#cameron chapman we need you

[peachymaryobrien]

"Come off it, Lucy. You know I'd die for you"

He's insane for this. Like sooo crazy. Total psychopath.

Sometimes I can't believe that it's a real quote bc what the hell???

[sophiekarim]

ANTHONY LOCKWOOD & LUCY CARLYLE Lockwood & Co. 1x07 - Mesmerised

𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆

[bella-rose29]

episode 6 commentary - You Never Asked

this has been a looooong time coming oops

warnings: MAJOR SPOILERS for the show and the books, I think that's it??? I've been weirdly good this time

DEPRAC vans make me think of lego every time

god I forgot how much I love this show (I haven't watched it for ages oops)

barnes being a Tired Dad gives me life

'be smart' as he stares lockwood in the eyes bc he knows that boy is Silly

awwww he cares about them really

not lockwood hanging back to look at the death glow 😭 and then looking up at the Door 😭😭😭 that boy has seen too much death give him a hug, a cup of tea, and a break

pretty solid bird if it broke the window like that george

I want lucy's cardigan

I FORGOT ABOUT SKULL AND HIS VOICE SCARED ME

I want lucy's hair as well

why does skull remind me of gollum

oh goodness me the rolled shirtsleeves

George is so happy 😭

lockwood is so pretty in that golden lighting like it's really his lighting

'I'm in charge now' babes I don't think you are

protective boys

eugh not the sawing

'it's still technically mine you know' George 😭

'we've just sent her alone into a severely haunted house' *lockwood immediately stands up*

once again angry that this show got cancelled bc we'll never get to see skull and lucy's friendship grow

good lord that whooshing sound was loud

'don't force it there'll be some kind of trigger' *lockwood starts kicking it*

NOT THE HAND HOLD THAT WAS IMPROVISED

'that's the last time you go and do a job on your own' um sure...

god he sounds so sad and tortured

'you're incredible' yes she is

Flo you icon

'save your kisses for whatsherface' FLO I LOVE YOU

George I love you

'I was about to ask the same thing... locky' the way lockwood goes from 😃 to 😐

'we can trust her' um baby no

he's such a posh boy

exshellent

sad wet cat kipps

me when I've been to 35 Portland Row in real life 🤭

lockwood watching from the window like a sad ailing victorian boy

also I love A55 by English teacher it's such a good song

'ooo Pamela is it now' I love their friendship

POOR BABY LOCKWOOD

god she's so pretty

FITTED SUIT LOCKWOOD I REPEAT FITTED SUIT LOCKWOOD

'live life for the both of you' do we think lockwood thinks that to himself everyday in regards to jessica

'thought you might like it' just tell her you're in love with her

we were robbed of George in a tux with a bow tie

this entire kitchen scene where lockwood's stood in the doorway is like George is on a date and his dad isn't leaving

CAMERON CHAPMAN THE MICROEXPRESSIONS WHEN LUCY LEAVES THE HOUSE

'so it's just us?' 'is that alright' uh yeah she's been giving you heart eyes from the moment you met

ME WHEN I'VE BEEN TO THE BARBICAN IN REAL LIFE

'two of my favourite things, posh people and small talk' she's so me

'fhamily's fhamous legacy'

'I think she saw me' *lockwood waves*

there is no need for them to be stood as close as they are

god he's in love

congrats to jack bandiera for being able to make sad wet cat kipps also be James Bond kipps

'you feel safe with him, mr lockwood' WHILE LUCY IS TOUCHING THE NECKLACE

'if you ever need to talk, I'm a good listener' YEAH BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY PENELOPE

'is that so hard to believe' only the fact that he momentarily forgot that the two of you aren't actually dating and got jealous

god my nerdy ass would have a field day in the black library

peekaboo

the way lockwood is just fixating on the sword is so funny to me for no reason

power couple shit

'this party's dead, wanna ditch it with me?' 'absolutely' good lord I love them

also bisexual lighting is so them

[archiveoftara]

Behind the scenes (part 2)

Part 1

Part 3

"Cam, we got a day off"

Impeccable timing Ali.

*Cameron's POV*

"Oh, you're awake. How's your hangover?" Ali gave you a grin.

"My head is still aching. Thanks for bringing me in, mate." Y/n said while scratching her head. Where's my thanks?

"What were you saying earlier?" I asked Ali.

"Ah. Our manager texted me that we have a off day. Change of plans, I guess." He said.

"Why don't we go out? I wanted to visit London for a long time. Can you guys show me around, if that's fine with y'all?" Y/n said in a timid voice.

"Why are you being so formal?" I asked in curiosity.

"I'm just being nice, Chapman." She glared.

"Let's meet at the lobby at 10?" Ali asked.

"Sure." Y/n said and left for her hotel.

"Did you confess?" Ali's eyes sparked at me.

"Thanks to your timing, I couldn't." I sulked.

"Hey, we got all day. We show her around London and when the timing's right I'll give you a signal. You can do this Cam!" He gave me a thumbs up.

I can do this, right?

......................

You got all dressed up in your favourite outfit. You made sure to take your Polaroid camera with you. You were excited to travel visit the city for the first time. You couldn't wait anymore and found yourself in the lobby ahead of schedule. You went to the nearest coffee shop to grab some coffee.

"Ah, it feels so good. This coffee is a bomb."

"Do you always talk to yourself?" You spun around to find a lad in a leather jacket with black jeans, wearing black sunglasses. He looks hot...what is wrong with me?

"Are you done staring?" Cameron smirked at you.

You looked the other way while sipping your coffee.

"Where's Ali?" The atmosphere turned awkward.

"He's still in the shower. I needed some fresh air so I left early." Chapman said. You responded with a nod.

God, this is awkward.

"Y/n, I am sorry." You gave a confused look to the poor boy. Before you could ask him, Ali showed up.

"Hey, sorry I took so long in the shower." He huffed and checked his watch.

"Damn, we're kind of behind schedule. Let's explore and have a great time guys" He said while holding you both in his arms.

"Someone's in a good mood." You muttered to yourself.

"Well why won't I be? It's a bloody day off. I need some quality time with my friends." Ali exclaimed. You grin in response.

At first, The boys took you to the minibus for the city tour. (we call it a double decker bus in our country, I don't know what English people call it. I hope you got the idea. Pardon me, if I'm wrong). The weather was sunny. Ali was cracking jokes and you were having the time of your life.

Then Cameron introduced you to his favourite restaurant. You had a delicious meal which led to a food coma.

After lunch, you found yourself surrounded by celebrities all around the world, of course wax figures. The Madame Tussauds. You saw pictures on social media and dreamt to visit this place before you die.

You couldn't contain your excitement and blurted "this is the best day of my life."

You didn't notice the way Cameron was looking at you. He looked at you with awe and adored every part of you.

You were too busy beaming in joy. You captured those lovely moments in your Polaroid camera.

Lastly, you found yourself sitting on the soft ground near the tower bridge.

The day was ending and the moon was rising above the sky little by little. You were shuffling through your pictures and talking to the lads.

"I'm so hungry. I'm gonna grab some snacks. Do you guys want anything?" Ali announced. You looked up and responded with a no. You carried on with your thoughts.

*Cameron's POV*

Ali gave me a signal and left the scene. Now, it's just me and y/n under the night sky.

"Hey, look here." She said while holding a picture of me and Ali making faces in front of the wax figure. "You guys look so funny, Jesus." She laughed. She seems so happy and pure under the moonlight.

"How was your day, y/n?" I asked her.

"Couldn't be better. The best day in my life, Chapman. When I first came to London, I didn't know a single soul here. I was so scared and felt homesick but you guys really made me feel at home." She said giddily.

Don't give me that look I'll fall for you even harder

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Did you say something?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said and got up from the ground.

I gave her a hand and she took it reluctantly.

"Y/n, I've been meaning to tell you this for a really long time." I said.

"Are you okay?" She asked in concern.

My palms were getting sweaty and my heart was beating faster like how I saw her for the first time.

"I like you. I've liked you since the day when we first met for the screen test. I know I've been a prick lately. I treated you awfully. I thought maybe If I make you hate me then I wouldn't have to confront my feelings but I was wrong. I tried to lose these feelings but I can't do it anymore." I poured my heart out to her.

"Cameron, I.. I don't know what to do with these feelings." She frowned.

"You don't have to do anything. I'm happy just the way we are, just the way we're friends. That's all I need. You make me happy, y/n." I look deep into her eyes.

"I thought I lost my friend." She whispered.

"No" guilt was taking over me

"That was a stupid move, Cam." She smirked.

"I'm sorry." I looked down.

Suddenly I felt her arms around me.

"I missed you, Cam." She nuzzles on my neck.

"I missed you too, y/n." I caress her hair.

"HEY, WHERE'S MY HUG?" Ali shouted at us.

We pulled and gave each other a smirk.

Y/n went to Ali and took the snacks from him. She came back to me with snacks in one hand and the other hand holding mine. "Would you like some snacks?" She said in mischief.

"Absolutely." I took her hand and ran.

"GET BACK HERE."

.

.

.

It's safe to say y/n found her old friend back and Cameron doesn't have to hide his feelings anymore.

Do you think y/n will like him back?

Do let me know in the comments.

[youareiron-andyouarestrong]

Hii.

What is this Lockwood co about?

Deciding if I should watch it or not?

Lockwood & Co. is based on a series of middle-grade novels by Jonathan Stroud, which were published in the mid-2010s. It has now been adapted into a show by Netflix! It's main premise that an alternate-Britain is having persistent hauntings and ghost visitations, which are (in a very appropriately British fashion) referred to as The Problem and visitors. In order to deal with these persistent and potentially deadly hauntings, there are agencies of young, psychically gifted children (since only children or teens can hear/see/sense ghosts), run by adult supervisors, who seek out the most difficult and dangerous of the hauntings, deal with the ghosts, and destroy them.

Our main characters are:

Lucy Carlyle, whose main Talent is Listening, hearing psychic echoes of ghosts and their hauntings (played by Ruby Stokes). I affectionately refer to Lucy as "Jyn Erso and Tiffany Aching" coded, since she is a mid-sized beacon of rage, compassion and utter determination as she leaves her small village in the Northern England after a tragic case gone wrong, to travel to London and join a ghost-hunting agency. she meets:

George Karim (Cubbins in the books, played by Ali Hadji-Heshmati), a brilliant, irascible ghost researcher, who is Not Getting Paid Enough™️ to deal with This Nonsense™️. my most beloved son, who is The Only Sane Person in the room at any given time (he 100% isn't.) he runs the agency along with:

Anthony Lockwood (played by Cameron Chapman), the founder and leader of Lockwood & Co, an independent agency (i.e., not run by adults), a dazzlingly charismatic young man, who is hiding lots of secrets behind his charming smiles. potentially a few death wishes?? He needs help, basically, someone help him

These three kids hunt and bust murderous ghosts, deal with long-suffering Agent Montagu Barnes, who just wants them to stop trying to die, looking at you Anthony Lockwood. and trying to figure out the Problem--who started it? what's causing it? why is it not getting better and only getting worse?

The overall aesthetic of the show is mid-80s-90s British alt-grunge/punk, and it's been near-universally acclaimed by viewers and critics, called the one of the best adaptions ever, which is a huge forking deal. I started watching it in mid-February on a whim, and the moment I saw our two main leads walking down an early evening street in modern clothes with swords on their hips, I thought, "oh yes...THAT'S the stuff."

the young actors are absolutely fantastic in their roles (the found family of it all!), the production design is wonderfully solid, and the world-building unique and original, while still pulling some absolutely solid chills and scares! I am a big horror wimp, so it's just about perfect for me. the slow burn/attraction between Lucy and Lockwood is fabulous; the moment he referred to her as "their biggest asset," my Kanej shipper self sat up straight on my bed and yelled "IS SHE AN INVESTMENT???" at the top of my lungs. same ship, different font is what I'm saying!!

all of this to say! if you haven't watched it, you absolutely should, as we impatiently wait for Netflix (scourge of our time) to announce if we're getting a season 2, and if we don't, then we HAUNT.

[pacific-rimbaud]

sooo i’ve noticed lockwood and co on your page!!! is it worth watching? (i read them so i’m hesitant) do you ship lockwood/lucy and would you ever write a fic about them?

Unbridled enthusiasm incoming!

The Lockwood & Co. books are some of my greatest comfort reads, up there with Howl's Moving Castle, A Room with a View and Pride and Prejudice. I've been following the series production for the last couple years, and was incredibly anxious about the end product.

Verdict: I think it's fantastic. Every Lockwood fan on my dash loves it. I think it captures exactly what it needs to from the books. The characterization is on point, the creep factor is present, the vibes are immaculate, the cast is perfection. What was added or changed either brings something great to the series or doesn't take anything away.

Locklyle is one of my favorite ships. They're canon. I mean: Lockwood and the nonsense with La Belle Dame sans Merci? Swoon. In my old screen adaptation daydreams I knew that in shifting from Lucy's first person POV to a third person POV we'd see all the Lockwood pining that Lucy's oblivious to. We DO, and it's amazing. Ruby Stokes and Cameron Chapman's chemistry is incredible. We're so lucky.

I've read some Lockwood fic, but I'm not sure about writing it. The books are plot-heavy and fast-paced, with a lot of conspiracies and mysteries, and frankly I'm not sure I'm that creative. The characters are kids, the fandom is small and young, and there isn't a massive, decades-long tradition of aging them up for adult stories like there is in Harry Potter (as much as I'd love to read Lockwood wrangling ghosts kitted out in some Orpheus Society [redacted]). I love to read children's lit (where all the best plot and characterization happens) but I doubt my writing holds a lot of interest without at least implied smut. 😅 There are some great Lockwood fics on AO3, and I really hope the series brings in new writers!

[austintacious-language]

The Biopic

Working Title: I Can Explain (but it's funnier if I don't)

Directed by Richard Ayoade (hopefully. I feel like he could convey the weird)

Dream Cast

Austin: Florence Pugh ('you have the same crying face') or alternatively Thomas 'Tomska' Ridgewell (despite being a cis man in his 30s because 'once you’re enough of a british nerd it becomes its own gender') depending on scheduling

Austin (Voice-over): Miranda Hart (I copy pasted my personality from her)

Austin's mum: Melissa Mccarthy/Kate Winslet (depends who's available, we love them both)

Austin's dad: Peter Capaldi (Same eyebrows but seems less of a dick. Would keep his Scottish accent but have a staring contest with the camera every time it's mentioned that he's Northern Irish.)

Austin's brother: Colin Morgan/Ben Barnes/Keanu Reeves/Henry Cavill/Collin O'Donoghue/Tom from SFTH/Yves Morris (literally any tall white man with dark hair. Preferably a different one in every scene.)

Austin's Sister-In-Law: Tilda Swinton (weird looking witchy woman)

Austin's other sibling: Kristen Stewart (gay and hates Twilight)

Austin's Grandma: Meryl Streep (she's just pretty cool. And we love Mama Mia)

Brian: Bill Nye

Austin's Grandad:

Elisabeth: Imelda Staunton

@lemonboiiievanthekelmpie : Brennan Lee Mulligan (from age 14)

@lemonboiiievanthekelmpie 's brother: The Lovely Carl (generic theatre pretty man)

@littleadult-sizedfox : James Acaster (from age 12)

Austin's friend (2017-2023): A cartoon crow (at the appropriate moment, they transform back into a human and like with Beauty and the Beast, everyone's a bit disappointed)

Austin's crush at ages 16 and 19: Cameron Chapman (I have a type, and it's twinks who need more sleep)

Ty Tennant (my inevitable husband): David Tennant (in a badly bleached wig)

Soph the Director: Elliot Page (they look so identical I keep confusing their posts for each other it's a problem)

George the Theatre Slut (broadly affectionate): Yves M because it's funny

Also featuring Waterparks but they're playing each other

Alternatively, Waterparks are played by The Apocalypse Players and The Apocalypse Players are played by Waterparks with @littleadult-sizedfox as Dominic Allen

[camxreed]

It was supposed to be a good career opportunity. With school currently out for the summer, Cam had kept in contact with various school officials, confirming that he was still set for his internship this upcoming year. Though his high school internship was at Lincoln High, it had been important to Cam to maintain relationships with administration at all the local schools. After all, if he wasn’t offered a position at Lincoln High or Chapman Elementary, those relationships could be the key to get him a recommendation (and a job interview) elsewhere.

Carlton Banks was the principal of Newburg High and, as Cam quickly found out, hosted a big summer barbecue for his staff every year during the break. He had met Carlton the previous school year as he toured different schools and had gotten along with the older man, even keeping in touch despite Cam’s decision to choose Lincoln. It was this, along with the prospect of free food, that made Cam accept his invitation for the shindig. After all, he needed to keep his eyes open to all of his possibilities. What he hadn’t expected was to see Olivia again. 

Cam had met Liv on Tinder during Finals week. For some reason, Finals week this year had been particularly brutal and after finishing his last exams, he had been looking for a way to blow off some steam. A Tinder date, more accurately a Tinder hook up, seemed to be the right way to go. They had gotten dinner and drinks followed by more drinks and dancing at a local club before finding their way into his bed for the stress relief the both of them seemed to need. She was gone when he woke up the next morning, blocking his number on her way out and letting Pepperoni loose, which resulted in a walk of shame in his boxers to Clem’s place the next morning.  Now Liv was standing in front of him and Cam had to keep it together in front of his potential boss. “Olivia, have you met Cameron?,” he could hear Carlton asking, his brain screaming to try to get the principal to stop before Liv looked over and saw him, but his mouth frozen in it’s place. “He's a prospect for the school psychologist position once he graduates. He seems like he’d be a good fit at Newburg. I thought maybe you’d want to talk to him about how our guidance counselors would work with the school psychologists to make sure we create the best environment for our students. Don’t you both agree?” All Cam could do was nod before he took another swig of the drink in his red SOLO cup and hope that he could somehow get out of this situation.  @liv-rivera​

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTW: Andreas, Dave (Bryce/Jared); cacophony

For the prompt: outside pov (greg? deslauries? dave??) of the most recent part of IJ

No longer for the most recent part, but is when Dave gets that call from Greg that’s, you know, ‘heads up shit has hit the fucking fan’. 

“God fucking dammit!” Andreas hears from Dave’s office, and then a crash.

“Can I call you back?” he says, and barely gets the ‘sure’, before he’s hanging up. Rude, he knows, and he’ll apologize to Cameron later, but contract talk well before the deadline is different from, well — Dave can be dramatic, at times, but he’s a big sigh and maybe a yell dramatic, not yell and big crash dramatic. Whatever this is, it’s big. Andreas is fucking praying it isn’t Chapman and Lourdes.

Andreas puts on his best ‘listening, here for venting’ face when he opens the door to Dave’s office.

“Book me a flight to Calgary,” Dave says. The heels of his hands pressed into his eyes, so the ‘here for venting’ face isn’t necessary, and Andreas lets it relax into relief.

Not Chapman and Lourdes, then. They have dozens of contingency plans, but none is even close to as good as ‘let it never, ever hit their franchises, let alone the media’. That one’s a keeper.

“Okay,” Andreas says. “Marcus?” The Flames are in L.A. though, unless he’s mistaken, so—

“Matheson’s dumbass fucking agent just told the Oilers about the engagement,” Dave says. “The Flames are going to know in—”

Andreas’ phone rings. Which is fundamentally Dave’s phone ringing, plus a barrier. Not that many people get Dave’s personal extension, let alone his cell.

“Should I—”

“Not yet, I need to call—” Dave says.

Dave’s personal extension starts ringing, and while they both warily watch it, his cell starts going in his pocket.

“I gotta call Marcus,” Dave says over the cacophony. “If it’s the Flames front office, I’m in a meeting and I’ll call them as soon as I’m out of it.”

“When do you want the ticket for?” Andreas asks.

“See if you can get me something today, tomorrow morning if there’s nothing direct left,” Dave says. “I figure they’ll be summoning me.”

Andreas’ phone, which has gone quiet, starts ringing again.

“Meeting,” Dave says, and shuts the office door.

Andreas picks up the phone, gets a breathless greeting from the head of Flames PR. It’s unfortunate how well he knows her by now. He likes her, even though he’s never talked to her in the best circumstances. He thinks it’s mutual. They have a no bullshit policy by now.

“He’s in a meeting,” Andreas says.

“He is not in a meeting,” Diana says, clearly incensed he’s breaking the no bullshit policy. “And if he is, it’s not more important than this.”

“He’s on the phone with Marcus,” Andreas says. No bullshit.

He can practically hear her grimacing. “Have him call me the second he’s done,” she says.

“I promise, you’re the first on his list,” Andreas says.

“How the fuck did we not know this, Andreas?” she asks. “You were going to let him just get married to a fucking —”

“He would have told you at the end of the postseason,” Andreas says. “Matheson’s agent fucked the timeline up.”

“Since when does he even like guys?” she snaps. “Like can’t he do anything that isn’t a fucking—”

“You’d have to ask him that,” Andreas says mildly. “And I don’t really rate falling in love with a guy as the same thing as assault or DUI.”

“That’s not what I meant, Andreas,” Diana says.

“Just saying that if you handle this like he’s made another mistake, all you’re going to get is defensiveness,” Andreas says.

“I’ll get that anyway,” she mutters. Probably, but for once Andreas wouldn’t blame him.

Andreas checks flights departing to Calgary while she vents. No direct flights until tomorrow afternoon, which won’t cut it, so he goes ahead and books one with a short stopover in Chicago.

Dave pokes his head out of his office.

“I gotta go, Diana,” Andreas says.

“Tell him to call me right now,” Diana says, and hangs up.

“Flight leaving at six-thirty pm, hour and a half stopover at O’Hare,” Andreas says. “Ticket’s been sent to your email.”

Dave grimaces, looks at his watch. “Really?”

“Sorry, best I could get,” Andreas says. “How was Marcus?”

“Surprisingly good about it,” Dave says, sounding grudgingly impressed, emphasis on the grudging. “Though he didn’t seem to get that he should have fucking told me before this blew up in Matheson’s face. I gotta go home, get my passport and pack if I want to get on that flight. Flames GM or PR?”

“PR,” Andreas says. “I told she was first on your list.”

“I’ll call Diana in the car,” Dave says. “Anyone else Flames, give them my cell, anyone who’s not—”

“I’ll deal with them,” Andreas assures him.

“Thanks,” Dave says. “See you — whenever the fuck.”

“See you whenever the fuck,” Andreas says, and after Dave’s marched out of the office in a cloud of rage, Andreas sighs, calls Cameron back.

“Sorry,” he says. “I have a good excuse, I just can’t tell you about it.”

“No worries,” Cameron says, sounding curious. “I really want to do a bridge, I know that’s going to be a problem, but—”

Andreas blows out a breath as quietly as he can, tries his best to listen.

[jennaschererwrites]

How TV Is Putting the ‘B’ in LGBTQ — And Why It Matters – Rolling Stone

“Mom. Dad. I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I do. I might get married to a man, like you so clearly want. And I might not. Because this is not a phase, and I need you to understand that. I’m bisexual.” That’s Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s resident no-nonsense detective, pouring out her heart to her parents in the show’s landmark 100th episode. To which her dad (Danny Trejo) stoically replies, “There’s no such thing as being bisexual.”

Beatriz, who is bisexual herself, wrote in GQ: “When does it end? When do you get to stop telling people you’re bi? When do people start to grasp that this is your truth? …When do you start seeing yourself reflected positively in all (hey, even any?) of the media you consume?”

There’s a real cognitive dissonance to identity erasure. You can be standing right in front of someone telling them exactly who you are, and they can just look right through you, and intone, like a Westworld robot, “That doesn’t look like anything to me.” Nevertheless, it’s a daily reality for LGBTQ folks, and bi- and pansexual people in particular. (The term pansexuality, which has come into wider use in recent years, intends to explicitly refer to attraction to all genders, not just cisgender people — or, as self-identified pansexual Janelle Monae put it in Rolling Stone last year: “I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.” However, many in the queer community define bisexuality the same way. You can read more about that conversation here.) Until recently, sexual and gender identities that existed outside the binary have been anathema to mainstream culture — and often, even, to more traditionalist branches of gay culture.

For a long time, people who identify as bisexual or pansexual didn’t have a whole lot of visible role models — particularly on television. But as our understanding of the LGBTQ spectrum has become more diverse and nuanced over time, there’s been a blossoming of bi- and pansexual representation. In the past few years, characters such as Rosa on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, David Rose on Schitt’s Creek, Darryl Whitefeather on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Leila on The Bisexual — to name just a few — have been at the forefront of a bi- and pansexual renaissance on the small screen.

But it wasn’t always this way. Even after television began to centralize gay characters and their experiences — on shows like Ellen, Will & Grace, Queer as Folk, and The L Word — the “B” in that alphabet soup fell to the wayside. Bisexuality was seldom mentioned at all, and if it was, it existed chiefly as a punch line — an easy ba-dum-CHING moment for savvy characters to nose out someone who wasn’t as in the know as they were. On Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw called bisexuality “a layover on the way to Gaytown”; and on 30 Rock, Liz Lemon dismissed it as “something they invented in the Nineties to sell hair products.”

Even some of the earliest shows to break ground for queer representation didn’t factor bisexuality or pansexuality into their worldviews. The designation basically didn’t exist in the gay-straight binary world of Queer as Folk, and was largely seen as a phase on The L Word. Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave many TV viewers their first-ever depiction of a same-sex relationship in 1999 with the Wicca-fueled romance between Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara Maclay (Amber Benson), but the show too neatly glossed over Willow’s years-long relationship with her boyfriend Oz (Seth Green) as a fleeting step on the way to full-time lesbianism. Or, as Willow succinctly put it in Season 5: “Hello! Gay now!”

Characters who labeled themselves as bisexual were considered to be confused at best and dangerously promiscuous at worst. On The O.C. in 2004, Olivia Wilde’s bi bartender character, Alex Kelly, appeared as a destabilizing force of chaos in the lives of the show’s otherwise straight characters. On a 2011 episode of Glee — a show which, at the time, was breaking ground for gay representation on TV — Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) savagely shot down his crush, Blaine (Darren Criss), when Blaine mentioned that he might be bi: “‘Bisexual’ is a term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.” By the end of the episode, Blaine assures Kurt that he is, don’t you worry, “100 percent gay.”

One of TV’s first enduring portrayals of nonbinary sexual attraction came with the entrance of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) into Russell T. Davies’ 2005 Doctor Who reboot. (Davies also created the original U.K. Queer as Folk.) The time traveler swashbuckled into the series to equal-opportunity flirt with the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion Rose (Billie Piper), because, as the Doctor explains, “He’s a 51st-century guy. He’s just a bit more flexible.” Captain Jack went on to feature in his own spinoff series, Torchwood.

Then came Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy. Portrayed by Sara Ramirez (who came out as bisexual herself in 2016), Callie had a seasons-long arc that spanned from her burgeoning realization of her bisexuality in 2008 to her complex relationships with both men and women over the years. Callie’s drunken rant from the 11th season would make a great T-shirt to wear to Pride if it weren’t quite so long: “So I’m bisexual! So what? It’s a thing, and it’s real. I mean, it’s called LGBTQ for a reason. There’s a B in there, and it doesn’t mean ‘badass.’ OK, it kind of does. But it also means bi!”

Once the 2010s rolled around, representation began to pick up steam. True Blood’s Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), The Legend of Korra’s titular hero (Janet Varney), Game of Thrones’ Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), The Good Wife’s Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi), and Peep Show’s Jeremy Usborne (Robert Webb) all were portrayed in romantic relationships on both sides of the binary. But these characters’ sexual orientations were seldom given a name.

In some cases, this felt quietly revolutionary. On post-apocalyptic CW drama The 100, for example, set a century and change in the future, protagonist Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) is romantically involved with both men and women with no mention of labels. Because on the show’s nuclear fallout-ravaged earth, humankind has presumably gotten over that particular prejudice. On other series, however, not putting a name to the thing seems like a calculated choice. Take Orange Is the New Black, a show that has broken a lot of barriers but steadfastly avoids using the B-word to describe its clearly bisexual central character, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling).

A few years ago, though, tectonic plates began to shift. On Pop TV sitcom Schitt’s Creek, David Rose (co-creator Dan Levy) explained his pansexuality to his friend via a now-famous metaphor: “I do drink red wine. But I also drink white wine. And I’ve been known to sample the occasional rosé. And a couple summers back, I tried a merlot that used to be a chardonnay.”

Bisexuality got its literal anthem on the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with “Gettin’ Bi,” a jubilant Huey Lewis & the News-style number sung by Darryl Whitefeather (Pete Gardner) about waking up to his latent bisexuality as a middle-aged man. “It’s not a phase, I’m not confused / Not indecisive, I don’t have the gotta-choose blues,” he croons, dancing in front of the bi pride flag. Darryl’s exuberant ode to his identity felt like someone levering a window open in a musty room — a celebration of something that, less than a decade before, TV was loathe to acknowledge.

For Hulu and the U.K.’s Channel 4, Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior, The Miseducation of Cameron Post) cowrote, directed, and starred in a series picking apart the subject, titled, aptly, The Bisexual. In it, Akhavan portrays Leila, a thirtysomething woman coming to a dawning awareness of her bisexuality after having identified as a lesbian for most of her life. The show navigates the tricky territory that bisexuals inhabit when they’re misunderstood — or sometimes outright rejected — by queer and straight communities alike. Akhavan, a bisexual Iranian-American woman, has said the idea for the show came to her after repeatedly hearing herself described as a “bisexual director.” She told Vanity Fair that “there was something about being called a bisexual publicly — even though it’s 100 percent true! — that felt totally humiliating and in bad taste, and I wanted to understand why.”

As Leila shuttles her way between sexual partners and fields tone-deaf comments from friends on both sides of the binary, The Bisexual offers no easy answers. But it also never flinches. “I’m pretty sure bisexuality is a myth. That it was created by ad executives to sell flavored vodka,” Leila remarks in the first episode, unconsciously echoing 30 Rock’s throwaway joke from a decade ago. Except this time, the stakes — and the bi person in question — are real.

The next generation — younger millennials and Gen Z kids in particular — tends to view sexualityas a spectrum rather than the distance between two poles. Akhavan neatly encompasses this evolution in an exchange between Leila and her male roommate’s twentysomething girlfriend, Francisca (Michèlle Guillot), who questions why Leila is so terrified to tell anyone that she’s started sleeping with men as well as women. When Leila tells her it’s complicated because it’s “a gay thing,” Francisca responds, “So? I’m queer.” “Everyone under 25 thinks they’re queer,” says Leila. “And you think they’re wrong?” Francisca counters. Leila considers this for a moment before answering, “No.”

Representation matters, and here’s why: Seeing who you are reflected in the entertainment you take in gives you not just validation for your identity, but also a potential road map for how you might navigate the world. For many years, bi- and pansexuals existed in a liminal place where we were often dismissed outright by not just the straight community — but the queer community as well. Onscreen representation is not just a matter of showing us something we’ve never seen before, but of making the invisible visible, of drawing a new picture over what was once erased.

[orbemnews]

It’s Not a Bird or a Plane. It’s a Rocket Ship Roaring in the Backyard. BOCA CHICA, Texas — The text arrived late at night: For your own safety, leave home by morning, it read. Nancy and James Crawford, no longer surprised but still unsettled, raced away in their S.U.V. after sunrise, occasionally twisting their necks to catch a glimpse of the space rocket towering behind them. Moments later, the Crawfords, who are in their 70s, watched from a 12th-floor balcony on South Padre Island, a few miles up the coast, as the rocket shattered on impact during an attempted landing, spreading fiery debris along the sand dunes and tidal flats. The building shook, Mr. Crawford recalled, and in the distance, there was “a ball of fire.” “It was exciting,” echoed his wife, “but too dangerous if we had stayed home.” Home for the Crawfords is a remote coastal community a stone’s throw from Mexico, a village so small that water has to be trucked in. With a single road in that ends at the shoreline, it has long attracted people eager to escape congested cities, and retirees eager to escape the harsh winters of the North and Midwest. From the community tucked among lush wetlands, wildlife refuges and sandy beaches, the nearest supermarket is about 20 miles away, past long stretches of gravel roads and a Border Patrol checkpoint. Until a few years ago, the handful of residents could not have imagined that rockets designed for interplanetary travel would be as much a part of their view as the Rio Grande. But ever since the billionaire Elon Musk brought his private space company, SpaceX, to the area, life has not been the same. A gargantuan gray rocket, surrounded by chain-link fencing less than a mile from the ranch-style brick homes, is a constant reminder that the Crawfords and their remaining neighbors live near a space launching pad. SpaceX representatives usually give the 10 or so residents plenty of warning that a rocket is scheduled for launching. Other times, loud sirens warn them, and some, like the Crawfords, choose to put on heavy-duty headphones to block some of the noise. When a rocket engine is tested, the roar and trembling are so powerful that they can blow windows inward. Humans are not the only species who cower. The earsplitting sound of rockets shrieking above the tidal flats has caused some, such as shorebirds, to flee in terror or to stop nesting in the area altogether. And heavy machinery brought in to retrieve whatever debris has scattered often damages the road and scares away other wildlife, environmentalists said. While the Federal Aviation Administration has given SpaceX environmental clearance for the tests, environmentalists worry that recent explosions could have a lasting effect on the ecologically rich area, home to a number of endangered species, like ocelots and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. “When you’re testing brand-new technology and brand-new rockets, brand-new engines, stuff like that happens,” said Jim Chapman, president of Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, a nonprofit group with a mission to protect the native habitats of the Rio Grande Valley. “Well, our feeling is, that shouldn’t be happening here.” But the story of how SpaceX came to Boca Chica, about 22 miles from Brownsville, Texas, begins with a promise of a much-needed economic boost to one of the poorest regions in the country. For decades, Brownsville and the broader Rio Grande Valley have struggled with a lack of opportunities and a brain drain, with many college graduates opting to leave for careers elsewhere. Before SpaceX became entrenched in Brownsville’s consciousness, the local economy had relied heavily on jobs with the government, schools, health care and some low-paying retail stores, officials said. Representatives for SpaceX, which is investing a fortune in its quest to send people to Mars, did not respond to a request for comment. But officials of Cameron County, which includes Boca Chica, said the company had infused hope and optimism into the region. When the company announced plans to move to the area in 2014, it promised to create about 500 local jobs, said Eddie Treviño Jr., the Cameron County judge, the county’s top elected official. But as of late last year, he said, the actual figure was more than triple that, with more than 1,600 jobs in construction, clerical and other fields, most of them given to local residents, he said. The benefits to the Brownsville area, where according to the U.S. Census Bureau at least 30 percent of the population lives in poverty, will eventually outweigh whatever tension and disruptions the company has brought, Mr. Treviño said. “We have to balance the good with the bad,” he said. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? The search for the ideal SpaceX launching pad began more than 10 years ago. Sites were considered in other states, including Georgia, California and Alaska, but engineers needed a mostly desolate area close to the ocean. Boca Chica, a retirement community with only a few year-round residents, fit the bill. After SpaceX signed a deal to set up operations near the village, the testing of rockets that would one day reach outer space began a few years later in earnest, Mr. Treviño said. The company has taken a fail-fast, fix-fast approach, which essentially means that engineers use the tests to identify shortcomings in the design and then make adjustments before the next test. Over the past year, those who still live in the community have had to flee before every launch. Four rockets have exploded, spreading debris across the area. (The most recent test, this month, did not result in an explosion, and an elated Mr. Musk took to Twitter to celebrate the milestone: “Starship landing nominal!”) This was not the Crawfords’ idea of a peaceful retirement. Both worked in government jobs in Michigan, him in law enforcement and her with a deeds department. And though they still spend their summers in Michigan, they bought their home in Boca Chica 10 years ago in search of nature and some quiet. Then came the knocks on their door, and on the doors of their neighbors. SpaceX wanted their homes. Representatives with the space giant had appraised the Crawfords’ single-story, three-bedroom brick house at $50,000 and was willing to pay “three times” that, they were told. The Crawfords dismissed what they considered to be a paltry offer from one of the richest men in the world. “We can’t buy a new house with that money,” Mr. Crawford said with a chuckle. Last October, the offers finally stopped. “We are pretty certain that we will be able to remain in our home,” Ms. Crawford said with a sigh of relief. But many of their neighbors, who like them once found Boca Chica the perfect winter oasis, took the checks and left. And one by one, the ranch homes have been replaced by modern white houses with solar-powered rooftops, the occupants younger space professionals who work for SpaceX, local residents said. “You can tell which homes are SpaceX because they are the ones that look the same, a stale white and black,” said Rosemary Workman, 72, who spends most of the year in Boca Chica and has turned down offers to sell her home. One of her new neighbors has stood out. Mr. Musk has been spotted staying in an unassuming ranch-style house. Ms. Workman and her neighbors sometimes see him taking a stroll with two men they assume are part of his security detail. “He doesn’t really make an effort to say hi or get to know us,” said Jim Workman, 75, who lives across the street from the billionaire. The feeling, he admitted, is mutual. He pointed to a flag on his front porch that reads “Come and Take It” below the image of a cannon, the flag fashioned for the Texas Revolution and long a symbol of defiance in the state. “I think he gets the message,” Mr. Workman said. Fuera SpaceX Concerns over SpaceX extend beyond Boca Chica. In downtown Brownsville, Elias Cantu, an activist with the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, the oldest Mexican-American civil rights organization in the country, stood beside a mural of Mr. Musk that read “Boca Chica to Mars” and shrugged. He said he feared it would be only a matter of time before Boca Chica’s extreme redevelopment found itself encroaching into Brownsville’s poorest neighborhoods. “It’s inevitable,” Mr. Cantu said. “He’ll need homes to house all the people he wants to bring down here. I’m afraid he’s going to push out a lot of low-income families who have lived here for generations.” Xandra Treviño, a member of Fuera SpaceX, an organization pushing back on SpaceX’s rapid expansion (its name translates as Leave SpaceX), said she and many other activists felt ignored by area policymakers. “I feel like people believe that SpaceX is going to be good for the community, when in fact, they are too large to control, too large to hold accountable,” Ms. Treviño said. “Local officials are only seeing money signs. Local officials are star struck.” But area officials said they could not turn away millions of dollars in local investments and the promise of high-paying jobs in a region that for decades has been starved for investment. In the “build it and they will come” philosophy, the space giant has already attracted other employers to the region. Space Channel, an entertainment network devoted to covering space, recently announced that it would move part of its operations from Los Angeles to Brownsville, including six executives, with local positions to follow. Other companies are likely to do the same, said Rose Gowen, who sits on the city commission. “One of the very important things for me to support, and us to support, is growing the wealth,” said Ms. Gowen. Mr. Musk seems to agree. He recently announced on Twitter that he planned to donate $30 million for city revitalization projects and schools. The mayor of Brownsville, Trey Mendez, did not respond to a request for an interview. But in a statement, he said he supported money coming in. “We look forward to a discussion about how this could help our community prosper as we take a front seat to the next chapter of space exploration and innovation,” he said. But that growth is no consolation for the holdout residents of Boca Chica. The Crawfords like to sit in their backyard and admire the several species of birds looking for respite, or the delightful sightings of those migrating. But reminders that they live near a launchpad are never far away. Every now and then, loud sirens startle them, signaling that the testing of rocket engines is about to begin. Or they receive a text asking them to leave their home, a cue that a launch is imminent. When a local sheriff’s vehicle drives by with its sirens on, the Crawfords know they are supposed to run to the street or at least leave their home. They know their windows could shatter. But the last time they heard the siren, on one afternoon this spring, the couple looked at each other and shrugged. “We grew tired of running out,” Ms. Crawford said. This is life near SpaceX, after all. Source link Orbem News #backyard #Bird #plane #roaring #rocket #ship

[3sportsguns]

The Ride is Over

Besides winning the 2016 World Series the best moment for Cubs fans was signing Theo Epstein. He is a revered leader of a franchise and seemed like finally the right kind of management that could lead the Cubs to the level they had been waiting over 100 years for. The brain trust of Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod tore it down and built a World Series winner, but that window seems shut.

Epstein broke the curse of the Great Bambino and Boston, he had broken a drought already, but let's not forget Boston was happy to see him go. Epstein had built a World Series winner in Boston, and won two, but was also the reason the team got stuck in payroll purgatory. Carl Crawford, Mike Cameron, Julio Lugo; plenty of contracts Epstein handed out tanked the two time winners. Sounding familiar Cubs fans?

Epstein drafted a lot of players to help those Boston Red Sox win but then depleted the farm system and cap space by making big moves to keep the contention going, instead it shut the window. The brain trust made the Cubs one of the best  with top draft picks and shipping out everyone from the previous regime, but where has that been since they won the World Series?

Coming in to the 2020 season the Cubs farm system rated as 23rd out of 30 teams in all of baseball. Their highest rated prospect in the top 100 is number 63 Brailyn Marquez, who's with the major league club. They have two other prospects in the top 100, OF Brennen Davis who's at A ball and C Miguel Amaya who's also with the big club. Chicago's top 10 prospects has three with the parent club and the rest at A ball or lower. For the rest of the top 30, three pitchers are in the majors and every other prospect is A ball or lower. The farm system is weak.

When you're competing you're going to value production for the parent club, but Epstein is always talking about parallel fronts, but it isn't happening. After that big wave that included Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber and others, they haven't been able to replenish it even in to the middle rankings of the majors. Epstein and his brain trust regularly draft position players early, where has the pitching been?

Epstein's biggest shortcoming, and the biggest contributor, to the down fall of the Cubs will be his inability to develop pitchers. While the top ranked prospects that are with the club are mostly pitchers, are they any top end starters? Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana, most of the rotation has been bought and that has left ownership saying 'We don't have any money to spend.'

It has been the exact same with closers. Aroldis Chapman, Greg Holland, Craig Kimbrel, all closers either bought or traded for. Now, let's be honest the Chapman trade was inevitable. While it hurts to see Gleyber Torres develop for the Yankees, especially with Chapman signing right back with the Yankees, that's the price for the World Series. However, the White Sox got in to the playoffs in big part because of Eloy Jimenez. The trade for Jose Quintana was a big set back from the Cubs and an indictment the organizations failure to find in house pitching.

Epstein is entering the last year of his deal and there are already rumors he'll stay a lame duck and just walk away. It's hard to envision after 2016 that just four years later we'd get to 2020 and be okay with Epstein walking away. For Chicago that's probably just, and should be, the beginning of a lot of changes for this Cubs team.

Chicago already tried spending to extend the window and it has just seen disappointing season after disappointing season. The window is closed. It's time to blow it up and start fresh. For the first time in a few seasons the Cubs will have some payroll open up with Lester a free agent, 25 million team option, Quintana's 10.5 comes off the books, Tyler Chatwoods 13 expires. That leaves the Cubs with 87 million, though Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez enter their final years of arbitration with seven other players on the big league squad in arbitration.

Anthony Rizzo has one more team option at 16.5 million that will likely be picked up. I'd imagine Lester will not have his option picked up but could be back at a cheaper price. The talent is there, but it's been well documented the issues management has had trying to get a deal hammered out with Baez and Bryant. Again, who would of thought after 2016 those two wouldn't be sure bets to get another Cubs contract, but they may have played their last games at the friendly confines.

It was shortened season for 2020 but Baez still only hit 203 with eight home runs and 24 RBI. There's no doubt he has the 'It factor' on defense, but where has the offense been in the post season? Kris Bryant hit 206 in 2020 with only four homers and 11 RBI and has struggled to stay healthy since winning the MVP. Both are going to expect huge contracts but have been the core of a team that has regularly disappointed. Rumors came out of last season's off season that whoever would sign the Cubs would keep and they'd move the other, but now both could be gone.

Expect the rumors to ramp up this winter as both still aren't signed and, while they're value is depressed now and could keep them on the roster to start 2021, it doesn't seem Chicago will pay them as they blow it up and restock the farm system. Anthony Rizzo could join them on the way out despite being the leader of this team. Rizzo is 30, hit 222 with eleven homers and 24 RBI and has not gotten an extension either.

Kyle Scwarber seemed inevitable to come to a railroad situation at some point as he's more suited to be a DH and now enters his last arbitration year. The theme is reoccurring for 2020 as Schwarbs hit 188 with eleven dingers and 24 RBI in 2020. His price will be more reasonable for Chicago, but he was benched during the season for his defense and needs to be a full time DH.

David Bote and Nico Hoerner, while not the same caliber as the big stars, provide solid options at a cheaper rate for the Cubs while they rebuild another winner. Albert Almora was sent down during the disappointing 2020 season but Ian Happ broke out in a big way. Those three, along with Wilson Contreras at catcher and Victor Caritini needing a position, could be the core of the Cubs offense before 2021 is over.

You draft and trade to develop the type of players the Cubs had, but whatever this team was going to do looks like it has been done. During interviews throughout the season the stars knew what this year could mean for them and they were bad and flamed out in disappointing fashion in the playoffs yet again. Of course there's always a risk of never getting back, but signing the stars means the team won't change and it could be continual competitive purgatory.

With the stars at a depressed value it's likely they could start the season in Chicago, but will they finish 2021 in the Windy City? If Epstein truly is in a lame duck year how does he manage the team? Will Hoyer take over after he leaves or do they try and win before they possibly bounce? Running it back would be a mistake and it's time to to restart. Very rarely have we seen continued top competitiveness in the MLB and it looks like the Cubs need to go back to the basement and figure it out again.

[bella-rose29]

episode 3 - Doubt Thou the Stars

major spoilers for the show and books, swearing, I go feral on multiple occasions, spent most of this simping for cam/lockwood and I'll apologise now for some of the things I've said (multiverse of George I'm blaming you for a couple)

I would just like to reiterate that this is not a proper analysis of the show, this is my immediate reactions to what happens in the show. barely anything constructive is actually said in here 👍

a ring is what we're looking at

Georgie I love you

hands (oh dear starting early)

hands again

"which you stole illegally" honey-

you have me in a chokehold lockwood

hehehe fairfax

"George, this... negativity, it's why I don't tell you things in advance" first of all I am weirdly obsessed with the way he says that, second of all I wanna give George a hug

hands

ok but who gave cam the right to look that good

"miss Kingston got her hair done special" George I love you

"straight into the office. that's a classy move"

omg I love lucy's jumper

his cheeky smile omg

hands

ring

"you lie like a politician" yeah bc he has to

you can do any job for me lockwood

hands and ring

absolutely we have a deal I'll do anything for you

hands (omg I need to stop)

they're children how did they get alcohol

bottle opener thingy scene

omg Georgie in his apron and gloves 😭

so sad we didn't get the "nice... towel" scene

barnes is so sinister sometimes

I love lockwood and george's friendship, just yelling at each other about cleaning

ooo green lighting when she's taking the keys

tut tut

"I visit my gran in Sidcup" "...sidcup is in London"

"you've got a real hard-on for him, haven't you" "well, if... you wanna put it like that"

"I'm practically a serf" aw lockwood honey

all I can think is the Traitors castle even though I know it's not the same

lockwood's so pretty

oh lord what the hell was that look lockwood don't lower your head with that intense gaze wtf

"apart from anything else, we've got much better flares" 😂

don't you just love it when someone who doesn't have any clue about your job tells you how to do your job

lots of smashing

he's fishing (where tf did he get a fishing rod from)

hands

his grin omg

oh crikey this boy needs sleep I can see his eye bags even though the lighting is dim and my room is bright

"What, and deny us all this... beautiful moment?" you're a beautiful moment- wait that doesn't make sense

his smile I am on the floor

aaa suspense I don't like it

omg we get to see George's Touch again I love that

ew cobwebs

hands

well that was silly

oh no

you can disrespect me anytime woah what is happening to me holy shit

EXTREME CLOSE UP

ewwww cobwebs

I could never be an agent I have arachnophobia

ok those special effects were awesome

"probably wanted to warn us not to go down there" *proceed to go down there*

Lockwood say what's on your mind

ok I get why Ali said that the monks were terrifying that chanting haunts me still

turn your torches off you'll see the ghosts better

ohh I don't like this

Lucy no

LUCY NO

LUCY NOOOOOO

aw the boys saved her

hands

"make a wish" I wish for you to marry me and we live happily ever after

slap

"my cheek hurts"

husband calls out pathetically for wife after waking up, she crawls over and he reaches desperately for her hand

"oi, where's his slap?" fair

hahaha the way they just drop to the floor

you look so silly in those goggles

lockwood's voice is doing Things to me

I love that you can see Ellie rethinking as Fairfax goes on

"we don't travel round with it, we're not insane" *while focused on Lucy*

"you're just a performer too, aren't you?" we love a masking king

MICRO-EXPRESSIONS!!! CAMERON CHAPMAN THE MAN YOU ARE

"She stole it again, Lockwood" yep

I love that you can sort of make out the flowers on her dress

oh christ that was scary

ew old man burning

hands

heavy breathing lockwood (I blame the multiverse of George chat for that)

"I'm working with maniacs" got room for another one?

why did Ellie think it would be a good idea to try and run straight through the middle

"Shut up!" their faces afterwards

kipps pls stop sounding so smug

dw I believe you lockwood

punch me like that wall pls

barnes looks so sad

omg he's being a protective dad

hands

ohhhhh lockwood in a proper suit 🪣 (bad timing for it I know)

"do you know my name?" George I love you

"that's a shame, she was a fool but... she really fitted in there actually" *lockwood nudges him* George I love you even more and I think we would be the bestest of friends

I love the lavender in the pockets of Penelope and Ellie

hands

omg Lucy's drawing! like she said her hobby was in the books!

hand + ring

*George casually pulls out stolen evidence*

I want lucy's jumper

the way lockwood's sat on the chair has me weak

"You belong here" *stares at her with heart eyes*

hehehe

hehehe

oh dear

why does he keep sprawling on the chair

I don't want to talk about the sound I just made at that one frame of lockwood

"She's good, and... she's finally starting to get me" aw Georgie I love you

"she's a lot tougher than you think" *thumps as Lucy passes out*

I DONT WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE SOUND I JUST MADE AT THE OTHER ONE FRAME OF LOCKWOOD (YOU ALL KNOW THE ONE) - "Luce?" shgisuhuigjd

seriously who gave him the right

[stretchjournalemerson]

Flaunt the Font

By Isabel Lieser

It is impossible to go out into the world and not be impressionable. Everything you see, whether it be a street sign or a storefront, has some charged meaning that was made to make you feel something. Sometimes this charged meaning is hidden in the font, also known as typeface, that these messages use. Why do you feel fancy when a name tag is written in cursive? Why do you feel that a piece of writing is feminine when it is written with frills and spirals embedded into it? Why do you feel a personal almost nostalgic connection when something is written to seem like it is handwritten? You may not even know these things are happening, but behind all of these pieces of text, is someone who is trained to make you feel something, trying to get you to place personal attachment onto obscure lines and curves. Through the lens of psychology, marketing, and art, this paper will explore why these fonts exist, and why they evoke meaning to each and every one of us.

To best understand the complexity of these fonts, we must first understand their classifications and origins. The information that follows regarding classification and history is provided by Cameron Chapman of UI Designs. Typeface began in the 1400s with what was called “blackletter”. This form of writing was similar to what we now know as calligraphy. From this single documented way of writing, thousands upon thousands of new fonts were born. Today as we understand it, the main five types of fonts are serif, sans serif, script, monospaced, and display. (Cameron) Containing thousands of fonts within each category, these five basic fonts provide a guideline to better classify them. The first grouping of fonts to materialize from this early blackletter is known as serif.

Serif became popular sometime between the late 15th century and the 18th century and is made up of many subgenres, including old style, transitional, modern, slab serif, and glyphic. The literal translation of Serif means “a slight projection finishing off stroke of a letter in certain typefaces.” (Cameron) This is evident in every subgenre of the Serif family such as Courier which is a Slab Serif, as well as Bodoni, which is a Neoclassical Serif. Or even Times New Roman, a transitional serif, in which the majority of this paper is being written. Serif is most often used for the body of a piece of writing, but is also used as the header, i.e. Logos and Headlines. Although this is the way that Serif fonts are mostly used, it is all situational, certain brands or writers may prefer a different font which is completely acceptable. There is no rule when it comes to these things, although based on size and readability, there are general guidelines to follow. While all these types of serifs have different qualities, what binds them together is this detail at the tip of each letter. (Cameron) While this was the first font, it quickly gave way to another similar font. Sans Serif.

Sans Serif became popular in the early 1800s, and is quite simply “without serif”, with sans meaning without in french. This is clearly seen through the evenly distributed width throughout each letter. The subcategories of Sans Serif are Grotesque, Neo-Grotesque, Humanistic, and Geometric. The early Sans Serif types, (Grotesque, and Neo-Grotesque) were named as such “due to their rejection of the more “elegant” serif design elements.” (Chapman) An example of a Grotesque font is Gothic A1, the more popular Neo- Grotesque is famous for the widespread use of Helvetica Neue. The majority of Sans Serif’s motivation is to be more eligible than the stylistic and complicated Serif. In hopes to be as easy to read as possible, Humanistic fonts were created to mimic something that was handwritten. One example of a Humanistic font includes Gill Sans. Which, while not looking very handwritten at all, does give off more of a personal, quirky vibe. Geometric typeface, also in an attempt to be as eligible as can be, made a motion to be true to the geometry of shapes, having o’s be perfect circles, and curves following this same logic. A popular example of Geometric typeface is Avenir.

Script and Display fonts are less clearly defined in where they originated, and when they were created, individually and as genres. But generally, Script is known for its fluidity and versatility, as it can be used for casual and formal endeavors. A casual, handwritten-esque example being Pacifico, a more formal example being Pinyon Script. Display fonts cover a wide array of fonts that all are quite different. Their similarities are in their purpose, as they are commonly used for headlines and titles. An example of a popular display font is Big Shoulders Display. While all these fonts differ in their common practices, they all have the same purpose, to further sell whatever statement they are. Whether that be a menu item written in Script to further persuade customers to buy a lobster at the ever risky “market price”. Or a children's vitamin supplement written in a handwritten font to make a nervous parent feel like this sugar pill will help their baby's development. Depending on the circumstance the choice of font that is used in any and every piece of writing is there for a reason, and without even knowing it, you are reacting to it. To better understand this, we need to first understand how the human brain works.

The human brain is made up of many systems that work together to make your body and mind function. Systems that make you balance, stay away from danger, and fill you with an evolutionary desire to procreate. While every aspect of the brain, in one way or another, plays a part in everything you do, it is understood by Steven Stosny, as well as other psychologists alike, that the main center for “analysis, sensitivity to the perspectives of others, evidence-based judgment, decision-making, and regulation of impulses, emotions, and behavior” (Stonsy) is the prefrontal cortex located towards the front of your brain in the frontal lobe. The prefrontal cortex is therefore in charge of making choices such as, how we feel about certain things, what we find important and meaningful, and what we dislike.

Once we have found our own preferences of what we do and do not like, it is human nature to then assign value. People assign value for many reasons, but mainly to “feel more vital, engaged, interested, appreciative - in short, more alive; life means more at the instant we create value, just as it means less when we’re not creating value.” (Stonsy) Basically, humans strive to create meaning, because if they don’t there is no point in living. Obviously there are things in this world that hold more value than others. The emotional connection you have to holding your baby for the first time is stronger than the first time you see Cambria Serif. But the important thing is, you will assign both your newborn child and a 2004 Dutch Typeface some form of value. Your assigned value to Cambria Serif may be that you're fine with it, it is a basic font, you used to write papers in it in college, and that you can't tell the difference between Cambria and Times New Roman, and would rather be spending your time holding your child than thinking about this font any longer. But just by that dismissive answer, you have already shown that you have assigned a tremendous amount of value to something you don't even think about. By calling it a “basic” font, you are declaring what you consider the average design of a font. For someone else an “average font” maybe Helvetica Neue, therefore saying that sans serif is the baseline for what is considered average. Someone else may consider Caveat a basic font declaring lunacy as their baseline. By saying that you used to write papers in it in college, you are relating it to an academic context, showing that you see this font as something used for formal, scholarly work.

Humans are programmed to find meaning in everything, and the smarter among us know how to capitalize off of this. Understanding and then evidently taking advantage of the humane necessity to create value in every single thing is an important aspect in the world of marketing. How products and services are presented to possible consumers plays a big part in how a product is received. No matter what the product is for, the advertising of it, how it is marketed will make or break an item's shelf life. To better understand how fonts play a part in marketing, let’s first understand how marketing and emotional persuasion go hand in hand.

As mentioned earlier, humans are desperate to project emotion onto otherwise objective and emotionless things. Let’s apply this concept to Logos. There are many things that play into a successful logo, the shapes used, the colors used, and of course the font. Think of a popular logo that is universally known, for example, the McDonald’s Logo. The Golden arches, that when gazed upon along the highway after a long road trip with your family, in a way seem like the Promise Land. Pulling off and getting a heavenly big mac is all you need to get through the next five hours of this suffocating road trip with your mother and father who only seem to want to talk about what your plans for the future are and what Billy Crystal movie was the best. Sure this version of McDonald’s may be romanticized, but compared to that of Taco Bell and Burger King, people tend to focus on a more positive, almost nostalgic version of McDonald’s. The logo itself tells a story that you apply to the product, as said by the author Shanelle Mullin, every aspect of a logo “must be combined with all of the other elements to create a cohesive emotional story.” (Mullin) We attach meaning and emotions to fonts all in an attempt to better assess what value we attribute to different things. This cohesive story that Mullin talks about is molded by the marketing team of any said product and regularly changes to stay up to date with the current buyer's climate. A good example of this is Pampers Diaper Brand.

Without looking at any official statement from the Pampers team just looking at the evolution of their Logo makes their thought process quite clear. The Pampers Brand was founded in 1956 as a subsidiary of the Proctor and Gamble Corporation. Hoping to revolutionize the diaper industry they joined the game and in 1961 introduced their official slogan with a sleek Red and Black “Instead of a diaper… Pampers.” Slogan. (Pampers US) “Instead of a” In a thin playful cursive, “DIAPER” in all caps, a handwritten font that was still playful, followed by “Pampers” In a thick serif losing all playfulness of the preceding text. It was professional, responsible, and made clear that Pampers was not here to mess around.  It looked at the diaper business as a utilitarian need. All babies need diapers, buy the best: Pampers.. In 1985 they toned down the red intensity and switched it out for a nice blue, with a white outline. This was a rounder serif that mimics that of Copse, or Coustard. As mentioned earlier, while Red is known to represent boldness and excitement, Blue represents trust and dependability. Marketing their diapers as nice, good for your baby, reliant. This began their shift to the more emotional side of buying diapers, subliminally focussing on what's actually important, your baby.

In 2001 they rebranded again. Needing to compete with a fast-growing market that was focusing more and more on the wellbeing of a child, they shifted towards a light turquoise handwritten font with a yellow sunrise/heart drawing above. They mixed the previous dependable blue, with a green that represents Health and Growth, just what someone would want for their baby. The yellow heart promotes optimism and warmth, while also looking a little like a sunrise. Everyone loves a good sunrise, everyone loves Pampers. (Rogoza) The biggest shift of this was going from a bubbly serif to a handwritten font. This change made it personal. Removing all corporate identity and replacing it with a comforting personal font, Pampers solidified the cohesive emotional story of a life that is best for your baby, all obtainable with Pampers. This is just one example of what brands are doing every day. The world is constantly changing, how we as a society perceive things is constantly changing, so the market needs to change too.

Although everyone has their own value system that eventually gets applied to the world of typeface, there has been one universal truth in the typeface world. Everyone. Hates. Comic Sans. Officially known as Comic Sans MS the MS standing for MicroSoft. Comic Sans was created in 1994 by Vincent Connare, a typographic engineer. While “clicking his way through an unreleased trial copy of Microsoft Bob, a software package designed to be particularly user-friendly.” (Garfield, 136) Connare was confused as to why this helpful website tool was speaking in the cold professional voice of Times New Roman. In a hope to make this program more welcoming to computer newbies, he created Comic Sans MS. What is confusing about the universal hatred of this font was that Comic Sans MS, wasn't new, not in practice. It was merely a take on the font Comic Book. Which was used primarily in, you guessed it, comic books. The actual inspiration for Comic Sans MS was a copy of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. (Garfield) After Connare finished writing up the font of Comic Sans MS, he found out that the program Microsoft Bob’s programming had already been written up and was suited for lettering the size of Times New Roman, and since Comic Sans was bigger, the change was not made. “Microsoft Bob duly appeared in its formal state and was not a success. No one officially blamed the unsuitable typeface.” (Garfield) But as later projects came along, Comic Sans MS was publicly used as part of the Microsoft Brand. There is no real reason for people to hate Comic Sans. The common reasoning is that it's ugly, but frankly by that understanding, so is Special Elite, and Great Vibes. The truth is that Comic Sans just like any other font evokes emotion. Whether it is positive or negative, it is doing its job by just making you think about it.

Fonts are a confusing and sometimes seemingly pointless aspect of the larger picture of a product or paper. People read essays for the points made within the paper, unless it's this one, in which you actually came for the fonts. People buy Pampers diapers to help alleviate their babies. People go to Mcdonalds to raise their cholesterol just to spite their doctors. But no matter what your main intention, you can’t help but let fonts persuade your decision even in the slightest bit. You buy Pampers in particular because they make you feel like a better, smarter parent. You order a Big Mac Supreme because your stupid doctor with their stupid Ph.D. from a stupid ivy league college written in stupid cursive on their stupid wall shouldn’t be telling you how to live your own life. It is impossible to go out into the world and not be impressionable. But as we have learned, there is no point to life if you aren’t impressionable, all meaning in this world comes from the meaning that we make, and the value we assign. If you choose to value Comic Sans as the stupidest, ugliest, worst font to ever exist, go ahead. That’s all up to you.

Works Cited

Chapman, Cameron. “Understanding the Nuances of Typeface Classification.” Toptal Design Blog,

Toptal, 11 Oct. 2018, www.toptal.com/designers/typography/typeface-classification.

“Diapers, Baby Care, and Parenting Information at Pampers.com.” PampersUS, Pampers, www.pampers.com/en-us.

Garfield, Simon. Just My Type: a Book about Fonts. Gotham Books, 2012.

Koch, Beth E. “Human Emotion Response to Typographic Design.” Academia.edu - Share

Research, www.academia.edu/12890551/Human_emotion_response_to_typographic_design.

Mullin, Shanelle, et al. “The Advanced Guide to Emotional Persuasion.” CXL, 10 Dec. 2019,

cxl.com/blog/emotional-persuasion-guide/.

Osterer, Heidrun, and Philipp Stamm. Adrian Frutiger - Schriften : The Complete Works, edited

by Stiftung Schrift und Typographie Staff Schweizerische, Walter de Gruyter GmbH,

2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/emerson/detail.action?docID=1480475.

Rogoza, Roman. “Pampers Logo: From Red to Blue.” Logaster Blog, 30 Mar. 2020, www.logaster.com/blog/pampers-logo/.

Stosny, Steven. “The Power to Create Value and Meaning.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 Oct. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/201410/the-power-create-value-and-meaning.

[labourpress]

Keir Starmer speech to Labour Party Conference

Keir Starmer MP,  Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

 ***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

 Thank you conference.  Thank you to everyone who has taken part this morning. Thank you also to Labour’s fantastic Shadow Brexit team: Jenny Chapman; Paul Blomfield; Matt Pennycook; Dianne Hayter; Karin Smyth; Emma Hardy; and Jess Morden. ardBelieve you me, they could all have chosen easier jobs in the last year.

What a year it has been. Article 50 triggered. A snap election. It was meant to be a coronation, but it left us with a broken Government. Too weak to govern. Too divided to negotiate Brexit. Constructive ambiguity is now official government policy.

It would be funny, if it wasn't so tragic.

 Britain's place in the world is at stake. People's jobs are at stake. People's mortgages are at stake. People’s futures are at stake. And who are the authors of this Tory tragedy? 

First, David Cameron, who gambled his country, because he couldn’t hold his party together. Then, Boris Johnson, standing in front of his red bus, with a lie on the side – a false promise of £350m a week for the NHS. Ruthless about his own ambitions, but reckless about our country.

Now Theresa May, robotically marching towards an extreme Brexit - focussed on her own survival not the national interest. Maybe the Tories can afford this disastrous approach to Brexit. Maybe the Tories would benefit from a Brexit of deregulation, where rights are put at risk.

But you know, and I know, that millions of working people cannot. Whether you’re in the front seat with Theresa May, or in the backseat with Boris Johnson, there's nothing patriotic about joy-riding our country's economy off a cliff.

This has to stop. It's time for a different approach. So let me share with you Labour's approach. An approach that is both democratically legitimate and economically sensible. That respects the referendum result and puts jobs and the economy first. An approach rooted in our core values.  Values that bind us together. Labour values.

 Values of internationalism: we have always been an internationalist party; reaching out to Europe and the rest of the world rather than turning inwards.  Values of co-operation, solidarity, and a simple belief that we achieve more together than we do alone. An unflinching commitment to human rights, the rule of law, rights at work and the protection of our environment. Fairness, equality and social justice in our economy and in our society.

 As we exit the EU, we should not abandon these values. On the contrary, these values should drive everything we do in these uncertain times. That is why, over the summer, Labour reached an agreed position that transitional arrangements on the same basic terms that we currently have with the EU are in the national interest. For Labour that means that during the transitional phase, we would remain in a customs union with the EU and within the Single Market.

 The Government on the other hand spent their summer squabbling in public. So dysfunctional had it all become, that the Prime Minister had to fly to Florence on Friday, only to accept Labour’s position on transitional arrangements. Let’s see if that survives contact with Tory party conference.

 But let’s not be fooled by what the Prime Minister said in Florence. All she has done is to delay the cliff edge. All her ideological red-lines remain. She still prioritises arbitrary immigration targets over jobs and the economy.  She has no answer to fundamental questions in Northern Ireland. And she still insists – in spite of all the warnings – that no deal is a viable option.

 The Labour Party rejects that approach. If we were in Government, we would build a new progressive partnership with the EU. We would negotiate a final deal that ensured continued co-operation and collaboration with our EU partners in all fields. And a final deal, that retained the benefits of the Customs Union and the Single Market. Options for achieving this should not be swept off the table.

 Subject, of course to negotiations, remaining in a form of customs union with the EU is a possible end destination for Labour.

 We are also flexible as to whether the benefits of the Single Market are best retained by negotiating a new Single Market relationship or by working up from a bespoke trade deal. No rash, ideological red lines preventing a sensible deal. No fantastical, ‘blue sky’ proposals. A pragmatic approach. Labour are now the grown-ups in the room. We stand ready to take charge of the negotiations. Not acting for narrow political gain. But in the national interest.

 Conference, the way the Tories are handling Brexit tells you a lot about their competence - or should I say incompetence.  But it also tells you about their character. About their dogmatic disregard of the national interest; about their sheer sense of entitlement; about their post-imperial delusions; about their willingness to put other people’s jobs at risk.

 Our country today is so much better than our Government. This is a country yearning for change. Theresa May – and whichever Brexiteer replaces her – cannot deliver that change. The old politics and the Tory old guard have had their day.

We need a transformative Labour Government. Not just to break the impasse in Brexit negotiations and to deliver a progressive new partnership with the EU – vital though that is. But to tackle the wider injustices and inequalities we see all around us. To give hope that our society, our public services and our economy don’t have to be like this. That we can build a better, fairer and more inclusive Britain.

 That’s why I came into politics. That is why you are in this hall. It’s why Jeremy has been able to mobilise 600,000 members …and inspire the support of over 12 million people. It’s why the clock is ticking for this Prime Minister and this Government.

 We have come a long way in the last year. Now is the time for us to lead. To bring a divided country back together. To mend our broken politics. This is Labour's opportunity. This is Labour's responsibility. And, working together, this can be Labour's achievement.

Delivering a Government for the many, not the few.

 Ends

[savetopnow]

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