#but the way people who still have critiques about the production and casting are getting bullied now isn't right

[ladyelainehilfur]

y'know what. people are very predictable sometimes. everyone was complaining and promising to boycott the live action ATLA, especially after the original ATLA show runners left due to creative differences. but I knew the moment we got the actors in costume and trailers and decent-looking CGI, all the critics would fold just like that. And yeah, they all folded. You could bring up the same points you brought up 6 months ago and get booed for not suddenly liking the idea of a live action ATLA like everyone else. how about people not be predictable about popular IP and stick to their guns for once.

[starzioo]

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓. 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘.

Hiii! This is a DracoxFem!Reader one-shot! In this story you are a ballerina. I saw this post of the Slytherin boys x a ballerina and I could just imagine Draco being absolutely in love with her. So here it is I hope you like!

WARNINGS: NONE <3

You sit on the stage of the Royal Opera House in London. Tightly wrapping the dusty pink ribbons around your ankles. Today was your rehearsal day for the production of The Nutcracker. You had been casted as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Most people would take this role as being easy and simple. But oh no, they would be terribly wrong. The movements you made had to be fluid and effortless, while also being regal. You sigh before standing back up and fixing your rehearsal tutu. You head over to your starting mark and give the signal to the director to start the music.

=

DRACO POV

I get out of the muggle-car behind my father. 'Muggles really think that this is the peak of transportation?' I think to myself as I look back at the black car behind me. "Good morning Mr. Malfoy. It's a pleasure to have you here again! Mr. Evan's is in a meeting right now and told me to tell you that he'll meet with you as soon as possible." A woman who I assume is Mr. Evan's assistant spoke to my father. "M'Alright." My father says obviously annoyed with the muggles tardiness. "Right this way then." The woman says with her smile not faltering. She walks a couple paces ahead of my father while I linger behind him. We step inside of the building. The interior looks to be made for royals. The architecture being elegant. She leads us down a couple hallways before stopping at a big door. "You may sit and wait here. Mr. Evan's will be here shortly. If you would like any refreshments or if you have any questions just head down the hallway and my desk is right there." My father only nods in response. She flashes her smile once more before heading down the hallway. Me and my father sit down on the waiting chairs. "Why are we here? Better question why am I here?" I turn and ask my father who's reading a muggle newspaper. He doesn't even look at me, "Because Draco. We are here on important business. It's about time you start learning what lies ahead for you." His tone still cold as ever. I can't even speak back, I know i'll be silenced. All I can do is huff. I stand up and just walk the opposite direction of him. I don't hate my father but sometimes I just can't stand how he seems to have my entire future in the palm of his hand.

Walking down the large hallway I can start to hear the elegant music that I can only recognize as music from The Nutcracker. When I was little my mother used to take me to a muggle theater around Christmas time. Although my father urged that we don't celebrate muggle holidays. She would always sneak us out and take me to see the Nutcracker. Not only did she love ballet but I loved to see the story play out through the graceful dancing. Of course as I grew older the tradition stopped but I never forgot.

I continue down the hallway and I can hear the music growing louder. I turn one more corner to see a double door way with a sign above the entrance that says 'MAIN THEATER' in gold lettering. The doors were slightly cracked open. I slightly peek into the theater to see a girl dancing on the stage doing the sugar plum fairies variation. I quietly slip into the room and sit down in the farthest back row to watch.

Y/N POV:

I had already rehearsed my routine twice but my director kept critiquing every little thing I did. I mean of course that's his job but I swear he was acting as if everything I did was wrong. I was in the in the middle of my third pirouette when my coach suddenly stood up and started walking to the back of the theater. I continued my pirouettes until I heard my coach speak. "I'm sorry sir but you aren't allowed in here while rehearsals are going on. I must ask you to leave." He said as he ushered someone who was sitting in the back of the theater out of the room. The man stood and I caught a glimpse of him. He was tall and had icy blonde hair. I paused my variation and stood to watch. The blonde man then spoke, "I'm sorry for interrupting sir. I had no clue." He said before then exiting the theater. My manager turned back around after closing the doors to the theater. "Alright Y/n from the top!" He said as he gave the tech people the signal to restart the music. I didn't complain. I rushed back to my starting mark and started my routine from the beginning.

DRACO POV:

As I sat in the back row I admired the ballerina on stage. Her movements were so elegant, mesmerizing even. With every turn and step she took her tutu bounced. Her arms stretched out with grace. I'm instantly snapped out of my daze when an official looking man comes up to me. "I'm sorry sir but you aren't allowed in here while rehearsals are going on. I must ask you to leave." He said as he turned to open the door for me. "I'm sorry for interrupting sir. I had no idea." I said as I stood from my seat. I walked to the door and took once last glance at the ballerina.

Y/N POV:

After the man had left the theater I ran through my routine nearly a half a dozen more times. Each time my coach giving me more pointers and critiques. As the music stopped and I finished my last variation my coach stood from his seat, "Y/n you need to keep your back straight and your knees pointed on that last part!" My coach shouted clearly tired of me not being able to perfect my solo. I just huffed and wiped my forehead with the back of my wrist. "Can I go get some water?" I said with my hands on my hips. My director sighed, "Yeah, be back in five." He said as he wrote something down on his clipboard. I hurriedly sped walked down the stairs that were on the far end of the stage and headed towards the theater entrance. I took a turn then walked down the long hallway. I stop at the end of the hallway when I see that man who got kicked out of the theater and another man who has long icy blonde hair, they're both sitting down on the waiting chairs outside Mr. Evan's office. I shake my head of any curiosity about the two and hurriedly walk past them to go to Adeline's desk. I notice the short haired boy look up at me as I walked but I continued. "Hey Adeline, could you please get me a water?" I asked to the woman. "Yeah just give me a second." She said with her usual smile, as she stood and went to another room. A couple seconds later she reappeared and had a water bottle in hand. The water bottle had a custom logo on it that said The Royal Opera House in gold letters on a dark red paper. "Thank you Ade, I'll most likely be back soon." I said as I turned around while simultaneously taking a drink of my water. As I turned I practically bump straight into a brick wall.

But it wasn't a wall it was that same blonde boy. And I had now just spilt water all over him. "Oh, i'm sorry! That was my bad!" I said frantically as I tried to wipe the water off of his black button down. "No, no, no, don't worry about it." He said laughing lightly as he grabbed hand to calm me, after a few seconds you let go. "I was just coming to compliment you. I saw you back in the theater and your dancing was truly beautiful." He said as his ice blue eyes practically pierced yours. "Oh...thank you." —I laughed softly—"But my director would say other wise." I said as I began to walk past him, I turned back around to look at him once more to find him with his eyebrows furrowed. "Well it's basically his job to tell me what I'm doing wrong, but it feels impossible to get my routine perfect." I sighed. "Well...regardless of what that oaf thinks I think you dance nothing short of perfection." He said slightly playfully. I let out a small laugh. "Well, I've got to get back to rehearsing. It was nice meeting you...?" I questioned having never learned his name. "Draco." "Draco?" "Draco." He confirmed. "Well it was nice meeting you Draco." I said nodding my head before turning to go back to the theater. "Wait what's your name?" He calls out to me as I was walking away. I turned around once more then gestured to a poster on the wall, then finally walked away.

As I gestured to the poster Draco immediately examined it. It was a picture of you in your sugar plum fairy costume and a title below it. It said, 'Y/n L/n as The Sugar Plum Fairy' Draco let out an airy laugh as he admired the poster when Lucius appeared behind him. "Draco I would like to not have to come look for you as if you were a lost puppy. Mr.Evan's is ready to see us now." He said coldly then turned Draco following behind.

=

You had went back to the theater thoughts of Draco lingering in the back of your head. Draco had went to sit in on the meeting between Lucius and Mr. Evan's. To Lucius that meeting was very important to the future of his shares in the theater, but to Draco it was merely an hour wasted listening to rubbish. You had finally wrapped up your rehearsals for the day and it was time for you to go get food and go home.

DRACO POV:

"Draco you can sit outside while me and Mr. Evan's wrap this up. Don't wander." Lucius spat. I didn't respond he simply just got up and left the room. I sat outside on the chairs until I heard a voice. "Yeah, I'll see you on Thursday?" She said as she walked out of the theater. There she was, Y/n. All of my attention was on her. She was no longer wearing the tutu and leotard. She was now wearing a baby pink off the shoulder knit sweater with grey flared leggings. She has a white knit scarf around her neck and she carried grey bag, what I assume was her ballet stuff. Her hair was in a low bun making her headphones she had in visible.

     When she turned to walk out she paused when she saw me. "Hey, you're still here?" She said softly as she walked up to me while taking out her headphone. "Yeah, i'm just waiting for my father and Mr. Evan's to get out of their meeting." "Well, I could wait with you?" She said as she rocked back and forth on her feet. "Yeah, sure. I don't mind." She sat down next to me setting her bag on her side. "So why are you here? To see Mr.Evans I mean." She said as she looked up at me. "Well I wouldn't say that i'm here to see him. My father is.  Something that has to do with his shares. I honestly don't know. The only thing i've gotten out of coming here was seeing you dance." I laughed a little, and so did she. "I didn't know I was that good." She smiled. "Whatever your director was yelling at you, he truly is wrong. I thought you danced perfect." I said avoiding eye contact with her. I could see her out of the corner of my eye just staring up at me. "Why thank you good sir. I'm glad you liked it." She giggled. "Have you ever seen The Nutcracker?" "Yeah, quite a few times actually." "Oh. Would you like to see it again maybe?" She asked this time not peering up at me, but now fiddling with the loose ends of her scarf. "When?" She stop and looked back up at me. "Uhmm,—she hummed— Opening night would be December 10th, I could get you tickets if you would like?" "Yeah, yeah, although I don't know when I'll see you again?" I asked. She laughing softly, "I guess whenever you want to see me again." She smiled.

DECEMBER TENTH

DRACO POV

Today was the day, the day I get to see her again. I don't know why I'm so...entranced? By her. Something about her just makes me fascinated. Ever since last week she's all I could think about. Of course in order to be able to go see the show I told my parents some bullshit excuse. My father would never let me go to London by myself, especially just so I could go see the ballet. Not only that a muggle girl.

I had made my way to the theatre early so I would be able to avoid all the people there for opening night. I stepped out of the taxi, it was cold the winter air crisp. I entered the building and walked up to the concierge. "One ticket for The Nutcracker, please." I said slightly rubbing my hands together trying to warm them. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid we are all sold out for the night." He said with pity. "What? No, I have to see the show tonight." "Like I said, I'm sorry. But I can sell you a ticket for-" "Oh! Mr. Malfoy I wasn't expecting you so early!" The concierge was interrupted by no other than Adeline. "You were expecting me?" I turned to her. "Well yes? I expected that Ms. L/n made you aware of your visit?" She said with her usual smile. "Well yeah, but- you know what never mind. Why were you expecting me?" "Of course, because she was very adamant that you got the best seat in the house!" She said ushering me down the hall, then to an elevator.

The classical music played lightly in the elevator, the ride up two floors wasn't awkward, it was actually quite pleasant. This was an elevator ride I had been on countless times before, it was nostalgic in a way. The elevator dinged before the large metal doors opened. We were on The Donald Gordon Grand Tier. It was technically the third floor of the theater. She led me to row A which was in the very middle and front. "Ms. L/n was very insisting that you get this specific seat sir. She said it was the best seat in the house and you deserve nothing less!" I stood there for a moment and blinked at the seats in front of me. That feeling of nostalgia had now been explained. I was sitting in the exact same seat my mother would always sit in when we would come to the theater. "Mr. Malfoy, are you okay?" Adeline broke my trance. "Thank you Adeline, for everything." I thanked her as I sat down. "No problem! Feel free to come down to my desk if you need anything!" She smiled before walking away.

I sat there for maybe 30 minutes before hundreds of people started sitting in the theater. Of course by courtesy of Adeline I was able to avoid the crowd. After about another 30 minutes the lights in the theater had dimmed. That's when I heard the oh so familiar tune to the mystical music. There was something about the story of The Nutcracker that always fascinated me. Maybe it was the playful but yet elegant dances that were done. They were so complex but yet so smooth and graceful. Or perhaps it was the fact that I was able to watch a story come to life in front of my very eyes. As I watched the ballet I found myself the same way I was many years ago. Only blinking every few minutes to be sure I didn't miss any parts of the show. My mind fully clear, only focusing on the ballet dancers below. I was entranced by the story all over again.

Now, we were in act II. After Clara and the Prince have slayed the Mouse King, the snowflakes have led them to the Kingdom of Sweets. As the enchanting music transitioned to a more sweet sounding melody it hit me. She was going to be dancing soon. Clara and the Prince arrived to the gates of Kingdom of Sweets. The Sugar Plum Fairy reigns over the Kingdom of Sweets. I sat up in my chair. Then there she was, graceful as ever tip-toing across stage. Her costume was beautiful a light pink bodice and tutu with gold accents. Her hair was elegant and she wore a gold tiara. She was covered in glitter, but what shined the most was her eyes. She was so passionate in the way she danced. Her moves were liquid smooth enchanting the audience. She placed a tiara on Clara's head then commenced a day of festivities in honor of Clara saving the Prince from the mouse king. First came the Chocolate from Spain, then the Arabian Coffee, the Chinese tea, and lastly the sweet French Marzipan.

But then the flowers came, and they preformed a great waltz. The Sugar Plum Fairy came back with her cavalier and did a mesmerizing duet. Although they were doing a duet me and the whole audience could only look at one of them. Her. She danced with a great passion. Not that he didn't. There was just something about her that made you believe that she was born to be on that stage. Born to shine. Even with the light shining down on her, she was the light. Soon after she and her cavalier finished their dance Clara is guided back home. She tosses and turns in her sleep, she wakes up to find out it was a dream? A fantasy. Nothing more.

And Suddenly I was pulled into reality. The audience erupted in roars. Not one person in that theater wasn't clapping. Roses were being thrown onto stage by people sitting on the lower floors. The people around me whistling and cheering. I quickly stood up and headed down to Adeline's desk. "Excuse me, Adeline. I had a delivery made here, did it arrive yet?" I said as I leaned on her desk. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy. Just wait one second while I go grab it. She disappeared into a room before coming out with the custom bouquet I had delivered. Freshly picked Frutteto's. The baby pink roses were dusted with gold glitter, they were perfect. "She's gonna love them you know?" Adeline asked snapping me out of my trance. "Yeah...yeah, I know. Do you know when she'll be out?" "I'd say maybe 30 minutes? In the mean while you're more than welcome to wait here." She said as she sat back down at her desk and started flipping through a book.

I sat there for what seemed like forever. I inspected every flower to make sure they were nothing short of perfection. Just as I was picking off a petal that was too pink to fit in with the rest I saw her. She was already on her way out of the glass doors. I quickly rushed after her, "Y/n, wait!" I yelled after her as I caught up. She turned around her nose being a light shade of pink from the brisk winter air, the soft snowflakes landing in her hair. "Draco, you came? I didn't see you come in before the show?" "I got here early, don't worry I watched the whole show. You were...amazing. Oh, I got you these." I quickly handed her the bouquet, "They're beautiful." Her face lit up, "Perfect, they're perfect." She cradled them in one arm while the other fiddled with the petals. "Thank you." She said with that sweet smile of hers. "My pleasure, I knew you'd like them." I really didn't, I was actually terrified she wouldn't like them. "Hey...would you maybe..." Her eyes glistened in the street lights as she looked up from the flowers, "...would you maybe like to go to dinner with me?" I was a bit taken aback by the sudden question. I paused, "Yeah, I would love to. But it's my treat." "You don't have to i'm the one who invited you." She said lightly laughing. "Well, I would like to treat you after your amazing performance tonight. Where do you wanna eat?" "I know a great place! It's called Bancone, it's an italian place, is that okay?" "Whatever you want is fine with me." I smile. "Okay, uhh, hold on let me call a cab!" She turned and walked to the road. She hailed us a cab.

We both sat in the back of the cab, watching the snow glitter down from the sky. "How far is the restaurant?" I asked turning to her. When I looked at her she was simply smiling down at her flowers. "Oh, we should be there any minute! Actually we're here! Thank you!" She said as she scooted out of the cab. I paid the driver then got out. I was surprised to find she took my hand and led me inside.

We stepped inside and I was taken aback by the olive tree that was planted in the middle of the restaurant. The interior was classy but casual. "Hi! Welcome in! Table for two?" A hostess came up to us. "Yeah, uhm, could we be seated at a window table?" She asked as she dusted off the small pieces of snow she had in her hair. "Of course! Right this way!" The hostess led us to a table in the front of the restaurant. I pulled out her chair for her, "Why thank you good sir." She softly laughed. I sat down. "Can I get you started with any drinks, or would you like a minute?" "Could we get a bottle of the house red? And then I would just like a glass of water." She asked the hostess. "Great choice, and as for you sir?" "I would just like a glass of water, thank you." She handed us our menus then walked away. "What do you think you're gonna get?" I looked up from my menu. "For sure the bucatini, i've been craving it all day." I laugh lightly, "I don't know what I want" I said as I studied the menu, "What do you think?" I looked up at her to find her already looking at me. "I personally think you'll like the duck ragú, I had it last time I came and it was heavenly." She laughed. "Okay I guess it's settled then, wait what about dessert?" "Oo! They have these cannolis! They're covered in hazelnuts you have to try them." Just then a waitress came to the table, "Here is your house red, and waters." She said as she set down our water and presented the bottle.

She opened the bottle with a pop, then filled our glasses. "Thank you" we both said nearly in unison. "Are you ready to order your entrees, or would you like another minute?" "We're ready. I'll have the bucatini and as for dessert we'll do two orders of the hazelnut cannolis." She said as she handed the waitress her menu. "Sure thing! And as for you sir?" She turned to me, "I'll have the duck ragú, that'll be all, thank you." I handed her my menu. "Okay, i'll be back with your food shortly." She smiled then walked away to another table. "You know what I realized?" Y/n said as she twirled the wine in her glass. "What?" "I barely know anything about you, but yet here I am at dinner with you." She tilted her head slightly. "Well, I don't know anything about you either." I laughed, "What do you wanna know?" "Anything! But skip the basic things, I just really wanna know you" She took a sip of her wine. What was I supposed to tell her? That i'm a wizard and that I went to a school to learn sorcery? "I honestly don't know where to start? Just ask me anything, anything." "Mmm, what's your favorite childhood memory?" She said as she took off her scarf.

I took a breath "I would have to say...probably going to see The Nutcracker with my mother." I laughed, she looked up at me curiously. "Ironic isn't it." "Very." "See my father isn't big on...fun. Or anything really. So every year my mother would sneak us out of the house and we would go see the show. As I got older the whole tradition kind of just...stopped. But you know what's crazy?" "Hm?" "The seat that you picked out for me, was the exact same seat my mum would sit in when we would go." She looked at me like I was crazy. "She always said 'it was the best seat in the house' the whole thing felt like a dream." "That's...just...wow. That's a big coincidence huh?" "I know huh, I was so confused. But what about you? What's your favorite memory?" "My grandmother she was absolutely amazing when it came to playing piano. As a little girl she would play the Swan Lake piano arrangement while I danced. We would do this for hours and hours till my mother told us to take a break. I've always loved ballet. What I would give to re-live those memories." She looked out the window and played with the hem of her sleeves as she spoke. "That's...beautiful. So you've been dancing since you were young?" "Yeah, kinda like you my mother took me to see the ballet when I was little. But instead we saw Sleeping Beauty. I was absolutely fascinated by it. For weeks I begged my mother to put me in classes, I guess she just got annoyed of my constant begging and just gave in." She laughed softly. "Well it definitely paid off." I smiled.

We got to know each other all night long. Even though we had already finished our food long ago, we sat there and just talked. About everything. She was just so captivating. Every detail about her was intriguing. Each one of her stories just led me to wanting to know more about her. The way her eyes sparkled a little when she would talk about something she was passionate about. All of her was just perfect. I told her a lot about myself. Maybe more than I should've. Everything about me surrounded the one thing I couldn't tell her. Most of the stories I told her had gaps but I don't think she caught on. I felt almost...bad? For not being able to tell her what could possibly be the biggest detail about me. But seriously how do you just tell someone that. 'Oh yeah, by the way i'm a wizard. And there's millions of other wizards around the world.' And plus even if I wanted to tell her I couldn't. And it was killing me.

We stayed at the restaurant until the waitress told us they were closing soon. "I guess we should get going huh?" She asked as she lightly laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." I slightly frowned. I paid the bill, then we left. We stood on the side walk as the snow continued to fall from the dark sky. Street lamps lit the road, illuminating it with golden rays. She wrapped her scarf around her neck and carried her flowers with both hands. "Could I have your number by the way?" She asked. "Oh, yeah. Here just put your number in and i'll text you later." I handed her my cell. I got a muggle cell phone, specifically for this reason. My father would never approve of me having a device like that. But for her it was worth whatever trouble it could cause. In all reality the reason I asked her to put her number in my cell was because I had no clue how. "Okay, there." She smiled as she handed me back my phone. I looked down, Y/n xx , is what she put as her contact. "I should get going now, I have to be back at the theater early tomorrow." She said as she fiddled with her flowers. I took a breath, "Okay, tonight was really great. When can I see you again?" "Like I said, whenever you want." She smiled, I laughed. She turned out to the road and hailed a cab. "Goodnight!" She yelled out to me before turning back to the cab, she paused, then turned around back to me and ran back to me. She gave me a kiss on my cheek and then a small hug, "Goodnight." "Goodnight." I said a bit surprised. She ran back to the cab and got in. I watched the car disappear down the road, out of sight.

===

Mwah I hope you liked! If you did make sure to reblog and leave a note! <3

[matataku-hoshi]

Groundhog Day at the Old Vic, London 2023

*dusts off the old blog* It's certainly been a minute, hasn't it! Still here, still a huge GHD fan. In the intervening years, I got to see productions at San Francisco Playhouse and at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL. (I also got married and went through a bunch of other life stuff, but that's neither here nor there). But then it was announced that Groudhog Day would be returning to the Old Vic in 2023 with Andy Karl, and my husband and I used that as an excuse to finally do that UK trip we'd been talking about for years.

Tumblr user colemckenzies did a great post outlining some of the changes between Broadway and 2023 Old Vic. I wanted to further elaborate on some additional changes I noticed. Obviously spoilers to follow:

In “There Will Be Sun”, the first chorus of “Tomorrow spring will come and then there will be blue skies my friend” is cut. It goes straight from “If not tomorrow then tomorrow or tomorrow there will be sun” to “Oh if I could I’d will these clouds away my love”

While obviously the revolves are gone (look at me picking up British-isms 😄), the bedroom set gets wheeled in every loop. They keep the trick from Broadway where this is always done counter-clockwise until the loop finally breaks.

As previously mentioned, there’s a wonderful lyric change in Day One. “Their dumb superstitions and vacuous chat, their total unawareness of the fact their trapped, perhaps you don't miss it if you don't know you lack it, I'm sure there was a pack of xanax in this jacket'

I adore this because of the foreshadowing, and how Phil thinks he’s singing about the townsfolk when he’s really singing about himself.

Dialogue change in 2023 when Phil runs into Jonathan:

Jonathan: “Off to the see the groundhog?”

Phil: “Why, isn’t there a tractor pull or a cow-tipping contest?”

Jonathan, looks confused: “I don’t think that’s today.”

When Rita introduces  to Phil on Day One and reminds him of the flood story, Phil takes a second before recalling, groans, and goes, "Oh, the intern? They didn't even send me a real producer." After which Rita corrects him that she's a real producer now, albeit an associate producer. 

On Day 2 when the sheriff drops his gun, Phil asks "How do you have a permit???"

At the end of Day 2, Rita sings “I mean he acts kind of asshole-ish still. I think he might be mentally ill.” While it’s on the cast recording and the early previews bootleg, I could have sworn it was cut in the final Broadway version. Regardless, it’s restored in the 2023 version.

Phil’s “Help me~~~~” at the end of Day 3 is cut.

In Philandering, they cut the line where Phil "proposes" to Nancy (which I prefer - no one is that stupid, and they make the point later that Nancy is more than a caricature)

Also in Philandering, you can hear the chorus singing, “Gonna party like it’s no tomorrow~~~” in the party scene (formerly the orgy scene). Phil also gets 10 pizzas delivered to his room.

Phil is less aggressive when he confesses his “love” to Rita in One Day. 

On Broadway, they sit down directly on the stage, and Phil leans sideways to Rita to confess. As he gets more desperate, he starts to position himself over her and tries to take her hand, after which she slaps him.

In 2023, they’re sitting on a bench together. Phil tries to take her hand, and she pulls away and slaps him. Still creepy, but much less heading in the direction of sexual assault.

Either way Phil totally deserves to get slapped. I’ve talked to a few people who have said they could never root for Phil because of this scene (which is a fair critique). The 2023 version IMO makes the same point without so much portraying Phil as a potential sexual predator. 

Right before Phil smashes the alarm clock at the end of One Day, he yells “Make it stop!” (“Somebody make it stop”? Memory is a fickle thing)

When Phil kills himself with the gun before Hope, it's more explicit that he stole the gun off of the sheriff with his faulty holster.

I don't remember if this is new, but when Phil wakes up at the beginning of Hope, he touches the side of his head where he shot himself and even though he knows that the day will always reset, he still looks a little surprised and it's heartbreaking. 

For the third death/revival in Hope (where Phil climbs the ladder):

Broadway: Phil reappears in bed

Old Vic 2023: Phil reappears on the scene of the broadcast, fully dressed

As noted, lots of changes to If I Had My Time Again. 

Cast recording: "The thing with these revolving rides / they're only fun because you know they're going to end"

Broadway (as of early in previews): "I was completely dead inside / But today I'm like 85%"

London 2023: We're back to the cast recording lyrics.

IMO the orchestration and lyric changes are for the better. I adored this song on the cast recording, but in the August Wilson theater it frequently felt swallowed up.

With the emphasis on just Phil and Rita, it’s a much more intimate song, which is what the scene needs IMO.

I also love Rita’s new lyric “Go to all the parties that I missed / Kiss all the boys I was too afraid to kiss”, because then it’s Rita fulfilling her “time again” when she kisses Phil during Seeing You.

After "If I Had My Time Again", Phil eats a carton of Ben & Jerry's while discussing the almanac with Rita. I love the implication that he’s eaten all of this junk food before, but he’s trying it again with her.

Dialogue change after "If I Had My Time Again" 

Phil: "You know, Larry, we never really talk."

Broadway Larry: "Sometimes I think you don't notice that I'm there."

London 2023 Larry: "Well you never brought me donuts before."

Not a change, but I was sitting close enough one night to see the stock photos they use for Ned’s wallet pictures of his kids, and I realized that “little Mary” is just a baby. It really hit home that Ned has probably just lost his wife in the last year or two, and he’s trying to raise five very young kids on his own.

In the Broadway/cast recording versions of "Philanthropy", you can hear some melodic callbacks to earlier songs. In the London 2023 version, the chorus actually sings lines like, "I'm not sure what the point is / But this point is it don't matter" and "If I had my time again I would not do it all the same"

There's no pause of silence before "Seeing You" starts

After Phil and Rita run off into the snow at the end of Seeing You, the couples left dancing are Nancy/Larry, Debbie/Fred, and then Mrs. Lancaster dances alone in the snow in joyous wonder. I love this bit, becuase it feels like all the different ways you can find a new meaning of love (Nancy/Larry, the couple just discovering each other, Debbie/Fred, who have moved into a new phase of their relationship, and then Mrs. Lancaster, who even as an old woman can revel in the beauty of the snow)

In 2023 when Phil takes Rita to see the sunrise, he makes her cover her eyes, and then unveil them once the full sunrise is in view. It’s very sweet.

Anyway, I love this show, and I love talking about this show, so please feel free to hit me up! I may post more general thoughts, etc. if anyone is interested.

[thesweetnessofspring]

The more that time goes by, the more I'm certain that if The Hunger Games ever gets remade, it MUST be animation.

There are a lot of practical reasons for an animated series. The characters can be animated to match book descriptions, flashbacks will be easier (especially 11 year-old Katniss and Peeta), and it will make it distinct from the movie series.

But also, for me, a big part of it is that animation can retain important themes of the books while minimizing the negative impact of those involved in the production (which is also a theme of the series).

It's no secret that Hollywood is brutal, especially for children and young actors. Alyson Stoner has put out her Dear Hollywood series on what it is like growing up as a child performer. In her most recent video, she shares that she auditioned for Katniss and in preparation, threw herself into her eating disorder to try and fit the description of Katniss. From her story, it seems she took this on herself, not that she was asked to do this. And obviously, they picked someone who is the opposite of Katniss's physical description in the book in just about every way.

I'm very, very glad that (as far as I know) no one in the production of THG pressured Jen to lose weight to play Katniss (fans and media, unfortunately, were a different story). A performer's health is always more important than a look. However, Katniss and nearly every other character has spent their lives hungry and malnourished. And that is a huge part of the themes of the story! Alyson also voiced she was glad an actress "with meat on her bones" was cast as Katniss, and at first I kinda disagreed, due to how it did affect the themes that Jen was always so healthy-looking (not just weight, but everything--hair, skin, hygiene, injuries). Then I wondered if someone starving-thin had been cast as Katniss, how that would have impacted young people watching the movies. If the glorification would have still come through and perpetuated the idea that thinness is the goal no matter how it is obtained, rather than been a critique of the Capitol wasting food while children starve in the Districts. The movies were never able to commit to making Jen look bad in any way, shape, or form even in parts of the book where Katniss is honestly grotesque. So if that had been a skinny actress, would her appearance have been lauded as admirable and been included in the endless media with only skinny female leads?

The thing is, there is some great fanart of Katniss in her less-than-attractive appearance--she's skinny and starving and injured and has a hardened, unfriendly stare to her. Her appearance is a reflection of her oppression, and it is in no way glamorized. This is where I think animation/art is able to exaggerate this and tailor it right without damaging the actor behind the character physically or mentally. Plus, looks change for Katniss and other characters frequently and these changes are important for the themes/plot as well. Weight loss and gain, muscle loss and gain, losing limbs, injuries, the physical effects of major depression and PTSD. Some of this could be accomplished with makeup/CGI and good acting, however, the physicality of the body would be difficult to do with an actor's actual body. Jen and Josh especially were critically viewed for their appearances during the heyday of the franchise. In Alyson's series, she describes that so much of the young actor's damaged self-perception comes from how they look and fitting a part, which throws young performers into eating disorders, plastic surgery, and mental health crises. I have to wonder, for a book that is a great metaphor for child performers, would we want to subject more young actors into this kind of pressure?

I'm not huge into animation fan culture, so maybe there is rampant abuse of voice actors, but it seems to me like voice actors don't have the same issues as live action actors. Certainly the VAs' appearances wouldn't matter--Katniss could be tall and fat, Peeta could be lanky, Gale could be short. Their voices would matter first. Hiring people of color for the appropriate roles would be the only possible "appearance" under consideration. Additionally, in comparison to the frenzy of invasion of privacy that the movie cast had to go through, VAs would likely be bothered less, unless perhaps they were famous for live action roles.

As someone who has a couple animator friends, I will acknowledge that animators have a pretty terrible work culture in that they are overworked and underpaid, so it's not as if no one working on an animated THG would suffer in its creation. But it seems like overall, damage to those in the process of its creation and consumption would be lessened and preserve important themes to the story as well.

[jfashion-confessions]

Rotting log anon here. Look, there is a prevalent issue with racism in all jfashion, we cannot avoid systemic global oppression just cause we’re wearing fun little outfits. I understand the defensiveness, and that often unnecessary criticism is a product of societal systematic racism expressing itself interpersonally, but this critique was warranted.

Like some of the jirai girls are getting a little too catty for my liking on this confessional. I know my fucking dogwhistles, cut it out.

But, and I hate to legitimately say this, it’s annoying poisoned rhetoric, sometimes minorities are wrong on shit and it’s not bigotry to point it out. Can’t blame you for suspecting shit, some of yous are using it as an excuse to pile on, but my point still stands, she fucked up. Never once mentioned her country of origin either, wouldn’t matter to me, don’t go casting stones generally.

I’m not gonna list off random minorities who I think would do a better interview either because that’s tokenisation too. I understand the reflective instinct to protect people who are marginalised, but sometimes they fuck up. That’s fine, not calling for witch-hunting, just getting it off my chest, I’m allowed to be frustrated about it. I have laid out my frustrations many times before here, as is the intended purpose of this blog.

There is a way to do this fashion wrong, it is not purely subjective, especially when there are known rules. Many people didn’t like that and went on to do different things, like how Strega evolved from the mori folk on this very site. That’s fine, that’s actually fucking based! But fashion movements have rules and history that maintain their identities, if you want to do something beyond the scope of this fashion, go do it.

Additionally ita is a universal jfashion word. It just means pain, painfully cringe. We’re not pure because we like to be in the woods, mori folk have been catty and two faced for a long time.

.

[vivilove-jonsa]

Hello,

Since you've published a book I was wondering if I may ask a couple question?

Does it feel different from writing fanfictions?

Do you find your self relating to GRRM's pace of writing like the long years between books?

How did you like your covers for your original works? Did it take long to pick out?

This is just crack question but any chance there's a minor red headed character with her dark haired partner? You know as a little Easter egg jk. But in all seriousness we always knew you could sell your works and I'm glad you took the chance!

Hello!

Wow, I'm flattered that you want to know this stuff so thank you for asking! I'll happily answer each one below the cut :)

Does it feel different from writing fanfictions?

Yes. The joy of writing is still very much with me but there's some major differences and things I've had to adapt to when looking to sell books as an unknown author versus writing fanfic for a pairing that people are seeking out. The biggest is the wait for validation. Can't post a chapter of an idea, see how people respond and start crafting a story from there. You write the whole damn novel with little to no input from anyone else and then put it out there for critique before publishing.

It may sound weird but I've found more freedom writing original works in some ways and more restrictions in others.

The restrictions involve more planning, outlining and plotting. I have to stay on track instead of indulging in Side-Character B's backstory or a secondary romance, etc. Also, I would hop from genre to genre with my AUs and, while there are authors doing that I'm sure, it's not a safe bet for a newbie looking to make money. So, I found a niche in contemporary romance that I enjoy reading and writing and I dove in. I'll probably tackle another niche with a new pen once I've got ten or so books under my belt with the current pen name to try it out.

The freedoms involve making my characters whoever they tell me they are. No one will scream 'that's OCC!' because these are my characters. There's no trappings of canon or expectations in that sense either although romance readers tend to have favored tropes, etc and they expect you to stick to the 'formula of romance.' Also, I miss talking fic with other writers and fans of my Jonsa works as there's more distance between me as an author and people who read my books. Don't get me wrong, I love interacting with some of them who have reached out but the gap is there and it can feel lonelier.

Do you find yourself relating to GRRM's pace of writing like the long years between books?

No, lol. This is a side hustle for me but a romance writer would starve going at his pace unless you had that miracle hit right off the bat (which is soooooo rare) and even then you need to keep producing product to keep from becoming obsolete. I started my first novel February 1st last year. I will have FIVE completed by February 1st of this year. I'm shooting to average a book every 3 months this year at least. It takes me roughly six to eight weeks to write it and the remaining time goes into editing, formatting and submitting for ARC reviews. Quality AND quantity are the name of the game to earn money. In GRRM's defense though, my books average 75k words and one of those five was a novella at 40k words. And my books are romance centering on two individuals which are far less complicated to tell than his enormous fantasy opus with a cast of hundreds.

How did you like your covers for your original works? Did it take long to pick out?

Yes, I love them! The cover of your book is the single most important part of your passive marketing and you want your book to be as to-market as possible to attract readers in your genre and niche. My niche involves hot guys in suits on the covers and my dear friend made them for me except one which I paid a graphic artist $75 to do an illustrated cover for. Anyway, we would tinker and talk about the color or font, the placement of the title, etc. but, for me at least, this was a simple process. Some self-published folks spend far more time working on theirs or might pay hundreds of dollars on them but mine seem to draw eyes just fine. Maybe once I'm making bank more steadily I'll consider farming this out to a pro.

Any chance there's a minor red headed character with her dark haired partner?

Absolutely!! In fact, my first book includes a pairing that looks suspiciously like Jonsa (I changed the eye color for her and gave him Kit's brown eyes though). Partly, that's because the original idea for the book was going to be a Jonsa story until I decided to switch gears. My third book has a guy that fits Jon's description and my novella includes elements of Sansa's love of songs and such in the female lead. It's fun to have bits of the characters I love in my books even when they're my own creations.

Thanks so much for this delicious ask! Lots of fun to answer <3

[galacticvampire]

As an Asian and a major fan of the Jedi, I just wanna slap Lesyle Headland in the face. I'm so tired of ignorant Westerners (aka faux white feminists) like her and Kathleen Kennedy shitting on the Jedi. They're basically insulting and looking down on my people and their culture. I wish Kathleen Kennedy got fired. I wish that SOMEONE could hire an Asian person to direct the Acolyte instead of a white Western woman like Lesyle Headland. She should just go back to making a 3rd season of Russian Doll or whatever. Why is it SO HARD for Disney to hire Asian people to be in charge of a Star Wars series or movie???

The anti-jedi rethoric is very annoying and it upsets me that lucasfilm doesn't try (i might be wrong about them not trying but alas) to at least direct creators working for canon material to stick to GLs original meaning without the very prominent legends bias we know older fans have. You and everyone to whom this characterization is important (I'm one of them!) has every right to be upset about the things she said, but I just want to point out a few things:

We don't know how Acolyte is going to turn out. The statement is worrying but we've seen actors/directors say things in interviews that just don't reflect on what we actually get. (Favreou does this all the time) I say we wait. I'm not an optimistic but I think we can hold off saying it will DEFINITELY be awful until it actually comes out.

Again, it's very upsetting having yet another show trying to be "jedi critical" but I can't help but notice that Filoni, Favreou and multiple other writers have been doing it for years and everyone still watches and reads everything they put out. Not many people seriously call for them being fired. The fact that I've seen way more anger and aggressiveness towards Lesyle is... telling. Go all the way on the critiques of the material when the show comes out (I will) but don't be blind to the fact that she is one of the first openly queer women leading a prominent Disney production. There will be fans being awful to the show just because of it + Amandla's race and gender. Sometimes will be hard to tell which kind of anger someone is expressing but I'll highlight that is NEVER productive to side with bigots, even when you're rightfully angry for different reasons than them.

Which leads to my next point: we should be (I know we already are, just to remember the focus) advocating for diversity on the writing room. That's the space we have to a big cast of opinions and perspectives in the same project, while we only have one director/a few producers. And I think it's important to acknowledge that in that department they've already have gone really far just in the last couple years. We have Debora Chow. Diego Luna was producing Andor. Regardless of the end result, Lesley is an openly queer woman. EVERY SINGLE LEAD BESIDES EWAN IS A POC. This was unimaginable ten years ago. This is just a reminder to not let yourself fall in despair, we're getting there.

Kathleen Kennedy is incredible at her job. I'm not discussing her opinions because they aren't that relevant: she doesn't make any creative decisions. She makes executive and strategic ones, and Star Wars has put out more content under her administration than ever. She is one of the reasons it's so diverse now. Push for her to do better, to hire people who have a vision that aligns with what star wars is meant to be, but calling for her being fired is echoing the dudebros who blame her for every detail that aren't even under her control.

None of this erases the underlying racism in the refusal to understand Jedi culture, you (we) are rightfully angry, specially if Acolyte turns out to be exactly how she said it will. I just think there are more effective ways we can have this conversation and pressure Lucasfilm to do better than boycotting a show we don't even know if is really problematic yet, lest they decide it's easier to stick to the "standard" white straight male pov because it cuts off both the "wokenism" complaints and the ones that what they're doing isn't the right kind of diversity. (see also: target)

[richardsphere]

Still on RWBY catchup. S7E2

an episode Crunchy sumarises as “Arresting people isn’t exactly the best way to make a first impression. However, once the initial shock has worn off, Ruby and her friends learn there’s a lot more to these Ace Ops - and even General Ironwood - than first meets the eye.” More then meets the eye indeed. but not in the way they hope to paint it. Instead of the “petty small-minded despot with big-brotherscreens all over the lower city” he’s instead revealed to be intending to cause a global catastrophy that’ll let atlas conquer the world from a position of relative strength. As it alone flies safe above the ashes. not that i expected much better from the guy who brought an invading army to a celebration of international peace and unity. I cant believe this is the guy that has a significant percentage of the FNDM claim “He was right all along”. I cant wait to see how RT screwed this premise up enough to make people actually believe he’s the “real hero of the story”. ------------ (i took a break mid writing this to continue watching the episode. Ruby just repeated Ozpins lie about them being out of questions. I see now that this is probably going to be the reason why the FNDM elements think James is the “real hero”isnt it, because they misinterpret “keeping an actual panopticon out of hands of a self-admitted wannabe global dictator” to be the same as Ozpins refusal to trust even those who have earned his trust while denying them mission-critical information such as the relic’s ability to attract Grimm.  I stand by ruby’s decision to lie to Ironwood, same as I stand in horror at how horribly OOC I just know the entire cast is going to be forced to become as the production inevitably forces them support “operation eradicate 90% of the human population” for the sake of the plot. ------- Ah, Ironwood returning the Panopticon to Ruby as a “show of trust”, an act that i can just tell will be used by bad faith elements to prove that James was an honourable man compared to Ruby’s deceptions, an act i also 100% dont believe he would’ve done if he’d known there were questions left to ask. ----- one last talk by Mr Stache and Scorpio about how the lower city is getting neglected before the episode ends leaves me fearfull that the crew that has openly acknowledged they couldnt handle the sensitive topic of race relations, is now trying to tackle class/income inequality on top of Fascism and Authoritarianism. ---- So hereby take at the end of the Atlas Arc Introduction: RT, Please stop grappling with difficult subject matters in this show. You know from experience you dont have the skills to do it respectfully. I cant believe such a likeable cast of characters can exist in a series this terribly written, but i am getting closer and closer to the seemingly inevitable conclusion that S9 will lead me to permanently abandon this series because it cant stop tackling difficult topics wihtout the skills or respect needed of the task. Im even starting to struggle to believe that RT could possibly be as incompetent as it claims to be, as the sheer consistency of its mistakes leads me to suspect them of actual willfull malice. Obviously there are 2 seasons of missed content left, and it could be feasible that the series succeeds in at least making the arc convincing, but i somehow highly doubt it. (but then again, im admittedly a massive pesimist) but then the RWBY Die-hards will inevitably claim “you cant judge a series until its complete”, and they’ll keep claiming that until the series is complete. Not until a chapter or season is complete, as long as there is space left to make another chapter they’ll claim no one is allowed to critique anything.

[bemusedlybespectacled]

Something can be an art form and also be non-serious/for fun. That's actually why most people do art, I think.

Like, okay, I've been in community theater and have watched a lot of community theater. Some people in community theater want to do it professionally, and some people do it for fun. Either kind of person can be a fantastic actor or mediocre or utterly godawful, and either can be realistic about, or completely misjudge, their level of skill and talent.

If someone is a terrible actor (with or without unrealistic aspirations of becoming professional), they will find that out themselves in a situation where criticism is expected: a casting call that they don't get called back for, after-show notes from their director, feedback from an adjudicator for an organization like TANYS. They don't need to hear it from me personally unless they ask me – at which point, they are expecting it, and if they don't like it, that's when I can say that they invited it.

If I didn't like their performance as a random audience member, then I can just leave without saying anything to them about it. I'll come up to an actor in the lobby to praise a good performance, but I'm not going to go out of my way to critique people in the lobby.

Acting is still an art that requires skill. Being done by amateurs doesn't make it not art or make those people unskilled. A person who's in a lot of community theater productions is still practicing their craft, regardless of motivation (and regardless of whether they're actually improving). But it's still rude, IMO, to criticize people who are doing something for free in a less-serious, communal setting in the same way you would professionals in a professional setting.

(Incidentally, this is why I don't like people who guilt trip others about their works not being commented on or reblogged. Like, yes, it's disappointing and frustrating, but those people are simply choosing not to come up to you in the lobby after your performance, not personally insulting you. They are avoiding insulting you.)

I just saw a Tik Tok that said writers on AO3 are not looking for constructive criticism in their reviews. I have no audience on this platform so I have to know if this is true? I've always left my pros and cons when reading a fic and now I'm concerned that the authors didn't like that.

Yeah writers are Not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Unless they specifically ask for it, it’s considered rude and honestly a bit hurtful. In the least bitchy way possible, don’t do that. It’s unwanted.

[olderthannetfic]

The racism discussion is making me wonder: when do you think it is a good time or what is a good way to discuss racist shipping patterns in fandom? Because I don't think it's productive to tell people "my ship not being more popular is racist" or "you liking this ship better than this other ship is racist." But it's hard to argue that hasn't been the case in some fandoms, where those broader preferences are obviously influenced by, at least, insidious cultural ideas about who is more attractive?

--

No matter how you discuss it, someone will be too fragile to handle it, so there might be good ways to talk about it, but there are no non-contentious ways to talk about it.

It's helpful to know what your goal is. Are you venting? That's valid. But if the objective is to educate people or to change behavior, you have to think about whether those people actually don't know the things you know and what will actually change behavior.

A goal of "If you would just think about X" is not useful. It ends up being a guilt trip and not a useful call to action.

Obviously, it's better to talk about aggregate patterns in aggregate, not singling out any particular fic. It's also probably more productive to talk about pan-fandom trends if the goal is raising awareness. People aren't going to change what they ship in the fandoms they're already in. Thinking more about those patterns might change what they ship in a few years though.

I would listen to people when they tell you why they don't ship a thing. They're often being defensive and annoying, but there's usually something worth noting in their responses too, and it usually points back to character tropes and what kind of roles get cast which way.

I would not undersell how much canon is contributing to fandom behavior. It's supremely annoying when people point to trends that have their root in canon screwing over characters and blame fandom.

I would also try to have a bird's eye view of fandom trends and contextualize them. Don't say "Fandom only likes white characters" or I know you're one of those jackasses who's still ignoring that Asian media is internationally popular. Don't pull the "Asians are basically white" thing if you want people to take you seriously and not just think you are the racist. People do that shit constantly while critiquing fandom racism.

Don't blame m/m shippers while being clueless about het shippers. Understand what the patterns look like on Wattpad and FFN, not just AO3. Understand how typical fandoms look, and by typical, I mean small and medium-size ones. Don't assume that MCU is a "normal" fandom and everything should look like it. Ditto Harry Potter or Naruto. Don't be like "But fandom often has whole archives about walk-on characters who are little more than a name!" when that's true only of a tiny handful of outlier megafandoms.

Basically, people probably won't listen to you anyway, but they definitely won't if you sound like a clueless n00b who wants to teach your grandma to suck eggs.

If you want people to change their unconscious ideas of what's attractive, that's a long battle. You're talking about fixing culture. That's not a small undertaking. You might be better off reccing media full of hotties that people may not have seen yet rather than discussing shitty patterns in shipping in media that's already popular.

Also... why are shipping stats on AO3 the measure of everything? It's good to explain why that's the thing you care about rather than claiming it stands in for all forms of fandom and popularity.

More than anything, if you say you're starting a discussion, be willing to discuss. Far too often, I see people making a proclamation and then being mad that the response isn't grovelling agreement. Even if everyone else is wrongity wrong wrong, if your intent is to talk them around, you have to actually try to do that by hearing them out and discussing their actual opinions, not railing against a strawman version.

As for what's a good time... any time, I think, if you're posting to your own tumblr.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Here’s the transcript of an interview LB did a couple of weeks ago. Be prepared to be annoyed at her not knowing wtf she’s taking about but pretending she does especially in the Darkling and the decision to make Alina half Shu sections:

https://www.penfaulkner.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Literature-on-Screen-Shadow-and-Bone-Transcript.pdf

So there were a few bits in this interview that I want to talk about. I am going to shock you here and say there were actually parts of this interview where I agree with what LB says and gave me the tiniest bit of hope. But before you get too worried its the parts where she is talking about season 2 and her involvement in the show and writing process. Here is what she said when asked what her involvement in season 2 is:

With season two, I've been able to be a little bit more involved in casting, costumes, production design, meeting with directors.

Then I think I am going to step back. I'm not going to be as involved in reading the scripts. I think at this point, we are going to be diverging quite a bit more, and it's all I can say. I really cannot say more than that. I'm about to be descended upon by Netflix assassins. For me, there has to be a moment of saying, “This doesn't belong to me anymore.” The books are mine, they will always be on the shelves, and this has its own life now.

She also said something similar a little later in the interview when talking about changes between the books and the show and how she got negative reactions to saying the show was like an expensive fanfiction:

Which to me is like, "Why are you so mad about fanfiction? It's amazing, first of all. Second, all adaptation is fan fiction. That's what it is. All adaptation is fan fiction." To me, this is the way adaptation should work, where you keep the core and you keep the heart, but you're allowed to play. Otherwise, you cannot ask, I think, a group of smart writers, talented directors, amazing actors to simply transcribe. I don't think that's exciting for anyone.

That funny thing about that second statement about tv adaptions basically being fanfiction is I said it myself in a post a while back. It does seem like LB is more open to changes from her book and it also looks like she is not going to be as involved with the writing process for season 2, we also have heard in other interviews that they are going to be diverting away from the books in the next season, whether that is a good or bad thing is yet to be seen but I do think it is a good thing that LB is taking a step back from the show, as she herself said the books are hers and they will always be there so the show should be the show and it should be allowed to have a life of its own. I've said before but I prefer it with tv adaptions if they don't follow the books because to me that's more exciting than if I know exactly what is coming next, I like to be surprised.

Something else I learned from this interview is this:

Eric Heisserer, he is our showrunner on Shadow and Bone season one and in season two he'll be co-show running with Daegan Fryklind who is one of the wonderful writers from season one.

So from a google search I found out that Daegan was the writer for episode 6 and episode 8. Again whether its a good or bad thing that she'll now be co-running the show with Eric I don't know but it is still an interesting bit of information and I'll take any info I can get on season 2.

However whilst I was feeling optimistic about everything LB was saying about season 2 and was actually kind of impressed at how she seemed to have let go a bit and was happier with the idea of changes from the books than she seemed in the past, but she then said this:

Petra: Following on from that, actually, somebody is asking, and I know you've said that the story is going to diverge from the books in future seasons, do you – Let's assume this is a spoiler too but I'm going to ask it anyways, and you can tell me to get lost. Do you want the shows and the books to end in the same place, the same way?

Leigh: Yes I do. [laughs] Yes, I do. Look, I wrote the books the way I wrote them for a reason, and that – I haven't seen any sense that that is going to change at all, but there are certain things that I know if we get to move forward will change because we'll want to see these characters continue in their adventures. Also because there's a finality to some things that happen in the books that then is sort of undone in later books, I'm really being abstruse here, but I guess my point is there are certain things that are essential to me that stay the same and certain things that I don't care. You learn which things and, fortunately, I've been on the same page with the writers from moment one.

Just no, please no, no, no. This I just don't understand ok. LB and the showrunners/writers must be aware of how unpopular the ending of her books were right? I mean I've seen an interview where LB herself says that she was aware that the ending was controversial amongst fans and that many of them were angry at the ending. You could put up a good argument that it was the thing people hated the most about her original trilogy, the ending. So why on earth would she or the showrunners want to keep that ending? Like any part of it? I mean she says there are some things she doesn't care if they are changed and others she thinks are essential they keep and unfortunately I feel like it most likely Alina losing her powers that she wants to keep and that for me was the worst part of the ending. To be honest it kind of makes me really wary about continuing with the show because I don't want to get invested in the show just to be really let down by the ending. Also if that many book readers didn't like the ending what do they think is going to happen when the tv viewers see that ending, its likely going to be game of thrones 2.0.

As you predicted some of the things she said about the darkling and Alina being half Shu did annoy me. I feel like with Alina being half shu she just sort of glossed over the question which the interviewer brought up the critique that she had wished that they had explored Alina's Shu heritage outside of just the racism she faces and dive deeper into that which LB just basically said they will be exploring more about what it means for Alina to be Shu and Ravkan in season 2. I will say I do hope that they do cover more of the other cultures particularly the Shu culture as we got to know a little about the fjerdan culture through Matthias but we know very little about the Shu culture.

As for the darkling I am not going to go too much into it because its not really anything new I'm just resigned to the fact that LB and I are always going to have different opinions on his character and not to sound too harsh but I don't really care what her opinion or views are anymore. One thing I will point out though is this little tidbit:

Leigh: Look, there's never been a problem creating sympathy for the Darkling. This is a very beloved character, sometimes to my great frustration.

I mean this is nothing us darklinas didn't already know but the next time an anti says that LB never had a problem with people liking the darkling/darklina show them this interview where she openly admits that she found it frustrating. I do kind of feel for her I guess it must be frustrating to write a villain that you meant for everyone to hate only for them to become the most loved/popular character in your series.

[balletroyale]

Asked and Answered: Royal Ballet

I’m trying to watch all the different versions of Romeo and Juliet I can find, but MacMillan is proving to be a problem: there are too many recordings! Do you have a specific cast I should go for? I’m really lost about this one

I would pick Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae! 

love your blog! curious to hear your thoughts on akane takada's swan lake?

I never managed to track the recording down! Or I did and then didn’t have time to watch it... Going to see it in May though!

i wish wheeldon would bring his cinderella to royal so i can see sarah lamb do the lead, i think it would suit her perfectly!

I really don’t... I would much rather the Royal (finally) perform Ashton’s Cinderella again, which I think is the stronger production. 

love your blog!! wondering how you feel about the following three dancers: yasmine nagdhi, benjamin ella, matthew ball? I'm so here for all your ROH takes!!

Thoughts / critiques on Matthew Ball?

Yasmine Nagdhi: Honestly she’s a bit of a conundrum for me. I don’t really like her overall, and don’t particularly enjoy her in classical roles. While her Giselle variation I thought was superb, the rest of the ballet, especially the acting, left me feeling a bit meh. I really didn’t think she had the characterization of Juliet at all. However, when I saw her in Apollo and Concerto, I really enjoyed the performances. So I guess I just prefer her in contemporary roles. However, I don’t like that this season the Royal is starting to push her really hard as the next big deal. I think there are better principals to potentially replace Nunez. 

Matthew Ball: I’ve really liked what I’ve seen; he’s very stately and regal. But I don’t think I would ever pick a performance just to see him. To me, the Royal is spoilt with male talent and so it is hard for dancers who would be unquestionably the best at other, even comparable, companies. He’s just pretty low down my list of male Royal dancers. 

Benjamin Ella: I’ve seen him several times now. The first few times he wowed me and I was 100% convinced he was the next big thing. However, more recently I’ve found his performances to be a bit unreliable. He seems either really great or he completely lacks the ability to stick and landing or be on time with the music. I’ll be interested to see if he gets consistency back. 

I just saw the teaser of Steven McRae's new film... at the end he says 'I need the profession to change'. Hmmm what does it mean? 😅 it means that the ROH is going to change its ways, or maybe him, or the ballet method profession in the UK?

I’m not really sure... I guess we’ll have to wait for the full film to see what he means. I’d take it with a grain of salt now, because A) trailers manipulate/exaggerate things to get people to watch and B) he’s always been pretty dramatic. 

A little bit of a silly matter, but still a legitimate curiosity from dancers about dancers. I get the impression over and over again that several prominent members of the company wear arch enhancers, which doesn't feel necessary or particularly graceful. It's subtle, still the eyes tend to fall right there. Do you have first hand info about that?

The only “firsthand” info I have is that after seeing Sarah Lamb up close, I am 99.9% sure she wears arch enhancers. I’m not sure why they do it. But I’m starting to wonder if it could actually be a comfort this as much as a visual thing? 

Who is everyone’s favourite dancer? It has to be Nunez right? I think Isabella Gasparini is mesmerising to watch also and hope she goes far. Mathew Ball was incredible in Giselle. Like out of this world performance.

Are we talking at the Royal? For me it’s definitely Nunez, Lamb, Osipova, Hayward, Takada, and I usually really like Hinkis, but not in that Giselle recording. For men it’s Campbell, McRae, Muntagirov, Sissens, Sambé, and Bracewell. 

Frankie Hayward - is she all what’s hyped up to be?? Has anyone seen her dance Giselle? I think she is an extremely special dancer from what I’ve seen so far (gathering, sugarplum, swan lake PDD) but I have doubts around her technical ability at principal level. I am massive fan of hers. She is so artistic and musical that she could excel in any role I’m sure, I’m just unaware of her technical ability - as in, I literally don’t know what she can do as I haven’t seen enough of her. No criticism x

Thoughts on Francesca Hayward? I really enjoyed her as Juliet the other night but wasn’t as big of a fan of Cesar Corrales

One good thing that came out of the Cats movie is that it tremendously improved Hayward’s performances. I saw her Giselle this season. I don’t think she really has many technical faults, especially compared the other young new principals, but she does struggle a bit with balance in moments like the end of Giselle’s variation and in the coda of Coppelia. Other than that I don’t really see many flaws in her technique (and I’m not even entirely convinced it’s not a shoe issue), and her port de bras is especially lovely. I am increasingly wanting to go to her performances more than many other dancers. 

As for Corrales, his style really, really doesn’t fit the Royal and I don’t think he should be a principal there. 

I can't understand why Hamilton returned after the second year abroad. Too long out from under KOH's eye with all the younger dancers coming up

I have no idea. She could have been a principal pretty much anywhere else as well. She never looks happy onstage. 

I've only recently got into the ROH ballet, so I'm just curious as to who you prefer Akane Takada or Fumi Kaneko? Both stunning dancers, but can I ask for your opinion?

I personally prefer Takada. I think she has better technique and better characterization. Though admittedly I haven’t seen much of Kaneko. I’ve just been rather bored by what I’ve seen already, particularly The Sleeping Beauty performance. But I heard great things about her R&J, so maybe it’s time to give her another chance. 

[dukeofriven]

One thing I wish the greater internet understood is how much free-time famous, working actors don’t have. Whenever something controversial - often to do with casting - comes up, many people are always quick to jump on the actors - not the producers, not the executive producers, not the studio heads, or even the casting director - for taking a role that they should ‘know better’ about. Haven’t they heard the rumours about this director, or that fellow actor? Don’t they know how important X role is t Y community? Don’t they know how problematic Z author is - or anything of that nature?

The answer is almost always ‘no, they don’t - why should they’? Filmmaking is a gruelling, exhausting business, and while the actors aren’t the first ones on the set and the last ones off, they do live in a weird and complicated bubble in which, most of the time, they have very little control over anything meaningful going on around them (this is why you get stories about actors being weird about trailer requirements or other shit - when so much of your life involves you submitting to everyone around you like the cinematographer, the director, the producer, the studio bigwigs, the PR people, your manager, your agent, your agent and manager’s bosses, and more - you try and find control where you get it). Filming is grueling, and it sucks the life out of you, and the actor is the one person who can’t half-ass their primary role: standing in front of the damn camera. They might put in a lousy performance, but they still have to show up and stand in front of everyone, being observed, critiqued, judged, dressed, undressed, pointed about, and recorded for hours. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for doing-deep dives down tumblr wormholes or finding every twitter thread about projects they might end up taking in the future And when you live your life in the tabloids eye, when you or any of your colleagues are constantly splashing across one lurid gossip story after another - you don’t tend to read a lot of news, either. It lies about your friends daily, so any one rumour doesn’t seem more or less credible than any other - after a while everything looks like the National Enquirer. You actually tend to read as little news as humanly possible - when you’ve got free time, you spend it away from the world, not try and shove yourself more into it. Yeah, they’ve got social media accounts - and they have people who run them, or work for great big social-media-running companies, and absolutely nobody there is going to tell them anything they don’t need to know from the perspective of client-facing public relationship management. So unless a celebrity has missed something that so completely dominated the headlines they can’t possibly have missed it - GLOBAL headlines, mind you, not, say, the US headlines while they were off filming two back-to-back action flicks in rural Romanian where the production company got such a good tax break - you, average person who spends too much time on Twitter or Tumblr, literally do know more about the problematic elements of thing X then they do. You have time and energy to learn it that they really, really don’t. And that’s not even to mention how tenuous work for all but a handful of actors really is, especially for female actors. So when it comes time to get angry about whitewashing, or a problematic story, or director, or anything, think about who you’re getting mad at - who actually bears the responsibility for the choices you’re pissed at. Because odds are it isn’t the famous star who gets paid to take the heat for this shit - it’s the much more nameless people whose names only show up in obscure trade magazines and glowing business reports that don’t make it to Tumblr’s attention - the people who make billions off the star’s millions and who have way more power than you seem to think movie stars have. I know we’re all still getting a lot of mileage about making Scarlett Johansson/Ghost in the Shell jokes - but the person who had the least amount of control in that situation was probably Johansson herself. No - she didn’t know a goddamn thing about GitS when she took the role, and no, she’s isn’t actually all that up on the history of whitewashing in Hollywood, and yes, she could have just ‘said no to the roll - but when you work in an industry that still treats any woman over 28 as essentially dead, and somebody offers you the starring roll in a big expensive action flick your agent tells you is hecking popular, and you’ve spent years as the only female character in a massively successful superhero franchise and all your co-workers are getting sequels to their own movies and your own movie is nowhere in sight and may never happen, and you’re thirty-three years old and despite the fact that you’re about to become the highest-paid actress in Hollywood you’re still not making what your mediocre male colleagues are making-  YOU SAY YES TO THE JOB. And that goes quadruple for actors much farther down the chain of success than Scarlett Johansson. You take the gig because if you don’t there may never be another gig. So: you want to get pissed at who ends up in movies and what stories get told and by whom? Then get mad at the people who actively influence those decisions. You should get pissed at celebrities when they say dumb shit and do dumb things - but only when they’ve actually got any agency, and real agency at that, not the strange pseudo-agency that comes from surviving in the Hollywood bubble. It’s an unfair, unpleasant system, but the folks who built it, the folks who really profit by it, tend to wear forgettable suits, sit on boards of directors, and never appear on the cover of anything. You want Hollywood to tell better stories, stop whitewashing characters, and stop casting James Cordon in things? Then find the people who actually move the levers of power - direct your anger at Bob Iger, or John Stankey, or Tony Vinciquerra - the people who normally rake in the cash and never have to face your ire because you never cared to know who they were. Get mad at the suits, you guys. The suits are your enemies. The suits/

[ipsomaniac]

watched the first 2 eps of Rings of Power yesterday and it was basically what i was expecting - a sequence of clunky, overproduced videogame cutscenes - but despite my low expectations i was still surprised by just how bad the writing was. here’s my post bitching about it.

caveat: several years ago i attempted to read The Silmarillion but found it boring and only got about a third of the way through. i’m less interested in how faithful Rings of Power is to its source material (though i do care about faithfulness-of-vibe) and more concerned with critiquing the show on its own merits or failings as a story.

so first off: the aesthetics. i’m not gonna mince my words here, rings of power encapsulates a recent aesthetic tendency in tv and film which i despise. i’ve seen some reviews praising it as “visually stunning” and i’m like, are we watching the same show? are there some people who like this horrible modern fantasy aesthetic where nothing looks real, everything is CGI and has this oversaturated, sort of shiny quality; where even the physical costumes manage to look computer-generated and even “gritty” scenes like battlefields or a rustic tavern are uncannily sanitized? people enjoy this?

the overall shiny videogame aesthetic is compounded by some truly bizarre character design. number one is giving all the male elves a hairstyle that can only be described as “80′s corporate prepster quiff”, sometimes bordering precariously onto greasy mullet territory. each individual elf has a metric tonne of gel holding his quiff in place. apparently this is the standard for male elf beauty in the Second Age:

it is inherently untrustworthy and undignified hair; the only conceivable explanation is that the director wished to evoke the atmosphere of 1980s boardroom dramas and douchebag frat boys to convey that the elves of the Second Age are dumb political animals. 

beyond elf hair, the costuming is not great overall. stand out sins: a general plasticky quality to the costumes (the show seems to have a proclivity for a particular mottled-metallic fabric which looks very odd; at one point galadriel is outfitted in a fully sequinned dress; the prosthetic elf ears look like fleshy plastic protruberences. all the characters are caked in highly visible makeup: the only thing that looks materially real in the whole show is galadriel’s over-highlighted pores and the stark delineation of her smokey eye.

Bonus hair issue: no beards on the dwarf women. cowards!

a few positives: there are some cool sets and landscape designs. i thought Lindon was well-conceived and pretty (although undermined by the greasy-ass elves inhabiting it) and i loved Khazad-Dum: they captured the cavernousness of the space, the sense of constant productive motion within the dwarven stronghold, the pulleys and technology and the clever ways of bringing light underground. also loved the geometric Dwarven design sensibility.

basically, the heavily CGI’d approach does in fact work quite well for landscape-establishing longshots, and the sets themselves are generally decent. i could more easily appreciate the backdrop, and be more forgiving towards the videogame aesthetic, if the characters inhabiting the world didn’t have such a consistently jarring appearance.

As for the actual substance of the show... where to begin.

First off, for a show with so much exposition, it really does a poor job of orienting the audience in the world. For a general audience with passing familiarity with the cast of LOTR and The Hobbit, there are a lot of new characters to get to grips with, and the show is bad at basic things like telling you characters’ names and how they are related to each other. Galadriel’s dead brother - who dat? Galadriel and Elrond are clearly friends/relatives but what’s the connection, when did they meet? Elrond used to be friends with Durin but again, when, how? I have the background knowledge to recognise the elf-king (i.e. the only male elf sporting appropriate hair) as Gil-Galad, but I would not know this just from watching the show. And then there are large clusters of random supporting characters where i just have no clue who these guys are.

this leads to the biggest problem, which is that not only do i not know who half the characters are, i also do not have much of a reason to care. the only character with a clearly laid-out motive is galadriel: she is haunted by her brother’s death and wants to find and defeat Sauron. ok, so far so good. but then the next thing we see is her free-soloing up an icy cliff - this apparently has something to do with finding sauron, but how? what is she looking for? why should we be invested in this wild goose chase? we don’t know and neither does her mutinous elven troupe. she is framed as a warrior girlboss, but by episode 2 she’s had a lot of action to very little purpose. and this is the one character who does have a backstory and motive - with every other character it’s like, who are you and what do you want?

another issue is tone. the problem with having an elf-centric series is that the tonal baseline of elves is heightened, serious and formal and this gets to be a drag pretty quickly. in addition, the writers of Rings of Power simply do not pull off the tolkienesque register very well. exchanges like the following are characteristic:

Elrond: After all you have endured, it is only natural to feel conflicted. Galadriel: Conflicted? I am grateful you have not known evil as I have, but you have not seen what I have seen. Elrond: I have seen my share. Galadriel: You have not seen what I have seen.

the whole thing smacks of bad pastiche. the word “conflicted” is anachronistic (i did a quick ctrl+f of LOTR and i’m correct, there is not a single instance of the word “conflicted” in the text, it’s a jarringly modern usage). then the rest of the exchange is just redundent repetition and tautology, and i guess we are meant to be very impressed by the weight of galadriel’s trauma here but it’s so lamely expressed. and it’s meaningless because, actually, we don’t really have any idea of the horrors they have seen - we had one shot of galadriel wandering around a wrecked battlefield and mourning her brother, but we haven’t really witnessed her suffering beyond that, and have literally no idea what Elrond has been up to prior to the start of the story. so this exchange carries absolutely no weight. this is clearly meant to convey the high seriousness of tolkienesque dialogue but it’s amateur hour! it's just unclever, bad-sounding dialogue. this is basically the level throughout.

the writers occassionally try to lighten things up with jokes:

Medhor: ...or do you think me blind? Arondir: I think you talk too much. And you smell of rotting leaves. Medhor: No, I don’t! Arondir: Yes, you do.

Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!

Harfoots are naturally the designated comic relief race. the harfoot scenes are constantly gesturing towards mischievious frolicking but no one ever does or says anything actually funny. the harfoots are also unfortunately landed with the role of “spiritual primitives”; there are a few circle-of-life speeches, lenny henry plays some kind of hobbit shamen, it’s annoying stuff. the one positive thing i’d say is that at least with the harfoots we actually get a sense of how far in the past we are vs. LOTR; it’s basically impossible to convey the passing of millennia when your focal characters are elves because they live forever and never change, but with the harfoots we see a recognisably more primitive ancestor-culture to the hobbits, so that helps to locate the series in time.

other bad things: - the voyage to valinor, fuck that was weird, are we supposed to infer that the elves just stand there clasping their swords in armed formation for the whole journey? - celebrimbor... :’( he has such strong willy wonka vibes, why would they do this. i think they deliberately made him off-putting to pre-emptively thwart the celebrimbor/annatar shippers.

good things: i like that they depict Olorin/Gandalf as deliriously disoriented by the experience of corporeal manifestation, looking forward to seeing baby’s journey of learning how to use limbs and process sensory input. i am also keen to see more dwarves.

[wallwriterstuff]

All The Colours Of The Rainbow ||Alec Volturi x Reader||

Warnings: A very brief mention of low self-esteem, otherwise it is pure sweet fluff! 

Words: 1461 (short but sweet) 

Summary:  A request for @harleyjackfrost  Dying your hair is fun! The vibrancy of its colour in the drab old halls of Volterra just adds a splash of something bright to your day. For Alec...it’s a little more serious than just something fun to do.

Your hair attracted a lot of looks.

Some people looked at you in awe; you didn’t always dye your hair natural colours and the bright ones were popular with kids. Many a little finger had pointed your way, eyes wide and bright because you looked so cool and they wanted to be as cool as you when they were older. Some people looked at you with jealousy, because you had the courage to do what they felt they couldn’t - and looked damn good doing it. Some people looked at you with sympathy, thinking you were a bad egg maybe, the kind that had trouble at school and little in the way of prospects because of it. Occasionally, some people looked at you with disgust, though this was usually older folks who couldn’t understand why you were ruining your hair and trying so hard to be “cool” when you could be a respectable young person.

Only Alec ever looked at you like he did.

It was a bit of an indescribable look really. It was equal parts reverent and confused, disbelieving yet nonplussed, adoring and exasperated. Everything about his expression was completely at odds and yet it never failed to warm you from the inside when he looked at you like that. It was a look only Alec could ever pull off. He was used to your colourful hair, used to the smell of bleach in his room, and he was the first to ward off anyone with ill-intentions when they commented on the smell of the dye or looked like they were about to approach you and ask you to repent your sins and find Jesus. Yes, that did happen once.

“It smells again, Alec.”

“And it isn’t in your room, Felix.” Alec replied coolly. You glanced at the open bathroom door, grinning a bit as you turned back to the running water and stuck your head under the spray. You’d bleached it a few weeks back and had since added the colour, deciding to surprise Alec with something entirely new, something he would never have seen on you before. After moving to Volterra he had been thoroughly bemused by the sheer amount of hair products you had brought with you until you had explained how bleach could damage hair. Since you had turned your shelves in his bathroom were a lot less full, but your favourite conditioners and hair masks remained. Venom did wonders to protect your hair from bleach, but a little hair care was something you loved to indulge in every now and then, and even if he wouldn’t admit it you knew Alec enjoyed the nights you spent together in the bath, massaging his scalp with your little gizmos and rinsing through the brunette strands with your favourite conditioners and shampoos.

“It’s no longer in just your room either, it’s escaping into the hall, have some consideration for others Alec.” Felix huffed.

“I’m almost done Felix, I’ll spray something nice, promise!” you called out. The lumbering footsteps almost masked the light tap of Alec’s shoes heading your way, and you quickly zipped from the shower to the door to shut it in his face.

“Really?” Alec protested. You giggled a little as you continued to wash the dye out of your hair. It took a lot more than you were used to to get colours to stick given the venom had a tendency to try push it out, but sooner or the water was running clear once more, and the dye had absorbed into the strands for the limited time it would be allowed to remain there. Then it was go time. It didn’t take a genius to know Alec was outside of the door, his endless curiosity not allowing him to move from the wooden frame till he saw the results of your recent makeover.

It was bold…not something you had done before. Alec would be surprised you were sure but would he hate it? Like it? With a deep breath, you opened the door, finding him just the other side as predicted. Night had fallen while you washed away the dye and the stars were glittering outside your window, the lamps casting a soft amber glow about the room. His eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight of you, clad in nothing more than one of his shirts and some fuzzy socks with your new, rainbow hair. You did a little twirl for him, hands reaching beneath your locks to fan them and splay them so he could see the different layers and sections shine in the low light.

“Well?” you asked, nervous that he had yet to say anything. Alec stepped forward to carefully lift a coloured strand from your head, looking at you in a way you weren’t used to. This wasn’t how Alec normally looked at you at all, no, it was almost like having one of the others look at you, the ones who never seemed to understand your choices or appreciate your creativity. Your face fell.

“It’s…it’s different.” He said finally.

“You don’t like it, do you?” you asked quietly, voice filled with disappointment. You had been excited about this! Alec leaned in to sniff lightly.

“It doesn’t smell like it usually does.” He continued his critique, seemingly unaware he was shattering your self-confidence with every word.

“I used a different dye.” You mumbled, casting your eyes towards the floor. Alec hummed, still picking up different coloured strands of hair.

“This red piece here, it reminds me of the first time you opened your eyes as a vampire,” he said, making your brow furrow, “And this…I see the yellow roses you were so enamoured with in the Garden’s when you first came to Volterra.” He continued. You couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“You got me a bouquet of those every fortnight till the vendor went out of business.” You recalled, lifting your eyes from the floor. Alec was smiling now to, his arm winding around your waist as he continued on.

“Pink…hmmm, pink was the colour of your hair when we first met. Pastel pink, something muted and soft, like the kind of pink you see when the sun begins to rise,” he remembered, “Green is your favourite colour as it reminds you of spring, the new beginnings it brings with it, but this particular shade is almost like lime, that awful drink you made me try perhaps? The fizzy one?” he wrinkled his nose as you giggled.

“Limeade.” You supplied, standing on your tiptoes to brush your nose against his. Alec smiled, replying to the sweet eskimo kiss and nodding in agreement.

“Orange was the only fruit I ever saw you eat, since you have an aversion to all things healthy.” He teased, squeezing your hips and slowly starting to make you sway with him to an invisible rhythm. You bit your lip, struggling to fight a full-blown grin now.

“Who needs health when you have vampire venom to cure your high cholesterol?” you questioned. His eyes rolled a bit but he never lost his smile, twirling you out and away before pulling you back to his chest and holding you close.

“Purple was the colour of the dress you wore the night of our first date,” he reminded you, “And we danced to that sweet melody the busker on the edge of the park played just for us.” You melted into his embrace, completely smitten with him like you had just fallen for the boy all over again. Alec dropped his cheek against the top of your head as your dancing came to a slow halt. With a happy sigh, you simply stood in his embrace, safe and secure, content.

“What about blue?” you wondered. It was the only colour left, the only one he hadn’t mentioned. Alec gently lifted your chin with his finger.

“I never want to see you blue.” He said simply, kissing you softly. For a moment you lost yourself in the feel of him, your heart overflowing with warmth and adoration. Every part of your being reached out for his, found its perfect other half and settled over and over, like waves ebbing and flowing at the shoreline. All was right in the world right then, all was calm and serene.

“I love you.” You murmured as you pulled apart. Alec smiled, a rare, genuine little smile he saved only for you.

“I love you to, and every colour of the rainbow that reminds me of all the little reasons why I fell in love with you.” He promised. It was perfect. It was sweet. It was a moment absolutely nothing could ruin.

Till he ruffled your hair with a smirk and darted off, knowing your retribution would be swift.

[xlynnbbyx]

I love all your gifs!

Just want to comment on the types of blogs mentioned by the other anons.

It really amazes me how some people think they are so clever and everyone else is so dumb.

"OMG! I just love X! I want them to be the bestest ever! But, you know, they need to take acting lessons. They need to stop listening to their partners (who are total fakes). They should call me, because I am expert in PR, media, journalism, casting, acting, production, direction, filming, even plastic surgery! Everything that X is doing wrong, I know how to fix, but sigh! They won't ever call me because they won't ever admit that they need help. Only my critiques are valid, even though I won't ever show my official qualifications."

If they don't believe reviews by people on SM, people who show their names and faces by the way, why should anyone believe random Tumblr blogs that don't even show their name?

And after writing all this all the time, they claim that they are an X positive blog because they are showing tough love. The ultimate abuser excuse---I am only abusing you because it's good for you!

If these people really were the experts they claim to be, they would thriving in their lives, and not obsessing over random celebrities on tumblr.

Again, who do they think they are fooling?

Omg thank you!! I need to get gifs done from The Boys season 3 finale. I would say I won’t do too many gifs but, I said that the last time and still did a lot. 😂 I also have a Soldier Boy edit I need to finish too. Hopefully I can get them done this weekend.

Normally I would ignore asks like this only cause I don’t want to cause any drama. Every time I say something people either get mad or I lose followers. But since your ask was respectful at least to me it was I will respond. Being a fan of anyone that is well known you are going to run into all kinds of people. Many will say they are a fan of someone but their posts make you think otherwise. Some will see it as tough love some will see it as being hateful. Many even when you show proof from well known critics they still wouldn’t believe it. It’s just how some people think which is fine we all can’t think the same. It is okay to critic your favorites work. Example I love Jensen so much but I did not like him as CJ in Dawson Creek. Probably cause I wasn’t a huge fan of the show. But he just didn’t click for me as CJ. It’s okay to not love everything your favorite does. Shoot sometimes actors don’t like their work. Example Ryan Reynolds hated Green Lantern he has gone on to say it was a mistake. I think the only good thing he got from the movie was his beautiful wife. So it is okay to criticize something your favorite has done. But when it comes to people who say their fans but criticize everything there is really nothing you can do. I mean everyone has their opinions and are free to express them. I know it can be frustrating at times cause you don’t want to see negative things like that. There are a few things you can do to make things easier. You can block any tag you think you would see negative posts about your favorite. You can also ask yourself “Does this person saying these things affect how I feel about X?” If the answer is no you will find it easier to deal with posts like that no matter how frustrating it is to see them. No one’s opinion can affect how you think or feel about X. Once you get that mindset when you see things like that you will be like okay I disagree it’s whatever. Then you go back being happy loving X. I hope this asks helps anon and again I am glad you love my gifs more are coming soon!!