#i hope jonathan and vincent would be proud

[medu-nefer]

y'all seemed to quite like the little crocheted ruthari (TY 💘) so i thought maybe some of you would be interested in a few close-ups 👀

(i added some crocheter rambling so feel free to just click on the photo and swipe to skip all that)

i also throught perhaps @careful-silent-still and @hypherr would like to see them too? 👉👈

so. first up, runaan. he has wire inside so he has some degree of movement, but he's also quite stuffed and the movement is unfortunately limited

i've been crocheting for a year, so the idea of coming up with my own patterns for his clothes was terrifying. therefore, i ended up doing just his boots, pants and the vest (it's hot in the silvergrove this time of the year, he doesn't need the shirt or the coat 😅), plus of course the horn cuffs. all accesories are removable of course. the original idea for the pendant was for it to be just one strand with a loop at the end but it didn't look good at all so i switched to something way simpler and more effective)

i suck at embroidery and i hate it but what can you do 🫠

so i made runaan first and he was going to be a little birthday gift to myself, but ofc it'd be criminal to make only him and the plan has always been to make him a little ethari too. i finished him on the 5th so i guess it all ended up being a gift for him 🤣

once i saw his turnarounds, though, it took me quite some time to hype myself up to actually start making him, because it's so many different clothes with no existing patterns and they're all so detailed (runaan's were too but i had gained some confidence while making him and wanted to work on ethari properly) 😩 still, i somehow did it.

i did change the flap of fabric hanging from his belt as i had no way of making a smooth ombre transition from purple to dark turquoise like he actually has it - so instead of 2 jarring colours, it's 4 jarring colours 😂 and i also didn't do the embroidery on that part and it made me very happy - especially since there was plenty of embroidery i couldn't skip

and just like with runaan, all of his articles of clothing are removable (the flap is sewn onto the belt, and the green patches are sewn onto the boots but other than that, everything is separate)

there is, however, one issue 😅 i think it stems from a couple of choices i made: 1. i used a different, slightly thicker type of yarn for ethari's body than i did for runaan; 2. i used a 3,0 mm hook instead of 2,5 mm; and 3. i messed up the patterns for ethari's limbs (i did them in rounds instead of rows; it was late and i was tired and by the time i realised that, i was on the 3rd one & couldn't be bothered to scrap them all - which i probably should have done XD oh well).

the first 2 choices were deliberate as ethari is canonically a little bit taller than runaan, but umm...

let's just assume elves grow until they're 40 or so, and so after 2 years in the coin, runaan stayed behind 😅

oh, and i also wanted them to be able to hold hands so they have magnets in their hands but in the end, they weren't strong enough to still work through two layers of yarn ☹️ i guess i could still use a little clasp but we'll see about that

so yeah. here they are 😊

P.S. please enjoy runaan at his baby yoda phase:

[brokehorrorfan]

Blu-ray Review: The Omen Collection

In the pantheon of religious horror, the holy trinity consists of The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and The Omen. Although The Omen arrived last, opening on June 6, 1976, it arguably offers more excitement than its satanic brethren (which is not to say that it is a superior film). Likely to be considered a slow-burner by today's standards, the picture builds tension and unravels a mystery at a meticulous pace, but it's punctuated by elaborate, Rube Goldberg-ian death scenes.

The Omen spawned a trilogy of films, a made-for-television sequel, and a modern remake. Scream Factory has collected all five movies in The Omen Collection, which is limited to 10,000 units. Besting Fox's earlier Blu-ray set - which omitted Part IV and featured some of the worst box set packaging known to man - each film is packaged in an individual Blu-ray case with original artwork within a rigid slipcover case. It boasts a deluge of extras, new and old.

In the original film, American diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird) and his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick, Anatomy of a Murder), adopt a baby named Damien (Harvey Stephens) after their own child is stillborn. Beginning with his fifth birthday, a string of mysterious deaths surround Damien. Upon being presented with convincing evidence by a photographer (David Warner, Tron), Robert becomes convinced that his son is none other than the antichrist, and he is faced with the task of stopping him to prevent Armageddon.

Firing on all cylinders, The Omen is an exemplary horror film. Working from a well-constructed script by David Seltzer (Shining Through, Prophecy), director Richard Donner grounds the story firmly in reality. The fantastical elements are easy to swallow, as each and every incident in the plot could be mere coincidence. Peck brings a gravitas to the production, leading a strong cast in which Remick also holds her own. Even the six-year-old Stephens, who never acted before and did very little after, is convincingly malevolent.

John Richardson's (Aliens, Harry Potter) special effects for the proto-Final Destination deaths - including one of the greatest beheadings ever committed on celluloid - remain shocking after more than 40 years. Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (Star Wars: A New Hope, Dr. Strangelove) captures it all with clean camerawork, while Jerry Goldsmith (Alien, Gremlins) provides a chilling orchestral score elevated to pure evil with choral chanting.

The Omen has been newly mastered in 4K from the original negative, approved by Donner, for the new release. The result is a pristine presentation with improved detail and color saturation over Fox’s previous high-definition transfer. The Omen carries a whopping four audio commentaries. One, featuring special project consultant Scott Michael Bosco, is new. His audio sounds compressed - as if it were recorded on a cell phone - but it's dense with details focusing on the theological aspects. Bosco often digresses, but I appreciate the fresh perspective rather than a historian reciting IMDb trivia.

The other audio commentaries include: a track with Donner and editor Stuart Baird (Lethal Weapon, Skyfall), in which the two old friends reminisce about the highs and lows of the production; a track with Donner and filmmaker Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, L.A. Confidential), which features as much good-natured joking as it does insight; and a track with film historians Lem Dobbs, Nick Redman, and Jeff Bond, largely focusing on Goldsmith's score. A lot of information is repeated across the commentaries, but the varying viewpoints make them all worth listening to.

Seltzer and actress Holly Palance (who plays the nanny whose suicide by hanging is among the film’s most memorable moment) sit down for new interviews. Seltzer's chat is particularly enjoyable, as he's candid and humble. He openly states that his script is not as good as the movie it birthed. He also shares what he would have done if he had the opportunity to write the sequel. Palance, the daughter of the great Jack Palance, recounts her naivety about working on her first film and shooting her iconic death scene. The final new extra is an appreciation of The Omen's score by composer Chris Young, who says he looked to Goldsmith's progression across The Omen trilogy as he was scoring the Hellraiser films. It's fascinating to hear one accomplished professional praise another in their field.

All of the archival extras are ported over: a thorough, 15-minute interview with Donner from 2008; 666: The Omen Revealed, a 46-minute retrospective from 2000 featuring crew members along with religious experts to provide context; The Omen Revelations, which is essentially a streamlined version of 666, recycling much of its footage in 24 minutes; Curse or Coincidence, in which the crew recounts a variety of curious incidents that nearly derailed the production; an introduction by Donner; a deleted scene with commentary by Donner; an older interview with Seltzer, which features a lot of the same information as the new one; and an interview with Goldsmith about his score. There's also an appreciation of The Omen by filmmaker Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), in which the master of horror waxes poetic about the influential picture for 20 minutes; Trailers from Hell trailer commentary by filmmaker Larry Cohen (The Stuff), who cites The Omen as one of his favorite movies; the trailer; TV spots; radio spots; and four image galleries: stills, behind-the-scenes, posters and lobby cards, and publicity.

Following the massive success of the first film, Fox fast-tracked a sequel, Damien: Omen II, to open in 1978. Having narrowly survived the events of The Omen, a 12-year-old Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) now lives with his affluent uncle, Richard Thorn (William Holden, Sunset Blvd.), aunt, Ann (Lee Grant, In the Heat of the Night), and cousin, Mark (Lucas Donat), in Chicago. Damien is ostensibly a well-adjusted kid, unaware of who - or what - he is, but those who cross him wind up dead in freak accidents.

Omen II's plotting mirrors that of the first film, but the mystery aspect that made the original so effective is gone. The viewer knows from the start that Damien is, in fact, the antichrist, so they're left waiting for the characters to catch up. The plot dedicates an inordinate amount of time to Thorn's business enterprises, which is only vaguely paid of in the next installment when Damien rises to power. On the bright side, there are several admirably inventive deaths in the tradition of the first, from a bird attack that would make Alfred Hitchcock jealous to a visceral elevator bisection to a harrowing scene of a man trapped in a pond under ice.

Since Donner had moved on to Superman and Seltzer was either uninterested or not asked (depending on the source) to pen the sequel, a new creative team was employed. Stanley Mann (Firestarter, Conan the Destroyer) and Mike Hodges (Get Carter, Flash Gordon) wrote the script, with the latter set to direct. Hodges only shot for a few days, during which he quickly fell behind schedule, before being swiftly replaced by Don Taylor (Escape from the Planet of the Apes). Goldsmith returns to score with a worthy successor, retaining the signature sound while expanding it to incorporate electronics.

Leo McKern is the only returning cast member, reprising his role as archaeologist Carl Bugenhagen in the prologue. Peck's formidable presence is sorely missed, but Holden - who, incidentally, turned down the lead role in The Omen - and Grant bring some prestige to the production. Scott-Taylor is a convincing surrogate for Stephens, but the child acting leaves a bit to be desired. It's offset by a supporting cast that includes Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Lew Ayres (All Quiet on the Western Front), Sylvia Sidney (Beetlejuice), Allan Arbus (M*A*S*H), and Meshach Taylor (Mannequin).

Damien: Omen II's Blu-ray disc features new interviews with Grant, who is proud of the sequel and shares a funny anecdote about discovering her first wrinkle while filming; Foxworth, who was able to get to know Holden, one of his heroes, on their daily commute; and actress Elizabeth Sheppard, who proudly discusses working with Holden as well as Vincent Price (on The Tomb of Ligeia). In a separate featurette, Sheppard narrates a gallery of her personal photos from the shoot, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the bird attack sequence.

Since Omen II's mythology has little biblical foundation, Bosco's new commentary features even more tenuous tangents, but it affords him the opportunity to discuss the franchise more subjectively. An archival commentary with producer Harvey Bernhard proves to be a bit more informative. The disc also includes a vintage making-of featurette consisting of clips, interviews, and footage from the set, along with the trailer, a TV spot, a radio spot, and a still gallery.

The Omen trilogy came to a conclusion in 1981 with Omen III: The Final Conflict - although it proved not to be final after all. As prophesied, Damien (Sam Neill, Jurassic Park), now 33 - the same age as Jesus when he was crucified - has risen to political power. Following the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain’s ghastly suicide, Damien is appointed the position, which was once held by his adoptive father. The only true foe for the antichrist is, naturally, Christ himself. Rather than bringing about the apocalypse, as the franchise had been driving toward since the beginning, Damien attempts to prevent the second coming in a sanctimonious conclusion to the story arc.

While no successor could top the original Omen, its first sequel smartly embraced the gratuitous death scenes. For the third installment, however, director Graham Baker (Alien Nation) made a conscious effort to avoid them. Instead, he delivers inept monks trying to assassinate Damien with the Seven Daggers of Megiddo, while the antichrist’s legion of apostles murder newborn males who are the potential Christ child. Andrew Birkin's (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) script leans further into religiosity at the expensive of the horror elements while interjecting silly mythology akin to Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.

Omen III: The Final Conflict's Blu-ray disc features new interviews with Baker, who takes a truly retrospective look back on the film, comparing the society of today to that of when it was produced; Birkin, who hadn't seen The Omen when he first met for the gig and wasn't particularly impressed when he finally watched it; and production assistant Jeanne Ferber, who explains how she was among those polled by Bernhard to help choose the lead, with Neill selected unanimously.

For his final commentary in the set, Bosco is back to pointing out the film's connections to scripture, leading to a lengthy tirade comparing Christianity and Judaism. An archival track with Baker has a few nuggets of information among extended gaps of silence, but most of his points are addressed more concisely in the new interview. Special features are rounded out by the trailer, TV spots, and a still gallery.

Although The Omen’s main storyline continued with two more book sequels, Fox opted to use the familiar title for a made-for-television movie on their budding network in 1991. Although dubbed Omen IV: The Awakening, the film largely serves as a remake of the original film but with a female antichrist. After numerous failed attempts to get pregnant, politician Gene York (Michael Woods) and his wife, Karen (Faye Grant, V), adopt an orphan girl. Seven years later, Delia (Asia Vieira, A Home at the End of the World) becomes increasingly violent and manipulative, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

Similar to Omen II's production troubles, Omen IV started with Jorge Montesi (Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal) in the director's chair, but he was fire mid-shoot and replaced by Dominique Othenin-Girard (Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers). Writer Brian Taggert (Poltergeist III) keeps the basic structure of Seltzer's original script intact, but the details of each beat are altered and the death scenes are subdued for TV. In addition to gender-swapping the creepy kid, it's the mother who is proactive this time around.

Despite maintaining the general outline of The Omen, the plot is harder to believe this time around, stretching the required suspension of disbelief to include psychics that can read auras. The most ludicrous plot point comes in the form of a shoehorned connection to The Omen mythology. This "twist" canonically positions Omen IV as a sequel rather than a thinly-veiled remake, but it feels more like a low-budget knockoff than an official installment in the franchise.

Omen IV: The Awakening doesn't have any audio commentaries, but its Blu-ray debut includes a new interview with Taggert, who breaks down several of the major choices made in the script. It also contains The Omen Legacy, a feature-length documentary on the franchise that aired on TV in 2001. Narrated by Jack Palance (City Slickers), it finds cast and crew members (including a couple of folks who don't appear in any other special features) and religious figures (the Church of Satan’s high priestess among them) discussing all four films while playing up the alleged curse. The trailer and a still gallery are also included.

Amidst the onslaught of horror remakes that dominated the early 2000s, Fox shrewdly capitalized with The Omen in 2006 - on 6/6/06, to be exact. Director John Moore (Max Payne) offers slick production value and an inspired cast, but it feels wholly unnecessary considering how closely it follows the original script. Seltzer is the only credited writer, but it's unclear if his 40-year-old script was simply polished off or if he was involved in re-writes, as there are some subtle changes to contemporize it. While it fails to bring anything new to the table, it’s a stronger effort than Omen IV.

Liev Schreiber (Scream) and Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You) star as the Thorns. Talented as they are, they lack the chemistry of Peck and Remick. Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick is successfully creepy as the new Damien, while the role's originator, Harvey Stephens, makes a quick cameo. In a particularly motivated bit of stunt casting, Mia Farrow (Rosemary's Baby) plays the antichrist's new nanny. David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and Pete Postlethwaite (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) also have supporting roles.

The remake is the only Blu-ray in the set that doesn't offer any new special features. The existing extras cover a lot of ground, but it would’ve been interesting to hear the crew reflect back on it. Omenisms is a 37-minute documentary exploring the pressures of making a movie with a release date set in advance, even showing Moore losing his temper and yelling at a producer. It feels very of its time, with director Stephen French  treating the piece like a hip art film, but it contains a lot of great material.

Moore, producer Glenn Williamson, and editor Dan Zimmermann participate in an audio commentary that's fairly informative but doesn't touch on many of the trials and tribulations showcased in Omenisms. There's also a featurette about Marco Beltrami (Scream) recording his score at the legendary Abbey Road Studio; Revelation 666, a cheesy TV special tracing the history, interpretation, and theories of 666; unrated, extended scenes, including a longer version of the ending; and theatrical trailers.

While The Exorcist remains the be-all and end-all of occult horror, The Omen franchise as a whole is more consistent. The first three Omen films comprise a cohesive trilogy, while Part IV and the remake each offer a fresh, if flawed, perspective on the material. Between the movies, commentaries, interviews, and featurettes, The Omen Collection contains over 30 hours of content, making it an unbelievable value and a must-have for any horror collector.

The Omen Collection is available now on Blu-ray via Scream Factory.

[alindakb]

Random scenes from Letters to my Parents - 14 March 1993 - Terence Higgs - by Alinda

Warning: contains a suicide attempt.

Terence wakes up to screaming in the hallway. Someone was calling his name, in a way that made Terence skin crawl. Something was wrong. Had there been another attack? Was it a Slytherin that had gotten petrified this time around? Was it someone he knew? Was it Penelope? Was that why Miles was now barging into the 7th year dormitory?

“Terence, wake up. We need your help. Now. It’s Potter.” Miles said while shaking Terence’s shoulder.

“Potter?” Terence asked in confusion. “What’s wrong with Potter that you need me?”

“He…” Miles had to swallow away a lump in his throat. It was only then that Terence saw that Miles was trembling. His eyes looked big and scared, and not like how they would widen just before a Quidditch match and Miles his nerves would take over; no it was clear that Miles was really terrified right now.

Terence got out of bed, not waiting for Miles to find the words to describe what was going on. If Miles was this scared it must be bad. Terence didn’t take the time to pull some trousers over his pants or think of grabbing a rope to hide his ‘dare to be proud’ nightshirt. He walked towards the door and just asked ‘where?’

“Bathroom. The younger year’s bathroom.”

He stepped out of the door, just when Marcus rough voice started complaining about the noise. Terence didn’t care for once what Marcus thought, or how he would feel. No, right now he was running through the hall, towards the bathroom where something horrible was happening to the Potter kid. It seemed only yesterday that Terence had helped Professor Snape look for him when he had gone missing one evening, only to find him on the edge of deaths doorstep after a beating. Marcus had thought it had been funny. The idiot. Terence wished Marcus would stop believing in all the bullshit his parents told him. There was no joy in harming others, especially defenceless ones like the young Potter.

Terence opened the bathroom door. He had not been ready for the scene playing out before him. Adrian was sitting on his knees, his arms around a shaking and crying Draco, who was trying to crawl closer to Potter. His arms stretch out to the pale boy lying on the floor. The dark stones were covered in blood and broken pieces of a mirror. Terence had to balance himself in the doorway. It felt like his legs were knocked out from under him. He struggled to get his breathing under control. This was worse than the last time he had found Potter like this. This was not someone else work. This was a young boy trying to end his own life because they had all made it unbearable for him.

In seconds Terence was moving, kneeling down next to the boy, pulling his bleeding arm up to stop some of the blood flow. The cut was down his arm, not across it. This had not been a cry for help; this was a real death wish. Not even Jonathan had cut his wrists like this in one of his many attempts to end his life. He had always made sure there would be time for people to find him. But this, this was a sure way to lose blood quickly, to give people only minutes to save you. If you were lucky enough to be discovered in time.

Miles had run back into the bathroom, with some other students on his heel. One of the girls screamed and Terence blocked them out. He had to think. And quick, before it was too late. He looked up at Miles and made eye contact.

“Get Snape, now. Blow up his door if you have to, you understand.”

Miles nodded and turned around in a hurry, already running before he even left the room.

“I need a rope, something to tie his arm off. Judith, give me the belt of your dressing gown.”

Judith didn’t seem to register what Terence had just asked of her. She looked around the room with her hands on the knot in the belt around her dressing grown.

“NOW, Judith,” Terence screamed at her and she suddenly sprinted into action, undoing the knot and pulling her belt from the dressing grown. She knelt down next to Terence and gave him the belt while taking over from holding up Potter’s arm. Terence tied the belt around the arm, pulling it as tight as he could, hoping it would be enough to keep the boy alive until real help arrived.

Terence looked around and his eyes fell on Draco. His eyes were feverish, his gaze fixed on Potter’s pale and lifeless face, his shaking arms still reaching for the boy, tears streaming down his cheeks, his head shaking in denial.

“Get him out of here, Adrian,” Terence commanded, only to be overshadowed by the loud screams coming from Draco.

“NO, NO, I WON’T LEAVE HIM!”

Draco hit around with his arms, trying to stop Adrian from pulling him away from Potter. Until he just went limp in Adrian’s arms.

“Please,” he uttered in a small broken voice.

Nobody in the bathroom moved or said a word. The brokenness in Draco’s voice made them fight tears from forming in their eyes. Terence remembered to well how he had felt when he had found Jonathan once like this. He had been just as broken and scared.

“Patrick, come help,” Terence commanded. He needed to get to Draco, help him through this. Make him understand he was not alone in his pain.

Patrick rushed forward and took over pulling the belt tight around the arm so Terence could move. He moved over to Draco and Adrian and he pulled the young boy in his arms. Draco’s hands grabbed his nightshirt and pulled him even closer.

“Safe him, please save him,” Draco begged.

Terence didn’t know what to say or do other than what they had done so far. He sighed in relieve when Professor Snape ran into the bathroom and started to shout commands at the students around them. Snape had pulled out his wand and was singing some incantation while following the deep gash on Potter’s arm with his wand. The wound was closing and as soon as it had stopped bleeding, Snape took Potter in his arms and walked out of the bathroom. He took one look at Draco in Terence's arms and told Terence to keep him there, away from the hospital wing.

It was hard to hold the crying boy in his arms. The memories of the first time that Jonathan had tried, now over two years ago, came all flooding back, the desperation, the fear, the self-blame, all of it. And how was it that Terence had missed the signs now? How could he have missed it? Hadn’t he sworn to make sure something like this would never happen again? Not after Jonathan had finally found a way to end it all. When he had left Terence alone after a year of fighting with him to stay, to get him to try to see the light at the end of the tunnel they had to go through for their love for each other?

After a while of just sitting there, holding Draco close to his chest, someone laid a hand on Terence’s shoulder. He looked up to see the warm smile of Penelope.

“Let’s get him to the other bathroom so we can clean him up,” she said in a matter of fact way. And together they managed to get Draco on his feet. He clung on Terence’s arm all the way down the hall. It took some time to get Draco out of his pyjamas that were stained with Potter’s drying blood. Penelope pulled Draco under the hot stream of a shower and then turned back to Terence.

“Go get cleaned up and only come back if you can handle it.”

Terence nodded in conformation and turned out of the bathroom. In his own dormitory, he pulled his nightshirt off and just stood there for a while, looking at the colourful letters on it, now stained with the blood of a boy that might die tonight.

“He’s not Jonathan, Terence,” a rough voice spit out. “Stop blaming yourself for once.”

“No, he’s not. Potter didn’t try so we would notice him. He cut his arm in a way that only people that looked up what the best way to do it is. Like someone who really wants to not wake up afterwards.”

“Shit,” Marcus responded.

Silence stretched between them.

“I had hoped never to go through something like this again.”

“My neither, Marcus.”

Terence pulled a clean shirt out of his trunk and pulled it over his head. There was no way he would go back to sleep after this, not until he knew for sure that Potter would pull through. And there was Draco, the young kid that is an amazing chaser but seemed to have been carrying around a big secret all year. A love that was forbidden by his family. Terence was sure of that, knowing his own struggles with his parents. The troubles Jonathan had to go through. And the Malfoy’s are even bigger on appearances and statue.

“I need to get back to Draco,” Terence said.

“The rumours are true then? He’s like you?”

Terence didn’t miss the small traces of disgust in Marcus his voice. It hurt to know that his former best friend still didn’t understand.

“It looks like it.”

“That will sure piss his father off.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it will. Not that he cares about that right now, since the boy he apparently loves just tried to kill himself.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said while Terence was already walking out of the room. It sounded sincere for once. Sometimes it was hard to remember they had all been good friends once. Before Terence and Jonathan had fallen in love; before Jonathan had become depressed; before he had killed himself.

There were more people in the common room by now, discussing in whispering voices what had transpired tonight. Theo Nott and Vincent Crabbe were already making fun about it. They didn’t seem to remember that Gregory, who was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest, had lost his brother only a year and a half ago. Or maybe they didn’t know. It’s not like the Goyles wanted people to know that their eldest son had killed himself because his parents had disowned him because he was bent. Did Gregory even know why his brother had ended his life? Terence should talk to him one of these days, make sure he knew that Jonathan did had people who cared about him, who had tried to convince him to stay.

Penelope was already drying of Draco when Terence got back to the bathroom. She had thrown a big fluffy towel around the boy. With a smaller towel, she was gently drying his hair, making sure the blond locks didn’t tangle. Draco just looked at his hands, now cleaned from the blood that had stained them only moments ago. Someone had brought some of his clothes to the bathroom and Terence helped him dress.

“Is Snape back jet?” Penelope asked.

“No, I haven’t seen him.”

“Can you,” Penelope started. She turned her face away from Terence and swallowed. “I need a minute, Ter.”

“Go, I’ll look after him.”

Penelope left the room, tears already falling from her eyes. All the seventh years will be crying sometime tonight. This was too similar to the events of their fifth year. And Potter was even younger, only twelve years young. And they had all let him down. They had all believed he had something to do with the attacks. He was the one that had been at all the crime scenes; he was the one that could talk in Parseltongue. He was the weird one, always hanging out with that Gryffindor girl. The one with no friends in Slytherin. What had happened to ‘Slytherins stick together and take care of their own’? They had all failed him. He was one of them and they had let others treat him like he was not. They had treated him like he didn’t belong.

Terence took Draco back to his own dormitory. Marcus left as soon as they came in, leaving them be. Terence was sure it was Marcus doing they were left alone for the rest of the morning. It had been hard, holding the crying boy, hearing him blame himself for what had happened. Terence wished he knew what to say to take the blame away, but no-one had ever managed the same for him, so he just let the boy cry and scream.

Around lunchtime, Draco had calmed down a bit. He didn’t want to go down to the Great Hall to get something to eat and Terence let him go to his own dormitory, hoping Snape would come back soon to tell them Harry was okay.

It was just before dinner when Snape finally made an appearance, telling everyone that Potter would pull through. He said we should all look closely at how we had treated him this last couple of months. Snape hoped he could be proud of his house again soon. Terence promised himself that he would take them under his wing, Draco and Potter. If Potter felt the same as Draco, then they were going to face a lot of hate in their own house from the likes as Flint, Nott and Crabbe. But it would be worth helping them if it meant that there will not be another Jonathan in this house.

[imagitory]

D-Views: Aladdin (with guest input!)

Hi, everyone! Welcome to another installment of D-Views, my on-going written review series where I take a look at Disney-produced and/or owned properties, as well as occasionally non-Disney films that were influenced by Disney’s success! For more of these reviews, you may consult my “Disney reviews” tag, where I’ve discussed such films as Treasure Planet, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt!

Today I’ll be doing something a little different. In lieu of the live-action Aladdin remake premiering in less than two weeks, I decided it’d be best to re-watch the original 1992 classic, and I invited two of my good friends, Christina and Jen, to help me analyze it. I will note any of their input when it arises, and hopefully you’ll enjoy hearing three voices for the price of one!

Aladdin was released in the midst of the Disney Renaissance in the 1990′s, sandwiched between the landmark hits Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Out of Disney’s biggest blockbusters, Aladdin is easily the most “of its time” -- it relies on pop culture references for its humor and uses era-specific slang (i.e. ”NOT!” and “Made you look!”) more than most Disney films do and features a celebrity voice in a prominent role, which was quite uncommon, compared to previous Disney projects. (The best examples I can think of prior to this was having John Hurt, Peter Ustinov, and Vincent Price play villains in The Black Cauldron, Robin Hood, and The Great Mouse Detective, but...yeah, as amazing and well-renown as those men are, they weren’t insanely popular media stars of the time the way that Robin Williams was.) One could attribute this “hipper” aspect at least in part to Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was head of Disney’s animation department at the time, and Disney CEO Michael Eisner, both of whom put a lot of focus in following what was popular and marketable. (Katzenberg later put all of his attention and focus on molding Pocahontas into a historical-fiction retelling of Romeo and Juliet as he assumed a forbidden love story would be a hit, while Eisner kicked The Rescuers Down Under to the curb a year before Beauty and the Beast came out all because it didn’t break the box office opening weekend.) Fortunately the approach paid off and Aladdin was a big success, fueling two direct-to-video sequels, a spin-off TV series, and a show at Disney’s California Adventure that transformed into a full Broadway musical. Even now it’s still very well-loved by Disney fans, many of whom are now looking forward to the live-action remake coming out this month. As my followers might know, I’m still very on-the-fence about the remake myself, as I haven’t reacted very warmly to Disney’s other recent live-action remakes, but my two cohorts Jen and Christina are much less cynical about the prospect, so hopefully any commentary we might make about what we’ve learned about the remake compared to the original will be minimal. Now that our context is framed, let’s board this magic carpet of a movie and see where it takes us!

To start with, Arabian Nights is just such a fantastic musical introduction to this story! Aladdin was the last project that lyricist Howard Ashman worked on before his premature death in 1992, and like in the rest of his work, the word play in the songs he wrote for this movie (Arabian Nights, Friend Like Me and Prince Ali) is just masterful. Arabian Nights in particular just emanates “adventure” -- it was later used as the opening theme for the Aladdin TV series, and it got me so pumped up whenever I watched it, just as much as it probably excited those who first saw the movie in theaters. Fun fact: while listening to the intro, one might notice the names Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio credited as two of the film’s screenwriters, alongside directors John Musker and Ron Clements -- down the road, Elliot and Rossio would also write the screenplay for The Road to El Dorado, join the writing team for Shrek, and be the main writing force behind the Pirates of the Caribbean films. 

As much as I rarely go for films that market themselves as comedies, I feel like Aladdin handles its comedy really well. From the beginning, we see the comedic, spontaneous tone in the peddler’s narration scene, and that tone is taken on by Gilbert Gottfried as Iago until Robin Williams reappears as the Genie later. It makes it so that, unlike Mulan where the comedy kind of starts and ends with Mushu, the comedy is a constant fixture in the story, never distracting from the plot and never feeling out of place. 

One niche interest of mine that I rarely get to delve into is color psychology, and oh BOY, does this film give me a lot to talk about there! Aladdin’s production designer, Richard Wende, used a very simple, yet striking color palette for the film that favors blues, reds, and golds. The effect is a beautifully lush setting while maintaining a “desert” feel: any greens that appear really stick out, like when Aladdin and Genie arrive in an oasis after escaping the Cave of Wonders. It also makes it so that when the background is mostly red or gold, any blue shades draw focus, or when the scene takes place at night and is mostly shades of blue, anything red or gold likewise draws focus. This post goes into the color symbolism more deeply, but generally blue is representative of good characters, while red represents evil, with gold being a sort of middle ground. Primary colors often are used in properties marketed toward children (ex. Team Valor/Instinct/Mystic in Pokemon Go, Snow White having all three colors on her dress), so it’s understandable that so many kids from the 90′s gravitated toward this movie, but the palette never feels restricted or simple. The deep, saturated fusion of reds and blues and reds and yellows creates a lot of texture despite the limited color range, and it beautifully communicates the heat of the locations and creates a unique visual style for the film. I’ve noticed that in the trailers for the remake, this color symbolism was discarded in favor of a more “Bollywood” look, not unlike how the Beauty and the Beast remake likewise ignored the color symbolism of Belle being the only villager to wear blue (which accents how much she stands apart from the crowd) and decided to dress a lot of people in blue during the opening number Belle. I can only hope the decision means the film is just choosing to make Agrabah more like India than Arabia, rather than this just being a stylistic choice with no substance, but I think the subtle color psychology in the original film is very clever short-hand for the audience, even if they’ll likely not be able to consciously express how the color palette affected their viewing experience.

As Jafar and his stooge Gazeem come across the Cave of Wonders, I’m reminded of how awesome the Cave’s design is. It was made primarily with CG animation, yet the CGI is never distracting: on the contrary, it fuses together beautifully with the rest of the hand-drawn background. Even the sandy texture on the Cave is very well rendered. Christina also noted a neat detail I hadn’t picked up on before: the tiger head has an earring in one ear, just like the Genie whose lamp lives inside the Cave!

After the Cave of Wonders devours Gazeem, declaring that it will only allow the “diamond in the rough” inside, we meet our title character and resident “diamond,” Aladdin. Voicing Aladdin is Scott Weinger, or Steve of Full House fame, who brings such charm, energy, and personality to the role. I honestly think it’d be hard for anyone else to match the sheer likability rippling out of Scott’s voice. Accompanying Weinger and Robin Williams in this stellar cast are Broadway actor Jonathan Freeman as Jafar (who has since gone on to play the character in everything from TV shows to the Broadway musical), raucous comic Gilbert Gottfried as Iago, and three voice-acting legends -- Frank Welker (who voices Shaggy and Scooby Doo) as Abu and Rajah; Jim Cummings (the current voices of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger) as Razoul; and Corey Burton (who is best known for playing Ansem the Wise in Kingdom Hearts) as Prince Tiger-Fucker Achmed. Even Jasmine, who was voiced by the at-the-time-fresh-faced actress Linda Larkin, had her singing voice done by Broadway legend Lea Salonga, fresh off her success premiering the title role in Miss Saigon. Even though many of these names aren’t celebrities like Robin Williams, and so I would hesitate to call this an “all-star cast” exactly, it doesn’t change how much talent was accrued by Disney’s casting agents! 

Unlike most main characters in a Disney musical, Aladdin doesn’t get a full solo number to call his own. Originally Howard Ashman wrote a song for Aladdin called Proud of Your Boy, where Aladdin sings to his mother (who played a large role in early drafts of the story) about how he’ll make good for her. Unfortunately the story’s focus on Aladdin and his mother’s relationship ended up taking focus away from Aladdin and Jasmine’s romance and Aladdin’s character arc to accept himself, so the screenwriters ultimately had to cut the mother character from the story, at which point the song no longer fit. The decision was very difficult for the filmmakers at the time, given that it was one of the last things Ashman wrote and it’s such a beautiful, raw song, but I ultimately think it was the right decision. Putting Aladdin on his own with no one but Abu for company and giving Jasmine no emotional support outside of her naïve, misguided father and her pet and only friend Rajah I think goes a long way to explain why they’re such kindred spirits. Aladdin and Jasmine each become the friend and support that the other needed. (This is also why Christina and I are concerned about the inclusion of a servant/friend for Jasmine, as the choice would likely weaken any rationale Jasmine could have for leaving the palace and for connecting so instantly with Aladdin.) Plus I think Aladdin’s reprise of One Jump Ahead is just as beautifully raw as Proud of Your Boy, just with a slightly different message and less words. I really feel Aladdin’s frustration and yearning for something better, and Aladdin’s singing voice Brad Kane is able to stuff so much pathos into such a short tune that a longer song isn’t even necessary. And fortunately Proud of Your Boy was later utilized in the Broadway musical version of Aladdin, so it got its dues eventually. 

At the palace, we meet our heroine, Jasmine, who was Christina’s favorite Disney character as a kid and who I personally think is the prettiest of the Disney princesses. Jasmine was designed by supervising animator Mark Henn, who modeled her after a picture of his little sister, which honestly is so sweet that I can’t stand it. What I really like about Jasmine in comparison to other Disney princesses is that she is fiery, but clever: determined, but calculating: proud, yet compassionate. It’s this balance that makes her interesting: in my mind, Jasmine is the ultimate Slytherin Disney princess (with just as Slytherin of a prince!), because unlike Ariel, she isn’t reckless in her rebellion. What’s also very cool about Jasmine is that her circumstances are a perfect contrast to Aladdin, placing them in a more romantic Prince and the Pauper set-up where they envy each other, and yet they want the same thing: freedom. In fact, all of our protagonists do -- namely, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie. Aladdin wants freedom from his poverty. Jasmine wants freedom from her privilege. Genie wants freedom from his purpose. They all have different cages, but they all want to be free to live their own lives, and it’s through Aladdin learning to empathize with Jasmine and Genie and see their respective prisons as clearly as his own that he grows as a character. (For a video that delves into this thought process further, please consult this piece by ScreenPrism -- it’s just beautifully done!)

Throughout the film, three animals emerge over and over -- the cobra, the elephant, and the tiger. Tigers -- which we see not only in obvious examples like Rajah and the Cave of Wonders, but also as a carving in the back of the Sultan’s throne -- are generally associated with courage and heraldry, not unlike their feline cousins, lions. The heraldry aspect I think is most relevant here -- only one who is deemed worthy, namely Aladdin, may enter the Cave of Wonders and access the wealth of kings, and when Jasmine runs away from home, she leaves Rajah, a symbol of her noble heritage, behind. Elephants in comparison are associated with wisdom and more notably royal power. In the film, Abu is transformed into an elephant steed for Aladdin when he becomes Prince Ali, and even the Sultan sits in a throne decorated with a statue of an elephant. As for the cobra, it’s entirely connected to Jafar, first as his magic scepter and then as a form Jafar takes on himself. Snakes overall are associated with many things like healing, rebirth, eternity, and the dichotomy of good and evil, but cobras specifically are the most poisonous snakes on earth. Legends even claim that Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, committed suicide by cobra bite. I reckon that meaning is more than enough reason for it to represent Jafar.

Through the use of a bizarre storm-making machine powered by Iago running on a treadmill-like wheel that Christina, Jen, and I thoroughly don’t understand and kind of find hilariously ridiculous, Jafar is able to discover the identity of the elusive “diamond in the rough.” He then sends the guards out to arrest Aladdin so as to coerce him into aiding him in his goal to enter the Cave, but in the process gets caught by Jasmine as he’s exiting one of the secret passages. Jen brought up the lovely point that Jafar seems to be the only person who knows about these passages in the palace, even though the Sultan presumably was raised in the palace just like Jasmine was -- this isn’t necessarily a problem, but it does make both her and me want to know the story behind this! Was Jafar basically raised in the palace too? Did Jafar partially create those passages? Were they forgotten after years of non-use and Jafar came across them by chance? It seems like there could be some fun explanation here, if someone wanted to write a fic or fan theory about it.

Okay, I really don’t want to express my concerns about the remake yet again, but I just have to say this flat-out -- there is no way that Abu in the remake could be as funny as he is in the animated film. Let’s be honest, CG characters in live-action films are almost never very charming if they’re more on the cartoony side compared to the so-called “realistic” world they’re supposed to inhabit. You can have very likable, well-developed CG characters -- just look at Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia -- but he wasn’t solely comic relief the way Abu is, and Abu’s comedy in particular relies on a lot of cartoon-like squash and stretch that would be difficult to recreate in CG for a live-action movie. Best case scenario, you’d have something like Pip in Enchanted, which is only irritating and visually out-of-place sometimes, but alternatively, you might get something like Alvin and the Chipmunks (where the humor falls flat), Dobby in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (where it’s clear he was never actually there the whole time), and/or the enchanted objects in the live-action Beauty and the Beast (where the characters end up looking creepy, like something out of the Uncanny Valley). Basically if they want Abu to work in the live-action setting, it’s likely they’d have to make him more like an actual animal, which as I said would make it so he is a lot less funny.

Anyway, not long after Abu unlocks Aladdin’s shackles, Jafar arrives to bust him out, disguised as an old man. Just as Jafar’s storm-making machine makes no sense, the three of us all concluded that his disguise makes no sense. Not only does Jafar suddenly look a good foot and a half shorter, which even with him crouching shouldn’t be possible, but he’s changed his teeth with no visible dentures (which would’ve slurred his speech anyway) and he can get rid of all of the white hair and beard he put on just by ripping off the beard in a single gesture. As Jen brought up, even the Evil Queen used a potion to turn into the Hag: if Jafar had used magic, these sort of physical changes would make sense, but he didn’t.

Back to the Cave of Wonders again, and now I get to talk about one of the most revolutionary aspects of Aladdin: the Magic Carpet. Our sweet little Carpet is a perfect fusion of CG and hand-drawn animation -- supervising animator Randy Cartwright drew the outline and tassels of Carpet with so much personality and silent comedy, and rather than have to animate Carpet’s detailed pattern in every single frame as the fabric folded and contorted, the pencil tests were handed to the CG artists, who melded the pattern perfectly to the line work, making it one perfectly cohesive character. Carpet’s pattern also has allusions to different parts of the film, including the Cave of Wonders, the magic lamp, and the flames that appear when Abu touches the red gem. Even if the technology of CG animation is much more advanced now than it was in 90s, it doesn’t change how seamless the finished result is.

As mentioned, the Cave doesn’t remain safe for our hero very long. When Abu snatches up a gem after being warned not to touch anything, the whole place starts to fall apart, raging with lava and fire. Christina brought up the question of why the Cave would allow Abu inside, since he wasn’t the diamond in the rough (yes, Abu was hidden in Aladdin’s vest, but the Cave was magical, did it really not know he was there?), but I almost wonder if it was an issue of Aladdin having trusted Abu when he shouldn’t have, which would end up being the true mistake in this scenario. Regardless, the CGI in this particular escape sequence is some of the more outdated material of the film. The flight on Carpet is still kind of fun, as it probably would make for a very exciting thrill ride, but it still looks incredibly fake, especially in comparison to other CG elements used in other scenes. Honestly, I’d say this Cave chase and the tower used in the “ends of the earth” sequence later are the worst instances of outdated CGI in this movie.

And finally, at long last, we get to the big, blue guy himself, the Genie. As much as I wouldn’t say Genie steals the show, as Aladdin has such a likable hero and heroine and an excellent villain, Jen, Christina, and I will say categorically that Aladdin would not be as good of a movie as it is without Genie and without Robin Williams. The directors Ron Clements and John Musker wrote the character with Robin in mind, but thought there’d be no way they’d ever get him -- fortunately Eric Goldberg, the supervising animator for Genie, got the idea to make an animation of Genie speaking a piece of one of Robin’s comedy routines, and the animation amazingly won Robin over and got him on board. And really, it is that flawless combination of Robin’s acting and Goldberg’s animation that really makes Genie as likable as he is. Even Robin’s humor, which still is very funny, is not what makes Genie as great of a character as he is, in my opinion -- if anything, I’d say it’s how much sincerity Robin gives the role. Genie is never a sidekick in this movie, as he has his own distinct motivations and feelings separate to the main character and their goals, and Robin just makes you feel so much for Genie and his own desire for freedom. One quote of Genie’s that has stuck with me since I was a kid thanks to Robin’s beautiful delivery is “To be my own master -- such a thing would be greater than all the magic and all the treasures in all the world.” It makes it so his humor is a sign of how resilient Genie is, despite how unhappy his circumstances are, which is something I understand very well as someone who has suffered from depression and I’m quite sure Robin himself understood very well too. I think it’s why so many people found Robin so likable and felt so much for the characters he portrayed over the years.

Speaking on Friend Like Me specifically, I’m afraid I’ll have to go off on a bit of a tangent and share a story with all of you. The day that Robin Williams passed away, I was working at the World of Color show at Disney’s Calfornia Adventure. When the Friend Like Me segment came on, I danced along to the music while in the walkway outside the show, trying to keep the grief off of my face and just make others happy, the way Robin used to. As the segment ended, everyone applauded like crazy. Then, all of a sudden, we Cast Members became aware of a strange, sputtering, almost sobbing sound. One of the show fountains in the water had gotten out of alignment and it sputtered softly in the background as the next segment (Touch the Sky) began, before after a minute slowly quieting and coming to a stop. It was as if the show was crying for Robin, this person who had given so much joy to so many people. And this, among other reasons, is why I feel so very sorry for poor Will Smith, who somehow has to try to fill the shoes that Robin wore. Jen, Christina, and I aren’t very optimistic about his prospects (I still personally might have offered the role to Wayne Brady instead, given that he can sing, he has done comedy, and he worked with Robin in the past), as even Dan Castellanetta, who voiced Genie in the Aladdin TV series, was never able to match Robin no matter how hard he tried.

On the note of Genie’s motivation, as well, we hear about it in a scene accompanied by the beautiful instrumental “To Be Free.” It’s one of my favorite pieces of instrumental music from the film, which became one of Christina’s favorite songs from the Aladdin musical, To Be Free, which is a solo sung by Jasmine. As very pretty and appropriate the song is from Jasmine, I do also really appreciate the number accompanying Genie’s monologue. The instrumental comes across as more spontaneous and thoughtful, like it’s making itself up as it goes along, until it gets to the sincere, meaningful line about freedom, at which point the melody that inspired the song To Be Free's chorus starts.

Another neat touch with Genie is his use of Yiddisms, such as “punim,” meaning face. Of course, Genie’s animator Eric Goldberg is Jewish, and the idea of Genie being Jewish as well I just find so unbelievably charming, particularly when you place him in an Arabian-like setting full of (presumably) Muslim characters, given that the Sultan at one point references Allah. Therefore Genie and Aladdin’s (adorable) friendship could be thought of as a friendship between a Jewish person and a Muslim! I think that’s really cool!

We return to the palace, where the Sultan scolds Jafar for Aladdin’s supposed execution, only for Aladdin to burst onto the scene, dressed as the dashing Prince Ali. During this scene, Christina noted the fun juxtaposition of Jafar’s fashion choices compared to the Sultan, Genie as a human, and Aladdin as Ali. All of them wear very similar robes and turbans, but the Sultan, Genie, and Aladdin wear turbans with more rounded, floppy feathers, which Jafar’s feather is sharp and straight. Aladdin’s and the Sultan’s feather even flop into their faces sometimes, whereas Jafar’s is rigid as a board. As Jen likewise pointed out, Jafar’s design gives him this pointed, slender look not unlike Dr. Facilier in future Disney project The Princess and the Frog. The shoulder pads on his shoulders also serve to give him this sort of sharp “T” shape, contrasted to the more rounded and well-proportioned characters. Couple that with a black/red color scheme that contrasts the more saintly tannish-white of the other three, and it really does communicate the “black cloud” nature that Jafar’s supervising animator Andreas Deja wanted to give the character, to compliment the “Severus Snape” level of dry sardonicism Jonathan Freeman gave the character.

Even though the Sultan is very impressed by “Prince Ali,” Jasmine most certainly is not. Genie counsels Aladdin (with a few outdated pop culture references) that he should tell her the truth -- the nice thing about the pop culture references is that, really, even if you don’t get the jokes, you can still understand them, and the jokes still drive dialogue and plot forward enough that those lines don’t feel like a waste of time. I mean, I didn’t get most of the jokes as a kid, and it didn’t hurt anything for me -- I still thought the Genie was funny because of his comedic timing and odd voices. (Oh yes, and since Jen brought this up while we were watching this -- Aladdin does not say “take off your clothes” while up on Jasmine’s balcony: the line that Weigner improvised for when Aladdin is trying to shoo Rajah away is “take off and go.” Get your brains out of the gutter.)

Fortunately Aladdin is able to soften Jasmine enough that she gives him a chance, and the two go on a magic carpet ride (a.k.a. the fastest world tour ever, as Christina described it! LOL). Accompanying this scene is, in my opinion, the single most romantic song in the Disney canon. A Whole New World was the very first song Alan Menken and Tim Rice wrote together. After the loss of his good friend and most constant collaborator, Howard Ashman, Menken was very nervous about working with someone else. Fortunately, as soon as he and Tim Rice met, they came together pretty quickly while working on the aforementioned love song, which ended up taking some inspiration from their circumstances as new collaborators in its melody and lyrics. So yes, one could listen to this song and some of its lines -- a new, fantastic point of view -- but when I’m way up here, it’s crystal clear that now I’m in a whole new world with you -- unbelievable sights, indescribable feelings -- with new horizons to pursue -- every moment, red letter -- let me share this whole new world with you -- as being not just about these two characters falling in love, but also about a brand new, exciting friendship.

Aladdin and Jasmine connect, Jafar is banished from the palace, and the Sultan blesses Jasmine’s decision to court “Prince Ali” -- but yeah, just as everything looks like everything’s coming up roses, things start to fall apart when Aladdin breaks his promise to set Genie free. (Another fun story: when I first saw this scene in the Aladdin Musical Spectacular at Disney California Adventure way back in the day, I couldn’t stop myself from yelling “BOO!” from the audience. The people around me giggled. Then the actor playing Genie, without looking away from the actor playing Aladdin, raised a hand and pointed out at the audience. “You hear that?” he said. “That’s my THOUGHTS.” I died laughing.) But yes, thanks to Aladdin’s mistake, Jafar is able to take advantage of the situation and snatch Genie for himself, singing his own quasi-solo, Prince Ali (reprise). Like Aladdin, Jafar doesn’t get a full number to call his own, but fortunately he doesn’t end up needing one: Prince Ali (reprise) is more than powerful enough on its own, and it concludes with the most amazing, deranged laugh in Disney history. Really, as good as some other Disney villain laughs are, I would say that Jafar’s is easily the best.

Jafar becomes the Sultan of Agrabah, imprisoning both Jasmine and the Sultan and banishing Aladdin to the ends of the earth. Even if Jasmine’s a prisoner, though, she is no damsel: in Christina’s words, she’s the Princess Leia to Jafar’s Jabba the Hutt, clever and proud as ever and ready to do whatever is necessary to break free...even if it means kissing our villain in order to distract him long enough for Aladdin to try to snatch back the lamp. (Insert a cringe from all three of us here.) Alas, the ruse fails, and Jafar discovers that Aladdin has returned alive and well. The “Battle” track used for this climax is just epic accompaniment, easily being up there among some of the best “final confrontation” instrumental tracks in Disney history like Sleeping Beauty’s “Battle With the Forces of Evil” and The Great Mouse Detective’s “Big Ben Chase.” The visuals as well are also thrilling -- speaking as someone with acute ophidiophobia, Jafar turning into a giant cobra is pretty terrifying.

Despite all of the odds being against him, our diamond in the rough street rat nonetheless is able to outsmart Jafar, and Jafar, tricked into the form of a Genie, is imprisoned in his own pitch black lamp, possessing all of the power he longed for but ignorantly sacrificing the power of autonomy he had already. (As Jen said, and I quote, “Karma, bitch!”) I just adore how Aladdin outwitted Jafar too: not only does it really suit his Slytherin personality to win through craftiness rather than just brute force, but it also perfectly showcases the difference between Aladdin and Jafar: namely, that Aladdin knows empathy, and Jafar does not. Jafar only sees what Genie has that he doesn’t have, supreme magical power, and longs to possess it -- Aladdin sees Genie’s circumstances fully and knows that he is both amazingly powerful in a magical sense and utterly powerless when it comes to making his own choices.

Accompanying the film’s resolution is the beautiful instrumental “Happy End in Agrabah,” which dips into lighthearted whimsy, resignation, bittersweet joy and exhilaration, alongside echoes of both “To Be Free“ and A Whole New World. Aladdin gives Genie his greatest desire -- his freedom -- and in the process makes, in Jen’s words, the most selfless wish you could make...for only a diamond in the rough would make a wish for someone else, not for himself. And as Jen also pointed out, the Sultan follows Aladdin’s lead, giving Jasmine her freedom just as Aladdin gave Genie his. Our story ends with all of our protagonists earning the freedom that they’ve so longed for -- the freedom to achieve their own happiness -- through their love of each other.

Aladdin may be very “of its era” from a humor point of view, but it’s a movie that truly becomes more resonant with age. When Jen, Christina, and I were kids, we all enjoyed this movie’s flights of fantasy, humor, characters, and songs, but as adults, we can feel for these characters and their desire for freedom more than ever. We can understand how similar these individual characters are, and how even though they’re all in different prisons with different advantages and disadvantages, they all need the same key to unlock their cages -- love and empathy. However much the new Aladdin film diverges from the animated version, I only hope that they remember that core of the movie and how it is integrated into the entire story, from how much Aladdin wishes people would “look closer” when looking at him to Genie’s last words to Aladdin being that “no matter what anybody says, [Aladdin will] always be a prince to [Genie.]” And if it doesn’t, well, we still have the 1992 original...

...and Christina, Jen, and I give that movie three thumbs up!

[fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction]

Start Again

Sometimes to make any sort of progress, one would have to start over from the beginning....

"Figuring that guy out is harder than I originally thought it would be," Vincent muttered under his breath. He lay stretched out on the floor of the strange house that Damien often dreamed of since his nightmares were dispelled, a home that neither Damien nor his soul recognized.

That soul currently was snuggled up beside him, humming softly in contentment as he rested his head against Vincent's shoulder. "Well, maybe you're approaching it the wrong way," Jonathan replied. He rubbed his cheek against the other man's shirt, then sighed in relaxation. "You're still going in expecting the man to behave just like he did when we faced him with the trinity of guards. But you said yourself he's positive aligned, like us. So that should be a pretty big flag that he's different."

"But why? I don't see how he's different just because he doesn't have the experiences of what happened in 1987 and afterwards," Vincent grumbled even as he carefully threaded his fingers through Jonathan's hair, stroking and petting the silky strands.

"Might be something to do with him being digital and not a real spirit like us. Fragment of a soul?" the smaller man mused aloud. "And experiences change people, so wouldn't it make sense that missing experiences means there's changes that were never made? And since he experienced something completely different with Afton, then he'd be changed according to that, without any input from what happened at Freddy's."

Vincent huffed, lower lip jutting out in a pout. "I hate when you apply logic like that," he sulked, squeezing his eyes almost shut. Jonathan pushed himself up, pressing a kiss to Vincent's cheek.

"One of us has to, Vin. You're the emotional one," he teased and settled back down to rest.

That conversation led to the dream guard once again stepping foot in Meera Corbett's apartment. He tilted his head at the sound of conversation in Spanish being held in the kitchen nearby. Vincent could only assume Meera and Lucian were speaking, he recognized their voices and only a few words. Something about dinner and a movie?

There was laughter suddenly and Vincent blinked, surprised by how light and pleasant the male voice sounded. He almost didn't recognize that laugh. It didn't sound anything like the laughter he remembered from Lucian in the past, mocking and cruel and twisted. But seeing the blond man walk out of the kitchen, still laughing and with a happy expression on his face, it was confirmation that the voice was still his all the same.

And then Lucian noticed him at the entrance to the apartment and the laugh abruptly cut off, smile disappearing as the mask of cold distance slammed into place. Vincent almost shivered at that, flinching back at how absolute the wall felt between him and whoever Lucian was now.

A clatter of silverware sounded and Meera stuck her head out of the kitchen, concerned expression on her face as she called out. "Que paso, ti-oh?" She cut herself off at the sight of Vincent still standing there and he gave her a sheepish smile and hesitant wave. The young woman only scowled at him. "I don't remember inviting you to our movie night," Meera told him with a huff, then waved at him dismissively. "I'm still cleaning up. Don't make any more of a mess in there, though personally I'd like for you to get the fuck out of our home." With that she retreated to the kitchen again, leaving Vincent to stand in awkward silence with the blond still watching him impassively.

There was a few minutes where the only sounds were dishes clattering in the background. Vincent fidgeted a bit under Lucian's stare, rubbing at the back of his neck. "So... you were laughing...." he began uncertainly. Lucian raised an eyebrow at him. "And... smiling...."

"I was. Sorry, didn't realize I wasn't allowed to do that," Lucian bit out frostily, folding his arms over his chest as he walked away to the couch.

"That's not what I meant!" Vincent protested in frustration, cheeks flushing as his hands clenched briefly. He relaxed them, rubbing them together to work out the sudden stress. "It was..." Unusual. Unlike him. "...nice." His face felt warmer, especially at Lucian pausing to give him a suspicious look. Thinking back to the earlier expression of carefree smiling and laughter, Vincent swallowed at the lump in his throat in an attempt to clear it. "You have a nice smile... not murdery, regular smile. It's nice," he amended lamely.

Uncertainty flickered in the other man's eyes even as Lucian remained guarded in his expression, if a bit on the confused side. "Thank you... I think," he returned carefully and took a seat on one end of the sofa.

"I didn't come to start a fight," Vincent told him and quietly sighed as the look of distrust returned to Lucian's expression.

"You say that every time you come and we end up fighting anyway. Spare me," Lucian huffed, sitting back, arms still folded protectively over himself. "Just hurry up, say whatever it is you want to say to put me in place, and then leave so I can get on with my day."

"It's evening," Vincent corrected inanely and Lucian threw his arms up in exasperation.

"Siempre estas peleando conmigo! No puedo dicer nada cuando estás aquí!"

"I'm not fighting with you!"

"Then stop making me feel like you're trying to goad me into attacking you again just so you have an excuse to end me!" Lucian snapped back, "Believe me, between you showing up nearly every day to make me regret existing and the nothingness of the void that is deletion, I'd pick getting erased as a mercy kill!"

Silence again. Meera leaned out of the kitchen, just enough for Vincent to see the murderous look on her face that long ago fit Lucian instead. He held up his hands, swallowing hard in hopes that the gesture of peace would help. She simply narrowed her eyes at him and then slid silently back into the kitchen, the clatter of dishes resuming. He was really pushing his limit then.

Well, this was very rapidly going down a path that Vincent didn't want, not with Jonathan's words still in his head and conflicting ideas of who the murderous man once was and who he is now. Slowly, so as to give Lucian ample warning of his movements, he took a seat near him on the same sofa. The other man was back to being defensive, shoulders curling inward, arms folded over his chest, legs pressed tightly together; Vincent had seen similar posing from abused children, heartbreaking on them and troubling from Lucian.

Why was he acting like he'd been physically abused?

Vincent held out a hand towards him in offering, a spark of an idea coming to mind. Lucian glanced from his hand to his face and back with an uneasy expression, part confusion and part curiosity mixed in the way his eyebrow lifted at the gesture.

"Hello. My name is Vincent Heliotrope. It's nice to meet you," Vincent introduced himself. Maybe if he treated this as a new meeting, a separate encounter to the fight in the alley nearly sixty years ago, he'd have an easier time figuring the guy out?

The blond looked at him like he'd gone insane, -and maybe he had-, but eventually he pulled one hand free to consider it, looking it over as if questioning himself. Then, slowly, hesitantly, Lucian reached back and lightly placed his hand in Vincent's.

A small electric thrill ran up his spine at the contact. Thinking on it now, this was the first time Vincent was able to touch the man voluntarily, a peaceful and willing touch. Soft skin, slightly rough, and warm; he barely resisted the urge to rub his thumb over the hand in his and instead focused on listening to Lucian's words.

"Digitized Duplication of Lucian Master File, Version One One," Lucian recited easily. "Digi, for short."

"Um... I'm sorry?" Vincent asked in confusion, staring blankly at the other man. What the hell kind of introduction was that? Lucian shrugged.

"Well, considering the amount of damaged data I have and then having the Baby Front End software interface directly compiled into me to repair me, I guess I'd actually be Version Two?" he tried explaining, cheeks flushing. "Either way, 'Digi' is acceptable as a shortened designation."

"But, that's not a name," Vincent told him, concerned by the wording, and Lucian frowned in return.

"Names are for people. I'm an artificial entity, property of Afton Robotics," he corrected, then tilted his head thoughtfully. "But now I belong to Meera, so I guess that part isn't quite right anymore."

A sickly weight settled in the pit of Vincent's stomach at hearing him. "Lu-!" he began and Lucian glared sharply at him, green eye glowing brighter.

"Meera can call me by that name since it's the only name she knows me by. You call me Digi or don't bother talking to me at all." He tried to pull his hand away but Vincent held on.

"All right, all right! Digi, then. Okay?" he amended quickly, desperate to not lose the fragile contact between them. This was going a different direction and he wanted to follow that path, see where it went.

Lucian eyed him, then gave their hands a pointed look, as though trying to remind him that the handshake hadn't ended. Vincent half hoped that ignoring the look would let him hold on a little longer. Lucian's hand in his was strangely nice. But the man gave a little tug and he reluctantly let go, closing up his own hand to try and retain the warmth.

"So, what was that all about?" Lucian asked suspiciously, shifting in place and looking just a little less on guard. Vincent felt a bit more hopeful that the other man was already opening up a bit more, though using whatever designation that was -did Afton call him that?- instead of his name was dehumanizing. Why would Lucian prefer to be referred to as an object when he remembered him as being so proud and arrogant that he thought of himself as a demon or superior to the guards?

"Thought we could... start new?" Vincent replied with a hopeful grin, rubbing at his neck nervously. Lucian narrowed his eyes at him.

"But... I murdered you," he said slowly, watching him carefully. Vincent raised a finger, taking note of the slight flinch on Lucian's face.

"You remember murdering me," he corrected.

"Yeah... because... I... did," Lucian agreed slowly, though there was a slightly questioning lilt to his tone.

"Well, the other Lucian also remembered murdering me, and I already kicked the ass of the Lucian that did murder me, so that's... that's that, I suppose," Vincent explained with a sheepish smile. Lucian squinted at him.

"What are you saying?" he asked carefully. Vincent shrugged, reaching back up to rub at his neck again.

"Well, if we look at it like that, then technically I don't have to forgive you for my death 'cause it wouldn't have been you that killed me. And if we both know that I know that it wasn't technically you that killed me, then....," he rambled, hoping he was making some kind of sense. "Well, then I don't have any real beef with you."

Lucian gave him that distrusting look again, and Vincent hated that, hated knowing that all the fighting and arguing he had instigated before now made it so much harder to gain Lucian's trust. How much of Lucian's low sense of self-worth was his fault? How much was Afton's doing?

"Could I... have another chance... with you?" Vincent asked somberly. Lucian's expression didn't change, even as he rubbed the fingers of his left hand together nervously. "Please?"

Part of him was sure that Lucian would refuse. Why wouldn't he? Vincent had rejected Lucian's apology back at the cemetery, it would only be fitting that this time the blond would reject him.

The idea of it hurt, oddly enough. More than from the understanding that he'd lose the chance to make amends with the digital ghost.

"I'll think about it," Lucian finally replied, giving him an odd look, "all right?"

Vincent let out a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding in, shoulders dropping. "Oh. Y-yeah, yes, of course." Not a rejection, but not acceptance either. A 'maybe' at best. He'd have to settle for that, in light of everything at least.

As Meera finally emerged from the kitchen with a big bowl of popcorn drizzled with butter, Vincent stood up from the couch and moved to give her space to settle down.

"Oh? Leaving? 'Bout time," the woman muttered, taking his spot immediately and positioning herself as a barrier between him and Lucian.

"Puede mirar con nosotros?" Lucian asked without looking at her. Vincent assumed it was something uncharacteristic, as Meera's eyes widened and she inhaled sharply, whipping around to stare at him intensely.

"Seguro? 'Tás seguro?" she grilled him sharply and Lucian only shrugged as if his response made no difference. Meera grimaced, blowing air through pursed lips so as to flip her bangs upward before giving Vincent a dirty look. "You can stay and watch the movie with us, if you want," she offered, gesturing to a nearby recliner.

"Oh... thank you?" Vincent returned uncertainly, accepting the seat and wondering if Lucian's words had been the cause of the sudden invitation.

"You say anything I consider stupid and I reserve the right to kick you out," she added, shaking the television remote at him before clicking it on and settling back, popcorn bowl in her lap.

As the movie began, Vincent stole a quick look over at the digital ghost. It didn't look like anything about him had changed, but the atmosphere didn't feel as tense as before. Maybe things would work out after all?

"Hey, hey! Eyes on the screen, not on my roommate!" Meera declared, "Goddamn flirty ass ghost in my apartment...."

Vincent made very sure to keep as much focus as he could on the movie, face hot and probably very red.

END

[eralkydns]

This is gonna be a long post...

If anyone who knows me well, would know me as a person who is not very expressive with words.. As I grow older, I became less socialable, less likeable, more grumpy, more independent.. There are so many things I wanna say but I know I cannot do it on a social platform and it seems that this space is still the best as it is less visible (at least to me).

Firstly, I would definitely wanna thank Samsung. This big Korean company allows me the opportunity to do so many things and the exposure I got is something that I am definitely proud of. And of course, the people I meet through here, every one of you, I am very grateful our paths cross. Thank you, Samsung.

My boss. Without her, I will not get the chance to experience what I did. A lot of people asked me why did I want to leave, I mean, with Samsung as such a big company, with your boss and big team… I move on because of my own personal goal. There are always sad and angry times at work, but always remember there are happy and proud times too. There is jo such thing as a perfect job, it’s how you perceive it. Be positive and take all the learnings (good and bad) with pride. Anyway.. I am thankful with a boss that trusted me and entrusted me with all the big projects. I have done 4 Galaxy Studio(s) and every time there will be new challenges. So many times I feel so stressed I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat.. But every single time, I learn new things. Thank you, Jeanette.

Agencies. All the agencies I worked with. Cheil, PA, Spireworks, Summer, Wei Creative… (in alphabetic order okay) Namely Priscilla, Donavan, Geraldine, Katherine, Finn, Alvin, Justine, Mandy, Yvonne, Shi Ling, Adam, Elizabeth, Donn, Faz, Ellen, Wei Xuan, Wei Ming, Vincent, Jonathan, Jacqueline, Lydia, Daryl.. You guys made my work so much easier because of your support, accommodation and advices. Hope I have chance to work with you guys again. Thank you.

Partners. From Samsung experience stores, shopping Malls, collaborative partners.. I believe we will definitely meet again. Thanks for giving me the chance to work with you. Thank you.

My ex colleagues. Thanks for bringing joy to my work life. It’s always sad to see people leaving, although I am guilty of being one myself now. For some of you, thanks for listening to me ranting and complaining. For some, thanks for being there whenever I need help at work. I am really glad to able to make friends that we still kept in contact even we are in different companies now. Thank you for not forgetting me. Cheers to friendship - Lisa, Zhengwei, Jiawei and Sze Ling.

My current or now officially my ex-colleagues. Thanks for tolerating me and open up to me. I wasn’t sure how would people would possibly wanna hang out with me, a grumpy and often a soloist. Thanks for giving a thought for me. I wish you guys all the best! Thanks, Terence, Mary, Nikki, Victor, Lee Ming, Stephanie, Hazel, Andrew and Kien.. and so many more!

My Boyfriend, Wen Jie. Although I know you hate it when I was in my work mode, to quote your words “You look like you saw Gold when you see Samsung products or Samsung promoters”. Sometimes you are so irritating and annoying but it’s so hard to get mad at you. Most of the times, i feel so indebted to you because I neglected you so much cause of my lifestyle. Thanks W, for being there even though you hate me mentioning about work.

To everyone who made this journey a memorable one. Remember, everything is possible and what matters is you know you did your best.

[judasbeast]

Apotheca: Business

@skwilliam (i hope this tagged you tumblr’s doin some weird shit.)

here is my fic thing I wrote for my favorite 20′s style queen, Apotheca. it also includes my own oc. pls take it i’m so t i r e d

 It was a cold night in Gotham, and the good doctors stood in front of the Iceberg Lounge. Apotheca stood with her head held high, her red ‘business’ lipstick painted brightly on her lips. She absently played with the pearls on her necklace. Her beloved husband stood next to her, dressed in a simple brown coat and khakis. They appeared to be waiting on someone. Jon checked his watch every so often.

 "Where’s the child we never had?“ He asked. Apotheca giggled behind a delicate hand. "Late as usual, I assume. We’ll just have to begin the party without her.” The doctor adjusted the brim of her white cloche hat. Before she could open the door, Jon took hold of her hands and pulled her closer.

  “A moment, darling.” He said, giving her a kiss. It was their tradition to give each other a kiss before she conducted business, a good luck gesture if you will; but let’s be real, they’d kiss each other anywhere, anytime, good luck or not.

“Knock 'em dead, my love.”

“Only if necessary, dear.”

   And with that, they opened the door and stepped inside. One could always hear the click of her heels before you saw her coming. Jonathan, always her faithful shadow, stayed behind her during these deals, as they were known to get a bit… messy. They reached a table with three, clean cut men in suits, talking over wine and steaks. Apotheca set her sequined handbag on the table and went to take off her lavish, white fur coat. She stopped when her husband helped her out of it instead and hung it on the back of her chair.

  “Thank you, Jon.” She smiled and curled a finger under his chin, pressing a kiss to his cheek. It left a lipstick stain, but he didn’t notice nor did he care. They lingered in the moment before taking their seats. An empty chair was to Apotheca’s left.

  “We waiting on someone else?” The man who seemed to be the boss asked. “Oh, yes my friend should be arriving shortly, but we can start without her. She won’t mind.” She said, crossing her legs. A nervous looking waitress came by and took her order, just wine and a whiskey for her husband. Their… Friend would bring her own sugary, caffeinated drink. Most of these deals began with small talk and pleasantries, just to be civil before the real difficulties began.

 They were hardly ten minutes into their chat before the doors busted open and the pungent perfume of gasoline and sewer hit the company like a tidal wave. The disgusting smelling person at the door stopped to flirt with the nervous waitress before weaving her way through tables and chairs, stealing a woman’s wine glass, and plopping at the chair next to Apotheca. Loudly propping their grimy boots on the table, she downed the glass of wine in one go.

 "Sup, suits, how we doin’ tonight? Sorry for the fashionable lateness, my date with Jonesy caused me to lose track'a the time.“ She said, slamming the wine glass on the table and wiping her mouth with the back of her grimy hand. Apotheca grinned politely at her associates, patting her friend’s knee. The men looked at one another before gray haired man on the right pointed his steak knife at the kid. "You bring children to your business deals now?” He asked.

 "Razor is much older than she looks. Besides, she always been such a help when things go south.“ The doctor lovingly ruffled Razor’s greasy red mohawk.

 "S'Right.” She said, looking proud of herself as she cracked open a rather large Red Bull. Apotheca swirled the wine in her glass, and Jon lit a cigarette. They let the moment sink in before the doctor cleared her throat.

 "I think that’ll be enough idle chat.“ She said, suddenly switching gears. Her posture changed and she sat up straighter. "Now, Vincent, let’s discuss your affairs. You’ve gotten yourself in quite an economical pickle. I’m afraid I’ll have to stop the supply of pain pills and other such luxuries until I get my money. And that’ll include interest.” She said, sipping her wine.

  Vincent sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I told ya, Doctor, I don’t have it. I’ve been trying to collect, but business is tanking. I barely have enough to pay my employers.” He griped. Apotheca grinned again.

 "And yet you seem to have plenty for expensive booze and fancy dinners. And those lovely suits, must be Italian, am I correct?“ She asked, her eyes looking for traces of lies on their faces. Apotheca had sent Razor and few of her employees to spy on this particular mob family, so she knew plenty about where there money was going. Razor pulled out a knife and jabbed it in the bread basket, getting two rolls on a knife and eating them shish-ka-bob style. She winked and flicked her tongue at the nervous boy to Vincent’s left. He blushed darkly and tried to eat his steak without looking at Razor too much.

  "W-well we’ve also been trying to pay off other bosses, y'know. We’ll have your money next month, I promise.” Vincent was really trying to cover his ass now. Apotheca tsked and opened her handbag, pulling out a small notebook. “Now let’s look at numbers. See, you’ve been promising to pay me since November, and it is January now. I’ve been ever so generous and patient with you since you pay pretty well for my products, but I’m afraid if you don’t pay now, then we’ll take our business elsewhere. So pardon my French, but at this point in the game, your promises don’t mean shit.” She snapped the notebook. A vein began to pop in Vincent’s forehead.

 "Are you calling me cheap, you sorry, conniving-“ he wasn’t given a chance to finish when Jon jumped to his feet and Razor attempted to lunge over the table at him. Apotheca caught her husband by the crook of his elbow and Razor by her patched vest. "Now, now, sweets, let’s not cause a scene. I’m sure Vincent didn’t mean what he was about to say, now did he?” She asked, her voice leveled but hinting that if she were to let go of her people, it was going to get violent. Vincent cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “Not at all.”

 Apotheca rested her chin in one hand, keeping the other on her lap. “Wonderful. Now back to your payment, I want my money by tonight. I will accept it no later. Cash only, I will not take checks.” In the early days, she learned never, ever use or accept checks. They were easily traceable and besides, what bank would take checks from mob bosses?

 "And I’m telling you, I. Don’t. Have it. End of story. I can have it to you by February.“ Vincent waved his hand dismissively. That made her blood boil, but she kept a cool smile on her face. "Oh, dear. I suppose February will have to do, won’t it?” She asked, feigning defeat with a hefty sigh. Jon smiled, he knew exactly what was coming next. Razor tried to muffle her giggle. Before Vincent could say another word, Apotheca reached under the table and pulled out her handgun, hitting Vincent point blank in the head and his gray haired partner in the chest. The boy to his left, with black, curly hair and hardly out of teen hood, had covered his face and cowered in his chair. Jon was on him in seconds, a syringe of fear toxin at his neck with his thumb on the plunger. Razor came up behind him, grabbing some hair and poising her knife like she meant to scalp the poor boy. Apotheca stood, the beads on her sumptuous black dress swaying as she walked, and sat across from him on the table.

  “Now you seem much more agreeable, sweetie, what’s your name?” She asked softly, holding his chin. The boy gulped and stuttered out “Michael.”

  “Alright, Michael. You’ll have my money to me by tonight, now won’t you? In exchange, I’m sure we can find a nice suitable position in our family. Maybe you can even have a little fun with Razor. Would you like that, sweetness?” She asked, comfortingly touching his face. It wasn’t his fault his boss was an idiot, why punish the kid? He gave a weak nod.

 "O-of course ma'am, tonight.“ He said, his voice cracking with anxiety. Apotheca looked pleased and gently poked his nose with a long, perfectly manicured nail. "I knew I could count on you. Let him go, sweets.” Jon withdrew his syringe and put it in his pocket, straightening his jacket. Razor ran a hand through his hair and pulled the knife away.

  “You’re free to go, young man.” Apotheca said shortly and the boy scrambled to get out the door, forgetting his jacket. Razor cackled. “Man, his face! He was pissing himself! He was lucky he was so cute, I woulda been harder on him.” The mob boss smiled before they heard someone shouting.

  “Goddammit, Apotheca! What have I told you about shooting up my club?!” Oswald waddled towards them as fast he could, the thick cigar in his mouth puffing with smoke. “I’m sorry, Oswald, but business went sour with him. It was necessary violence. I promise, we’ll have it cleaned up for you.” She said, her voice like velvet, hoping to quell him before he got worked up.

 "Better watch the old blood pressure, Ozzy. Wouldn’t want you to have a stroke.“ Razor said from behind her, giving Oswald a Cheshire grin. Apotheca sighed deeply. She loved her friend to death, but she never knew when to shut her mouth.  

  "YOU!” Oswald bellowed, brandishing his umbrella at Razor, his face red and splotchy with anger. “You are violating about seven different restraining orders by being here you lunatic piece of gutter trash!” He jabbed the end of the umbrella to her chest. Razor didn’t even look slightly fazed. “Yeah, yeah, waddles, I’ll be outta your receding hair in no time. This place is too stuffy for me anyhow.” She flicked the barrel of the umbrella gun before she was whacked over the head with it.

  “What she means to say is that we’ll get going once we clean up and pay.” Jonathan intervened before Razor and Cobblepot killed each other. Oswald glared at Jonathan. “You’ll make sure of it, Crane. Spotless! I want no blood stains. I will NOT have my business ruined by your 'business’!” He snapped before waddling away.

 "He’s gonna give himself a grand mal seizure one’a these days.“ Razor muttered, picking dirt from under her nails with the point of a steak knife. They cleaned up the blood and disposed the bodies in the boiler room below the club. Once they payed for their drinks, they walked outside into the night.

  "I think that went rather well.” Apotheca said, putting her tiffany blue plated gun in her coat pocket. Jonathan nodded and wrapped his arm around his gorgeous wife. “I’m off to Jonesy’s. Gimme a holler if you are in need of my services, m'lady.” Razor gave a dramatic bow before giving her friend a bear hug. “Don’t cause too much trouble sweetpea.” The doctor smiled, knowing fully well Razor WAS the trouble.

  “Oh, you should know me better than that, Doc.” She laughed and ran off into the darkness. Jonathan’s arms slipped around her waist from behind. “Where to now, darling?” He asked, resting his bony chin on her shoulder. His long ginger hair brushed against her rouged cheek. Apotheca sighed in content. “Home, dearest. I still have some… Unfinished business to take care of.” She purred, and he felt her nails gently trace up his thigh. Now that’s the kind of business Jon loved.

[sidigame20g]

ES

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0:14 / 2:00Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Te Deum411.785 visualizaciones•13 may. 2010

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The500EEK

249 suscriptoresSUSCRIBIRSEEurovision Song Contest Main TitleMOSTRAR MÁS

225 comentarios

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Fred Montelatici

Hace 6 años

As a child this tune preceded every great event on television, especially football.

97

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Wiston Smith

Hace 6 años

Without any dude, the best song of this year in Eurovision.

206

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nicht jan

Hace 4 años

Lang lebe Europa!

131

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Erlend Loe

Hace 4 años

Imagine how proud Marc-Antoine would be if he knew his song was used to introduce each years Eurovision Song Contest  :)))

75

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marie hone

Hace 4 años

Vive l'Europe !

89

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James Taylor

Hace 4 años

my national anthem

57

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Thomas

Hace 7 años

Long live EUROPA!! This crisis is just temporarly, when it is over, Europe will be stronger than ever! Greetings from the Netherlands

26

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Psygnostic

Hace 6 años

Ave Europa!

45

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Luca Fiorentini

Hace 2 años

Forza Europa!!/Force Europe!!

20

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MrRedstardude

Hace 4 años

I give nul points to the people who lost this piece of music for making humanity wait until it was rediscovered in 1953.

22

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Jeppe Lorentsen

Hace 4 meses

😢RIP ESC 2020 😢

5

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Sofia Livro Noronha

Hace 5 años

I had never heard the full version before. It's really beautiful. :)

27

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matelot95

Hace 5 años

It used to precede Jeux Sans Frontiers on the BBC.

14

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The Flying Man

Hace 2 años

Vive EUROVISION!

17

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Noxz

Hace 1 año

Play this at my funeral please!!!

11

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Jonathan Dogbé

Hace 4 años

Europe

6

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Demis Gaming

Hace 2 años

My homeland is beautiful europe.

16

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Juan Torés Pacheco

Hace 6 años

It's a beautiful anthem. Que preciosidad de himno.

6

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Pro & Contra Deutschland

Hace 7 meses

The only good song of the Eurovivion Song Contest!

3

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castcastcast

Hace 5 años

Every winter weekend when I was little (in the 80s) - there was alpine skiing on the TV. And all the broadcast started with this themesong. (Go Ingmar Stenmark!)

10

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Chrno

Hace 2 años

** ALL RISE FOR FOR THE ANTHEM **

4

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beniamino sani

Hace 8 meses

"And now live some celestial music to introduce some of the worst shit human beings could ever compose"

1

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Richard Clifford

Hace 9 años

I remember the TV series "The Olympiad."  This theme was used for the opening, along with the opening of "Capriccio Italien" by Tchaikovsky.  I once thought they were the same piece, but they're two different ones.

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σταθης στακας

Hace 6 años

ΘΡΥΛΕ, ΘΡΥΛΕ ΟΛΕ ΟΛΕΟ, ΘΡΥΛΕ ΘΡΥΛΕ ΟΛΕ ΟΛΕ ΘΡΥΛΕ ΟΛΕ ΟΛΕ

4

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idolscountry

Hace 6 años

this is a very good instrumt song  - i find it very sad that ebu dont the full song at the eurovision song contest when they starting it

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I don’t exist For tax and insurance purposes

Hace 3 años

Long live Europa.

6

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Carles Manrich i Peres

Hace 9 años

@MultiCerious i will find it :) maybe if you win this year, and i find it possible ( you can sing that in the opening of Helsinki 2011 ( or Turku, cos you already have organized one time in Helsinki ;)

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EurovisionManiacs

Hace 7 años

everybody knows these song thanks to EUROVISIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN♥♥

1

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mariosdamianou

Hace 9 años

I LOVE YOU  EUROVISION !!!! YOU ARE MY LIFE :))

1

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binxyboo

Hace 2 años

I walked down the aisle to this piece of music <3

3

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Wasserrübenvergilbungsvirus

Hace 1 año

I have to admit, Eurovision is kind of a guilty pleasure to me. I watch it every year. :P

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LadyLonely500

Hace 8 años

Oh yeah... It's so damn great to be European :')

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Ármin Ódor

Hace 1 año

In my school this is always played on the last mass at the end of the year on june 15th.

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dana dana

Hace 7 meses

How long until this theme will go silent...

1

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Adri Martin

Hace 7 años

Thank you so much Portugal for your points for Spain, I love you so much..!

4

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Magnús Örn Ómarsson

Hace 3 meses

hearing it now is just sad :(

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Hannah Mills

Hace 6 años

Can't wait this years Eurovision. Hope the UK do well this year!

#TeamMolly

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TheANGELAgomez

Hace 9 años

Eurovision and Europe in my heart 4ever !!

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MadT0AD

Hace 10 años

Thank you very much for this! I've been looking for this in many search, but I couldn't find it anywhere. But now you saved my day! :)

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dasmysteryman12

Hace 9 años

@insideLCPD Yes. One through a song contest at least. :P

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[todaynewsstories]

Oscar nominees react with gratitude, pride and honor

(Reuters) – Actors, directors and producers were “flabbergasted,” “honored” and “over the moon’ to be nominated for the Academy Awards, which will be presented on Feb. 24 in Hollywood.

FILE PHOTO: 24th Critics Choice Awards – Show – Santa Monica, California, U.S., January 13, 2019 – Glenn Close reacts as she accepts the award for Best Actress for her work in “The Wife” in a tie with Lady Gaga for “A Star is Born.” REUTERS/Mike Blake

The following are some reactions – through statements, telephone calls and social media – to the Oscar nominations announced on Tuesday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

–

Glenn Close, best actress nominee for “The Wife”

“Everything to do with this movie has been a total joy. Bjorn Runge is a great director! Jonathan Pryce is an inspired partner. I’m so proud to be in a little film that has such great resonance with so many people.”

Bradley Cooper, best actor nominee for “A Star is Born”

“Everyone who worked on this film truly risked putting themselves out there — in the hope that in doing so people will connect and feel something deep and personal — the way films have made me feel since I was a kid. When I got this opportunity, I knew I had to risk it all because I may never get another chance — so to be here today in a place where people who have seen the film are talking about how it makes them feel, something deep — that simple human thing — that we need each other — and the Academy to recognize that this morning, I just am so grateful.”

Yalitza Aparicio, best actress nominee for “Roma”

“From the very first casting call to this morning, my ‘Roma’ journey has been extraordinary.  As a daughter of a domestic worker and an indigenous woman myself, I am proud this movie will help those of us who feel invisible be seen. … I am so humbled and honored. Thank You.”

Alfonso Cuaron, best director nominee “Roma”

“Thank you to the Academy for recognizing ‘Roma’ across these categories. Human experience is one in the same, and it’s so gratifying that a black and white film about life in Mexico is being celebrated around the world. We are living a great moment in cinema where diversity is embraced by audiences.”

Willem Dafoe, best actor nominee for “At Eternity’s Gate”

“I’m over the moon with this nomination. Playing Vincent Van Gogh in Julian Schnabel’s ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ was a gift. The making was so transforming and my working with Julian was so complete and close that sometimes it felt like we were the same person. I share this honor with him.”

Amy Adams, best supporting actress nominee for “Vice”

“Thank you so much to the Academy for this recognition. It is an honor to be nominated for a film that I loved making. I am grateful to Adam (McKay) for writing such rich material and for creating such a wonderful work environment.”

Emma Stone, best supporting actress nominee for “The Favourite”

“Working on ‘The Favourite’ alongside my brilliant friends Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and the whole cast was nothing short of incredible. I was grateful every day and am honored by this nomination.”

Yorgos Lanthimos, best director nominee for “The Favourite”

“I would like to thank The Academy for honoring ‘The Favourite’ so generously today. Having felt a bit like an outsider looking in, I am truly humbled about this morning’s nominations.”

Richard E. Grant, best supporting actor nominee for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

“For a boy growing up in Swaziland, the smallest country in the southern hemisphere, becoming an actor seemed an impossible dream, let alone being nominated for an Oscar. Am literally levitating!!”

Sam Rockwell, best supporting actor nominee for “Vice”

“Hot damn! I am so truly honored to be recognized by the Academy again this year. ‘Vice’ is such a special and important film to be a part of and I’m thrilled for Adam (McKay), Christian (Bale), Amy (Adams) and Hank (Corwin), as well as all of the cast and crew.”

Mahershala Ali, best supporting actor nominee for “Green Book”

“I’d like to thank the Academy for recognizing my work along with the extraordinary performances of my fellow nominees… Through Dr. Donald Shirley, I had the gift of navigating circumstances as a profound, gifted, complicated genius. A man who had experiences and a combination of qualities that I had yet to see on film.”

Adam McKay, best director, producer and writer nominee for “Vice”

Slideshow (7 Images)

“My sincere thanks to the Academy for recognizing our incredible cast and crew, who worked so tirelessly on this movie that spans five decades. I’m just thrilled, flabbergasted and excited”

Pawel Pawlikowski, best director nominee for “Cold War”

“It is an incredible honor to be included amid this group of filmmakers, and I’m so grateful to the Academy. Sharing this very personal film with the world over the last year has been an unforgettable journey.”

Compiled by Patricia Reaney; editing by Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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