.

“Let’s get you comfortable,” he murmured, leading her into the bathroom. She looked at him, a little surprised but grateful for the gentle care in his eyes. With a soft touch, Glenn reached for her makeup wipes, holding one up with a playful smile.

“Allow me,” he said softly, moving closer. She closed her eyes as he delicately wiped the remnants of glitter and eyeliner from her face, his fingers grazing her cheeks. He took his time, making sure to be extra gentle, pausing to give her little smiles and whispers of how incredible she’d been tonight.

Once her makeup was off, he placed his hands on her waist and lifted her onto the bathroom counter, his hands steady and comforting. She chuckled, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her forehead against his.

“Thank you,” she whispered. He just leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “You deserve it,” he replied, his voice low.

Moments later, they found themselves in the living room, wrapped up in blankets on her plush couch. She picked up the remote, scrolling through channels until she found Friends. They settled in, the familiar laughter and comforting sitcom vibe filling the room.

Y/N snuggled into Glenn’s side, resting her head on his chest, her arms tucked around him. His arm draped around her, pulling her closer as his fingers traced soft circles along her shoulder. They both laughed at the episodes, quoting lines and finishing each other’s favorite scenes.

As the hours ticked by, Y/N felt her eyes getting heavy, her head nestled in the crook of Glenn’s shoulder. His hand stroked her hair, lulling her into a peaceful state as the laughter on the TV faded into the background.

“Best concert of my life,” he whispered, glancing down to find her already fast asleep, a soft smile still lingering on her lips. And as they lay there, with the city lights twinkling outside and the cozy glow of her penthouse wrapping them in warmth, Glenn knew there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

[three--rings]

You Should Watch The Spirealm/致命游戏

What is it?

A 2024 cdrama based on the danmei webnovel Kaleidoscope of Death. It's a censored version of a BL novel, with thriller, mystery, and horror aspects, 38 45-minute episodes.

What's it about?

A young man accidentally gets drawn into a virtual reality video game that involves passing tests in a series of doors. Once you start playing, you cannot stop and if you die in the game, you die in real life. He meets a frustratingly mysterious, competent, and attractive man in the doors who recruits him to be part of his game solving team. Well, specifically to be his partner. Lots of gay subtext ensues as they fight through door after door seeking to get to the final door in order to end the evils of the game. (The book is a little different, as it's more supernatural.)

So basically it's a infinite flow deadly game situation, with m/m romance.

Main Characters:

Lin Quishi/Ling Juishi (novel/drama versions of his name)- Our protagonist. A smart graduate in computer science, good at games. Well meaning but a little naive to start out.

Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Lanzhu - Our love interest. In the novel he crossdresses often and he presents as a woman for the whole first arc. Super intelligent, expert at the game, extremely flirty but reserved at the same time. Got one look at Lin Quishi and said That One.

Other Characters, aka the Found Family:

Ruan Nanzhu's team consists of a pair of twin brothers (one young and dumb and one uptight), a hot doctor vet, a woman whose main job seems to be cooking dinner, and a not-so-stable dude.

Then there's Li Dong Yuan, a rival player who becomes reluctantly-tolerated friend, and his cute female assistant. And Tan Zao Zao, an actress who hires the team to help her in the games and also sticks around persistently.

They're pretty much all delightful and some may start off silly/annoying and end up breaking the hell out of your heart.

Okay, but what's the VIBE?

Big Guardian vibes. The team of lovable scamps investigating weird supernatural (?) type mysteries? While the boss and the guy he fell for have a situationship? Totally. This definitely has more of a horror feel than Guardian, though, even though they tone things down from the novel.

Each door is its own setting, and some are more scary than others. So one is a mental hospital, one is a traditional village, one is a gothic manor, etc. Lots of tragic female ghosts who have been wronged and are getting revenge. The one that really creeped me out was the one with the children with the eggs. It does a lot of creepy rather than really horror. It's not truly gory at all, as it was made to air on Chinese TV and they have strict limits to violence.

The camerawork and set decor is really nice, actually. It looks great most of the time and a lot of the effects seem to be practical. It looks a lot better than Guardian is what I'm saying, if not quite to a film level.

How Gay is It?

Oh MY GOD. Okay look, this show was NOT supposed to be released, but thank whoever put it up for that two hours. It's really incredibly blatant, like really as much as Word of Honor was, although because the plot is focused elsewhere it's maybe not quite as in your face. But the actors UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT and there's so much longing and SO much implication. After a while, everyone basically just treats the main couple as a couple even thought it's never talked about.

I mean episode one there's Only One Bed and at the end of their first meeting Ruan Nanzhu gives Lin Quishi a RING. I mean, the flirting is also BLATANT. I also just find this a really romantic show, despite the Not Talking About It thing.

Is it a Happy Ending?

So, It's Complicated. I'm trying not to spoil anything and this show is pretty easy to have spoiled for you. There's definitely a good bit of tragedy in this show in general. Characters die and it's really sad. Like, this is a plot with stakes and if no one we liked ever died, it wouldn't be the same.

I will say I consider this show to have a happy ending, but you do go through some pain first. Essentially the main couple does have a separation, but there is a reunion before the end. There's also a scene that will give Guardian fans fucking PTSD, but the show does a fix-it on its own, okay? I do feel that I have to warn for that, though.

Where can I watch it?

The show is legally available on Viki with a subscription. Obviously there are other ways to find it as well, and links went around before it was picked up by Viki so check tags if you need those.

I really hope this encourages some people to watch this show, as it's really well made and a great time. It's one of a very small number of danmei adaptations we've gotten, but a lot less people have watched it since it's modern and had a weird release. Honestly, it's well written and acted and filmed and you should give it a shot.

(All gifs by @ruanbaijie, thank you very much for allowing me to use them. Check out their blog, there's such gorgeous stuff there!)

[camisoledadparis]

"Life is unfair. I got nothing but the best."

Jean Marais

He was the muse and lover of the great artist/writer/filmmaker Jean Cocteau, plus he was an actor of considerable skill and certain charisma, a film and theatre director, writer, and visual artist.

Marais was born Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais in Cherbourg to a shoplifting, sometimes violent, sometimes loving mother. He was always drawn to drama of all sorts. Expelled from school when, to amuse his friends, Marais dressed as a girl and flirted with a male teacher. As a kid, Marais worked various jobs including newspaper boy, photographer, and sketch artist.

In 1937, 24-year-old Marais first met the 48-year-old Cocteau. They became acquainted when Marais auditioned for a role in a revival of Cocteau's play OEDIPE-ROI. Cocteau cast Marais for the role, plus he fell madly in love with the young actor.

Marais and Cocteau became partners in life and art. Marais nudged Cocteau to write a special screenplay for him to play the lead role. L'ETERNEL RETOUR (1943) was that film and it became a commercial success and a critical triumph for both the filmmaker and its star.

Marais continued to act in films and plays while the Nazis occupied France during World War II. Both Cocteau and Marais stayed in Paris during the occupation despite the very real danger of having nearly everyone in the city knowing that they were a gay couple. Cocteau had some powerful connections who protected them, even after Marais punched a Vichy critic for writing a bad review of one of Cocteau's plays. Their names were posted in the French press, which was controlled by those nasty Nazis, but because of Cocteau's friends in high places, they avoided being arrested and sent to a concentration camp.

Marais tried to join the Resistance, but he was rejected for being gay and also because of his reputation for speaking candidly. So instead, he volunteered for France's Second Armored Division after the liberation of Paris and drove trucks carrying fuel and ammunition to the frontlines during the Allied invasion of Germany. Marais was eventually awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery during his wartime service.

During the Nazi occupation, there were other gay couples in Paris, but it was unusual for any of them to be openly living together, working together, and behaving like a married couple. They were especially brave, even maybe reckless.

After the war in 1946, L'ETERNEL RETOUR was released in the USA introducing Marais to American film fans. Photographs of his handsome face and hot body became a popular pin-up for teenage girls and for gay fans slyly aware of his real relationship with Cocteau.

Cocteau didn't consider himself a filmmaker, but poet, and LA BELLE ET LA BETE (1946), his film masterpiece, plays like a visual poem in which Marais plays three roles.

Although Marais and Cocteau's romance cooled down by the late 1940s, they remained the closest of friends until Cocteau's final credits rolled for good in 1963. After Cocteau died, Marais stated: "I bitterly regret not having spent all of my life serving Cocteau instead of worrying about my own career." Marais enjoyed that career; it lasted more than six decades. His blond, classical good looks and skillful acting can be experienced in more than 100 films and television shows.

In the 1950s, Marais fell in love with American dancer and choreographer George Reich (1926 – 2013). Reich resembled Marais; both were blonde, athletic, and unworldly handsome. Reich was the first classically trained dancer to organize an American-style ballet company in France, The Ballet HO. He danced at the Lido de Paris, the Moulin Rouge, The Ballet De Paris, and in the MGM musical film THE GLASS SLIPPER (1955) with Leslie Caron, plus he provided the choreography for Marlene Dietrich, Joséphine Baker, and Edith Piaf's nightclub acts. Reich and Marais were a couple for more than a decade.

Marais sought to reconcile romantically with Cocteau at the end of the great artist's life, but rebuffed and frustrated, he returned to his old opium habit. Marais had been legally adopted by Cocteau so that he would be his inheritor.

Like Cocteau, Marais had no problem finding the company of handsome younger men. For one of them, Serge Ayala (1943 – 2012), he helped find acting work and legally adopted him as a son, taking the name Serge Villain-Marais. This adopted son became a singer and an actor. Marais enjoyed life with his protégé until he took his final curtain call in 1998, gone from heart failure, just like his former, fabulous, famous lover. The adopted son took his own life in 2012 at 69 years old after troubling inheritance litigation with Marais's estate left him lonely and depressed.

Marais's life story served as the inspiration for François Truffaut's film THE LAST METRO (1980).

Photo: Marais et Cocteau à la terrasse d'un café de Venise, lors de la huitième Mostra de Venise, 1947

[b-skarsgard]

•The bold choice means on another such night, in a dark and shrouded set-build, the first time Hoult and most of the crew will even see Eggers’ vampire, the moldering Count Orlok (an unrecognizable Bill Skarsgård), will be in this dance between light and dark. And every dance has its quirks.

“I had all the prosthetics pieces and the big fur coat,” Skarsgård recalls with a smirk. “And [Cinematographer] Jarin would have hundreds of candles, and the way he would light a face would just be like, ‘Light more candles; kill these four candles; light those up.’ I remember being very hot and sweaty.” It’s not necessarily the effect one expects in the presence of a vampire, but it was satisfying all the same to Eggers and Skarsgård. After all, the pair have chased the demon for nearly a decade.

•The director’s quest for authenticity likewise led him to retain certain elements of Murnau and Grau’s iconic Orlok design (the talons are still there) while reinterpreting others.

“My main goal was to ask, ‘What would a dead Transylvanian nobleman look like?’” Eggers says. “The hairstyle and all of the clothing, and all the trappings come down to that, and then creating a scary, imposing, masculine vampire rather than a sad vampire, although Bill still adds some needed pathos in a few moments.”

Skarsgård indeed brings a wounded ferocity to the character while vanishing in Orlok’s design. The Swedish actor reveals he would sit for six hours in the makeup chair for full-body prosthetics, which was only the beginning. Since Eggers’ Orlok is supposed to have once been a 1500s sorcerer who survived the grave, Skarsgård felt liberated in other areas.

“There’s no historically accurate accent of what that would sound like anymore,” Skarsgård explains. “He could possibly be Hungarian or he could be Romanian. So I just took little things, idiosyncrasies that they possibly would have, like rolling Rs, without going too Bela Lugosi. It was just finding these little things to anchor it in.”

•In this vein, Depp sees Ellen’s draw toward Orlok as tragic since she is so deeply in love with Thomas. He is genuinely good for her, but there’s something inviting about darkness.

“I think that it touches a lot on taboo and being drawn to something that scares you,” the actress says. “A lot of people live with a true fear of death, understandably so, but we’re kind of drawn to it and intrigued by it… because it’s the most terrifying thing, it’s the most titillating thing.”

Perhaps it is the actor who plays Death himself who can best make sense of Orlok’s thrall. In Skarsgård’s mind, the vampire represents anything humans are drawn to despite knowing better. “It could be an addiction, it could be an abusive relationship, it could be all of those things,” Skarsgård says. “He’s the embodiment and allure of attraction to destruction. Sometimes you want to be destroyed or you want to be corrupted, and that’s Ellen’s inner struggle. Then sometimes, from Orlok’s perspective, it’s the craving to destroy that which you find so beautiful.”

excerpts provided by the link above where you can read more

[screen-universe-official-thingie]

"Not a devil, I'm not a devil!" "Oh no, I'm dead, I'm gone... aaahhhh, aahhh"

H I

Rambling is below as per usual!

Click at the bottom for a bonus art, the stand alone art for each of the characters in this piece and two poems. Yes, TWO whole poems! Pretty shitty ones at that. I quickly typed them into the file for the background to capture the vibes from the OG MV. That's how elaborate this one was.

Hey! It's me again. Sorry for going silent for so long, life and stuff got in the way. I got a job, but I didn't last long in it because I didn't pass the trial period. So here I am popping back in with an elaborate art piece loosely related to the paracosm with the main duo, the Jellyfish Duo.

Here's the music video this is inspired from by the way

There's a reason why I picked out which Miku the two would cosplay as for the Bit.

SpongeBob ended up with the slutty Deco27 Miku because it reminds me of how he sees himself as well as the fallen imagery. He plays the good guy in his show and even everyone sees him as a good person (Angel), but he sees himself as a bad person and actor because he thinks that it's his fault that acting out some bad/not so great episodes lead to forsaking the Nation into being raided by Weblings who took their reaction too far. It's also because he was at his peak during his golden age before "taking the fall" (being a black angel instead of white). Hence the fallen angel

Lusamine gets PinocchioP's Miku for obvious reasons. She plays the villain who happens to wear white, and hides a dirty secret behind the clean reputation. The less obvious reason is that the lyrics for White Devil Miku fit her paracosm counterpart, especially the "I'm not a devil!" bits (they'd sound like it's her insisting she's not "Her"/The Persona and pleading people to not see her That Way™). She doesn't want to be seen as a devil, she doesn't even WANT to be the devil. But she has to play the part in order for the game to move forward. "So sayeth the devil," even sounds like the rolcists stamping the label on her without taking another look at the actress and giving her another chance.

"Smile and play the part," just reminds of the paracosm in general, everyone has to play a part of their story just to exist. It could also fit SpongeBob because he has to play the part of an angel.

Bonus art

A chart :>

A jokey version of the chart (people said SpongeBob is the hot one as a joke because of this art work)

The stand alone art works of the characters in the "Not a devil" piece

Some additional notes:

• SpongeBob's wand is a spatula in the heart shape

• I really could have drawn SpongeBob in a, ahem, more modest outfit, but I thought it was funny to put him in a suggestive one. Plus, I somehow made his legs look really good, so now I HAD to play for the bit.

• Lusamine's outfit is based on Kartana, the origami Ultra Beast. I think it became a running gag or bit where she'd cosplay an ultra beast even if she didn't mean to. A friend even imagined that she has a wardrobe full of UB-themed outfits

• I could not for the life of me add in the wings on their back. So what I did to make up for it is them sitting on their respective jellyfishes. They're both shinies too, both to go well with their colour schemes and just to match in general.

• Their "mini me"s floating by them are based on their jellyfish forms

• I know that this piece would fit a different pairing better if it were to be a smaller crossover (like Squidward being the devil to SpongeBob's angel or Cynthia being the angel to Lusa's devil), but crack platonic ship duo who are obsessed with jellyfishes...

• SpongeBob's sun is based on Mr. Sun from the Best day ever episode

• Lusamine's moon is basically the moon logo from Pokémon Moon. What I did to achieve that look is pretty much cheating. I basically looked for the og picture, copy and pasted it onto the file, cropped out the unnecessary bits, and then colored over the logo in another layer. I got lazy, okay.

Ah! Before I forget, the poems!! Some of their bits are hidden behind the characters, so I'll just copy and paste them here.

For Lusamine's side:

The unfortunate actress, so young yet so unlucky

Ignorant to the core, glad to be born

She plays a part with a heart so murky

And pays the price for the flesh she worn

Darker and dark have her days gone by

As she bid her rights good bye

On set, her mouth left her with a scorn

Off stage, hell awaits her in full

Now she regrets being born

For her script played her like a fool

For SpongeBob's side:

The fallen actor, how sleek, how serious.

Once youthful, once a prodigy.

Sad to say his episodes became nefarious.

Now his nation and his life turn into a tragedy.

One by one, his comrades die.

As they look at death in the eye.

One neighbor taken, another hung twice over.

Of course it left him wailing.

He directed his final act with a game over.

But he can't, for everyone wants him to keep sailing.

[suzuran777]

Revisiting Gakuen Handsome: Backstory + short review

I think every BL fan has seen something related to Gakuen Handsome at some point in their lives, it's a parody BL visual novel with quite the legacy. It was originally released in 2010 by Team YokkyuFuman and it also got its own OVA and anime adaptation in 2015 & 2016. The protagonist, who is an unnamed seventeen year old boy, moves back to the city after a seven year absence. He enrolls into Baramon High School, a prestigious all-boys school which takes pride in being the best of its prefecture. From now on, his life will be changed forever...

First of all, the developer team's backstory is probably one of the most unique ones. In 2008, eight film students from the Tohoku University of Art and Design formed Team YokkyuFuman (チーム欲求腐満). Their blog mentions that a year later, they attempted to submit the Gakuen Handsome opening movie to the 9th edition of the Niconico Film Festival (their submission was completely ignored). After that, the opening movie was uploaded on NicoNico Douga, where it was quite well received. The description of the video mentions “to be released in 20009”, as they originally probably had no intention to create a full game.

After it became a hot topic on NicoNico Douga, the team decided to continue production, and in 2010 they released the game "Gakuen Handsome". Their university even gave them permission to organize an official exhibition: Gakuen Handsome Matsuri (or just Gakuen Handsome Festival). Visitors could watch the opening movie, learn more about the characters and take pictures together with the life-sized cardboard cutouts. The exhibition also featured rare merch: A drama CD which would be released in "20009" and canned bread.

This exhibition was apparently not only held once, but many times according to their blog. The game was finally released in 2010 and many fans were happy to finally play it, supporting the team that created it. Togo Mito, who many of you know as the creator of (in)famous BL game Hadaka Shitsuji, also collaborated with them. These are some pictures I found on Togo Mito's old blog, Mizoguchi and Juro drawn by Togo Mito and the Hadaka Shitsuji cast drawn by Team YokkyuFuman.

Even after graduation, it seems like they would occasionally invite some of Gakuen Handsome's creators. In 2014, the university tweeted that they would not be able to host the exhibition that year due to renovations, but visitors could take pictures with the cardboard cutouts. There's also an interview from 2016 on the university's website, in which they talk about how things have been after graduation! I absolutely love how the university supported all of this.

Now about the game itself... Where to even start? You'll have to trust me, but the game is actually good. Many parody games can be quite a hit or miss, but this visual novel is something I still catch myself laughing at years later. The inconsistent art, pointy chins and strange jokes really create an experience unlike anything else. I don't think any commercial company would be able to create something like this, even if they tried. One detail that the anime adaptation doesn't really show is that many different artists worked on this, whose styles widely vary from each other, making absolutely no attempt to create one consistent artstyle. Most characters have at least 2 ~ 3 sprites that often look completely different from each other. For example, sometimes Saionji sensei looks like a clean-shaven teenager/young adult, but in the CGs he suddenly turn into an older looking man with a stubble.

Yes he's talking about eating paint in the screenshot above, why not. Anyway... the voice acting in this game is something else I wanted to talk about, because it adds so much to the game. Of course it's not professional, but I think that's what makes it amazing. You can sometimes hear the voice actors trying really hard not to laugh, and they will occasionally completely mess up their lines. Of course all of those lines are kept in the game and they didn't re-record them. I also loved it when they started swearing in English for seemingly no reason. Also, instead of just avoiding the name of the protagonist (who you can give any name you want) they pronounce it... by improvision. Just imagine how one would try to pronounce a "adfgdf" keysmash and you'll get an idea what it sounds like.

There are 6 characters in this game who you can romance. The protagonist's childhood friend Takuya, who is a bit obsessed with the protein bar Calorie Mate (which is censored in the new version of the game, so you just hear a BLEEP sound), outlaw teacher Saionji, school principal Juro who basically only functions as a save point, student council president Kagami, chuunibyou transfer student Shiga, and last but not least, the captain of the soccer team Mitsurugi, who also murders people with his chin sometimes. The protagonist's sister also has a (non-romantic) ending, which you need to play in order to unlock the extra scenario (which... is a ridiculous murder mystery story for some reason). I also could not find the guide I used a long time ago, so I just looked at some videos on NicoNico to see what others were doing and that worked pretty well...!

My favorite scene is probably still that one scene in Mitsurugi's route, in which he stabs people with his chin. It's also one of the scenes that gets referenced the most in fanart. The context makes it even more ridiculous, Mitsurugi gets really upset that some people like the chunky variant of red bean paste (tsubuan) and decides they should die. After stabbing his teammate and multiple other people he runs outside. The protagonist however, isn't safe either and also gets accused of being a "tsubuan supporter". If you survive though, you get a chance to marry Mitsurugi!

Honestly one of the reasons I wanted to write about this game is because many people only know the OVA and/or anime, but the game is so funny I think everyone should play it if they're interested. I also think the team behind it has such a funny backstory and I love seeing how supportive their university is. Right now the team is still active on their Twitter account and they sometimes create new content. Last year they released Gakuen Handsome Fighters, a short fighting game featuring the Gakuen Handsome characters.

If you are interested in purchasing it, I recommend getting the "Special" edition which can be purchased on DLsite! I couldn't find a working download link anymore of the older version, but I think the creators deserve the support, so I don't regret buying it (it was about 15 USD). It includes the original game and 5 shorter stories which were originally released as smartphone apps. While I think the original game is still the best one, it's fun to explore some of the extra scenarios as well. One of the shorter games takes place in an alternative universe in which the boys live in the Heian period, and for some reason some of the sprites are animated... yeah.

[twopoppies]

Have to say I can't even be surprised that someone who beards for relevance is not a good person. I understand is the industry game and people - including H and L - have to play it but I'm yet to see a long term beard to be a genuinely nice person (long term that's why Tamara is not included)

I think the bigger picture is that women in the entertainment/music business aren’t given many choices when it comes to promoting themselves. Being paired with another actor/musician who’s on the rise or who is more famous than them, is a very common occurrence. I don’t think Harry is in these relationships purely for bearding purposes. It’s also simple PR. So, I’m hesitant to just brand all of these women as “bearding for a living” and not acknowledge the role the industry and the patriarchy, for that matter, play into why they’re doing it.

The fact that so many of them are shitty people may have more to do with the type of people who are drawn to those industries and who fall into the category of “hot” and are therefore using that as their main calling card (either through their choice or because they’re not given a choice).

Anyway, it’s a shame that he’s had to be connected with so many people who seem shitty. But, at this point, I think he’s likely used to it. And he generally doesn’t spend all that much time with them—just enough to get photos taken and make an appearance.

[agentravensong]

hello, fellow hatchetfield fans! here are my stray nerdy prudes must die thoughts, which i'm going to try to keep brief (she said, before spending an hour writing this)

the production level of the show as a whole really blew me away. the lighting; demon!max's costume and makeup; even the way it was shot and edited felt even more electric than past shows

this is the only one of the full-length hatchetfield musicals to have one consistent antagonist throughout (black friday has linda but half the leads don't know about her at all until the climax, plus there's wilbur and wiggly). and i gotta say, max's actor really killed it. hilarious, terrifying, and even with moments of nuance. he repeatedly stole the show.

some of the songs are already stuck in my head. off the top of my head i can't think of any that stood out in a bad/unmemorable way (though i could just be forgetting them, lol). ruth's song in particular i think is gonna really stick with me once i listen to it a few more times.

and i love the way the "i'm not a loser" motif gets used throughout the show. the closest any of the songs got me to having the visceral reaction i have to "did you know that i wanted to live with you" in "not your seed" and the bridge + ending of "let it out" ("i've never been happy...") was when richie sings that line right before... well.

speaking of richie: as a paul stan, what this show proved to me more than anything is that when jon matteson plays a sympathetic lead (or side character - hi daniel/stopwatch), he will always break my heart. he's just. really good.

thinking about how in the last of the originally planned 3 hatchetfield shows, initially conceptualized as the first, jon's character is the first one to sing, whereas in the first of those shows, conceptualized as the last, the whole crux of the musical is him refusing to sing, the audience essentially waiting for the moment he breaks and does it. thinking about how the opening of npmd tells us richie is going to die, already dying, already dead, while the opening number of tgwdlm tells us paul is the target, the Doomed Hero, the "star of the show" "destined to go viral" [read: get infected], whose story is going to be told, already written.

thinking about how singing dooms paul, and how richie singing "i'm not a loser", reigniting max's ire, is the final nail in his coffin.

...i'm normal.

there's a lot of meta jokes and nods of that sort throughout the show. maybe a few too many? like, at a certain point, as a fan, i do feel like i'm being pandered to a bit.

i liked the lords in black's scene, it was a lot of fun! it's always great to see jon get to let loose with crazy characters, and the others were great too. but i do wonder how it plays for people who haven't been following nightmare time stuff. like, i get that in one world this was our introduction to these characters, but even in that world, i wonder if including all five of them with their specific names and allusions to their individual deals is a bit too much for what the plot of this show needs. there's something to be said for not showing all your cards right away.

on the other hand, i feel like the paulkins coffee scene actually fully earned its inclusion: because when pete comes in asking for his hot chocolate, it reads differently when we're coming at it from having followed his perspective up to this point versus having been following paul in tgwdlm, in a way that strengthens both scenes. it's a nice reminder that emma and paul can be... rude, i guess. assholes, even (she really didn't need to spit in it). that idea of perspectives affecting how we categorize people arguably even plays into the themes of this show! how about that.

ah, yes, Themes. there are Themes to be drawn out of this show about the experience of high school, especially in an intertextual comparison to how tom and becky talk about their time in high school in black friday. something about how the two of them see it as this idealistic time they want to go back to, whereas the teens (the nerds/outcasts) in npmd sing that they'll "still despise it when [they're] gone". something about how in ruth's solo number, the fantasy future she imagines for herself (even in the context of it being a performance for an audience of no one) is of a standard, arguably dreary, middle-aged existence. there's definitely stuff there to be dissected.

and also there's arguably a theme of continuing cycles of cruelty, brought into focus by the ending, but also implied with the way the adults failed the kids (see max referencing his dad belittling him).

...but also, i feel like they could have done more with that.

that's my one big thing with this show, and it could very easily just be that the genre of this show isn't as much my jam, but i'll say it anyway: i wanted more from the characters, and more emotional weight in regards to certain things.

like, between this and tgwdlm, i think tgwdlm is still the better written show. there's just, a subtly to the characters there, a grounded human-ness, that i didn't quite get from all of the teens here.

as much as i clearly have a soft spot for richie, that's mostly on jon; as written, there really isn't much there, beyond "anime nerd" and "generally nice kid who wants to be liked". the scene right before he dies is comedic in how obvious it's setting things up, but its obvious-ness also makes it feel kind of cheap in terms of pulling on the heartstrings. similarly, ruth is initially just a gimmick (though hers at least ties into a deeper insecurity) and only gets her real moment of depth right before she dies. neither of them feel like they have much affect / haunting presence on the surviving teens once they're dead, past the initial shock of the reveals of their deaths.

and steph and pete are good, but... idk. i wanted a bit more from each of them. if they got to have a talk like paul and emma before "join us and die" - not even for the sake of the romance, but just for the sake of giving us more on each of them outside of their basic stereotypes and the romance - that would've helped, i think.

grace was great, though, no qualms. initially there was a part of me that was disappointed that the stereotype max was pushing on her about her being secretly repressed and horny was in fact true, but the way it gets used makes up for it, and in between max's death and when that specific thing comes up again in the climax, she gets to do a lot with the two conflicting sides of her personality, wanting to be good but having a capacity and arguable instinct for scheming and ruthlessness.

(also, as i mentioned earlier, max has a surprising amount going on, especially once you get into the Implications)

it could just be that i see those depths in the tgwdlm cast because i've had more time to chew on that cast, and that in time i'll see these teens in the same light. but i don't think it's just that.

i think part of it is how there are so many jokes about the teens being nerdy prudes (really, mostly just nerds). and like, that's part of the point, obviously, that they were being forced into those boxes and that they were still people with the potential to be more. but... i don't know if the show does enough to really make that point. again, richie doesn't really get to be more (and it's not for lack of time - there's a good amount of show before max comes back as the demon and kills for the first time).

in tgwdlm, the mains are all arguably based on stock characters, but they have more depth through their relationships. look at ted, the stock asshole sleazeball, who's shown to feel genuine remorse when he loses people he loves, in a way that contextualizes his bitterness. and there's a lot less highlighting of the stockness of them in their show than there is of the teens in npmd.

and the thing is, i think the cast of npmd at their foundations are more likable than the cast of tgwdlm (see the earlier point about emma and paul being assholes at times). they had a lot of potential. but i don't think enough of it is realized for the majority of them. the edges the tgwdlm cast has are part of what makes them compelling, and it's something the teens (minus grace) are largely missing.

the thing is, i know the fandom is going to see that potential and run with it. i know that they're gonna develop the teens' characterizations and relationships. i know they'll get into the trauma and the implications from everything that happened to them in the show. i know they'll get into... pete's survivor's guilt, and steph losing her dad(!!!), and what richie and ruth could have been, and all that. i know that they'll fill in the gaps. because that's what fans do. i guess i just wish there weren't so many gaps to fill. or, that the gaps wouldn't take so much effort from them to fill.

again, i acknowledge, maybe i'm expecting too much from the genre of show this is. it doesn't need to have A Point, i guess, it can just be fun, a comedic horror slasher in musical form. and it is fun, a lot of fun! ...but, tgwdlm was also a lot of fun. not as bombastic, for sure, but i'd say just as humorous. and it was also incredibly tightly written, and satisfying, with strong character arcs for multiple leads. it had commentary on musicals, on what makes a protagonist and what it means to be one, on conformity and institutions of authority, on romance even (you could do a very interesting aromantic reading of this show, trust me). and with a show that's titled nerdy prudes must die, that is About high school, there's, similarly, a lot you can do. and there's a fair amount of seeds planted there. but i don't think it all quite coheres. and it could've, if they really wanted it to.

...i did not keep that brief. ah well. i might disagree with half of this by the time i wake up tomorrow, i just needed to get it out of me. tl;dr, in my opinion, this show is stronger than black friday, but tgwdlm is still my favorite. all the cast and crew put a lot of love into this production and it really shows. i had a great time! :D but i'm always going to overanalyze things i care about as much as i care about the hatchetfield universe, and hence, here we are.

[drarry-soulmates]

HBO remake... my thoughts! (Hagrid was STICK-THIN in the books & misc.)

I think people need to separate the movie from the show. The show is trying to do book-accurate actors/actresses, right? I heard that they are trying to be more faithful to the ages of the characters too (THANK GODS). i really want them to show that Hagrid was NOT fat. he was tall, sure (11 feet). But nowhere in the books did it say he was necessarily 'fat' or 'round' unlike Molly Weasley and Neville. I write a lot of fanfic & i always try to portray my characters as book-accurate as possible and all my Hagrids are never fat because I can't find book proof of that. In fact, he seems pretty thin, when his weight is factored in. He is 11 ft but weighs only 289 lbs. He's a walking stick.

But i fear a bunch of non-book readers will have issue with certain book aspects in the show bc it doesn't match the movie versions.

Like, please give us BLACK-haired GREEN-eyed Harry. Give him a wig and contacts. Those bright green eyes were mentioned way too often in the books to be glossed over. And Harry was supposed to be a hot jock like his dad. Daniel Radcliffe isn't ugly by any means, but he didn't turn heads in the same way Tom Felton did. I know this isn't something that can be controlled though /:

The movie versions did a very poor portrayal of the book characters IMO, including the ages. Idk what they were thinking with casting 30-40 yo ppl to play Harry's 21 yo parents... Adrian (James Potter) who played his 21 dad was 43 in first movie...... I think JKR purposely made all the characters (Potters, Sirius, Lupin, Snape) younger so they could be a bit more relatable to a younger audience. PLEASE MAKE THEM YOUNGER HBO!!! Age really reflects A LOT in the perception of characters! Esp now that most HP fans are around the age of these adult characters.

Also, as a POC, I want them to keep all the ethnicities the same. Unfortunately, the book characters were mainly white (as shown in various pictures throughout the books--like JKR's hand-drawn picture where Hermione was drawn with Dean and only Dean was shaded in since he's black and she's not. It's notable that Harry doesn't look Indian either & his hair doesn't have curls). As much as we wish these characters were different ethnicities, JKR clearly never intended for them to be:

In the late 90's (at the time the books were written), no one was 'woke' like we are now. JKR had no incentive to try to be diverse in her story. Any POC was glaringly obvious by their names. 'Cho Chang' or 'Patil.'

I believe her comments on a black Hermione for HPCC was to support the black actresses that played Hermione, likely because she knew the backlash that those actresses might receive.

As far as I know, the only canon POC characters were the Patil sisters, Cho, Dean, Lee Jordan, and Kingsley. Why don't we as a fandom prop those actual POC characters up? Include them as part of the main ship in more fanfics rather than side ships, make more fanart, etc., rather than try to turn white characters brown?

I don't want any ethnicity changes just for diversity's sake, as that is a bit disrespectful to us POC. The hope is that future stories will be more ethnically diverse from the start, rather than have token characters thrown in just for diversity's sake.

Changing Snape to black (like the rumors I've heard) would look so bad--a skinny black kid who straightens his 'greasy' hair, targeted for bullying purposes by James, a pureblood white wizard. Umm. See how godsdamn awful that looks?

Snape official book drawing (not black at all--he actually looks kinda Asian in the first pic):

Not to mention:

"Snape’s sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk." -Harry Potter & the Prisoner Of Azkaban

Indeed, even Dumbledore's sexuality was so subtle it was never explicitly mentioned because JKR didn't write the books with the intention of being 'woke.' She just wrote an epic kid's adventure for children ages 9-12, and I truly believe it's the fans who have made the books more meaningful than JKR intended them to be!

—Just a fan that wants CORRECT portrayals (ages, ethnicities, looks).

HBO promised a book-accurate show. GIVE US WHAT YOU PROMISED.

[trinrose3]

Sorry to bring up old news but what happened to samdoesart and kooleen? ←doesnt have tiktok

sorry it’s really late and I don’t want to make you wait over like 12 hours so sorry if this is hard to understand that’s on my part but BASICALLY:

recently samdoesart posted a draw of tlou featuring Ellie and Joel. Which was:

A LOT of people got mad (rightfully so imo) because of how Ellie was drawn. He then went on to Twitter to say “he only draws faces he finds attractive as a straight man” which is why he always draws females with the exact same face. Which got people rightfully even more upset because A) Ellie is FOURTEEN!!! And B) the actor who plays Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is non-binary. So he’s in some hot water for basically p*do shit and misogyny

Kooleen. Ugh. God I hate her fjdndnd. She also has the same issues that Sam does with the “attractive” same face syndrome faces. She also posted a YouTube clip of her drawing Anya from soy x family and commented Anyussy…which if you know what -ussy adds to stuff then 😬.

They also both just give like really shitty advice that can be a little misogynistic fatphobic and racist if you look closely enough and focusing on “fixing” / “yassifyibg” (<- barf ) other peoples art to look exactly like their cookie cutter bland ass art style.

Overall pretty shitty people who are in it for the money (<- kooleen at least) and bad vibes all around

[thewickedbohemian]

Dream Animated Movie Musical Tournament Semifinal Round Match 1

And so we're at the semifinals with four musicals remaining, poetically two more dramatic ones going up against a comedy each and I wish I could say I was surprised that three out of four are the kind of alt that would make Hot Topic jump at the chance to merch the heck out of them (it just depends on if they've changed their art-thieving ways if the teens/young adults take the bait)

Beetlejuice

Why this deserves to be an animated movie musical: its musical deserves a movie (even if that means you'd have to rewrite half of "The Whole Being Dead Thing" for fourth-wall-breaking to a movie audience instead of a stage audience but that just helps it be distinct) and animation would help distinguish it from the existing movies as well as just be able to really amp things up visually from what you can depict on stage (imho movie adaptations of fantasy or sci-fi musicals should always be animated unless you're using a majority of practical effects instead of so much CGI a live-action movie of them might as well be animated)

Ideal animation style (at least imho): Laika Studios's style but I'm not just saying that because of Coraline, I just feel like that visual style would kinda "match its freak" if you get what I mean and we haven't really seen that style with a musical yet

Additional notes: as I said last round I do have a partial dream-voice-cast but I'm completely freaking stuck on who should voice Beetlejuice as I feel like Alex Brightman isn't a big enough name outside certain circles for him returning to be worth it unless everyone else was a big enough name to sell tickets and a lot of the more-mainstream actors I think would work are almost-there-but-not-quite (e.g. while I may love dream-voice-casting NPH as trickster figures I feel like he doesn't have enough edge to pull off Beetlejuice)

Jekyll & Hyde

Why this deserves to be an animated movie musical: it'd be a lot easier on the actor playing the title dual role if they only had to play it vocally and not physically and also the gothic vibes and the setting could translate really cool. Also this is a classic story that tends to get overshadowed a lot by its other spooky contemporaries

Ideal animation style (at least imho): something with the darkness of Batman: The Animated Series (both figuratively and literally though idk how you'd make that translate to 3D I do think the BTAS style of drawn-on-black-backgrounds would suit the tone) and the visual richness of Disney (I don't know what studio should actually do this but imagine how certain numbers would look animated in a Disney-esque style (even their 3D style despite how I wish they'd go back to doing some 2D movies sometimes))

Additional notes: this would have to be carefully marketed because this is definitely not an animated movie musical you take your kid to but the fact that people have to warn that Hazbin Hotel isn't kid-friendly indicates there's still some parents who see animated and think that automatically means they should show their kids

[msfbgraves]

I really like both Miguel and Robby a lot. They’re both really good, upright and kind guys. The only person I can’t stand is Johnny. Ugh. So very unlikable. Wish Terry had k*lled him.

I don’t care for Miguel/Sam or Robby/Tory though. I like SamTory lol. The dynamic is 🔥 On the other hand, I think AxelSam is very cute, but I also really like AxelZara haha. Zara is smoking hot and gives me dark!Cobra Kai!Daniel vibes. Tiny, feisty, flirty and kick ass-y. Axel does give me socially awkward Twig vibes though, on the flip side. Haha.

Yeah, Zara does give Dark! Daniel vibes, if Daniel could never be an influencer (maybe he'd learn and become the bitchiest and most cutthroat one in the world as his shadow self). I do think Terry perceives that as well and why shouldn't Zara try to play with Axel's feelings? Because Axel would have no idea how to deal with that.

Johnny doesn't need to be killed Johnny needs to be allowed to Experience a goddamn Consequence for once. Nobody holds him accountable for anything the whole series and yeah, part of the audience is over that. Miguel wouldn't have had a miracle cure, Robby would not have come back to him after S4, Carmen would have dumped his ass and probably have been smart enough to have a UID or access to plan B or an abortion pill and she would not have incubated a Lawrence baby and Amanda would have fired his ass from LaRusso Auto if Daniel's crush would have been strong enough to hire him in the first place, which I doubt as she probably would have vetoed it. It would have been endlessly more compelling; the only one who seems to, again, have drawn his own conclusions about him, seeing him for the hopeless case he is, is Bobby. He's got his head on straight, same as Shawn. Consequently, both are nowhere to be seen as this show doesn't work when anyone shows a lick of common sense. Both Miguel and Robby deserve better, and of course Tory does too.

And isn't is strange to see a het couple on the show that actually has chemistry? I was so used to the "Yeah, yeah, we must have drama or wish fulfillment ships", none of which make any sense, not Sam/Miguel, not Sam/Robby, not Tory/Miguel or Tory/Robby, and please don't get me started about Demetri/Yasmine or Eli/Moon, that it will hit you in the face when suddenly a teenage het ship has chemistry! No fault to the actors, but it so often doesn't sparkle and this one thankfully does.

[the-moon-in-the-gutter]

In his previous life, before death and ghoul-hood, Zephyr was an actor. Not in television, that was far after his time, and never for films. He was drawn to the stage, the flair for the dramatic pushing him to seek stardom in a more unconventional way. Zephyr became renowned in Shakespearean theatre, roles big and small. The body he once inhabited as a human allowed for the trickery and slyness of Puck, the ill-fated Romeo, even the grace and elegance of Countess Olivia. As it was the time when all parts of a production were played by young men.

As a ghoul, he's retained a memory of his past life, even if it is just snippets that find him when sitting in a hot Epsom salt bath while reading those old plays. Unsure of why he remembers some with fondness, some with disdain. As if his soul remembers, the damnation to Hell and the burn of brimstone was not strong enough to take away all elements of who he used to be. The revelations began shortly after summoning, sat in the library across from Air, he had chosen a text from the shelves. It was a leather-bound edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He had become enamored with the text, reading voraciously, while also finding himself recognizing many lines, reciting them from memory. "Why do I know this?" He asked with quiet concern, Air's steely eyes snapping up from his tome to glare at his protégé.

"Everyone knows Shakespeare young one" he spoke quietly and curtly, eyes boring into the fresh air ghoul. The fear and sudden acceptance of the answer flashed across the young ghoul's face.

Zephyr nodded in response, assuming that it was the truth. There has been no reason for Air to have lied to him, and he had noted Omega quoting a Shakespearean sonnet earlier in the week when he was in the infirmary for a physical. But it had been quoted wrong, the words finding themselves akin to swords under the air ghoul's skin. He didn't remember the correct phrasing, but he knew that the elder quintessence ghoul was incorrect.

Upon his retirement from being a performing ghoul, he found himself teaching two air ghoulettes. The first of their kind, both incredibly alluring in the way that all air ghouls are. It felt wrong for them to just have singular names, Cirrus and Cumulus. They deserved middle names, to lessen the blow of being called "Cirrus Ghoulette" or "Cumulus Ghoulette". He found himself referring to the pair as Cirrus Olivia and Cumulus Ophelia.

It began to spiral further, his penchant for naming the ghouls when he needed to shout at or for them. Ifrit was most known for being shouted at, whether it was for being a petulant dickhead or because the air ghoul required his aide.

"IFRIT MERCUTIO GHOUL I TOLD YOU TO STOP TEASING HIM" Zephyr found himself shouting, the elder fire ghoul holding an object of Dewdrop's above his head, in mockery of the water ghoul's height.

Ifrit quickly lowered his arm, pushing the object in Dewdrop's direction attempting to avoid the water ghoul's smirk. "You're such a puss" Dewdrop teased before his own name was called out.

"Dewdrop Tybalt, what have I told you about language like that?" Zephyr asked sternly, his pale eyes boring into Dewdrop, much in the same way Air's bore into him that afternoon in the library.

Dewdrop hung his head, trying to escape the disappointed gaze of the air ghoul. "'M sorry" he mumbled out, the tiff between Ifrit and Dewdrop had been diffused and the two were sent their separate ways.

[3lizab3t]

2023 character wrapped, tagged by @dentpx <3

this list took me so long to come up with lmaooo

list based on who i was drawing art of and posting gifs of throughout the year and who i was most deranged about (none of these are in any sort of order)

Harvey Dent/Two Face (DC) 🤍🖤🧡💜 he was my twitter pfp for like half the year, Harvey���s the most special guy 2 me always. I made a zine for him this year and everything. i drew him like 35 times and has one gifset

Lenny Fiasco/The Easer (DC) he’s such my silly <3 he’s in like one comic but he’ll always be famous to me. i drew him like 5 times and tried to campaign for him to win character polls (he lost but its okay he won in my heart)

Johnathon Ohnn/Spot (atsv) he caused me such severe brain damage after that movie fr. i drew him like 8 times and made the ugliest gifset ever

Curt Connors/Lizard (Marvel) darling Curtis this was his year so much so that 3 of him are here they are different enough 2 me <3 i drew him like 15ish times or something

Curt Connors/Lizard (TASM) many conflicting feelings, but also ive drawn him like 10 times this year so he goes in the wrapped in a better world he would’ve been wet in a sewer for more of the movie, also the scene where he has a mouse in his pocket would still be in the movie and not a deleted part

Curt Connors/Lizard (Spider-Man 2 PS5) i got this game only because he was in it, he’s so blorbo sometimes like a wet cat to me. i made like 3 gifsets of him

Drury Walker/Killer Moth (DC) absolute win my special guy got to be in comics this year i was so happy for him, he used his wings to keep himself dry from the rain 💚 i didn’t draw him that much, but i was actively reading the comic he was in

Mac Gargan/Scorpion (Spider-Man 2 PS5) he was so cunty and slayful, in the game for like 5 minutes but he had so much impact. the only character i went out of the way to look at gameplay footage from the first game. i made 1 gifset of him

Adrian (Little Nicky) 😔 yeagh he’s so hot and his red coat is so cunty… he’s my current twitter pfp, i ended up having to order like 5 acrylic stands of him because the manufacturer i use doesn’t let you buy just 1

there are some characters i dont post about so they are not here <3 its already bad enough that i have 2 on here played by the actor ™

edit: i wrote all this a few days ago, and didn’t post because i was like “oh i probably shouldn’t have the same guy here 3 time 😑” but i do not care anymore its being posted now

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

'Cabaret' comes back to Broadway starring Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin

APRIL 20, 20248:00 AM ET

HEARD ON WEEKEND EDITION SATURDAY

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, who star in the new Broadway revival of "Cabaret."

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: You probably recognize the music from the first notes. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WILLKOMMEN") EDDIE REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome. Fremde, etranger, stranger. SIMON: "Cabaret," the 1966 Broadway musical by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb. It's drawn from Christopher Isherwood's memoir of high times and hot jazz and is set in a fictional Berlin nightspot called the Kit Kat Club. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WILLKOMMEN") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret. SIMON: At a time when sequins, high-stepping flappers and forbidden love gives way to goose-stepping and beating Jews on the street. A new revival of "Cabaret" has opened on Broadway after winning seven Olivier Awards in London. Eddie Redmayne plays the Emcee, and he joins us from New York. May I say willkommen to you? REDMAYNE: You may indeed. Hi.

SIMON: And Gayle Rankin the British chanteuse who comes to Berlin. I get to say fraulein Sally Bowles. (LAUGHTER) GAYLE RANKIN: Hello, darling (laughter). I had to (laughter). SIMON: Oh, my gosh. Wait. Sorry. Let me just catch my heart for a moment. Thanks so much. (LAUGHTER) SIMON: Eddie Redmayne, you've played the Emcee before. I was about to say early in your career, but really, before you started your career. REDMAYNE: That's absolutely true. Yes, I was a kid. I was at high school when I - we did a little school production. I think I was about 14, 15 years old. It was one of those moments in my life where I would say really I fell in love with theater. It thrilled me, and it made me think, and it moved me. And so I always sort of credit it weirdly as being the thing that that got me into acting full and proper. SIMON: What does the Emcee do for the audience?

REDMAYNE: I think one of the reasons the Emcee is such a iconic role and one that so many actors lean into is he's so enigmatic. He was conjured by Hal Prince and Joel Grey as a way of connecting the Sally Bowles story, and so he almost lives in an abstract place. And so for an actor, that is joyous because there are sort of no limitations on the one hand, and it's also quite daunting. He sort of starts as a puppeteer almost, the kind of the Shakespearian fool, perhaps... (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TWO LADIES") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee) Come on, my little ones. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, dee. UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, dee. REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, beedle dee, deedle dee. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) Beedle dee, deedle dee, dee. REDMAYNE: (Singing) Two ladies. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As characters, singing) Beedle dee, dee dee dee.

REDMAYNE: ...Who then, over the course of the piece, rises to the all-knowing king or the sort of from puppeteer to conductor, and he becomes rather than the victim, he's almost the perpetrator. And so this person that's hopefully pulled you in at the beginning of the evening and seduced you and made you laugh, you realize is actually conducting the entire piece. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF YOU COULD SEE HER") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) If could see her through my eyes, she wouldn't look Jewish at all. SIMON: And Gayle Rankin, you have played other roles in "Cabaret" before Sally Bowles, haven't you? RANKIN: I have. I made my Broadway debut, actually, playing Fraulein Kost in the Sam Mendes revival 10 years ago with Alan and Michelle and Emma Stone. Eddie and I were just talking about it just the other day, and he was like, is this so weird? Is it so weird? And I was like, you know what? It's not weird. It's not weird. And it doesn't - I feel like a new person and in a new world 'cause that's - you know, "Cabaret," it comes back, and the world is new a decade later. It's new, and it's also the same.

SIMON: Help us look inside of Sally's mind and heart. What brings her to Berlin in the early '30s? RANKIN: You know, there's not a lot that's given to us, you know, about Sally. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MEIN HERR")

RANKIN: (As Sally Bowles, singing) But I do what I can, inch by inch, step by step, mile by mile. For me, it was very important for me to kind of figure out Sally's relationship to artistry and creativity and why she ended up at the club. And there's a huge, you know, kind of cultural discussion about whether Sally has talent or whether she does not have talent. And that's a really fascinating thing, I think, to me. And I think it's amazing how people think they can decide or that they know that she's not - quote-unquote, "not talented" or is talented. It's just wild to me. SIMON: I have to ask. There are so many famous names who have played the two parts into which you two step now - Dame Judi Dench, Natasha Richardson, Michelle Williams. Alan Cumming, Joel Grey have played the Emcee. I didn't even mention the film with Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, now, did I? So do previous productions inspire you, or do you just have to, you know, leave them in the fridge? REDMAYNE: I've been such a passionate fan of "Cabaret" since I was a kid that I've seen everything in the sense that I've - you can see some of Sam's production on YouTube. I saw Sam's production with Emma and Alan. I've watched the film. I even saw a random Spanish version when I was... RANKIN: Oh.

REDMAYNE: ...Younger. And they've been so brilliant, the productions before, that I hope we come sort of standing on their shoulders and with great respect for them, but also trying to do something new and fresh. And one of the things that was important for me was that idea - one of the Emcee's first lines is leave your troubles outside, and that for audience members coming to see this in New York, you enter via a sort of back alley. You get taken down into the underbelly of the theater, where there is an entire cast of performers playing in these really beautiful spaces, and you get a bit discombobulated. It's labyrinthine, and you get sort of lost, so that by the time you are taken actually into the theater itself, which sits in the round, hopefully, you have genuinely left all memory of 52nd Street outside. SIMON: I got to say, your production reached through to me with something I hadn't quite realized before. Things are terrible and getting worse on the streets. They're beating Jews and putting them into ghettos. There's a refuge in the club. There's also a refuge in Fraulein Schneider's boardinghouse, where she, for the first time in her life, really has a relationship with a man who happens to be a fruit seller and a Jewish man. Both your characters have that refuge in the club, and they have their characters in the boardinghouse. But, you know, refuges - well, real life can bring them down, can't they?

REDMAYNE: Absolutely. And I feel like the play, in its essence, is a warning in some ways. It serves as a warning about when hate can take over humanity and when humanity is lost to hate. And that feels so relevant at this moment. There are so many examples of that throughout the world today, but I hope that the brilliance of what Kander, Ebb and Masteroff created was that it seduces you in and in a way that feels really sort of magnificent but then begins to touch on these - this repetition of history that resounds and serves as a warning. RANKIN: And it kind of - what's so scary about it is how the refuge is created, and then you slowly realize that actually, there's a poison inside of your refuge. SIMON: What do you take in from the audience every night? REDMAYNE: Well, I mean, one of the joys for me as a performer is the intimacy of the space. So there's not really a sort of a bad seat in the house at the August Wilson, and the other character in the room with the Emcee is the audience. And what I have loved about our experience in New York is people because it's an event almost, the evening, from the second you pass the threshold. The theater's been redesigned and reconfigured in a way. People are getting dressed up. So you have people in black tie next to people in fetish gear next to people in jeans and a T-shirt, and you get all sorts of characters.

RANKIN: And to have a relationship with the audience, you know, and to enjoy how fun... REDMAYNE: Yeah. RANKIN: ...This is and can be throughout the show till the very end - what is written in this piece, there's - we're still laughing through tears at a certain point toward - for the very end of the show, and that's what's so kind of timeless and important about this space, that there's something that doesn't die inside of our club. SIMON: Gayle Rankin and Eddie Redmayne star in the new production of "Cabaret" on Broadway. Thank you both so much for being with us. REDMAYNE: Thanks for having us. RANKIN: Thank you so much. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME") REDMAYNE: (As Emcee, singing) The sun on the meadow is summery warm. The stag in the forest runs free.

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/20/1246083026/cabaret-comes-back-to-broadway-starring-eddie-redmayne-and-gayle-rankin