#in fact it would be cool if all the actors from the film & tv show did a photoshoot together

[mzannthropy]

You know what would be cool, if Sam Claflin and Pierre Niney, the two latest actors to play the Count of Monte Cristo, did a photoshoot together.

[justplaggin]

endless list of fascinating ding yuxi facts in no particular order

his ideal job besides acting would be museum guard bc he'd get to admire the exhibits all day for free

majored in directing at shanghai theatre academy

gets embarrassed when dubbing his own scenes

used to be a lanky little dude and thus thought dayu (big yu) would be a fitting nickname to use. now he's all buffed up and goes by xiaoding (little ding)

named his fandom haitang bc there's an animated movie called dayu haitang (big fish & begonia)

irl disney princess: animals inexplicably swarm him no matter where he goes (real)

self-proclaimed disney princess

has insane chemistry even with inanimate objects but apparently it's because he's severely nearsighted

thinks his best angle is the back of his head

had to explain slang words and exemplified by looking straight into the camera and saying *in perfect english* "you look SNATCHED in that t-shirt"

played a white cat demon

adopted a white cat and named it after his character

played another white cat demon

adopted two more cats off the street by putting down his backpack and waiting to see if they hop in or not (they did)

adopted a puppy from one of his shows when it grew too big and had to be replaced for continuity

checks fandom posts and questions for him daily and replies with puns so elaborate they require time to be deciphered, memes and/or pictures of his pets

early in his career won an acting reality show

played (among other unhinged characters) a zebra on said show

fans made throwbacks to it to celebrate his recent surge in popularity, newer fans were horrified and said they were worse than antis. he promptly went online to defend his longtime fans by saying they're 'old friends that his journey couldn't have been possible without'

recognizes fans irl and stops to chat with them

used to write down fans' usernames for live q&as

an ai cover of him singing went viral so he recorded his own cover and released it

generally does things his fans ask him to/don't even ask but he sees online and thinks they'd enjoy. even went bungee jumping bc he promised to

hyperaware of his surroundings to the extent that he's the first to catch anyone who stumbles in a 10m radius

gets shoujo vision whenever he sees a plushie and can't help petting it (well-known fact but also. caught in 4k on national tv)

pranks other actors he's traveling with by mingling in with the paparazzi and pretending he's one of them

was often spotted eating alone in restaurants, famous celebs commented saying he should tell them if he wanted to hang out, he was genuinely baffled bc he didn't see why being by himself would be such a big issue

got his driver's license at 29 and now can't stop bringing it up in every conversation

when asked to drive he said he doesn't dare go over 10kmph

his english name is ryan. who even is that. every time he's called that a fan gets a jumpscare. but! on extra cool occasions, he is very much a ryan

has his big break in a hit series every other 4 years (the real deal this time though 🙏)

likes getting new acting jobs bc it means. haircuts for free!! (he thinks spending pocket change on himself in his free time isn't a priority but bought on sight 1218 magazines featuring a co-star just to show support)

shocked veteran actors with his dedication after getting near-drunk in order to make such a scene more convincing (he's allergic to alcohol)

bawls his eyes out at wrap-up ceremonies because after months of filming he'll miss being called by his character's name all the time

whenever a series of his finishes airing, he tries to learn a new craft in order to make an art piece as a send-off gift (recent ones: clay pottery and sand art)

has a beautiful singing voice and loves ballads but never really gets to officially sing, recently bc of his newfound success he was invited to perform on a music show and during the stage he was more scared than when bungee-jumping

thinks acting is like borrowing someone's life so he wishes to help his characters live to the fullest

in the last 2 months covered the entire scale of: [no bodyguards] -> highest popularity level possible on weibo, achieved only by 3 other much more famous actors -> brand event of his supposed to be held in a mall had to be urgently moved to the nearby 60.000-seat olympic stadium because the fans kept coming; the stadium reached max capacity and the brand had to state that it wasn't a concert (🆕️)

is a cat

[blckbrrybasket]

RAHHH i loved the odd!reader piece you posted!! i would love to see more, only if you want to write more, no pressure!! <33

ahh im so happy that you like it!! i love odd!reader so much <3 so so sorry this took a bit to come out

if you or anybody has any ideas for odd!reader plssss send them my way i would love to write more for them!!

have some headcanons and a lil something 💫

- When in public there are times where they’ll never touch their boyfriend or stand so close next to him that their face is in his side.

- It’s become a bit of a one-sided competition for their boyfriend to try and fuck them dumb (quickly mentioned in the blurb but he does take it as a challenge)

- They’re very clumsy. It’s not very noticeable to them anymore. Elbows knocked on door frames, tripping, miscalculating how far away something is, is all common to them.

- Surprisingly not queasy to most things, sees it as a part of life.

- That being said, the most horrendous thing could happen to them and they’d shrug like “:/ what can you do?” While their boyfriend is staring at them in horror.

- Knows way too many random facts. Makes it interesting to watch shows or movies when they randomly drop facts about the filming process or the lore.

- Bounces their leg like nobody’s business. Has spilled things by hitting their knee on the table.

- Egregious sleeper. Why can they fall asleep to the sound of gunshots outside, but if something interrupts their rain sounds they can’t sleep.

- Knows whats best but doesn’t know how to express it so they’ll just say “yes” or “no” and expect everyone to understand why.

The girl on screen pressed herself against the side of the house, panting as she tried to find a good moment to run. You and your boyfriend were watching a horror movie as you squirmed in your seat. Your legs were laid out over his lap, draping over the armrest of the couch.

“She actually called 911.” You muttered, popping a piece of popcorn into your mouth. ��Well yeah-“ He started. “No like the phone was still connected. When filming she accidentally called 911 multiple times.” You finished the thought.

He raised his eyebrows at you, not questioning, only turning his head back to the screen when a blood curdling screen was ripped from the actor. “Yeah?” You smiled contently. “Mhm!” A few moments passed by quietly, aside from the gore on the TV.

Your eyes trained on the screen as the girl ran around the house only to be met with the slasher. The knife stabbed into her, a small grimace finding itself onto his face at the forced angle of the cut. “Do you think it would be cool if the cloak was white instead of black?” The question pulled him out of watching the movie and he glanced at you. “Huh?”

“Well originally the cloak was going to be white and if it stayed that way it would be covered in all the blood stains. It’d look cool.” He slowly nodded, “But the black looks cooler in the night.” You paused before a smile spread across your lips. “Yeah. You’re right.” His hand wrapped around your ankle and his thumb slid back and forth over your skin, both of your attentions falling back to the film.

[aclockmaker]

Part 2 now here

Okay to expand on this I just think: Steve who’s been in a couple of tv shows and is having a moment, famous offscreen for his hair and his charm and onscreen for his ability to find chemistry with anyone (and also, again, his hair).

And Eddie who is a complete unknown; he’s been in some stage productions and had the tiniest bit parts on TV but nobody’s ever, like, recognized him on the street.

Eddie auditions for a new HBO show. When his agent tells him that Steve Harrington is already attached Eddie is like cool, I’ll never get this part but the audition will be good practice so why not. They’re never gonna cast him. He’s sure he’s playing it too weird, and he hasn’t cut his hair (but he will when a part needs him to) but then he gets a callback. Twice.

And then he’s getting called in to do a chemistry test with some of the other actors. The show is like a modern Freaks and Geeks but with a slow burn murder mystery, and Eddie’s actually dead in the main timeline but about half the show is told in flashbacks so it’s a big part. When he meets Steve he doesn’t know what he’s expecting from the paparazzi darling but the guy is super genuine, makes Eddie feel way more comfortable than he has so far. They do their read together and Eddie is just thinking to himself like… damn, this guy really is good, because that felt crazy. He’s acted opposite some insanely talented people but it’s never been that easy. That must just be what it’s like working with Steve.

And now it’s dangerous because he really wants the part. He wants to stop bartending to make rent. He wants to be on this show, because the pages he’s seen are good, and he thinks he could really bring something to it. And because he wants to work with Steve. And even the rest of the cast, too, but—

The day Eddie gets the part he gets a text from a number he doesn't know. Hey man, really looking forward to working with you. And then, a few minutes later, It's Steve btw. He's smiling down at his phone so much that his agent, whose office he's in, is like "What, did you just score another life-changing opportunity I don't know about?" And Eddie is like "Nope, just the one, uh—it's just my uncle saying congrats. Anyway—"

They don't make him cut his hair. They don't tell him to stop playing it so weird. Everything goes so well that it feels fucking hard to believe, in fact, like he's just waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's one group of them playing seniors in high school, the main foursome of which is Eddie, Steve, and their two girl costars, Nancy and Robin. And then there's a younger group playing freshmen whose story intersects with theirs.

His and Steve's characters are set up as opposites, almost rivals, and at least at first, you're presumably supposed to wonder if it's Steve's rich, popular guy who's killed Eddie's character. Nobody in the cast knows the truth yet; the scripts get revealed to them as they're shooting them and they've been told the murderer won't even be revealed in the first season (so here's hoping they get renewed, because Eddie would really like to know who killed him—and he'd also like to keep making HBO money).

Their scenes are some of Eddie's favorites to film (although he also has a soft spot for the kids—especially Dustin who plays a hilarious and awesome nerd who does D&D with Eddie's DM). Eddie hopes his and Steve's stuff is working on whatever level they ultimately need it to work on—sometimes they do get notes that tell them to pull back or dig into something, to emphasize something else, so he has to trust that they're doing the right things.

They often film out of order so when they eventually film the scene where Eddie and Steve's characters have their first run-in at school, it's far from the first time they've shot together. They get all up in each other's faces in the scene, and they've run the lines, done a table read, but acting it out at full intensity is. A lot. Steve's character is mad because he thinks Eddie's character is trying to steal his girlfriend (really she was just buying drugs from him). The way Steve plays it is all simmering intensity, the threat of violence just under the surface, and this is where Eddie doesn't know if he's reading something into it that isn't there. Because for him, there's also another kind of tension between them. And he doesn't know if it's his real life bleeding into the character; if it's just how Steve can't help being with everyone; or if it's a legitimate part of the scripts that they're supposed to be picking up on and exploring. He doesn't even know if anybody else sees what he does. But they do their takes; nobody tells him he's doing something wrong. And after the director calls cut the first time, Steve winks at him. Just to cut the tension, Eddie thinks, maybe to make him smile, which it does. It's fun watching Steve work, watching him slip into and out of character. He's really easy to work with.

Sometimes they get together to run lines or talk motivation or whatever. “It's crazy, you know," Eddie tells Steve in his trailer one night. Steve's is bigger so all of them usually hang out here. They've been making each other laugh, shooting the shit about increasingly funny backstories for their characters, and Eddie feels high with it. "I mean, you know this is my first real show. It's like—" he gestures between them, trying to encompass everything that happens on-camera and all the fun of working on that off-camera. "I didn't know it would be like this."

"Oh—yeah, man," Steve says and laughs a little self-deprecatingly, running a hand through his hair. "But, I mean, for me, I've done a couple and, with our stuff—it’s never been like this with anyone else, either.”

It's going to be so hard, Eddie thinks, looking back at him, to not read into that more than he should.

[kendallville]

incredibly hot (well, maybe not amongst Jeremy fans but OH WELL lemme preach to the choir) take but: i find the way Jeremy is talked about his ex Succession co-stars these days so very obnoxious. Why should we or anyone care about his "method"? I watch him act fantastically on my tv screen, that alone is a joy for me, and his interviews show he cares a lot about his craft. To be too cool for school and shrug everything off is also its own method actors go about what they do - and lemme tell you, I find that so much more embarrassing than someone who might use flowery language, quote European intellectuals, and perhaps do like hearing themselves talk - the latter is pretty universal.

As a whole, idc if an actor is annoying in that sense, because I don't have to coexist with them (besides, I do know people who are indeed annoying in that way - some of them are my friends). Do they entertain me, cause me to feel emotion, will I be in awe when watching them work? If the answer to all of that is yes, then I like the actor. As long as they're not confirmed to be harrassing their castmates (or anyone at all), a creep who endangers them, or a genuine bigot, I truly DGAF. Unlike Brian Cox, apparently, who openly backs actors known to be domestic abusers and/or rapists. Plus, can't recall the last time various people have roasted Daniel Day-Lewis like that over his method... 🤔 (also: I could die very happily if I never have to hear that goddamned Laurence Olivier quote to Dustin Hoffman ever again)

Kieran's cheap shots also didn't exactly endear me to him - even though I think he's a great actor and I will see A Real Pain when it comes out in theatres here. But hm, let's just say that I am actively rooting for him to lose when he goes up against Jeremy in the Best Supporting Actor category and to also lose as Best Leading Actor if he ends up in that category when Jeremy loses in Best Supporting.

Yes, this is petty but [shrugs]

Sorry for leaving a rant in your askbox LOL ❤️

Thank you so much for that ask! I totally agree with everything you wrote.

For me one thing is true - when I watched second season of Succession, there was something in Kendall that tore me apart. I really felt his emotions and I haven't experienced that ever before watching TV show. It was so surprising, but also excilariting. Someone my age suddenly being floored by watching some rich guy mope around.

And then, later, I learned how Jeremy Strong has approached creating Kendall's character. It became clear to me that the realness of the emotions came from a very deep place of the actor, the person. To think that someone was ready to go that far for the role (he said it led him to some very dark places and that he has lost feeling of joy) makes you look at the whole craft differently.

I love how serious and thoughtful he is in describing his work, it's something so rare these days. Jeremy always says that you need to be brave and do things that scare you, and that's how he lives, and it's very inspiring.

I also agree that Kieran acts like he's just a guy who comes to do "whatever", and it's actually ironic, because from what he describes he does a lot of things similarly to Jeremy - he didn't want to rehearse in A Real Pain and he mentions that he let the Benji character act out, like he didn't know what would happen, how he would behave. That's exactly what Jeremy did while filming Succession.

It's clear that someone's process might be difficult for other actors, but from what I gather, Jeremy mostly kept to himself and was isolating, so I don't think it was such a big burden for them, other than a fact that it probably created tensed atmosphere, but on the other hand - Kieran and Sarah are best buds (she's a godmother of one of his kids) and Brian talks fondly of both of them, so they're good. The only one left out is Jeremy (not counting Alan Ruck, sorry Con), that's the choice he made and he seems to accept it.

For me the best proof of Jeremy's grace and thoughtfulness is the fact that he never reacted to Brian Cox's cheap shots; he literally said that he admires him when asked about his comments.

As to the awards, I watched A Real Pain and it's a good movie, but as a Succession freak I must say that Kieran performed Benji character in a very similar way to how he portrayed Roman, this guy is just more open about his feelings. I'm surprised it wasn't noted in any reviews, but maybe it's just me. I think Kieran might win with Jeremy because he's more liked in the industry, but for me, trying to be as objective as I can, the performance of Jeremy in 'The Apprentice' is just leaps and bounds superior to that of Kieran's in 'A Real Pain'.

[pascaloverx]

Rewrite The Stars

Chapter Sixteen — Season Two

Summary: One photo changes your whole life, when you accidentally bump into a celebrity and the world starts to believe that you are a couple.

Notes:

In this chapter, we have an extra character called Enzo, whom I'd like you to imagine as the actor Enzo Vogrincic. And for those who enjoy the fanfic, I appreciate if you reblog or like. To the readers who supported a new season of this fanfic, my heartfelt thanks. I will be writing more chapters like this one or even shorter, as long as you continue to engage and enjoy what I'm writing. Let me know what you think of the new chapter, and happy reading to all of you ❤

chapter fifteen chapter seventeen

Sleeping next to Pedro has been one of the best things in the world. It's even hard for you to go to work every day since Pascal returned from filming. You’re actually savoring your last moments with Pascal, as in a few hours, he’ll be heading to another state to film a guest appearance on a TV series.

"And if we just stay like this for the rest of the week…" Pascal murmurs with his eyes still closed, and you smile. For you, a lifetime like this would be heaven on earth.

"Your suggestion forgets that we both have important professional commitments. But the thought of spending more time with you is tempting. How about dinner tonight?" you say as you try to muster the strength to get up.

"If you finally let me do the cooking. I swear I've been practicing a lot for my role in that culinary show. You'll see, I'll be the best cook on that show," Pascal says as he gets up to go to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. You start getting things ready for breakfast.

"You know they're not actually going to force you to cook, right? But I totally support you making our food. In fact, I'm all for you cooking here," you say loudly enough for Pascal to hear. You can hear his laughter from the kitchen as you finish making pancakes for the two of you to enjoy.

"Of course I know they're not going to make me cook, but I want to know what I'll be doing even if it's for the cameras," he says while still in the shower. The sound of the running water makes it difficult for you to hear him clearly.

You prepare the entire breakfast while waiting for Pedro to finish his shower, playing the song "Cheek to Cheek" and swaying gently to the music. You don't even notice when Pedro approaches, taking you by the waist and dancing with you. You lean your face against Pascal's, and in silence, you both dance while the breakfast cools on the table.

"I want this every day," Pedro whispers near your ear, making you shiver as you hear his voice so close and feel his beard lightly brushing against your neck.

"I thought we had already made it clear that we can't abandon our professional lives to live in a bubble of love, Mr. Pascal," you say, looking him in the eyes, and then he gives you a kiss on the lips. A sweet and passionate kiss.

"I'm actually talking about making our life as a couple something more official. You know, like in a marriage proposal, for example," Pascal catches you off guard, causing you to stop dancing and stare at him until you figure out if he's serious.

"Would that be your indirect way of asking me to marry you?" You ask, feeling a bit embarrassed. It would be crazy to believe that he would want to marry you, right?

"I'm asking you to become an official part of my life. Maybe that involves a church and a priest or a simple ceremony. But yes, indirectly, I'm asking if you would like to marry me." He asks so casually that it startles you. He even laughs a little at your reaction. But you can't believe what's happening.

"Are you aware that our wedding means dealing with the media going crazy because of you and my mother freaking out because of me, right? Just letting you know it's not going to be easy." You say, finding it even funny how he doesn't seem worried at all.

"I'm fully aware of what our marriage would entail, but have you ever stopped to think that we would be husband and wife? That officially, every day we're not working, we'll be coming home to each other? To me, it sounds like a win-win situation." Pedro says, kissing the corner of your mouth and smiling. His positivity is enviable.

"Don't you think it would be rushing things? We've only been in a real relationship for a few months…" You try to think of other reasons why this might be a bad idea, but nothing else comes to mind.

"So now that you're done being pessimistic, do you want to tell me if you're going to marry me or not?" Pedro asks in a playful tone, and you look at him with half-closed eyes, but then laugh and kiss him.

"I'll marry you. But on the condition that you're the one who tells my mom," you say between kisses, and Pascal smiles. You can't believe you're going to become Mrs. Pascal.

tag: @wanniiieeee , @hungrhay and @leilanixx

[easycompvny]

i’ve never shared this story time with anyone except my friends and i thought sharing it with BoB fans could be fun (because it was such an amazing experience!!)

GOING TO A BAND OF BROTHERS CONVENTION

i attended the commemorations in normandy back in 2019 bc i’m from france and i REALLY wanted to drag my parents there to show how amazing the whole experience was (and it was the 75th anniversary so yay). and then i discovered that they were doing a BoB convention with some of the actors (shane taylor, robin laing etc.) and as i was exactly in my BoB era, i figured it would be cool to attend. in my 17y-old glory, i went there with no one to help me go through all the tables and signing and talking (reminder i’m french and when anxious, my english is 10 times worse). fortunately, my mother asked a group of lovely girls to accompany me, and they even gifted me a bastogne card for the actors to sign !! (i had a poor piece of paper pls..) they were super fun and thankfully one of them was american, so it was easier to strike up a convo or joke around with the guys.

i’ll tell you their characters’ names but i remember seeing grant, shifty, popeye, penkala, dike, dale dye.. seeing how the guys were so close even in reality, how friendly the whole atmosphere was, seeing how connected to each other they are because they know this tv show will go on through the generations and is still important today is so special, truly.

but then i came around chris langlois, rick (welsh), robin (babe) and shane’s table and omg i could’ve fainted, i WOULD HAVE. doc roe is my fav character (it’s never the same in reality but i got really attached to him, even after rewatching so </3) and meeting the grandson of the real roe was mindblowing.

but here comes the funniest part : it was the american girl’s birthday, rick and robin did not understand that and thought it was MY birthday, so when they signed my stuff they asked how old i was yadayada. and then we took a picture, robin even filmed a video on my phone (that i still have. and my wallpaper is actually him showing rick and shane in the background) for my friend who was as much of a fan as i was back then !! that was so cool of him !! then they finally understood it wasn’t my birthday when we told them and they were making fun of themselves, saying i should hide the card before my actual birthday. coolest interaction ever and they were so chill, i could actually talk a little bit since i was less nervous w/ them !! LOVE THEM !!

after going through these mountains of emotions, we ate at a restaurant just beside the convention place and i could see all the actors leaving, rick smiled to me and robin did the birthday joke again. and THEN a few days later my friend posted a tweet abt it and robin actually replied so, you know, the fact that he did not forget abt it 10 minutes after was nice lmao.

once a fangirl, always a fangirl apparently. the fact that i first became a fan at 17 and now i’m 21, oof it hits ya. i truly think i will never live something that cool again, currahee forever or whatever !!

[steel--fairy]

Worldbuilding Headcanons #3

contests and contest spectaculars! (hoenn specifically, sorry sinnoh)

contests were started in hoenn, in fallarbor. it was a community bonding activity for the small, agricultural town. the format was a bit different from modern contests. there was just the talent round, and it was a knockout format. people would be put into groups of four and use a move. whoever got the most applause would go on to the next round until there were only two people left.those two would then compete for five turns. whoever won best out of five was the ultimate winner.

it started off small, only between the people of fallarbor, but a few travellers spread word of this fun show and it grew into a whole spectacle people came from all over hoenn to watch. unofficial contests started popping up across the region, though none were as big or popular as fallarbors.

after a few years, someone stepped forward and made a committee to keep track of all the contests happening across the region and standardize the rules and prizes.

the former format continued for a while, but a major problem began to arise. it'd been known for a while after the initial boom, but ignored: the knockout style competition simply took too long for one sitting. it was fine for a small town or for a big once a year competition, but it was not as fun to sit all day for something more casual.

the contest committee got together and hashed out an entirely new way of doing contests. there wouldnt be just one free for all category, but five: cute, beautiful, tough, cool, and clever. people would have to tailor their moves to the category they were competing in. there would also be two rounds--the appeals round and the talent round.

the talent round was similar to the original format with four people using moves to impress the audience over five turns. the appeals round meanwhile was brand new and perhaps made to take advantage of the fact that contests were going to be filmed for tv. in the appeals round your pokemon (and later, it would be common for the trainer to join in as well) would perform a routine meant to embody their category to a panel of judges. it was the first round and only the best four would move on to the talent round.

this format worked well for a handful of years. too well, perhaps. their gamble with showing contests on tv was a huge success creating a second, even larger, boom in interest in contests. at the next committee get together, they announced the formation of four ranks: normal, great, ultra and master. if you won a ribbon in one of the ranks you'd be able to move on to the next for that specific category.

this has ended up being the basis of modern contests. however, a few of the top coordinators were unhappy. they were the big stars, the ones who had their own merchandise and fanbases. they didnt like how mundane even a master rank contest was. any contest hall (and nearly every major city and town in hoenn had one by this point) could put one on and any casual could win a master rank ribbon. they found it offensive to them, the ones who were trying to make coordinating into a full career.

thus, the contest spectaculars were born. they had the same format as a regular contest but were meant for professionals. unlike regular contests that were held whenever the contest hall wanted, contest spectaculars had a season like with sports. you needed to compete in specific contests over the course of the season in order to attain a decent enough regional ranking in order to participate in the grand festival at the end of the season. the winner of the grand festival would then win the title of hoenns top coordinator.

this separated the casual coordinators, the ones doing it for fun, from the professionals who made it a job. while it was difficult to get all the necessary ribbons, making it all the way to the contest spectacular level easily could make you rich and famous. lots of coordinators at this level also have jobs as idols or actors, adding even more to the image of a coordinator as something glamorous.

however it also attracts a lot of attention. paparazzi, invasive journalists, and rabid fans are a huge problem. this is especially a problem as a lot of major coordinators are minors. the contest committee does its best to minimize any contact between known gossipy reporters and minors but they cant do much if things happen outside of a contest hall. still, it's a common goal for kids and teens to become a top coordinator.

and of course, contests have spread from hoenn to other regions, becoming a worldwide phenomenon. sinnoh was one of the first and added several twists to the hoennian formula. most other regions adopted one or the other styles, hoennian or sinnohan. theres a bit of a rivalry between the two regions, even if coordinators from hoenn will regularly participate in sinnohan contests and vice versa.

in the end, contests are the most popular form of pokemon based entertainment in hoenn, even more so than professional battling in most years. the two's seasons even overlap a bit (contest spectaculars running from late august to early february and the professional battling circuit running from late january to early july) creating more of a rivalry. however, contests always seem to win out in hoenn, if only because it was started there.

[olderthannetfic]

I don't know how many people kept up with this, but if you're on the internet you probably know about it, but there's a new Sam Levinson TV series that has been bothering a lot of people. It's called The Idol, and features Johnny Depp's daughter and The Weeknd, the former being this super popular singer and the latter as the cult leader who brainwashes Lily Rose into doing humiliating sex stuff with him with the excuse that it'll make her better at her job.

Now… the existence of this show bothers me a lot, and I know I'm not the only one, but while I can't attest to what others think regarding fiction, I know that I'm absolutely not one of those people who think that any depiction of sexual assault should be banned, or that kink has no place on TV, or that all sex scenes must advance the plot.

There's just something, in how those shows and movies are set up, that makes it all feel so exploitative and horrible in a way that, in fics, never seems to be.

Like... I'm a huge fan of Miss_Lv, who is definitely a "dead dove" author, and yet there's just something that makes me want to throw up at the idea that Sam Levinson shot a scene in which a bunch of guys (or maybe it was just The Weeknd, idk) come on Lily Rose's face and The Weeknd posts a pic of it on Twitter and makes it go viral with the tag #humancumsock.

I guess it's because it's acted out by real people, and there's a huge difference between "I'm imagining all of these characters doing these things in my head" and "These characters are played by actual people," but the amount of disgust the idea of seeing The Weeknd push an egg in Lily Rose's vagina and tell her that, if she cracks/drops it, he's not going to rape her is almost inexpressible while, if a fandom friend pitched me with this idea, I would simply reply with "That stuff makes no sense, but ok, I guess. Just good luck finding the tag for it."

My other best idea, as to why this whole series disgusts me so much, is that PR made Lily Rose go around interviews saying that she felt so empowered by the series, which is the usual crap that is pasted and copied from woman to woman whenever they act in a series in which their role is that of personality void human flashlight and doesn't really mean anything at all. It's that, and the fact that the series was supposed to be a feminist view on the world of celebritydom and Hollywood, but then the female director was fired in favor of hiring Levinson because The Weeknd threw a tantrum about the show being too focused on the female aspect of the question, rather than putting the spotlight on him.

I don't know, I feel like I'm the only one who's been conflicted about this series (which I have no intention of watching legally nor by pirating it, because it disgusts me to the bone) and wanted to know if someone else thought the same, or if there was no moral/interior conflict upon reading all the articles written by the exploitation of the female cast and how rape is depicted.

--

I hadn't even heard about it. I guess I haven't been watching much TV lately.

I think a lot of sexually transgressive media is made by people who, frankly, don't know how to execute something like that in a safe or self-aware way. You definitely do see examples where the actors say they were cool with it and I believe them, but the ones I can recall have mostly been indie movies or stuff from Europe with very different production dynamics.

I met a lady in L.A. who works as a... man, I can't even remember the term, but she's the person on set who works with the actors before a sex scene to figure out their limits and be a buffer between them and the director. For indie films, the usual procedure is to kick 99% of the crew off the set so the actors only have to deal with each other, the director, and the camera person.

I think live action media about weird sex stuff is harder to do safely and ethically than a written work is, but it can be done. That doesn't mean they did a good job in this case though.

[dominickeating-source]

TV ZONE ISSUE 132 - PAGE 48

Dominic Keating & Kira Clavell - Devilish Duo Evil has never looked so good or been this bad

Night has fallen on the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Its docklands, normally quiet at this time, are a-buzz with activity. The cast and crew of the new Action/Fantasy television series The Immortal are settling in for a long night shoot. The sound of a car engine gets closer and a sleek, deep purple Prowler stops in front of one of the trailers. The driver, actress Kira Clavell, and a crew member exit the vehicle. Dominic Keating sticks his head out of the open trailer and playfully shakes a finger at his co-star. "Ah, ha, where have you been? We've been waiting for you," he teases. Clavell smiles, "I'm so sorry. They asked me if I wanted to test-drive the car. I couldn't say no." He laughs and says, "She just loves playing with the props. "Keating lights a cigarette and joins Clavell on the sofa inside the trailer. Both actors are wearing suitably evil black garb in preparation for their scenes later that night. On The Immortal they play a pair of centuries-old demons named Mallos (Keating) and Vashista (Clavell). Their characters are being chased through Tim by The Immortal. Raphael Cain (series leading man Lorenzo Lamas), and his young sidekick Goodwin (Steve Braun). Long ago the two evil doers wronged Cain and he is out for revenge.

Wear Well

"Mallos and Vashista are very old but they look pretty food for their age," jokes Keating. "The two began their evil escapades in ancient Japan during the 1600s. They came from the Earth's core or the Devil's conveyor belt if you will. There's this amazing scene in the pilot where the two demons and their horses are spat forth from the ground and are covered in molten lava." His co-star interjects, "That particular scene was so cool. We got to ride these great big beautiful black horses. The costumes we wore were absolutely fantastic, too. It's such a treat to have a detailed wardrobe like that because it helps get you into the mood of the times." Keating chuckles, "Yes, the costume department did do a wonderful job. However, that day I was more concerned with the fact that it would be my first time riding a horse. I did OK and was quite pleased with my saddle ability. I didn't fall off, I hit my mark and I remembered my lines." "Anyway, getting back to doing evil. Mallos and Vashista first cross paths with Raphael Cain when they kill his wife and kidnap his child. I assume they still have her in some kind of demon nursery, although she'd be fairly old by now. It's through their acts of violence that Raphael becomes The Immortal. The show flits back and forth between modern and ancient times to allow the viewers to witness this transformation. So his quest is to find his daughter and, along the way, fight evil and slay demons." "Mallos and Vashista have been at this little cat and mouse game for 400 years," continues the actor. "When you next see the two demons it's in the present. They're dressed in modern day clothes, all black, of course, carrying their cell phones and cruising the streets in their Prowler. They look like a pair of so-called 'beautiful people' from Beverly Hills or Hollywood."

Passions

According to the actors, their characters share more than just a passion for evil. "Apparently, the writers modeled the relationship between Mallos and Vashista on a real-life celebrity pair." says Keating. "So they're lovers, I guess, but there's something about their attraction to each other that's just not right, so you know what I mean?" Clavell adds, "I think they have a very volatile and unpredictable relationship. Yes, they share a strong chemistry, but you're not sure if this will cause them to make love of try to kill each other. Let's just say that it certainly keeps work interesting for me and Dominic," she laughs. Both actors had a great deal of stage, film and tv experience prior to being cast on The Immortal. London-born Keating made his professional debut on stage in 1987 at Man in the Moon theater in Chealsea. This was followed by more stage appearances in London as well as Edinburgh and Dublin. He has guest-starred on British tv series Inspector Morse and The Bill and was a series regular on Teenage Health Freak and Desmond's. Since coming across the pond, Keating has worked on a number of movies including most recently The Hollywood Sign starring Tom Berenger, Burt Reynolds,, and Rod Steiger. On tv he has had roles on GysE, Poltergeist: The Legacy and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The actor was slated to play the part of Goodwin on The Immortal but things changed before his audition. "They decided to age it [the series] down to appeal to a younger, broader-based audience. So Steve was brought in for Goodwin and it became clear that I could play one of the two lead demons. Malice, who then became Mallie and now Mallos. I read once for Michael Grais [executive producer] and, luckily, I nailed it. I was asked back to meet Lorenzo and the rest of the production team, we talked about golf and they offered me the job."

Tough-Gal

The actor's beautiful co-star Clavell planned to major in political science and psychology at university before the acting bug bit her. "I knew if I didn't try it [acting] I would regret it, so I did," she says happily. Lately, the actress has been cast in "tough-gal" parts, which has been ideal training for her role of Vashista on The Immortal. "I played a terrorist on an episode of La Femme Nikita and got to fire an M25 and another really neat gun. I don't know, perhaps I was an assassin in a previous life." laughs Clavell. Keating nudges her playfully in the arm and smiles, "To look at her you'd think butter would melt in that mouth." Clavell elbows him back, "When it came to my first audition for Vashista, I did it on tape. The moment I read the character breakdown I knew I'd have fun playing her. I did two five-minute takes and sent the tape to the show's producers. Naturally, I was thrilled when I received a call-back. I was flown out to Vancouver to do a live audition for a roomful of people including Michael Grais and David Straiton, who directed The Immortal pilot." "I wore this Vashista-like cat suit and after my audition I went into the ladies' room to change," recalls the actress. "When I cane out everyone was gone. I thought, 'Oh, I guess they didn't like me'. I went to see my agent and, much to my surprise, was told that the producers had called and the role was mine! So here I am!"

Anti-Demon Ally

In the two-hour pilot episode 'Demons of the Night', Cain and Goodwin gain an ally, Dr. Sara Beckman (April Telek), when they save her from two demons. Cain is hurt and they go to Sara's apartment where he can rest and heal himself. The Immortal does not know that his arch-enemies, Mallos and Vashista, are close by and are planning to deal him and his friends a deadly blow - Keating and Clavell start laughing when they recall their first day working together. "Ah, yes, this is when we shot my two favorite scenes in the pilot," grins Keating. "I'd been late for the read-through on the previous Friday. Not the best way to begin but I eventually got there. Kira and I then met over the weekend for dinner and at least got to know each other a bit. On Monday morning we arrived downtown at the location shoot on Vancouver Street. It was 7:15 and freezing cold. In the first scene, our two characters blow up Sara's apartment. Mallos aims his demon finger at the apartment window and Vashista starts getting all hot and bothered. Before you know it, the have their arms and legs wrapped around each other," laughs the actor. "Boy, these two really get off doing evil stuff!" "The next scene we filmed was in a restaurant. Mallos and Vashista are feeding each other raw fish while discussing someone else's demise. Suddenly, she gets all excited and climbs up on the table. Before you know it, the sushi is on the floor along with the champagne and everything else on the table." Clavell looks at Keating and says, "She seems to be a very excitable character, don't you think?" The actor nods in agreement and continues, "The funny thing was the director said to us, 'That's great That was amazing! That was electric! It was terrific! Do you think you could tone it down a bit, though? We don't know yet what time of the day or night this show is going to air.' So we made things more G-rated." Originally, Mallos and Vashista were to appear in only the first couple of episodes. However, the writers decided to bring the evil twosome back periodically throughout the first season. This was good news for Clavell and Keating, who are looking forward to doing as much as possible with their characters. "When I first started acting I'd always be cast as the best friend or the girl next door. With Vashista and, as I said earlier, some of my other recent roles, I've gone from being really good to being really bad and I love it!" Keating is equally as pleased to be working on the series. "As an actor, sometimes it gets boring waiting around while the next shot is being set up. It's at times like that when I say to myself, 'Hey, I'm getting to create a dream world that doesn't exist and that entertains people. How lucky am I?' Trust me, that puts things right in perspective."

[orionsangel86]

I would like to hear your GOmens opinions! I feel like the fandom is a mix of reasonable and bathshit dumb opinions.

Oh nonny I don't know if you truly do! My opinions are controversial at minimum and likely to get me cancelled by GO fandom at most!

*deep breath* Okay you asked for it. Don't come at me when you don't like what I have said.

I'll put this under a cut cos it'll no doubt get long and ranty and look fair warning to anyone clicking read more, these are JUST one person's opinions. We can disagree on those things. I'm not going around screaming at people that they are wrong and I've kept this all very close to my chest for a very long time now. So please take that with a pinch of salt before you decide to read my rant.

*sigh* this is probably a bad idea but here goes...

The thing is, I love analysing TV and film and literature, and I take an analytical view of things where I try to set myself apart as much as possible from the highly emotional volatile fandom response. (I dont always succeed in this but I try).

One thing I always stress is that characters in TV shows or movies are *not real people* and therefore you can't apply real people sensitivities to them. They are instead frankenstein mixes of what the creative team wants them to be, and every little decision about the characters is carefully thought out. Intention and interpretation matters. My view on a character is not an invalidation of a real persons identity. If I say a character is not X, that does not mean I think that real people who are X are not valid, or that I don't believe in their real life identity. Is this all clear so far? Okay.

Representation also matters and I have seen Good Omens fandom tie themselves up in a frenzie of policing fans and call out posts accusing anyone who wants more from AziraCrows relationship a whole multitude of x-phobics depending on the buzzword of the day. To the point that these fans have convinced themselves that a kiss or love declaration or ANYTHING from AziraCrow that would be considered more explicit than what we got in Season 1 is something they DON'T want because somehow that would take away from the *x-identity rep* theyve decided to claim as canon. But sadly these fans have rather deluded themselves because none of those identities are *canon* in season 1. Even the claims that AziraCrow are gender non conforming non binary etc are not *canon* because *canon* means that any dumbass regular audience member could watch the thing and say "oh. That character is x". Yes Crowley is Nanny Asteroth for a time, but a general audience is just going to view that as male Crowley in drag. Sorry but its the truth. They see David Tennant playing Crowley, they see a male actor playing Crowley, they are gonna view Crowley as a male. Unless it is textually stated by Crowley that he isn't male, then they aren't gonna get it and it isn't the rep you want it to be, because representation should mean that everyone ELSE also notices and learns to understand about those marginalised identities.

Take Sandman. Very gay. Very very gay. So gay that people from the dumbass general audience (the DGA going forward) went online to complain about it being gay because the gay was so very obvious to them, so obvious in fact they claimed *every* character in Sandman was gay and having gay sex and I'll be honest it left me rather disappointed when Morpheus didnt fuck Hob Gadlings brains out in episode 6 like he clearly wanted to, but I digress.

Take OFMD, Jim is a canonical non binary character and the show makes this clear in the canon text without ever having Jim say they are "non binary" or have the clumsy awkward explanation that is clearly for the DGA about it, but instead the conversation flows naturally - are you a woman? I don't know. Are you a man? I don't know. I'm just Jim. Okay Just Jim. We will refer to you by they/them pronouns now. It's all cool.

But Crowley and Aziraphale are characters played by male actors who always use he/him pronouns. Even as Nanny Asteroth no one ever refers to the nanny as "she". So its not clear to the DGA. Them being asexual may be a valid headcanon, but its not canon if its never mentioned. If at some point someone said something to Zira about sex and he said "oh I don't go in for that sort of thing" then sure, that's got some canon merit to it, but otherwise Good Omens can NOT be applauded for being good asexual representation on television.

If your general audience of braindead heteronormative idiots isnt seeing it, its not technically canon. Its implied, subtextual, queer coded, hinted at, etc, but not *canon*. Its not gonna get a GLAAD nomination for representation and a bunch of queer journalists writing articles about it if its only *subtext*.

I don't recall any of the queer media people applauding Good Omens for being queer representation. I recall them all sort of scratching their heads being like "is it...?" and I recall a lot of people getting rather annoyed because NG took a stance online proclaiming that it was an obvious love story when really, from just watching the show... it kind of wasn't?

God this is gonna get me so much hate... *sigh* okay look. I adore season 1. I was totally with you guys celebrating how queer it all seemed to me and loving NGs responses on Twitter to anyone questioning the "friendship" between Az+Crow. I was also online getting wrapped up in the fandom echo chamber claiming it was 100% canon and anyone who didn't see it was a homophobic moron or whatever... yeah... but I've grown up a lot since 2019 surprisingly - the whole Destiel going "canon" and then getting shoved forcefully back into the metaphorical closet was a big eye opener and everything changed after November 5th 2020.

Suddenly, what Az+Crow had in season 1 wasn't enough anymore. It should never have been enough to begin with. I recall my very first watch and how I was seeing all the subtext and coding and clear romantic tropes build and build and then we got to that final scene in the ritz and all I wanted was for them to take each others hands, I watched with eager anticipation and... it didn't happen. I can vividly recall the disappointment I felt at that moment. I didn't need a kiss, or a declaration, but I wanted them to hold hands in that scene. They got so close! Zira leans in and places his hand on the table right by Crowley and my GOD it was like being edged without the pay off. I hated it. I HATED it because it would have been SO EASY but they didn't do it.

I also recall getting quietly annoyed at NG for claiming they held hands on the bus. I watched the slowed down zoomed in gifs of that moment and sorry, but no. They don't. Even if the actors actually DID hold hands, the camera doesn't pick it up clearly enough for it to mean a damn thing.

I totally understand people claiming that Az+Crow are already queer. It's totally valid to see yourself in them and want them to represent you. But the painful truth is that in season 1 of the show, they aren't anything of what you claim them to be. They are two characters who are male presenting who are very good friends to the point that its all a bit homoerotic. The DGA isn't gonna take any time to think about the complexities of angel and demon gender or the lack thereof, they are only gonna see two male actors playing said angel and demon. They aren't gonna think about you and your identity, and they aren't gonna pick up the subtext even if it is painfully obvious. Because they won't see it as gay unless it is explicitly gay.

But Saz, why should we care what the DGA thinks?

Because thats what this whole argument has always been about. Because that's what canon means. No one, not even the DGA are arguing today about whether or not Castiel is gay. No one in the DGA is arguing about Stede and Blackbeard, or Lucius. No one is arguing about the Corinthian or Johanna Constantine. They see that these characters are queer, they accept it. Simple. Because of this, it counts towards representation. Because it normalises our identities. By putting our identities into mainstream stories in such a way that they are unavoidable for the DGA, THAT is what representation is.

When characters and stories keep our identities buried in subtext and allusions and queer coding which quite frankly should have been left in the hays code era, it doesn't count towards representation, no matter what your fandom echo chamber may scream into the void. Or, for that matter, what your creator and fantasy genre author may claim in the void either.

Word of God may help us in a lot of ways, but if they aint putting it into the actual text, then word of god is meaningless in terms of representation as well. Disney claiming Valkyrie was bisexual doesn't mean a damn thing if she never discusses her bisexuality or has any scenes where she shows interest in the same sex. Thankfully that changed in the latest movie, but for a long time it was a problem.

Okay then. So what am I saying? Was NG queerbaiting us with AziraCrow in season 1?

No. Gods I hate that word. Queerbaiting is only occurring when the creators involved maliciously add queer subtext with the explicit intention of gaining popularity among queer audiences specifically with no intention to reward them by actually making those characters queer.

Now, I may not agree with people who claim Crowley and Aziraphale are explicitly queer in season 1, but I also don't think NG ever intended GO to be a queer show. He made GO to be a popular fantasy show as a last wish for his friend Terry Pratchet. He made it extremely faithful to the book in every way (in some ways, to the detriment of the show) and that includes keeping AziraCrows relationship in safe platonic territory. Yes he ramped up the romantic subtext, but I fully believe that this was because he had already decided he was going to further develop the story if season 1 was a hit, but I don't think for a second that he predicted that it would gain such massive traction in queer fandom circles.

No malicious intent to utilise the queer community, no queerbaiting. So lets just stamp down on that accusation once and for all. It's bullshit.

But that changes in season 2. So here is where I have been getting annoyed at GO fandom lately with all this "we don't need it to be explicit! A kiss would invalidate my identity! If they do anything it'll take away from ace rep! etc etc" SHUt UP!

Why do all these fans think kissing is something ace people don't do? Why would an innocent kiss invalidate ace rep? Are you HEARING YOURSELVES?! and okay, even if you are an ace person who does not ever kiss, are you so opposed to words of affirmation too? Are you a hater of love declarations now? Why is THAT such a terrible thing? You are deluding yourselves, and I get why. You are trying to protect yourselves from disappointment because you have spent 4 years screaming at people online and policing people who dare to say that AziraCrow aren't already canonically together and in love and have somehow tied your own identity into these characters to the point that you are frightened that season 2 might disprove your words and somehow invalidate your identity. Gods forbid if they DO kiss now you have lost the precious representation you claimed was so important to you right? But its NOT the case!

If nothing happens in GO S2 then it WOULD be queerbaiting. For the FIRST TIME. Because NG knows now how important AziraCrow's relationship is to the queer fans and he himself has been claiming its a love story for 4 years. If he didn't put his money where his mouth is and make them explicitly canonically queer and together in season 2 then I'm sorry but it would very much be queerbaiting. Keeping the loud queer fanbase on tenterhooks, getting them all excited so that GO trends on social media and then NOT following through? That's CLASSIC QUEERBAITING.

But NG isn't doing that. Because they are going to be together. Because it will be explicitly queer. Because even the trailer indicates this is the case. The season 1 GO trailer didn't include any of the romantic subtext if I recall correctly, it was solely promoted as a silly fantasy show. The season 2 trailer leans into the romance. It'll be explicitly clear - because I don't think NG is stupid enough to not go through with it. I understand why he didn't in season 1, there was a lot more at stake and he wanted to keep it totally 100% faithful to the book, but season 2 is a blank page, open book, nothing stopping it from happening. Plus, in 2023, in a post Destiel confession, post OFMD world, not going there would be just the most idiotic bad for business move the man could make.

So can GO fans please stop making bad faith arguments about why AziraCrow shouldn't be more explicitly together in season 2? Because I'll be honest, it is coming across less like you wanna protect the supposed "Ace representation" and more like maybe you are just uncomfortable with the idea of two middle aged male actors being physically intimate on screen.

Also if NG doesn't have the balls to go through with it, then can y'all please stop protecting him? I love the guy. I do. I think he is a talented genius who has done more for the fantasy genre than anyone else alive today. But gods, if he doesn't let AziraCrow at least confirm to themselves or other people that they have non platonic feelings for each other, in such a way that the DGA understands that this is a non platonic love story, then he deserves all the angry asks and queerbaiting accusations he will inevitably get. Personally, I don't think he's that dumb. So perhaps his fans can also have a bit more faith in him too.

**to anyone who may want to address the spoiler in this post, please don't. I am aware of it and have chosen in this ask to not acknowledge it so that all fans can read this, besides, the spoiler itself does not actually change anything I have mentioned here especially with some of the daft theories I have seen surrounding it.**

Okay I'm done. Rant over. Proceed to cancel me if you must.

[joslincox]

The 2011 Osmosis Jones was so successful that Warner Bros spun it off into Ozzy & Drix, a primetime Italian teen drama on The CW. In fact, WB reportedly greenlit the show even before production on the movie began in 2009, making it seem that they were oddly banking more on this TV series than the high-budget movie. Running from 2012 to 2021 for a surprising eight seasons (most movie spinoffs only get one season), the series involved five college students trying to navigate young adulthood and save the world from crime. In the process, all of the characters were aged down to teenagers in late teens/early 20s, the original film's adult humor and coolness factor were surgically added back in, and more mature themes, burtal violence, swear language, and pop culture references were grafted into their place, ultimately moving away from its original kid audience and more towards older teenagers and young adults (especially emos).

The operation was a success, but the franchise's cognitive functions became darker and more disturbing, and a few fans complained about the series being so feminine that they thought of it as a rip-off of Winx Club. Since the film is rated PG-13, the series received a TV-14 rating in contrast to the original series' TV-Y7 (well, yes, because had the movie kept its original R-rating, the series would resulted into a TV-MA rating). The series also has a lot of real-world alternative songs used as background music for every episode. There's also a notable absence of the original series' dawson casting as most of the child and teen characters are now voiced by tween and teen actors (a rare casting choice for The CW), and the technology and fashion were updated since a lot things have changed since the original series was canceled back in 2004. Some of the characters (especially Ozzy) also wear revealing outfits that expose their midriffs, cleavages, and even full legs and thighs. The series, being a teen drama set in college, also had its time slot moved away from Saturday mornings and instead into Wednesday nights since the series now airs The CW.

[biblioflyer]

The writer's strike and franchise fatigue: two heads of the same coin?

Context: I'm shamelessly reposting a comment on a popular webforum where someone posed the question "What's next for Star Wars?" that prompted a lot of discussion about the whats and whys of what's working, what isn't, and of course everyone's favorite hobby: performing yet another autopsy on the Sequel Trilogy. I declined to go there in favor of speculating on the production side.

Ultimately I think the future of Star Wars requires Disney to do what a lot of franchise owners have been resistant to doing for various reasons: allow their creative teams a wide latitude to fully develop their ideas without unnecessarily harsh deadlines tied to quarterly earnings reports. Now that isn't to say that projects can fail on their own merits.

I don't know for a fact that Book of Boba Fett was timid, awkward, and boring because the showrunners couldn't make a cut that worked with the time and resources allotted, but we were mostly all impressed with Rodrigues' work on Mando so we were cautiously optimistic that a Cool Gangster Drama with Boba Fett could be a thing. So what the hell happened? Solve that mystery and I think you ensure that Star Wars has a future.

Looking at another popular "Star" franchise, we see a lot of similar problems with uneven writing and what seems to be differing opinions both inside and outside the franchise as to what exactly it means for something to carry that name. What sort of stories can you tell? How do you tell them? Can you have a point of view character or does it always have to be ensemble? Can you deconstruct the setting only to reconstruct and reaffirm it in the finale without losing the fans?

What explains "bad" writing? Coercion by the studio? Writer inexperience? Showrunner inexperience? A failure to find the right balance between modernizing the storytelling of a franchise without it becoming illegible as part of that franchise or to cling so hard to fan service that it is afraid to experiment and becomes a less interesting and murkier Xerox of itself?

Something that I found fascinating in the discourse around the writer's strike is that the format of streaming TV with its short seasons has turned everyone involved in these productions into gig workers. Unless you're one of a half dozen showrunners who have helmed widely acclaimed franchises, modern tv has become severely siloed on the production side: writers have limited opportunities to learn directing, editing, and show running. They also have limited opportunities to see how their work translates to the screen when it lands in the hands of directors, actors, set decorators, and FX artists.

If you add up all of the live action Star Trek shows produced to date, you end up with 8 seasons of streaming that equal roughly 4 seasons of broadcast era TV. Which means that under the old paradigm, a traditional TV show would only now just be airing its second "good" season. Which, shockingly enough, maps very neatly to attitudes about Strange New Worlds and Picard Season 3, and to a lesser extent Discovery season 4.*

*To the extent it will ever be allowed to make a second impression, which is another seeming "problem" of the streaming era that needs addressing since any "failed" first season is very likely to result in a sub-franchise that is going to get cauterized and forgotten about given the era of a permissive financial environment for funding additional seasons and permitting a production to recover and learn from their mistakes is pretty much dead and gone.

Were I Disney, given these realities, I would probably fund 2 or 3 "stables" of Star Wars writers and production teams. One for light hearted action comedy, one for "serious drama," and a third for something more esoteric. Maybe a fourth for big budget tentpole films. Keep them employed and give them opportunities to develop their tradecraft.

Don't be so quick to slash and burn a dud, use failure as permission to experiment. If nobody cares about Book of Boba Fett anyway, why not take some risks and see if some writers who are claiming they can turn in a second season that can "fix" the first season by turning the stories that go nowhere or are halfhearted into the first chapters in more meaningful stories? People already tend to avoid series that have only one season anyway and become ever more likely to do so the more time passes without more seasons so you're just throwing away your investment by not trying to salvage it.

This is incidentally why I'm not antagonistic towards the prospect of trying to rehabilitate the Sequel Trilogy. The Prequels are poorly made but were rich in potential. That potential was not left on the table, it was exploited until we can no longer separate the Prequels as they originally stood from all of the tie in media that added depth and nuance to the setting and storybeats.

So were I Disney and I have all of these props and set pieces in storage doing me absolutely no good, then of course it will eventually be time to try to make the Sequel Trilogy good. Maybe do some Director's Cuts and then build out the universe to make it feel less claustrophobic and less overtly a bigger, louder, dumber rehash of the Original Trilogy.

[destinyc1020]

Im not gonna argue with anyone about kaia's acting b/c it isnt the best mostly b/c she comes across as lifeless and unnatural. She def benefits from the fact shes a nepo baby and white. However I will defend her in bottoms, b/c its sometimes more about casting then it is acting. Kaias character is supposed to come across as one dimensional, a sterotypical popular high school girl who everyone aspires to be with she doesnt have any substance outside of her looks which is juxtaposed with this idea that a girl like her wouldnt be interested in somethink like bare knuckle fighting. Her role doesnt require dynamic acting and I would argue someone like zendaya wouldnt work b/c shes to dynamic and would go against the one dimensionality of how character was written. Certainly could this role have gonna to a black woman like laura harrier ( who also cant act) yeah totally but I think kaia works as that character, that doesnt mean shes a great actor . She still struggles with basic things such the inability to convey emotion.

Also austin, I like austin hes very dynamic but Im also not 100 convinced. Hes a great character actor evidenced by dune part 2. He was great in elvis fantastic even. He clearly puts the work in and willing to work on his craft. But after watching bike riders early this year and two episodes masters of air, he was very underwhelming dont know if he has the longevity as a lead ( hopefully he changes my mind b/c he seems like a cool dude and I want him to succeed). Hes struggling mightily with accents and in bikeriders he was overshadowed by jodie comer and tom hardy also even mike faist (for his very small role in bikeriders but hes extremely sensitivity and empathetic in portrayal as an interviewer). His latest stuff he comes across as one note and places too much emphasis on a huskier/smoky voice that at times sound more distracting and hinders the character.

(Though for MOTA im still in wait and see mode cause I havent seen the entire series yet)

Re: Kaia...

Sooo... basically, what you're saying is that they gave her a character role that she basically already embodies (dull, lifeless, etc) because that's how her acting already is in real life? Am I understanding this correctly lol? 😅

That's fine if you liked her in the "Bottoms" movie (we all have different tastes). I didn't even see the movie (it just didn't look funny at all to me 👀), but I saw enough clips lol 😅

Re: Austin....

Interesting take on Austin. 🤔 I haven't seen him in Dune Part 2 or The Bikeriders yet, so I can't really speak to those films... yet. 🤷🏾‍♀️

But I thought he did great in Elvis. 👍🏾

Maybe he IS a character actor? Nothing wrong with that. There are PLENTY of great character actors in Hollywood, and that's where they thrive. ☺️

I honestly haven't seen much of his work post-Elvis to really judge. 🤷🏾‍♀️ I'm excited to see more of his work in this phase of his career. I've only seen clips of him in OUATIH and I thought he was great in that. He's really good at disappearing in roles, which I like. So far, his characters have been diversely DIFFERENT ever since the play he did with Denzel Washington, and I love that. Sometimes, it's hard to imagine I'm watching the same actor lol 😆 😂

Maybe you're so used to seeing Austin in character roles that when he plays someone quieter and less "out there" you are bored lol 😆

Like I said, I haven't seen him in "The Bikeriders" yet, but it's hard to imagine anyone outshining Tom Hardy, coz Tom is just.... 👌🏾

Prior to "Elvis", I'd only seen Austin in fluff TV shows like "The Carrie Diaries" or "Switched at Birth", etc. So I've seen him in various different roles PRE-Elvis.

So far, I'm enjoying MOTA, and I'm interested in seeing where his career takes him in this era. I'm just glad he's getting to do more of the type of work that he wants to do now in his career. 😊

Re: His voice....

Austin's voice has ALWAYS been deep imo. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Deep and slightly raspy.

Here are some old clips....

I think when he got older, it just got a bit huskier.

I really don't think he's putting anything on. Don't pelt me with tomatoes but I actually sort of suspect (I only said SUSPECT) that he kinda ruined his voice a little when singing for Elvis all those years. I'm a singer as well, and it can definitely happen. I had vocal nodules that changed my voice (I could barely speak at one point). I had to go through vocal therapy for many months in fact for it.

My voice is fine now, thankfully lol 😆, but if you've developed vocal nodules, they can for sure change the quality of your voice. So, he might just have vocal nodules. I don't suggest getting them surgically removed if anyone has them, but vocal rest, along with changing ways in which you vocalize can help diminish them.

[candygalaxyyy]

Rearranging the Scenes in ‘Never Let Me Go’ Episode 11

Rewatching ep 11 of nlmg felt weird because the pacing is a bit off (and many people have pointed this out across different social media hell-scapes). The content of the episode was perfect but the order of events felt a bit rushed and confusing. Therefore, I have rearranged it in a way which makes sense chronologically and logically (to me anyways). I still like the episode but it’s just not my favourite, and that’s okay. *DISCLAIMER* I am not a director or screenwriter and I do not have a degree in film (nor am I studying for one - I literally do international development and sociology), I am just doing this as an avid consumer of film and tv shows!

Part 1/4: I would have preferred if the first part was actually the end of part 2 instead. It would have been great if they showed them living together again; have them working together and sorting out hotel stuff, like when they went to the market. Just overall boyfriend vibes. The scene where Chopper texts Ben is okay but unnecessary. It would have driven the plot further if we got more interactions with his dad, so we see the point that lead to him pulling out the gun. I mean good on him but I feel like we should have seen his breaking point. And Perth is a good actor so it would have ate down.

They should have also had an in-depth conversation about their strategy of ‘fighting and dying together’ and not letting Kit manipulate them. In all honesty, the mere idea that Palm even considered killing Thanya is so out of character, literally the biggest plot hole EVER in the history of mankind! The fact that he even made it to her hospital room is beyond me. That scene should have never happened. PERIOD.

Part 2/4: So Kit is triggered with them thriving and depending on each other, so he decides to confront Nueng about him canceling his business plans. This makes him even more triggered, thus leading to him kidnapping + threatening Palm. But Palm doesn’t take the bait at all! He pretends to but when confronted by Kit in the bathroom later on he shuts him down. So he decides to order his men to kill Nueng and his mum once and for all. It would have been nice to see him plotting this and have Chopper listening in (and maybe recording too for evidence).

Part 3/4: This parts pacing was good for me. The only thing I would alter is Thanya waking up, Nueng updating her on his life while wiping her hand is perfect and sweet. However I was somewhat underwhelmed :( I think it would have been more emotional if she woke up in the finale after they defeated Kit. Like imagine they just got done with the evil that is uncle Supakit and that second they get a call from the hospital that she’s alive. Almost as if their lives exchanged, he had to die to let Thanya’s soul be free, because with him around she would never know peace. Dramatic yes, but dramatic in a good way!

Part 4/4: This part was also nicely paced, but the only thing that bothers me is the lack of protection for Nueng. LIKE WHAT ARE THE BODYGUARDS FOR, WALKING DOWN STAIRS LOOKING ALL COOL?! There should have been a scene where Kit’s underlines fight off his bodyguards and maybe even Palm. Up the angst there, you know. So we see Palm panic and being so concerned, because he just saw Nueng get kidnapped and he couldn’t save him. So his confrontation with Chopper, that we saw in the preview, carries more weight.

The end. Roll the preview.

To me this is a more satisfying sequence of events and in my head this is the way the episode goes now.

[alcoholodeck]

In short, no, they weren't firing real bullets regularly on set - other than this reddit comment there's zero evidence that I've been able to find (that isn't derived from the comment itself) that supports this notion.

It should go without saying but this really makes no sense if you think about it for a few seconds. You literally wouldn't ever be able to show people doing the shooting and the people "getting shot" in the same frame ever. You would destroy your set and props on the first take. And of course, it would be wildly dangerous and the show would be completely uninsurable.

If you do some quick searching around beyond the reddit comment (which itself purports to being a secondhand recollection of what someone else who worked on the show allegedly claimed), what seems to have happened is that the show was using real P90s but firing blanks. For example this forum post from 2004 says (emphasis mine):

BTW, a shortage of P90 blanks is the reason why they took away the P90s from everyone but O'Neill, and gave Carter the AR. P90's 5.7 mm ammo is hard to find, and the blanks even more so. The production had decided to save what few rounds they had for the O'Neill shooting scenes. Everyone else got a different gun. Yes they use real P90s, modified so they can only fire blanks. SG-1 uses no post production tricks here. The actors really fire the guns on the set. Cool!

There is a massive difference between firing blanks and using live rounds because blanks are too expensive or unavailable, so the production switched to other guns. They did not say "fuck it" and use real bullets.

This is corroborated by the fandom wiki page about the "Micro 16" AR that this poster is referencing that Carter used during this period, which states (again, emphasis mine):

She used it prior to switching back to the FN P90. [...] According to the DVD commentary of Avenger 2.0, it was hard to procure 5.7x28mm blanks due to the Iraq war.

There are also a number of posts on reddit and other forums that allege that the show did buy real ammunition but pulled the bullets and repacked the casings to make blanks - which I suppose is possible? but it seems highly unlikely that a Canadian TV studio would not only buy this expensive, relatively rare ammunition, but also be equipped to do a ton of extra work to craft blanks when FN themselves weren't able to at the factory. And again, every time you see one of these comments, there's never any official source or citation for these claims -- just "I've heard that-" and "Supposedly they had to-". For a show that ran for 10 years you'd sure think there'd be a single article, interview, or behind the scenes clip of someone saying talking about using real bullets. Again, if you just think about it critically, the whole idea doesn't really make sense.

It seems like a variety of things including the general rarity of FN's ammo and the novelty of the P90 morphed into this story even though it doesn't really make sense AND it's completely unsupported by anything anyone who actually works on the production appears to have said in public ever -- including just the simple fact that they switched to other weapons during a time when we know 5.7 was actually hard to come by.

TL;DR, no, the actors didn't use live rounds (though maybe the production occasionally did for specific [camera] shots or something? still haven't seen any evidence even for this). They definitely did use blanks (although still not all the time!), and they pretty much completely switched away from filming P90s actually firing when the ammo was scarce.

-Be Belgium weapons designer

-Spend lots of money to invent a totally new firearm concept

-Sleek futuristic design

-Smol and compact

-Ambidextrous

-800-1,100 round per minute

-Fires new high velocity smol cartridge that with a smol caliber bullet which can pierce body armor

-Market to militaries around the world.

-Only significant sales are to the SciFi Channel in USA