#can we talk about the cinematic excellence of this???

[cherylblossom]

“I don’t want to forget about you, or about us.”

[fionnaskyborn]

On a scale from one to ten, how based of me is it that I took the GGST survey for the second time just to put a BlazBlue character that appeared in exactly one novel and then never again in one of my three "additional character I would like to see the most in the future" spots?

[nozunhinged]

I finally managed to put my overall thoughts about Playboyy into words and hoooooo boy do I have a lot to say.

I watched the mdl ratings go down, the blatant hate towards the plot, the actors, the scenes, the sex. There was nothing that wasn't torn apart about this series and yet I wasn't phased for a second and I kept wondering why because usually get very passionate about defending the things I love.

And then I realized that this series is the cinematic embodiment of a very lonely path that I've been walking for decades and I am already very, very used to the shame around it.

Sex is not just my special interest, I also had the privilege to grow up with excellent sex education (thanks parents) and on top of that I never struggled with my (pan)sexual identity. Sex plays a significant role in my life. But I learned VERY quickly that I should keep this to myself if I don't want to be ostracized or bullied.

"You're autistic AND you like sex? You like porn? What the fuck is wrong with you??? That's impossible."

And all the comments I read about playboyy are exactly the same just in different fonts. Ew sex. Ew kink. Ew porn. Ew sex work. Sex can't have storytelling, plot, it's just for shock value. We all read it.

And sadly it's a very accurate representation of the role sex plays in our society. Which - ironically - playboyy exactly is about.

Playboyy is a visual collection of all the experiences of lives and people in which sex plays a significant role - even the lack thereof (looking at you zouey and all you lovely aces).

It's a collection of very important social commentary, with all the characters, sets, plots and visuals as a medium. Because this way, the points they make come across even stronger and draw out all the emotions they want us to feel - which is in the rarest cases, pure arousal. Because this is, in fact, storytelling. Even if many don't want to hear it.

Telling stories about sex is so stigmatized and shunned, it only has the tiniest place to exist freely. Just like sex itself. Every sex worker, sex educator, sex therapist, everyone who has a profession that deals with sex will tell you about it. The shame. The misunderstanding. Look at the state of sex work and porn in the world. It tells you everything you need to know.

And it's happening in the middle of the "modern" western society - Yes I'm talking about you, UK and I can't not plug this here:

*btw I am not a sex worker I'm just very passionate about letting people not just live their lives but giving them a CHOICE to do what they want or don't want to do

I existed in this tiny place for decades now and I got really comfortable in my tiny lil corner, but to see a show like this go "mainstream" talking about all the topics that tickle all the knowledge I collected over the years feels so amazing. And I can tell you, all you lil smartass purists, everyone involved in this show doesn't care an inch what you think, just like me. We're used to it, believe me.

I could go on for ages about how carefully all these topics of the show are treated but what I actually want to say is that I find it incredibly ironic that a show that depicts the struggles and stigmas about sex, exactly draws out the reactions and treatments it criticises.

If you don't want to join in on the fun, that's totally fine. I get that it's not for everyone (just like sex, he). But treating it as a piece of trash just because it's a thing you personally find icky is exactly the reason the issues Playboyy talks about exist in the first place. Hence you can thank your stuck-up ass yourself that debauched individuals like me get a gem like this to enjoy.

And the fact that it didn't just find a crew, but also the funding and the mainstream distribution proves that I'm not alone in this.

It's not my lonely little corner anymore and I'm absolutely thriving on that. Cry about it.

[neroushalvaus]

No wait let me talk some more about Bridget Jones and how despite all of it's faults I think it's a positive movie for women in general and fat women in particular

So yeah, Renée Zellweger is not fat. While I think we should not forget that she was still body-shamed in media for the slight weight she put on for the movies, she was never fat or even "chubby". It is obviously a problem that in the first two movies she is constantly treated as fat when she never was. But even thought I do not like it, that is how it is. And in the Bridget Jones cinematic universe, Bridget Jones is seen as fat. As someone who is not desirable, who is embarrassing to date and who should constantly feel ridiculous for daring to exist in the world.

And you know, when you grow up fat, you learn that you need to compensate for the crime of being too big. Especially when you are seen as a woman. You need to be smart as a whip, and funny and entertaining to be around, and talented in so many ways, and you may never be clumsy because when a fat girl falls down, the first reaction is not "are you okay", it's laughter. And you may not have standards. If a guy likes you, consider yourself lucky. You can't be too loud or annoying because you already take up too much space. When it comes to looks, you must excel at femininity. You must wear make-up and have a beautiful face and lovely eyes and you have to wear clothes that compliment your body, that draw the attention to your breasts and hips. You must always be ready to be sexualized because that is the closest thing you can get to having your body accepted.

And then there is Bridget Jones. She drinks too much, she smokes too much, she talks too much and I love her with every fiber of my being. Look at how they dress her in the first two movies. Look how they style her hair. The clothes are often ill-fitting, the hair is messy and flat. When she goes to parties, she tries so hard to look good but never looks like a typical romcom lead. She is reaching towards femininity and falling face first into mud. She is crass and has a weird sense of humour and she always says the wrong thing in every situation.

But she is sincere. She is loved by her friends, she is desired by several men (and one woman) and she is allowed to have standards. The first movie's plotline with Daniel Cleaver is so good in this regard. Daniel sends Bridget sexual texts, sleeps with her, never says he loves her and then he cheats on her. Do we laugh at how silly Bridget was to get her hopes up when she thought this guy played by Hugh Grant could like her when he never said he did and obviously only wanted sex? No. We focus on how hurt Bridget is. And I love the scene where Bridget is with her friends and Mark Darcy when Cleaver comes to apologize. He comes through her door and seems surprised she's not alone, waiting for him. It is her birthday. Of course she is with her friends. Who you would know exist if you cared about her life at all, Daniel. And you know, then he apologizes and doesn't wait for Bridget's response, he just assumes she takes him back. Because how could she possibly do better? And after Daniel and Mark have their legendary fight for Bridget's affections and Bridget tells Mark to piss off, Daniel just assumes this means Bridget has chosen him. Because a woman like Bridget needs to have someone to make her feel less like a waste of space, right? Which makes it delicious when Bridget counters Daniel's pathetic little love confession "If I can't make it with you then I can't make it with anyone" with "That's not a good enough offer for me". She is still looking for something more extraordinary than that.

And she gets it!! I can not stress this enough! She is seen as a fat woman who isn't brilliantly smart, isn't polite or suave, is clumsy and crass and socially awkward, and can't cook anything but blue soup and marmalade and is a hot mess express in general, and the archetypical romantic hero, literal Mr Darcy falls in love with her just as she is. Bridget never needs to become smarter or less awkward or less clumsy, she is loved and treasured just as she is. That is why I have loved her for twenty years.

[erstwhilesparrow]

limited life fic recs

Not really more of theme to this one than "Hey, check out this good good writing!" Been meaning to do this one for. Um. A while. Did my best not to repeat authors. If you're on this and don't want to be, let me know and I'll remove yours!

Fics On AO3:

Sundown; astronomeridian - Nobody fucks on the page in this one but you know it's gonna happen. The various alliances of Limited Life settle down for the night and talk around or about having sex. Really incredible character voice the whole way through (made particularly impressive by the fact that Every Character Is In This).

Gallant; zornographic - Grian/Etho-centric Knight AU, in which Grian, badly injured and fleeing for his life, runs into Etho, a strange knight offering to help him, in order to pay back a favour Grian did for him long ago. Really gorgeous turns of phrase applied with perfect precision, and lovely glimpses of a much bigger world that is alive and specific, that the characters feel genuinely rooted in.

Close to Your Chest; foxgloveblue (cornflowerdye) - Canon divergence where Joel and Etho are the last two standing at the end of Limited Life. The visual details in this one make it downright cinematic -- you can see the wreckage of the Bread Bridge, the light falling on them both. Special commendation for the characterization here too: Joel and Etho both clearly know each other well enough that it give us access to both of them in fun and interesting ways.

everything anyone ever ignored; Sixteenthdays - AU where when you kill someone, you get some of their traits. Really really fun for (1) quick, sharp prose and (2) glimpses into each of the character's unique experiences with Being In Their Body. There's a relentlessness that matches the vibes of Limited Life itself really well.

the lamb & the knife; errorryx - Cleo tells Pearl they're going to summon a goddess of war, and Pearl thinks about summoning something for herself. It's good fun! Admittedly, my idea of 'good fun' is mild body horror and considerations of animal and human sacrifice, but also fun are Pearl and Cleo's usual contentious relationship, and Pearl's usual degree of getting herself into trouble.

tempering; farrondoc - Grian/Etho platonic kink around Etho being Grian's sword! Captures their characters really well in a very short space.

Cam-account Parenting; litbynosun - Bdubs and Scar have been mysteriously and abruptly turned into little kids. Cleo has to handle this while chat fervently discusses what's going on in the background. Banger fic, script format with some fun bonus touches, great character voices, excellent fandom commentary on the horrors of being a woman in MCYT spaces.

Poison; jabberwockysoda - Etho takes up smoking; he and Cleo argue about it. Vibes of "we know and dislike each other but there is an intimacy and comfort in the knowing and the disliking" -- a very particular, almost worn-down tone that is set immediately and then maintained the whole way through.

fulgurite; Thunderbirds_and_Lightning - The Bad Boys' deaths. One of my all-time favourite depictions of the Limlife timers and one of my favourite endings to a Limited Life fic too. Lots of wonderfully creative imagery that draws on popular fanon without directly copying it; very fun.

With Soul Intent; salemoleander (heartbeatsinreverse) - Canon divergence where everyone's clocks stop in the middle of the game. Hilarious. Pitch-perfect character voice. Every beat hits. salemoleander is also on Tumblr and has a few Tumblr-exclusive Limited Life ficlets that are awesome, but which I could not include on this list due to rules of my little game. Check 'em out!

the here and now; doctorletmebebrace - Joel wakes up at home, on Empires S2, after his final death. Jimmy's there, and they talk. Makes me really tender about them, for all that they spend most of it arguing. Full of grief and regret and so much love.

Fics On Tumblr:

(Note: In cases where a fic has been posted both on AO3 and on Tumblr, I've linked the version that's on AO3. These are the ones I couldn't find on there.)

[Knives and forks clink against the dinner plates]; wisepuma23 - Boogeyman Impulse tries to sit through a normal meal with the rest of TIES. Forever and always a big fan of the intermingling of domesticity and violence, and the visceral onomatopoeia makes this really fun background drumbeat to Impulse's narration.

["Do you have a clock yet?"]; dmwrites - Impulse gives Bdubs a clock, and Cleo makes an addition. It's sweet! It also makes me sad. Good thoughts re: Impulse's relationship to Bdubs over time, from both Cleo and Impulse's perspectives.

[What are you?]; the-amber-shadow - The Watchers hound Martyn for an answer to the question of what his symbol is going to be after he wins Limited Life. I think this one's fun both as a historical artifact (what did we as a fandom consider for symbols, and thus how did we interpret/emphasize different parts of Martyn's victory), and I'm a big fan of metafic. Martyn arguing with Watchers-as-audience is a great way to do it!

[Gem Cleo watches Scott leave]; jellieland - Gem in Cleo's body has a chat with Martyn, and Martyn tells her something about why he teamed with Scott this time around. jellieland is a fantastic writer whose fics are invariably fascinating, well-written, and insightful, and I do recommend you check them all out, but I had to pick this one because I read it and could almost physically feel something clicking into place in my head -- everything I have written about Martyn+Cleo since this has been influenced by this fic.

[Joel's gone soft on him]; zedif-y - Jimmy reflects on this new side of Joel he's started seeing this season, while petting Joel's hair. It's soft. It's nice. Joel gets to take a nice nap and cuddle with Jimmy and Jimmy gets to think about all the things he knows about Joel.

[Joel dies with blood in his mouth]; alittlebirb - Joel dies. He's furious about it, and then he's not. Love the wild, frenetic energy of this one trailing off into something quieter, something like resignation -- fantastically paced.

[Bigb watches Grian for a while]; theminecraftbee - Bigb watches Grian do something that definitely isn't mourning, and definitely doesn't understand it. You don't know what an agony it was to have to narrow this down to Just One Theminecraftbee Fic. But I'm sure you could've guessed that. The thing that gets me about this one is Bigb and Grian have such history and see such interesting facets of each other, and their team-up in Limlife is this resigned kind of "Okay. This is what we're doing now." The melancholy is excellent.

Mean Gills Quarantine Zone:

(I like Mean Gills. A lot. So I have a lot of fic recs focused on them. So that's why this section. This should all be AO3 fics?)

Stop; KieIsWrite - After the end of Limited Life, Martyn tries to reckon with the aftermath of his actions. There are corpses. Things get grim. Scott's ghost is there, maybe. This one's horror, so mind the tags, but the horror comes in slow and quiet, and very interesting things are happening with the blurring of bodies-as-death and bodies-as-erotic.

hold the night; solarcafe - Scott and Martyn cuddle. That's it, that's the whole fic. Sweet, charming fluff!

Hush hush; WhyB - After moving the beds down into their secret base, Scott gets a little comfort and Martyn gets a little absolution. The Scott and Martyn hurt/comfort fic of your dreams! Hits every beat perfectly, and really, this author just does good hurt/comfort in general for every fandom they're in. Check 'em out!

I want to say I'm sorry for stuff I haven't done yet; the_hypercube - Scott and Martyn have a tense conversation over breakfast, while the ghosts of the Third Life alliances haunt them (figuratively). I love the thread of uneasiness running through this whole thing, pulling tighter and tighter but never getting to a breaking point. I love all the little domestic gestures against the backdrop of [This Is A Death Game And Things Are Getting Bad].

Requiescat; enemyofrome - Martyn walks out of the end of Limited Life and finds Ren, building the ice boat course on Hermitcraft. Martyn's not entirely free of the Watchers, of Scott, of his time in the games, but he and Ren will work it out. This is in the quarantine zone because I have to confess a disproportionate amount of my adoration for this fic is because of the excellent codependent Mean Gills, but the rest of it is because it is tender and well-characterized and beautifully written.

ears pressed to the floor; GoodTimesWithScar - Scott catches Martyn sewing the Dogwarts banner for his red life skin. Wonderfully melancholy, even as Scott and Martyn fall into their usual banter. I like how lonely it feels, even when they're standing right in front of each other -- they've got separate histories to contend with.

the cut of your love; soapflowers - Selkie AU! Martyn has Scott's pelt locked in a chest in his basement, and this is Fine. Really really good at maintaining a tenuous balance where nothing drastic has happened, but they both keep flirting with the precipice. The tags on this include Implied/Referenced Kidnapping, Abuse, Non-Sexual Intimacy, and Gaslighting, and that is enticing to me, but I know it isn't to everyone, so mind the tags!

Call Me What You Like; orphan_account - A study of Scott's perspective on his relationship to Martyn, with some (a lot of) pining. Everyone's having a miserable time, except me; I'm pointing at this and going, "Ough!! A Mean Gills dynamic of all time in this one for sure!!" Delightful juxtaposition of physical closeness with emotional distance.

[the-words-we-sung]

Thoughts and pictures - S3E2

Here we go for the rewatch of S3E2 (sorry in advance, it might get long ^^')

The new rules at Hillerska are pretty dumb and way too severe. And this phone policy is so stupid: how are these 2 horny boys supposed to survive? :p

So on one hand, online hate is about Simon not being good enough for Wilhelm, and on the other hand, it's about Wilhelm who should not have said anything in his speech because he's betraying the school. Though Wilhelm is not reading the online comments like Simon, and the attacks are less personal and vicious. Seeing Simon read through everything was so painful, I just wanted to go kick the ass of everyone who dared be a bully so this lil' muffin.

Gosh the third years are over the top: "three years here and we get nothing", just because they can't have a proper graduation and all the parties and stupid stuff they wanted to do before graduating? I guess that it's frustrating but compared to the real issues that are being raised about the school, it sounds very very superficial... August is way more reasonable than Vincent about it: the issue is not that they won't have a graduation (even if they don't have the party, they will still graduate high school) but that the school might close, thus sending them all to other schools before the end of the term. Vincent is an idiot.

"Why can't she call me?". Episode 2 and Wilhelm is already heartbroken because of his mother.

Farima doesn't believe Wilhelm about his initiation, look at her face! But it strikes me that her main concern if he did go through this awful initiation is that it would look bad for the Royal Court to keep him here, and not at all about his well being and how traumatizing it would have been!! The adults in this show are the worst... And nobody cares about Wilhelm (except Simon) 💔

"He's such an attention whore". Another ass that needs to be kicked!! How dare they talk about him like that?

Simon keeps being bullied and Wilhelm pressured: if they close the school, it'll be his fault. Why is everyone so mean and terrible to them?

The Felice interview makes me so mad!! And it reminds me of the interaction between August, Simon and Wilhelm back in season 1 when August tells them how nice it is that rowing bring students together, with no regard for their ethnicity, background, etc. Which made Simon super mad too. I love the switch from Felice in the office with her strained smile to her angrily throwing punches during gym class. Excellent cinematic!

Micke and Sara: I'm still so surprised to see him act so well.

This freaking blonde girl from the choir: I hate her 😡 She was the one slut shaming Felice in season 2. Now she's complaining about the point of training for a song if they're not sure they'll be performing. You're annoying and mean. I don't like you 😤

But Simon's face when Wilhelm joins the choir 💜💜

I love this little scene so much: they are just so cute and in love. Like you can feel how much they love each other: they're literally glued together, kissing and then just keeping their faces so so close to each other while talking. It just feels so true to life, when you love someone so much that you just want to stay as close as you can, just touching each other in any way you can, never letting go. Also I just love how Simon loves Wilhelm. How clingy he can be.

So the scene between Nils and August: we know that they were victims of this awful initiation but I'm realizing now that we don't know if they ended up being beaten up and made fun of because they got an erection? I've seen several posts of people discussing that August could be queer because he had a reaction to the porno (which I don't agree with, I don't think that it can be taken as an indicator of someone's sexual orientation). But we don't know if he had a reaction, do we? Or am I misunderstanding/missing something?

Wilhelm is so angry with August. Yeah his reaction in the library can be seen as a little over the top ("don't talk to him!") but I understand his anger. And okay, the way we go from the fight to both of them sitting silently in Boris' office is comedy gold :p I'm almost frustrated that the fight was so short though, I wanted Wilhelm to get some good punches in!! These mediation talks: I'm not sure how I feel about them. On one hand I get that the Court wants them to get along, but on the other, August did something truly awful and traumatizing to Wilhelm. So if he doesn't want to talk to him, to see him or to have anything to do with him anymore, well, it's his right! He shouldn't be forced to interact with him like that. Also I was a bit disappointed by Boris this season: he was so good during season 2 but I find him a bit underwhelming this season...

"I can be your revolution". Please can we get the song again in the last episode? The full version for a happy Wilmon who are a revolution together? Pretty please?

Simon giggling while reading the messages about his video is the cutest thing ever. And it's a tragedy that it was one of the only giggle we got from him this season 😫

Wilhelm is wearing a purple jumper when he listens to Simon's song. It's rare to see him wear purple, isn't it?

Linda still annoys me a bit this season. Like in this scene: no, don't ask your son, who's been betrayed so hard by his sister, to still care about her right now. He's angry at her, and rightfully so (I love love love that they let him be truly angry at her). She should understand that.

Rosh and Stella: yes please, I ship it! (Yeah I don't like Frederika so I'm all for a new potential love interest for Stella :p)

Also after 2 seasons where we regularly saw guys peeing outside, it's the girls' turn!! I don't know why but it made me laugh ^^

The conversation about their summer plans: this scene is so awkward!! And the tent scene that follows is just terrible 😭 Also hear me out: maybe unpopular opinion but I think Simon overreacted. Maybe from his point of view what Wilhelm is gonna do during summer is not working (because it's not the kind of job that him, Ayub and Rosh will have) but it's still working. Taking classes to become Prince/King is not gonna be a walk in the park, it's gonna be work for Wilhelm. It's terrible because I understand where Simon is coming from during their fight: telling Wilhelm that he never had to work to afford anything, that he's so incredibly privileged, it's so hard to be with someone who's from such a higher social status and be easily pissed off when they don't seem to realize it (what do you mean it sounds like I'm talking from experience.. 😅). Side eyeing Wilhelm hard with the shushing though. Don't talk to Simon like that >< (I would have stormed out if I had been Simon!) And yeah throwing the line about the settlement money was not nice (I've seen people being angry about it) but he's mad and got yelled at while he thought he was just trying to relate to and hang out with Simon's friends. So I understand throwing a mean comment there (I would have done the same 😣)

The "is it my fault?" breaks my heart. And so again: the crushing weight on Wilhelm's shoulders... His mother is unwell so he has to be strong, to be ready to take over, and on top of it, he has to keep it to himself.

Gosh season 3 is just things piling up on Wilhelm and Simon. Different things but still crushing them, slowly but surely...

[amyriadfthings]

[Have the whole interview]

The Projectionist

With Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, It’s All About Chemistry

After “Fleabag” and “Normal People” made them romantic idols, the two actors forge their own tender bond in “All of Us Strangers.”

“Have you seen the sausage ad?” Andrew Scott asked me.

“No, no, we’re not going to talk about that,” Paul Mescal said.

It was a mid-November morning in Los Angeles, and I was having breakfast with two actors who have created some of the most indelible romantic leads of recent vintage: Scott, 47, played the “Hot Priest” on the second season of “Fleabag,” while the 27-year-old Mescal broke through — and broke hearts — as the conflicted jock Connell in Hulu’s “Normal People.”

Now, instead of aiming those love beams at women, they’ll point them at each other in the drama “All of Us Strangers,” due Dec. 22 in theaters. It’s like an Avengers-level team-up, if the Avengers recruited exclusively from the ranks of sad-eyed Irish heartthrobs who caused a sensation over the 2019-20 television season.

But before we could talk about their sexy, shattering new movie, Scott gently ribbed his co-star about an ad for an Irish sausage brand, Denny, that Mescal had starred in just out of drama school. (Though the rest of the world was introduced to Mescal in “Normal People,” Ireland already knew him from the ubiquitous sausage commercial.)

“Look, I needed that job in a massive way,” Mescal said. “That paid my rent for the rest of the year. But if I could take it back …”

“Ah, no, it’s lovely you have that!” Scott said. “I actually thought the character you created in the sausage ad was …”

“… career defining?” Mescal offered.

“It made me want a sausage!” Scott said a little too eagerly, causing both men to laugh. “Easy, folks, that’s too easy a joke,” Mescal said.

Scott and Mescal’s teasing, affectionate chemistry is put to excellent use in “All of Us Strangers,” directed by Andrew Haigh (“Weekend,” “45 Years”). Scott stars as Adam, a lonely writer who finds that his childhood home has become a mysterious portal that allows him to reconnect with his long-dead parents (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell). At the same time as Adam grapples with this past made manifestly present, he navigates an uncertain but tantalizing future with his neighbor Harry (Mescal), with whom he develops an intense romantic bond.

Over breakfast, we discussed the movie, which recently took the top prize at the British Independent Film Awards in addition to wins for directing, writing and Mescal’s supporting performance. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.

Andrew, you were attached to this movie first. How did you feel when Paul was cast?

SCOTT I was really thrilled because I was hoping that people would be able to see how cinematic and brilliant that role is.

MESCAL It never occurred to me that people wouldn’t be interested in it.

SCOTT Well, the character is such a vessel for love. To be able to play love, it’s something that you have to just know how to embody, and Paul is so excellent about being able to allow the audience in. When I heard he was interested, I was saying to Andrew, “Make that happen!”

MESCAL Even if I didn’t like the script or Andrew Haigh as much as I do, and I knew Andrew [Scott] was going to be doing the film, I still would have done the film.

SCOTT Would you?

MESCAL A hundred percent. And I know that probably sounds sycophantic, but when I was reading it and imagining you’d do it, I thought, “This is built for an actor of your caliber.” There’s lots of brilliant dramatic actors in the world, but what I think separates Andrew is his capacity to understand the dramatic requirements of a scene but also to play utterly against it. He finds humor in subject matter like this, which is really quite heavy, and if you can make an audience laugh, you’re halfway to making them cry.

This is a very tactile movie, too.

SCOTT There’s so much touching, whether that’s familial touching or a more sensual thing. People have talked an awful lot about the chemistry and the sex between our characters, but actually what I think is really radical and affecting about the relationship is how affectionate and tender they are with each other. It’s such a beautiful thing to play, isn’t it? Just real care.

MESCAL I find it healing to watch that kind of emotional intimacy. I remember being surprised when we watched it for the first time, because I didn’t remember being so close to your face when we were talking, how we were totally taking each other in. There’s a weird thing that I don’t think you can cheat: You know how when somebody you love is talking to you, and you look at their lips? It’s like, Jesus, I can’t remember doing that.

Andrew, you’ve said before that acting is a matter of revealing. What’s being revealed about you by taking on this role?

SCOTT I think an awful lot, if I’m honest. I’m happy to be able to say that to be emancipated from shame has been genuinely the biggest achievement of my life. For a long time, I have felt very comfortable with myself, but it doesn’t take much to go back there — something a taxi driver can say can still wound you. If he might say, “You’ve got a wife?” You could go, “No, I don’t,” or is that sort of a lie by omission? I think the challenge was to undo the work and go to that place where you feel frightened.

How were you able to emancipate yourself from shame?

SCOTT I genuinely think that acting helped me. When I was a kid, I started doing elocution lessons because I had a really bad lisp. “She sells seashells,” I had to say that 17 times a day. So they sent me to elocution, which was boring, but eventually it was speech and drama classes. I was so shy and terrified, but then someone would say, “Get up and do an improvisation,” and some part of me felt …

MESCAL … free?

SCOTT Free, and I loved it. And then I practiced it a little bit more and then started doing it as a job. When I was 18 or 19, I was playing gay parts but I wasn’t out. A lot of people within the industry were queer, so I was surrounded by them and then, bit by bit, started to feel confident. To make something like [“All of Us Strangers”], it moves me, because I never thought that I’d get a chance to expose myself so much in a film like this or for it to be in such a trusting environment with such brilliant colleagues.

And do you rush headlong into the chance to expose yourself like that?

SCOTT I do. It’s my responsibility. The further I go into acting, I think that’s all it is, actually.

In the first scene you share, Paul’s character is boldly trying to flirt his way into Andrew’s apartment. Paul, it’s a kick to see you play a man so assertive and sure of what he wants.

MESCAL I was just so giddy because I don’t think I’ve got many opportunities to play somebody like that. It reminded me of characters I would have played in drama school — a lot more front-footed, a little bit bolder. Part of it was surprising an audience that might associate me with more interior, back-footed characters that I’ve played.

SCOTT I remember so clearly you saying the line, “There’s vampires at my door.” That line could seem completely preposterous and it’s a hard sell, but it’s unique, right? I’m obsessed with writing that has a real autograph about it.

MESCAL ChatGPT wouldn’t come up with that.

SCOTT Exactly. And human beings have an extraordinary way of expressing themselves. I feel the same way when people talk about big acting.

MESCAL I love big acting.

SCOTT Some people do that kind of polite, nobody-will-notice-me acting, and sometimes it can be a little dull.

MESCAL You’re looking for an opportunity to play something truthfully, but also if that truth can be a bigger, more fractious choice, maybe that could be fun.

What’s the biggest acting you’ve ever done?

SCOTT Oh my God. Pick a card, any card. I did a play called “Present Laughter” by Noël Coward, about a guy who’s an over-the-top actor. It was kind of a farce, and I’m obsessed with farce.

MESCAL I am so jealous of people who can do farce, I don’t know where I would start.

SCOTT It’s all about timing the slam of the door, and there’s no greater feeling than when you’re talking to the other actor and you are waiting for the audience to stop laughing. You’d love it because it’s so physical as well.

MESCAL I’m just a bit scared of comedy because I didn’t do a lot of it in drama school. Don’t think [I’ve got] a particularly funny disposition.

SCOTT Are you out of your mind? I’m going to have a little think now.

MESCAL I’d love to do a rom-com.

SCOTT I think you’d be very good at playing some sort of neurotic.

MESCAL Really?

SCOTT Yeah. I love those kinds of characters that don’t have a sense of humor.

MESCAL No sense of humor. Great. I can do that, I can do that easily. [Laughs.]

With “Normal People” and “Fleabag,” where you played romantic leads, how did you handle the intensity of the audience imprinting on you?

MESCAL I remember the first couple of months of that happening, I was like, “Jesus, what can I do?” And the answer is actually nothing. There’s nothing you can do about it if somebody wants to imprint or project onto you.

SCOTT That was all during the pandemic, wasn’t it?

MESCAL Yeah, yeah.

Was it better or worse that you were in your house for most of it?

MESCAL Much, much better. Even doing junkets when “Normal People” came out, I was really glad to do it within the confines of my own home. I could put the laptop down and nobody knew where I was.

Andrew, you weren’t trapped at home when “Fleabag” came out. Could you tell something had changed in the way people perceived you?

SCOTT It already happened a little bit when I did “Sherlock” [playing Moriarty] because that really does have a fandom. There were like a thousand people that would come to set, it was absolutely insane.

MESCAL Jesus.

SCOTT So “Fleabag" was completely different in that sense. It didn’t have the same frenzy.

Maybe not as you were filming it, but there was definitely a passionate fandom once it was released.

SCOTT There was, but I really enjoyed that because I love the show. I’m so proud of it and I loved that part, so I liked that it really affected people so much.

MESCAL Still! I watch it once a year.

Paul, you even dressed as the hot priest for Halloween.

MESCAL I did. That went down a bit of a storm.

When you have a breakthrough project like those two series, and you’re seen differently in this business afterward, is it hard not to get swept up by all the offers that come your way?

MESCAL I know what I like. I don’t have the confidence in myself as an actor to do something that isn’t good. I don’t think I can pull the wool over people’s eyes with bells and whistles in terms of performance, and I’m actually glad I can’t do that.

SCOTT But is it weird when you are in L.A. now? I opened up my curtains this morning, and there you are.

MESCAL Yeah, my Gucci billboard.

SCOTT That’s insane.

MESCAL It is bananas. Yeah, I’m really proud of that, but I’m also acutely aware the only reason that’s happening is because people are enjoying the work that I’m doing. It can all disappear, like that.

Paul, you’re currently working on Ridley Scott’s sequel to “Gladiator.” I’m sure you’ve been pursued for a lot of blockbusters, so what made you choose this one?

MESCAL I love the first film and I think Ridley is an all-time great, so that was a no-brainer to me. I don’t really have a desire to make lots of big films in my life, but if this was the only big film I was ever to make, I would put my name into the mix anywhere for that. I’m having a great time doing it, but I also think there’s an obligation to understand that I don’t want an audience to get bored of me, or expect me to do the big indie film every year or two, because they’re really hard to get right.

Which is hard to get right, the big film or the indie?

MESCAL A film like “All of Us Strangers” or “Aftersun.” I’ve been incredibly lucky that those scripts came across my desk because there’s lots of other indies that are really well intentioned that don’t reach an audience. Also, it’s hard to go to the emotional well year after year with stuff like this, so I don’t want an audience to get bored of my choices or expect that I’m going to do that.

SCOTT Do you remember you got the “Gladiator” call when we were on the set of “All of Us Strangers”? You were so excited. I think I was even more excited, but you were so lit up about it. I think one of the fun things about being an actor that’s open to you is that you can do whatever you really want.

MESCAL That’s what makes you tick, to go from scenes like we get to play in “All of Us Strangers” to then doing stuff where you’re running around in an arena. If I was to boil down why I love this job, it’s that you get to go to work and pretend all day long but the thing that you would imagine as a child is actually actualized.

SCOTT Have there been any moments in “Gladiator” where you’re like, “This is amazing”?

MESCAL The first day was just bananas. There was camels and thousands of extras. Two close-ups on me. A close-up on the action. And you’re just like, “I’ve got to fake this till I make it.” Wild. Wild. Wild.

SCOTT Yeah, it’s playing. It really is. You’re required to play a part, you’re not required to work a part.

It’s heartening to hear you both describe acting as play or pretend. You talk about it in such joyful terms, but some of the other leading men I’ve spoken to will …

MESCAL … fetishize the pain.

SCOTT It embarrasses them.

MESCAL It’s important to say that “pretend” doesn’t make it any less emotional or difficult to do, but I think it actually gives you a greater range of possibility in a scene. That’s not to say there weren’t days on [“All of Us Strangers”] that felt like some sort of psychological torture.

SCOTT Absolutely.

MESCAL But the act of making it? It can’t be that, because then it just becomes about “How hard can I grip this table? How much pain can I put myself through in order to talk about it to the press?”

SCOTT I think of it sometimes like you invited somebody around for dinner and you said, “I could not find any organic chicken in the market, it was an absolute nightmare. Then I had to hoover the place from top to bottom.” And they’re just like, “Give me a glass of wine. I don’t want to hear about what you did, I’m just here for dinner.”

MESCAL Yeah, that’s spot on.

SCOTT What you need to do is have the generosity to get the chicken out.

MESCAL Organic or not.

Kyle Buchanan is a pop culture reporter and serves as The Projectionist, the awards season columnist for The Times. He is the author of “Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road.” More about Kyle Buchanan

A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 7, 2023, Section C, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Two Hearts Beating As One. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

[politemenacephd]

Question: So, if Miguel knows spider!reader in Arachnophilia, and spider!mig is mentioned in AFM, does reader know her own spider variant (personally or from Miguel/other spiders mentioning them) ??

I love both stories, and obvi the idea of Miguel & Reader being tied in several universes, but I was just curious on the idea of reader knowing.

oh im SO GLAD I get to talk about this THANK YOU SM cos its been on my mind for days!! I will use this chance to actually drop the dante fic cinematic universe timeline, which is: easing tensions - arachnophilia - a fortunate mistake - a fortunate mistake II There's certain things I gotta keep vague because I know how arachnophilia ends (and how it might tie into AFM II) and I don't want to spoil, but I'll talk about a bit because I'm rabid rn.

I wanna add for the sake of my lore on multiverse stuff, Miguel's who are turned into Spider-men are quite rare? I think this gets mentioned in AFM but Miguel's in general are rare, Spider Miguel's even more so. I took him saying Gabi's universe was the one where he was happy to heart, along with the fact we see zero variants of him in the society. That shit was always the most interesting thing to flesh out. I also don't know if I've ever talked about nena's multiverse story properly either, but its pretty tragic. She largely only exists in universes where Miguels' exist, and in all the ones where she comes into contact with him she dies. Our Miguel's universe is the only one where she doesn't, and Miguel blames this inititally on his canon but, as we know, canon isn't real, in reality it's because our Miguel was the only one with multi-verse experiences that humbled his apathy and violent tendencies. It's sort of like how meeting Miles put Peter B. on a better course, Peter's influence on Miguel is something no other Miguel had and it changed him in a way that made him capable of growing. Vig is the only other one we've met and it's obviously implied he was a poor partner who became a good dad after nena's death. Nena is like, universal collatoral damage, and it's only in the universe where she wasn't 'meant' to love him that she got to be loved. It's fucked up and she deserved better fr.

BUT I will say, to actually answer the question (sorry lol) the reader in arachnophilia is actually not a variant of the reader from AFM. I am sticking with the rule that AFM reader is never a spider, because its important later hehe.

BUT! But this makes Spider!Mig and readers relationship equally interesting to me anyway. I am a sucker for starcrossed lovers, excellent trope, and while it was meant to be a one-off I wanna use it to explore the idea of fully abandoning ones canon and exploring a relationship beyond the bounds of ones universe. I will be going more into Spider!Migs backstory for this, but I think the films never properly addressed the potential dangers/tragedy of love between people from different universes. I used it a bit with OG Miguel with my explanation for what happened with Gabi, E.g him trying to combine their universes, but this is especially spicy. So, again, actual question (I'm so sorry I swear this is all I think about, rip my PhD) as of AFM II reader also doesn't know about Miguel's variants beyond Vig, YET. Miguel is aware of Spider!Mig and reader as of AFM, and if you go back you can see a lot of his mindset in there, especially when he talks about not wanting kids because of his genetic mess and feeling like he's too dangerous.

Miguel as a character is great, I can't say that enough, he's harboring so much self loathing and unaddressed trauma that while he wants to do the right thing he imposes very strict rules that always end in hypocricy. In the same way I think he's awful to Miles because he see's Miles making the same mistake he did (e.g destroying the universe for a loved one) and a lot of his violence is like, imposed, he's awful to his variants because he knows he's fucked up his own moral compass and takes it out on them.

But yes Miguel knows where they are, he has not told reader though, but I do want to have them cross paths.

[yuukei-yikes]

It’s me back in the ask box again for another super important question:

What “cringe” fandoms would the mekadan have been into as kids. Like we know Marry was a black butler girlie but I need to know the rest. Who was deeply invested in the fnaf lore, who was cosplaying as homestuck trolls, who was shipping creepypastas. I am desperate for answers only you can provide.

EXCELENT question. i ADORE this question.

ayano is into homestuck. used to role play warrior cats. loves the marvel cinematic universe, and just any superhero comic book stuff in general. canonically into jojo.

kido's is BANDS. specifically bands considered emo back in 2013 or something. my chemical romance. blink 189. black veil brides. that was their shit. also im sorry but they were a superwholock. sorryyyyyy i also think they'd be into medical dramas like grey's anatomy and dr house LMAO

i dont think seto did or does fandoms. i think seto goes outside too much. he's the only one who has no idea what being in a fandom is like, also the least online definitely (I'll get to mary)

kano would be into youtubers/celebrities. he's so into celebrity gossip it's impossible to talk to him he knows of names youve never even heard of.

like u said mary is a black butler girlie but i guess she could like other mangas... i also think she'd watch medical dramas with kido. BUT she doesnt internet so she has no idea about any of it she just lore dumps everyone instead about any book she's reading. she finds out black butler is actually animated and forces everyone to sit down and watch it with her

momo was the one shipping creepypastas btw. i also think she's a sims girlie she's obsessed with its lore and loves making ocs in there and ends up obsessed with her own sims families (commissions haruka a bunch)

shintaro is into magical girls animes. like any of them. but i also think he'd like some popular cartoons like steven universe LOLLL he was probably furiously defending pearl online. also i think he used to make youtube poops and sparta remixes when he was like 14

haruka and takane are the fnaf lore guys especially haruka i seriously think he arrives to school one day after he stayed up all night watching fnaf lore videos and told takane all about it. they're the ones lining up for the movie rn. they also probably roleplayed undertale together in highschool. also i think takane likes analog horror which is horrible for haruka bc i think he hates horror but he's also weirdly fascinated by it so he's watching through his fingers anything takane puts on lol. they tend to share their fandoms especially in hs because haruka was furiously googling anything takane mentioned to have conversation topics with her

hiyori's obviously into idols. i think like kido she loves bands too but she's from the directioner bts stan vibes. and hibiya i LOVE to make jokes abt him being into whatever 12 year olds are into (fortnite, among us, fnaf) and seriously i do love that and i think gamer hibiya is possible with the power of him making the effort to learn to use his phone and the internet bc all his friends live far away and in the process learns abt all that. but before that he was like seto he has no idea what it feels like to be in a fandom and cannot understand hiyori's visions. he's still not SUPER online though

i loved this question. more questions like this i beg

[denimbex1986]

'“Have you seen the sausage ad?” Andrew Scott asked me.

“No, no, we’re not going to talk about that,” Paul Mescal said.

It was a mid-November morning in Los Angeles, and I was having breakfast with two actors who have created some of the most indelible romantic leads of recent vintage: Scott, 47, played the “Hot Priest” on the second season of “Fleabag,” while the 27-year-old Mescal broke through — and broke hearts — as the conflicted jock Connell in Hulu’s “Normal People.”

Now, instead of aiming those love beams at women, they’ll point them at each other in the drama “All of Us Strangers,” due Dec. 22 in theaters. It’s like an Avengers-level team-up, if the Avengers recruited exclusively from the ranks of sad-eyed Irish heartthrobs who caused a sensation over the 2019-20 television season.

But before we could talk about their sexy, shattering new movie, Scott gently ribbed his co-star about an ad for an Irish sausage brand, Denny, that Mescal had starred in just out of drama school. (Though the rest of the world was introduced to Mescal in “Normal People,” Ireland already knew him from the ubiquitous sausage commercial.)

“Look, I needed that job in a massive way,” Mescal said. “That paid my rent for the rest of the year. But if I could take it back …”

“Ah, no, it’s lovely you have that!” Scott said. “I actually thought the character you created in the sausage ad was …”

“… career defining?” Mescal offered.

“It made me want a sausage!” Scott said a little too eagerly, causing both men to laugh. “Easy, folks, that’s too easy a joke,” Mescal said.

Scott and Mescal’s teasing, affectionate chemistry is put to excellent use in “All of Us Strangers,” directed by Andrew Haigh (“Weekend,” “45 Years”). Scott stars as Adam, a lonely writer who finds that his childhood home has become a mysterious portal that allows him to reconnect with his long-dead parents (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell). At the same time as Adam grapples with this past made manifestly present, he navigates an uncertain but tantalizing future with his neighbor Harry (Mescal), with whom he develops an intense romantic bond.

Over breakfast, we discussed the movie, which recently took the top prize at the British Independent Film Awards in addition to wins for directing, writing and Mescal’s supporting performance. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.

Andrew, you were attached to this movie first. How did you feel when Paul was cast?

SCOTT I was really thrilled because I was hoping that people would be able to see how cinematic and brilliant that role is.

MESCAL It never occurred to me that people wouldn’t be interested in it.

SCOTT Well, the character is such a vessel for love. To be able to play love, it’s something that you have to just know how to embody, and Paul is so excellent about being able to allow the audience in. When I heard he was interested, I was saying to Andrew, “Make that happen!”

MESCAL Even if I didn’t like the script or Andrew Haigh as much as I do, and I knew Andrew [Scott] was going to be doing the film, I still would have done the film.

SCOTT Would you?

MESCAL A hundred percent. And I know that probably sounds sycophantic, but when I was reading it and imagining you’d do it, I thought, “This is built for an actor of your caliber.” There’s lots of brilliant dramatic actors in the world, but what I think separates Andrew is his capacity to understand the dramatic requirements of a scene but also to play utterly against it. He finds humor in subject matter like this, which is really quite heavy, and if you can make an audience laugh, you’re halfway to making them cry.

This is a very tactile movie, too.

SCOTT There’s so much touching, whether that’s familial touching or a more sensual thing. People have talked an awful lot about the chemistry and the sex between our characters, but actually what I think is really radical and affecting about the relationship is how affectionate and tender they are with each other. It’s such a beautiful thing to play, isn’t it? Just real care.

MESCAL I find it healing to watch that kind of emotional intimacy. I remember being surprised when we watched it for the first time, because I didn’t remember being so close to your face when we were talking, how we were totally taking each other in. There’s a weird thing that I don’t think you can cheat: You know how when somebody you love is talking to you, and you look at their lips? It’s like, Jesus, I can’t remember doing that.

Andrew, you’ve said before that acting is a matter of revealing. What’s being revealed about you by taking on this role?

SCOTT I think an awful lot, if I’m honest. I’m happy to be able to say that to be emancipated from shame has been genuinely the biggest achievement of my life. For a long time, I have felt very comfortable with myself, but it doesn’t take much to go back there — something a taxi driver can say can still wound you. If he might say, “You’ve got a wife?” You could go, “No, I don’t,” or is that sort of a lie by omission? I think the challenge was to undo the work and go to that place where you feel frightened.

How were you able to emancipate yourself from shame?

SCOTT I genuinely think that acting helped me. When I was a kid, I started doing elocution lessons because I had a really bad lisp. “She sells seashells,” I had to say that 17 times a day. So they sent me to elocution, which was boring, but eventually it was speech and drama classes. I was so shy and terrified, but then someone would say, “Get up and do an improvisation,” and some part of me felt …

MESCAL … free?

SCOTT Free, and I loved it. And then I practiced it a little bit more and then started doing it as a job. When I was 18 or 19, I was playing gay parts but I wasn’t out. A lot of people within the industry were queer, so I was surrounded by them and then, bit by bit, started to feel confident. To make something like [“All of Us Strangers”], it moves me, because I never thought that I’d get a chance to expose myself so much in a film like this or for it to be in such a trusting environment with such brilliant colleagues.

And do you rush headlong into the chance to expose yourself like that?

SCOTT I do. It’s my responsibility. The further I go into acting, I think that’s all it is, actually.

In the first scene you share, Paul’s character is boldly trying to flirt his way into Andrew’s apartment. Paul, it’s a kick to see you play a man so assertive and sure of what he wants.

MESCAL I was just so giddy because I don’t think I’ve got many opportunities to play somebody like that. It reminded me of characters I would have played in drama school — a lot more front-footed, a little bit bolder. Part of it was surprising an audience that might associate me with more interior, back-footed characters that I’ve played.

SCOTT I remember so clearly you saying the line, “There’s vampires at my door.” That line could seem completely preposterous and it’s a hard sell, but it’s unique, right? I’m obsessed with writing that has a real autograph about it.

MESCAL ChatGPT wouldn’t come up with that.

SCOTT Exactly. And human beings have an extraordinary way of expressing themselves. I feel the same way when people talk about big acting.

MESCAL I love big acting.

SCOTT Some people do that kind of polite, nobody-will-notice-me acting, and sometimes it can be a little dull.

MESCAL You’re looking for an opportunity to play something truthfully, but also if that truth can be a bigger, more fractious choice, maybe that could be fun.

What’s the biggest acting you’ve ever done?

SCOTT Oh my God. Pick a card, any card. I did a play called “Present Laughter” by Noël Coward, about a guy who’s an over-the-top actor. It was kind of a farce, and I’m obsessed with farce.

MESCAL I am so jealous of people who can do farce, I don’t know where I would start.

SCOTT It’s all about timing the slam of the door, and there’s no greater feeling than when you’re talking to the other actor and you are waiting for the audience to stop laughing. You’d love it because it’s so physical as well.

MESCAL I’m just a bit scared of comedy because I didn’t do a lot of it in drama school. Don’t think [I’ve got] a particularly funny disposition.

SCOTT Are you out of your mind? I’m going to have a little think now.

MESCAL I’d love to do a rom-com.

SCOTT I think you’d be very good at playing some sort of neurotic.

MESCAL Really?

SCOTT Yeah. I love those kinds of characters that don’t have a sense of humor.

MESCAL No sense of humor. Great. I can do that, I can do that easily. [Laughs.]

With “Normal People” and “Fleabag,” where you played romantic leads, how did you handle the intensity of the audience imprinting on you?

MESCAL I remember the first couple of months of that happening, I was like, “Jesus, what can I do?” And the answer is actually nothing. There’s nothing you can do about it if somebody wants to imprint or project onto you.

SCOTT That was all during the pandemic, wasn’t it?

MESCAL Yeah, yeah.

Was it better or worse that you were in your house for most of it?

MESCAL Much, much better. Even doing junkets when “Normal People” came out, I was really glad to do it within the confines of my own home. I could put the laptop down and nobody knew where I was.

Andrew, you weren’t trapped at home when “Fleabag” came out. Could you tell something had changed in the way people perceived you?

SCOTT It already happened a little bit when I did “Sherlock” [playing Moriarty] because that really does have a fandom. There were like a thousand people that would come to set, it was absolutely insane.

MESCAL Jesus.

SCOTT So “Fleabag" was completely different in that sense. It didn’t have the same frenzy.

Maybe not as you were filming it, but there was definitely a passionate fandom once it was released.

SCOTT There was, but I really enjoyed that because I love the show. I’m so proud of it and I loved that part, so I liked that it really affected people so much.

MESCAL Still! I watch it once a year.

Paul, you even dressed as the hot priest for Halloween.

MESCAL I did. That went down a bit of a storm.

When you have a breakthrough project like those two series, and you’re seen differently in this business afterward, is it hard not to get swept up by all the offers that come your way?

MESCAL I know what I like. I don’t have the confidence in myself as an actor to do something that isn’t good. I don’t think I can pull the wool over people’s eyes with bells and whistles in terms of performance, and I’m actually glad I can’t do that.

SCOTT But is it weird when you are in L.A. now? I opened up my curtains this morning, and there you are.

MESCAL Yeah, my Gucci billboard.

SCOTT That’s insane.

MESCAL It is bananas. Yeah, I’m really proud of that, but I’m also acutely aware the only reason that’s happening is because people are enjoying the work that I’m doing. It can all disappear, like that.

Paul, you’re currently working on Ridley Scott’s sequel to “Gladiator.” I’m sure you’ve been pursued for a lot of blockbusters, so what made you choose this one?

MESCAL I love the first film and I think Ridley is an all-time great, so that was a no-brainer to me. I don’t really have a desire to make lots of big films in my life, but if this was the only big film I was ever to make, I would put my name into the mix anywhere for that. I’m having a great time doing it, but I also think there’s an obligation to understand that I don’t want an audience to get bored of me, or expect me to do the big indie film every year or two, because they’re really hard to get right.

Which is hard to get right, the big film or the indie?

MESCAL A film like “All of Us Strangers” or “Aftersun.” I’ve been incredibly lucky that those scripts came across my desk because there’s lots of other indies that are really well intentioned that don’t reach an audience. Also, it’s hard to go to the emotional well year after year with stuff like this, so I don’t want an audience to get bored of my choices or expect that I’m going to do that.

SCOTT Do you remember you got the “Gladiator” call when we were on the set of “All of Us Strangers”? You were so excited. I think I was even more excited, but you were so lit up about it. I think one of the fun things about being an actor that’s open to you is that you can do whatever you really want.

MESCAL That’s what makes you tick, to go from scenes like we get to play in “All of Us Strangers” to then doing stuff where you’re running around in an arena. If I was to boil down why I love this job, it’s that you get to go to work and pretend all day long but the thing that you would imagine as a child is actually actualized.

SCOTT Have there been any moments in “Gladiator” where you’re like, “This is amazing”?

MESCAL The first day was just bananas. There was camels and thousands of extras. Two close-ups on me. A close-up on the action. And you’re just like, “I’ve got to fake this till I make it.” Wild. Wild. Wild.

SCOTT Yeah, it’s playing. It really is. You’re required to play a part, you’re not required to work a part.

It’s heartening to hear you both describe acting as play or pretend. You talk about it in such joyful terms, but some of the other leading men I’ve spoken to will …

MESCAL … fetishize the pain.

SCOTT It embarrasses them.

MESCAL It’s important to say that “pretend” doesn’t make it any less emotional or difficult to do, but I think it actually gives you a greater range of possibility in a scene. That’s not to say there weren’t days on [“All of Us Strangers”] that felt like some sort of psychological torture.

SCOTT Absolutely.

MESCAL But the act of making it? It can’t be that, because then it just becomes about “How hard can I grip this table? How much pain can I put myself through in order to talk about it to the press?”

SCOTT I think of it sometimes like you invited somebody around for dinner and you said, “I could not find any organic chicken in the market, it was an absolute nightmare. Then I had to hoover the place from top to bottom.” And they’re just like, “Give me a glass of wine. I don’t want to hear about what you did, I’m just here for dinner.”

MESCAL Yeah, that’s spot on.

SCOTT What you need to do is have the generosity to get the chicken out.

MESCAL Organic or not.'

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group L Round 3: #L5 vs #L6

#L5: Underground boxer loves vampire doctor (BL)

#L6: Three girls and their (not) girly talk

Details and poll under the cut!

#L5: Mignon

[Note on video: Lots of blood. Slight NSFW at the end. Turn on CC for English subs.]

Summary:

After losing his parents at a young age, Mignon lives as a mechanic by day and a cage fighter by night at an illegal arena. Living a life of exploitation and violence, the only person who gives him any attention is Oh Young-One, the resident doctor at the arena.

Despite accidentally discovering Young-One’s true identity, Mignon continues to love him, and it’s this pure kind of love that lets Young-One slowly open his heart. But when the hellish reality surrounding Mignon starts threatening the stability of Young-One’s life, can these two ever find happiness?

Propaganda:

Mignon is an independently-made BL aeni (Korean anime). There are only 12 episodes, and each is around 5 minutes long, except for the last one which is at around 8 minutes. Watching everything is like watching a short film, and not just because of the length, but also because of its quality.

The story is really short, so much so that we don’t get to see how Mignon and Young-One develop feelings for each other (It’s easy to guess why though). We’re thrusted right into the turning point of their relationship, with episode 1 ending with a shocking revelation that immediately propels you into the rest of the story. And by “shocking,” I don’t mean it was unexpected. It’s shocking in a way that its execution ingeniously builds up the tension before exploding right in your face. 

The plot is nothing new in the yaoi genre, but Mignon makes up for this by delivering each aspect to perfection. The colors are purposeful, setting the tone of each scene while also telling us the significance of the place—loud, vibrant colors for the noisy arena, calm whites in the clinic where Mignon finds solace in Young-One, drab blues and greys in Young-One’s apartment where he’s lived alone for years, etc. Seriously, the backgrounds look like stand-alone paintings.

And oh, don’t get me started on the scene direction/arrangement. Every episode is impactful and unforgettable despite being very short. Episode 10, especially, is a cinematic masterpiece. Lastly, the music. There’s a lot of 80s synth-pop vibes that just work so well for it.

Mignon is really the kind of show you can call “art.” It’s a passion project by one person, and it took them three years to complete. You can just see how much thought is put into it. It’s not rushed at all, unlike a lot of weekly anime nowadays that would sacrifice the quality on unimportant scenes. And just for that, I think it’s worth checking out. 

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Physical Abuse, Gambling

NSFW Warning: Tongue kissing and some explicit sex scenes. The parts are pixelated, but it doesn’t really leave much to the imagination.

#L6: Please tell me! Galko-chan (Oshiete! Galko-chan)

Summary:

At first glance, Galko, Otako, and Ojou are three high school girls who seem like they wouldn’t have anything to do with each other. Galko is a social butterfly with a reputation for being a party animal, even though she is actually innocent and good-hearted despite her appearance. Otako is a plain-looking girl with a sarcastic personality and a rabid love of manga. And Ojou is a wealthy young lady with excellent social graces, though she can be a bit absent-minded at times. Despite their differences, the three are best friends, and together they love to talk about various myths and ask candid questions about the female body.

Propaganda:

Galko-chan is a short anime about 3 girl-friends, each representing a trope (the gyaru, the nerd and the lady) being friends despite their differences.

The episode generally kicks off with a taboo question—nothing’s really deep, but it works as a way to just deconstruct prejudices. Girls of all types and non types are welcome, it’s heartwarming.

Trigger Warnings: Gender Identity/Sexuality Discrimination. Galko is a gyaru, and it’s implied how she’s seen as a “slut”. But deconstructing these tropes are what the anime is all about.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[just-1other-nerd]

I think we as a fandom don't talk enough about the fact that the added "Who's the traitor" drama in episode 3 was a nice change.

When the episode started and Percy got the prophecy and learned about the traitor part, you could see that bit was bothering him. Naturally, a friend betraying him isn't understandable for someone who's fatal flaw is loyalty and it was great to see Percy trying to wrap his mind around that concept. (Top performance from Walker in this scene)

I kinda disliked how they dealt with this in the book by brushing it off as "Prophecies often aren't what they seem and their cryptic nature just the way it is, better not to thing about it too much". It took the weight from that potential danger.

In they show they then proceeded to make Percy choose Annabeth even though their relationship is very cold at this point but she is in fact very competent. And as it later turns out, Percy calculated the prophecy into his decision because he never thought they'd get along, thus she can't be a friend who betrays him. This is a smart choice on Percy's account, even though he's eventually proven wrong because they become friends.

And then there's Grover. When Percy goes to him to tell him his decision, it is framed by cinematic tricks as if Percy suspects Grover to be the traitor which is smart from a filmmaking perspective because this way they make him suspicious to the viewer and he would make a great mislead. It also would make sense that Percy would think this way because Grover already betrayed him when he got him kicked out of school and this way he'll see it coming. But then of course this turns out not to be true as well, in fact Percy had fully trusted Grover, even so much that he thinks he's the one person who'll never betray him.

And that once again made sense for Percy's character since paranoia isn't in Mr Loyalty's blood, he can't be walking around suspicious of everyone so he makes the choices that make him feel secure.

I think that the resulting drama of this conflict was so good for multiple reasons. This way the characters have to overcome internal and external struggles to be able to work together as a team and that makes their teamwork feel more earned. Their relationships become stronger by overcoming that conflict: Percy knows more about Grover's and Annabeth's backstories now and can understand them better, Grover knows that his best friend doesn't blame him anymore and trusts him and his abitity to do the job and the thing that stood between Annabeth and Percy is out of the way now, Percy and Annabeth are truthful about the offers Medusa and Alecto proposed towards them and show where their loyalty lies. The drama was also engaging to watch even if you know who's the traitor. I asked myself questions like how will this effect them, will they be able to move on? Credit to the writers for those excellent character dynamics and dialogue bits and to the actors for those stellar performances.

The changes make it so that the prophecy directly influences Percy and his relationships in the series and I really liked that especially compared to the book where a Damocle's sword of betrayal was hanging over his head and he just acted like it was almost nothing.

[fandom-geek]

finished ostagar and lothering last time, so time for my second round of re-playthrough thoughts

the cinematics continue to be excellent, and you can really see the (at the time) recent lotr inspiration with how the battle goes down. kinda weird that the mages weren't ordered to attack alongside the archers, though. rip cailan, duncan, et al., i hardly knew ye.

it's interesting to think that (as per the wiki) that cailan knew that alistair was his brother. for all his talk of riding off into glorious battle, he still chose to give alistair what should've been a remarkably safe task. given cailan's character, i'm fairly sure it's motivated by a fairly straightforward "protect my little brother" desire, but it's interesting nonetheless

gameplay wise, i had completely forgotten that you unlock more tactics slots as you level up. it was annoying at first, but the more i think about it, the more it's a bit ingenious. it means that you have to get to grips with micromanaging your party in combat before you can just rely on the ai to take control of them successfully, in a bit of a reverse difficulty swing. i actually quite like it.

da:o's politicking plot isn't exactly the most subtle or terribly complicated, but it's still very well written. admittedly i've seen, like, one cutscene from that side plot so far, namely the landsmeet cutscene after ostagar, but still. you get very immediate and clear impressions of almost everyone involved - bar anora, who is being remarkably silent but clearly respects teagan, and eamon, who is busy being comatose.

and another hit from the 'definitely 00s worldbuilding' - leliana and morrigan's banter immediately posits that, if morrigan isn't an andrastian, she must be an atheist in our sense of the word. despite, yknow, for all intents and purposes being chasind, who have their own animist beliefs and shamans. i know morrigan is far from an even remotely typical chasind (thanks to her ancient elven god mother), but it's still a very 00s choice of them.

speaking of her ancient elven god mother. i got that banter where morrigan talks about how flemeth would seduce chasind men, bring them back home to have sex with her, kill them, then tell morrigan this was also expected of her as an adult. flemeth is winning the worst mother of the age award by a country fucking mile and we haven't even touched on morrigan's "i'm fairly sure my mother is going to kill me and possess my body" thing yet. what the fuck, flemeth???

that said, i am also this close to putting alistair and morrigan in a get along shirt. i hadn't really considered it before, but they're both deeply sheltered young adults who... aren't exactly in a good state btwn the aforementioned childhood and alistair losing his newfound family. add in my poor cousland who's dealing with all of this, the potential loss of any justice for their family, the actual loss of their family, plus her concern abt whether fergus is even alive... it's the trauma trio alright. not that anyone in the party is particularly well adjusted except for wynne and maybe sten, if only by qunari standards. perhaps shale too

(all of alistair and morrigan's bickering also led me to rewatching alistair and morrigan's conversation in da:i and ok. bioware did nail that. it's so wonderful to see how they grow over the next decade, especially with kieran in the picture.)

speaking of companions - leliana! it is probably some more 00s worldbuilding that everyone's reaction to her saying she had a vision that the maker wants her to go with them is that she's out of her mind, but it's funny enough that it works. also helps that we are talking about two grey wardens who have been publicly accused of treason and regicide, and a chasind-looking apostate. like.... yeah, even if you believe in the maker, having a random sister help you shank some guys in the pub then tell you that is probably a bit hard to get behind. not that that'll ever stop me from recruiting her, lol.

i had, uh. kinda forgotten that sten was imprisoned for murdering an entire family, children included. the things you forget after a decade, huh? i haven't really engaged with him beyond that because i figured my warden was not dumb enough to bring the convicted murderer running around the town where he got convicted, so, uh, yeah. need to talk to him in camp and figure him out more.

aside from that, not much more to add. i had actually forgotten abt the quest boards, then i only remembered the chanter's board, so imagine my surprise when i see the blackstone irregulars too. not the nicest bunch, but it's good xp either way. i'm fairly sure there's at least one more faction offering quests but i have basically zero memory of this beyond the chanter's boards, so i'm looking forward to rediscovering that whole thing.

[writeblrcafe]

Digital interview with @pinespittinink

Catherine Hellens orders a chai latte and sits down in the corner of Writeblrcafé. She writes poetry and a book. Her favourite genres include fantasy, fiction, science-fiction and speculative fiction. We start chatting about her writing.

What got you into writing?

Being exposed to really excellent authors as a child and realizing that writing stories was something I could do! I was filling notebooks and tapping out on my mom’s computer from such an early age. I’ve always had ideas inside me, and as a kid inspiration came to me very easily and frequently.

What inspires you to write?

I get inspired by visuals, music, nature, and dreams, predominantly. Also, reading other excellent writers’ books encourages me to keep going.

Which are recurring themes in your writing?

Oh boy—themes are actually something I never set out to write specifically, but they do crop up in my works. The biggest and most common one is devotion—specifically, how much will you do for love. I’m a romantic at heart, and nearly all of my works have a love story or a variant of one at the heart. Questions of identity also arise from time to time. Who we are, who we’re perceived to be, who we become. But they are always unique to the characters and never intended to be messages.

How would you describe your writing style?

Romantic. Prosey. Lush, as overused as that word is now. I’ve had it described as vivid and cinematic; I like to paint pictures and I love love love details. Setting is incredibly important to me and one of the first things I think of when I begin writing or conceiving ideas, so it has a large feature.

How do you deal with writer's block?

I just have to trudge through it, really. Even if when I sit down to write, I only write a few hundred words or fewer, it’s still something, and eventually I’ll create the groove again. Going on walks and mulling everything over also helps a lot.

Do you have a wip? Tell us about it:

My current wip is a queer standalone adult speculative fiction novel called The Great Glavenisean Theater. It’s about a man named Morgan who comes to the City of Spires and ends up working at the titular theatre as a seamster, where there is an interdimensional portal in the belly of the stage that moves the shows through multiple planes during the performances. But there are weirder things going on in the theatre, and as Morgan investigates them, he begins to suspect the prima donna Ariel of the attempted sabotages of the portal, and suspects that maybe they aren’t like the rest of them. I’m currently doing minor edits on the first draft and will be looking for betas during the month of April!

Tell us more interesting stuff about you:

I live in New England with my queer platonic partner, whose writing I love more than anyone else’s in the universe. We have two stupid rag doll kitties named Eurydice and Napoleon, and I collect crystals and special editions of certain books I love. I have patience with temperamental printers and put up tapestries across ceilings, and I’ll be building a sofa soon when it arrives. I’m also a classically trained mezzo-soprano who misses singing in a choir and contents myself with my car instead. Also, I’m a Capricorn.

Thank you for the good talk and keep writing!

Get interviewed by Writeblr Café!

Any writer can participate. Just fill in this form by clicking on the link below. Maybe we will host interviews in an audio format if you are more interested in listening to an interview than reading it.

[cococowboah]

A review of The Dead Don't Die, because fuck this movie.

I can't figure out why in the world this is labeled as a comedy when the only funny thing about it is how awful it is.

Just to preface if you personally liked this film that's perfectly fine. But I have more than many gripes about it and I'm gonna talk about them now.

First off who on earth greenlit this? I consider myself a fan of Adam Driver and Bill Murray but if this was the first movie I ever saw them in I'd never want to see them in anything else ever again.

It was painstakingly slow-paced and lingered on scenes like a toddler waiting for you to stop doing the dishes so you could watch them do a Fortnite default dance. It demands your full attention without ever making any effort to earn it. It held itself like an instant classic without understanding what makes a film a classic, or even remotely good, to begin with.

My number one gripe is the fourth wall breaking. Adam Driver's character (I say the names of the actors because I couldn't be bothered to remember these extremely unmemorable characters names) apparently knows he's in a movie the entire time, keeps saying "this is gonna end badly" only to finally reveal at the end that he knows how it ends because he's "read the script."

Fourth wall breaking can work perfectly fine, in a comedy, of which this is not.

I don't know what this is. I don't even think this movie knows what it is.

My second gripe is the immense amount of characters we're introduced to who never pay off in any which way. Their introductions aren't funny or memorable or important whatsoever. They feel like they are merely there to add time to the movie.

You can cut out about 50% of this entire movie and you won't be missing a single thing. None of the characters except for Adam and Bill's ever hold any weight. For whatever reason Tilda Swinton is a sword-wielding Scottish mortician alien, who again, holds absolutely no weight to the plot. You can cut her out entirely and it wouldn't change a single thing about this movie. You could cut out Selena Gomez as the "cute hipster" entirely and it wouldn't change a single thing about this movie. You could cut out Steve "I'm the racist one" Buschemi and it wouldn't change a single thing about this movie.

Nobody in this movie matters. Nobody in this movie holds any weight. The plot goes nowhere, the protagonists -if you can even call them that- die at the end, nobody lives happily ever after, and according to the hermit in the woods, we "were all already zombies anyway."

There was this brief completely thrown away scene where the zombies were all shown walking around with smart phones and I wanted to throw my TV out the window after seeing it. It was such a heavy fisted nothing-burger of a scene with the exclusive goal of telling the audience they're like zombies if they use smartphones. Is it a joke? Is it societal commentary? Is it a mind bogglingly stupid scene that serves no purpose? The answer is up to you.

I hated this movie so much it's ridiculous. The fact that excellent scripts get passed up day after day after day because they're written by nobodies with no network or connections, yet garbage like this gets funded and filmed, is an absolute cinematic crime.

The only way I can suggest watching this is to do it with a buddy or two who will take the piss out of it with you. My husband and I did so and the only laughs we had were in making fun of how awful this movie was.

Rant over. Goodnight.

[crushsung]

roleplayers who inspire me. (extended edition)

mentioned a couple people earlier, but i feel the need to include some others as well. i love you all, hope you're having a great night!

@vihilum. lux, one of the very best writing partners i have ever had. i'm so grateful that this year has made us much better friends. you write with such love and intimacy with every character, each of your muses feels so fleshed out to me, i am constantly in awe of your mind. i love every dynamic we have built together. we've gotten used to autoshipping, which is something i don't really do with most people, but i trust your visions so much that there's no one i would rather do it with.

@lvebug. dee, by far one of the nicest people i have ever encountered here. admittedly my comic knowledge is quite limited these days, but you and andie have become such a staple on my dashboard. you write her with such vibrancy, everything about her is beautifully colourful and raw with emotion.

@tartt9. s, i know we haven't known each other long or talked a whole lot, but i admire your portrayal of jamie so very much. he's one of my all time favourite tv characters and you excel at doing him justice. his voice is so distinct and i imagine can be hard to capture in text, but every thread you write feels like his voice and i really applaud that.

@jupiter3. syd, an absolute genius. i love reading everything you write, i love talking to you as a friend even more. your writing feels very cinematic to me, i feel that you capture and understand not only character voices really well, but also their surroundings and circumstances. each of your characters feels so complex and human to me, to the point where many of them might as well be real people i know. it's challenging maintaining a multi while also differentiating each individual, but you do it incredibly well.

@dumbthink. kc, a true staple and a forever follow. i love hearing about your life, you're one of the funniest people i know, and your ooc posts always make me smile really big. you're an extremely versatile writer, both with canons and ocs. i very much admire how much care you put into crafting each of them, making canons your own, making ocs feel real and engaging.

that's all for now because i don't want this post to be too long! there's a lot more people who come to mind and i'm sure i'll make another post another time. thanks for listening!