#louis comic relief

[trikaranos]

TRIKARANOS CHAPTER I: S·T·T·L

TRIKARANOS is a dramatized narrative based on ancient events following Crassus (and Pompey and Caesar) through the years 87-48 BCE. Intended for an adult audience.

⭐ Trikaranos will always be free to read. In the near future, you’ll have the option to support this comic & my ability to spend time making it (I Am Extremely Fucking Broke And Have Bills To Pay etc etc) through Patreon! currently, I have a tip jar!

⭐ There is no set update schedule (chapters vary in length and will be posted as I finish working on them)

⭐ alternative places to read it (coming soon!)

CREDITS all additional art used are in the public domain, and the specific images used are open access, etc

🍊the first collage panel is combination of: Plate 113: Greeks Battling the Trojans (from Ovid's Metamorphoses), Antonio Tempesta / The Trojans pulling the wooden horse into the city, Giulio Bonasone (after Francesco Primaticcio) / Terracotta hydria displaying Achilles waiting to ambush Triolos and Polyxena 🍊the second collage panel is: The Lictors bringing Brutus the bodies of his Sons, Jacques Louis David / the paint over of Brutus executing is own sons is my own work based on the composition of this relief of Brutus and condemning his sons to death. 🍊I also used my own art: a panel from the Prologue, and my own illustration of Brutus with the bodies of his sons

📖 PREVIOUS CHAPTER | START HERE | ToC (under construction!)

UNDER THE CUT creator’s commentary, ancient citations, whatever else seems relevant. ideally, this is optional! you shouldn’t need the citations for it to make sense as it unfolds since it’s a comic and a story first and foremost, but it’s here if you’re curious about something or want to see where the inspiration is coming from!

I'm so fucking normal about Crassus and his family (<<< this is a lie)

Marcus Crassus was the son of a man who had been censor and had enjoyed a triumph; but he was reared in a small house with two brothers. His brothers were married while their parents were still alive, and all shared the same table, which seems to have been the chief reason why Crassus was temperate and moderate in his manner of life. When one of his brothers died, Crassus took the widow to wife, and had his children by her, and in these relations also he lived as well-ordered a life as any Roman.

Plutarch, Crassus

like, it actively fucks me up that this is something that's survived about him for over 2,000 years. they all ate together at the same table. Jesus Christ.

so! Crassus' dad! Publius Licinius Crassus (consul 97) fought on the side of Cn. Octavius (consul 87) in the Bellum Octavianum, and it didn't go great for him.

Crassus: A Political Biography, B.A. Marshall

also. currently, if you look Publius Licinius Crassus up on wikipedia for an overview, his page lists his son (and also my main character for this comic) with the cognomen Dives, which is in-fucking-correct.

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward

and to circle back to houses and meals shared with family, some citations that made me feel some kind of way when I read them

Marcus Crassus and the Late Roman Republic, Allen Mason Ward

finally, there is discourse or whatever on the placement of the sons of Publius Licinius Crassus. Crassus is the baby brother here simply because I'm writing this story and I get to pick the themes, but also because no one has provided a solid enough argument for him being the second eldest son that I'm willing to buy into with enthusiasm, and I'm more inclined towards G. Sampson's conclusion on the matter.

Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae, and the Invasion of the East, Gareth C. Sampson

and while I'm just kind of talking about stuff that I read that I enjoyed, this article by Martin Stone lives in my head rent free

A Year of One's Own: Dating the Praetorship of Marcus Crassus, Martin Stone

[noirve]

i know we haven't seen the next episode yet but already i'm obsessed with the whiplash of only seeing the dreamstat version of lestat all season, serving as mostly harmless comic relief or some reminder of the good parts of their romance because louis misses him, only for the REAL lestat to show up and suddenly it's like wait that's not your hallucinatory comfort bf lestat, that's the man who terrorized your household for decades and you're on trial for murder and HE is framed as the victim. a horror show!!

[themultifandomgal]

From 2010- The Brit Awards 2013 Highlights

2013

Part 28

Nervously I sit down in my seat straightening my dress as I do. I sit between Zayn and Liam because Harry and I aren’t allowed to sit next to each other according to management

“You ok?” Zayn asks me as I take a sip of water with shaking hands

“Yeah just… nervous I guess”

“How’s your headache?” Harry asks from across the table

“Not great. I know it’s going to kill after tonight. I’ve got some more paracetamol in my bag if I need it”

“Just make sure you definitely have your in ears in. Even if you can’t hear us or yourself” Niall says

“But then I’ll sound terrible”

“Na we’ll keep you in time done worry” Louis says giving me a smile

“Welcome to the 2013 Brit Awards” the announcement starts and we all go quiet.

“Now look who I’ve found over here at this table, One Direction. How are we guys?” James Corden asks sitting in between Zayn and Louis

“Very well very excited” Louis replies into the microphone James is holding

“Now last year we had a chat and the next day you were going to play in America for the first time. Your now the biggest band in the world. You’ve had 2 consecutive number ones in America alone. Is it a bit much to take in?”

‘Yes imagine having many teens looking up to you as a role model and having the media pick out ever flaw and having haters online who have never met you spill nothing but lies and hate towards you and on top of that all of your friendships and romances are public so you never get a break’ is what I would like to say, but James holds the microphone to Zayn who says

“Erm yeah it’s massively overwhelming and we can’t thank our fans enough. They’re the people who got us to where we are so we owe it all to them”

“Now your performing later on tonight. Your performing your comic relief single which is currently, did you know it’s currently number one in 63 countries. I don’t even know if I can name 63 countries. Niall can you?”

“No” he replies shaking his head

“Your going back on tour right? YN when does that kick off”

“We start tour literally this weekend here at the O2 and we’re really excited”

The boys are in jeans and leather jackets while I’m in tight leather trousers and a cute white top. Music for One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks) starts and we practically jump on stage

“One way or another I’m gonna find ya. I’m gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya. One way, or another, I'm gonna win ya I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya” Harry starts the song glancing over at me before giving me a little nod

“One way, or another, I'm gonna see ya. I'm gonna meet ya, meet ya, meet ya, meet ya. One day, maybe next week. I'm gonna meet ya, I'm gonna meet ya, I'll meet ya” I sing. Thankfully I can hear perfectly fine but the lights aren’t doing anything for my headache at all. I walk down the stairs slowly, but since the boys get down the stairs quicker than me Harry runs back up and takes my hand to make sure I don’t slip while singing

“I wanna hold you wanna hold you right” I take the higher harmony again not helping my head at all. During rehearsals I’ve been told to prolong a high note which I haven’t done yet because of my headache and nausea

“I get teenage kicks right through the night” thankfully I am able to hold the note causing Harry, Louis and Niall group hug me and jump around the stage

“Brit Awards 2013 make some noise for YN!” Liam shouts. At the end of the song Harry once again helps me up the stairs before we are dropped back down.

“And the winner of the global success award is my 5 little brothers and little sister One Direction!” Robby Williams says into the microphone on stage. We all stand up from our seats and hug one another before heading on the stage

“This is really is mind blowing” Louis says taking the microphone from Robbin and holding the award “we have have to start off by thanking our incredible fans. They have been just been unbelievable and we wouldn’t be here today without them”

“This is absolutely amazing thank you so much. I just want to say thank you to our record label and Sony and Syco” Harry and I both give each other other a look when Liam mentions Syco “and to modest our management” I look down at my feet making sure I don’t eye roll. I know Liam has to say this to keep the peace but I really wouldn’t be thanking them “also our parents are in the house tonight so I just want to say thank you to all of them. Thank you so much!”

[abcwordsurge]

hi bee my buddy bee! can you kinassign ninjago characters to some wttt characters? like which character is like who. i havent watched ninjago since i was a little kid,, so i cant remember much but id love you to tell me about it :^]

the absolute delight I felt when I saw this ask was incredible. I had a long car drive this afternoon (well, as of the time of posting, yesterday) and thinking about this ask was the perfect way to spend it. of course, now it's time to write down all those thoughts. this is going to get LONG. (if you want to hear about ninjago, then, heh, you came to the right place.) I'll put it all under a cut. first, though, you are absolutely wonderful and thank you so much for this ask :]

gonna go in order of when I thought of them. which means, first up is my favorite ninja!

--

Nya - Rhode Island

the most obvious reason for this connection is the mutual hot headedness. they are both so quick to anger, and both tend to hold grudges for far longer than is normal.

but it's more than that. both of them feel an urge to compensate for what they perceive as a disadvantage. for Rhodey, of course, it's his height. (he is, as always, very self conscious about his height.) for Nya, it's her gender. I mean, she spent four seasons being excluded from the other ninja for her gender, and for plenty of the other seasons, she was still pushed to the sidelines. of course she has a little bit of internalized misogyny. (side note- I do think that's why she seems so determined to not enjoy traditionally "feminine" things. because she thinks it makes her weak. I'd actually love to write a fic where she goes on a girl's day out with Pixal and Skylor and learns to respect feminity and start dealing with her internalized misogyny. but anyway.)

last thing for this duo: Nya is, of course, the master of water, and Rhodey is the ocean state. it's just perfect

--

Kai - Ohio

the best description I've ever seen of Kai was something along the lines of "he's not hot headed so much as he is reckless and in a bit of a rush." Ohio is much the same. he's called the Florida of the midwest, but he can't quite reach the levels of chaos that Florida sets. he's just... reckless and in a bit of a rush.

beyond that, both of them are definitely comic relief sorts of characters. both are goofy and a little airheaded, and both are pretty intense in a very amusing way. still, both are very friendly and like to be around people (even if they tend to be somewhat overbearing, and tease people more than they might like)

and I would be remiss not to mention their mutual pyromania. that's half the reason I thought of them as a duo so quickly.

--

Cole - Loui

this one's pretty straightforward. they're both very relaxed and down to earth (cough cough master of earth cough). they're both loyal to a fault. although reasonable on their own, if they have the right partner, they can be quite chaotic. for Loui, that partner would be, of course, Florida. for Cole, it could really be any of the other ninja in the right circumstances- but the first to come to mind is Jay. (or maybe Kai. it depends.)

they also both love food. for Loui, this manifests more as making and sharing food. for Cole, it's more so... eating food. (he has tried, countless times, to cook for his friends, but it never goes well. Zane has all but banned him from the kitchen.)

--

Faith - New York

interestingly enough, this is the only pair on this list where I thought of the state first, then came up with a connecting ninjago character. now, Faith is a very minor character, so just so you know, she's a dragon hunter in season nine.

she and York both have massive anger issues, and tend to take them out physically (either by yelling / making general sounds of annoyance, or by kicking things around). they're both quite gruff, pretty no nonsense, don't take crap, etc. neither of them are very friendly, but they're competent, and useful to have around. good people at heart, but it takes a while to get to that heart.

--

Harumi - Nevada

this started as "they're both attractive and they know it." both absolutely have the potential to be villains. it's realized for Harumi, but for Nevada it's more of a theoretical "what if they got bitter at their unfair treatment and to 'fix' things they burned down the entire nation." they're both good actors, and good liars.

the biggest reason I kinassigned them, though, is because in the end, they'd both follow orders. for Harumi, this happens in season fifteen. she always seems to end up in a spot where her freedom is dependent upon doing what's told of her. as for Nevada, well. we've seen it in their joining the table video. they literally have to do what Gov says.

--

Jay - Cali

both of them will talk your ear off if given the chance. I feel like both tend to feel like outsiders, both are desperate to be liked and feel like part of the team, and both are kinda losers (/aff).

Jay is very quick to share what he's feeling, and his attitude is very much "if I think it, you hear it." Cali is this way too, in a sense, though usually it's more facts and correcting other people for Cali. but the main point is that they're both certified yappers.

--

Pixal - Iowa

I absolutely love both of these characters, and both of them are very underrated. they both tend to blur into the background, and they're far too easy to ignore. (which makes sense for Iowa, since there are fifth states and Ben can't exactly give all of them all of his attention, but Pixal? come on, ninjago writers, you can at least pretend to care about her existence.)

however, when they do show up, both of them are genuinely very nice, both are dedicated and detail-oriented, and if given the chance, both can be quite sassy. ("every part of me is annoyed!" is a Pixal line that lives in my head rent free. I love her.)

--

Wyldfyre - Massachusetts

when I started this list, I told myself, "no dragons rising characters," in a useless attempt to not be writing till the sun goes down. but come on. this is just too perfect. both of them are energetic and kinda rude and very impatient, both of them are loud and obnoxious at times (/aff), and both of them are far too eager to start a war.

the real thing though? both of them care so, so much about their family. for Mass, that's the northeast (especially Maine and New York come to mind- "no one gets to kill you but me" is an iconic protective Mass quote). for Wyldfyre, that's Kai and Heatwave. (side note- Kai and Wyldfyre are The duo ever, they're so cute together. if you don't know who they are, I want to be clear, it's like a father daughter dynamic ((Wyldfyre is WAY younger than Kai)), and it's hilarious.)

--

Skylor - Arizona

both are hot, though with Arizona it's temperature, and with Skylor it's, well, look at her. also don't tell me Ari wouldn't have hair just like Skylor's. he would love that long red ponytail look.

also, both are very dangerous. Arizona has his rough terrain and all the animals and cacti that want to kill you, and Skylor has super op powers (they had to change the conditions of her powers in the later seasons because otherwise there wouldn't be any drama- Skylor would just win the war all by herself). however, despite what they could do to either hurt or help people, I think if given the chance, both would be totally chill and, I dunno, run a noodle shop for the rest of their life. and y'know what? love that for them.

--

Zane - Alaska

ok, last one, finally. I at first saw the connection between these two that they are both very cold. they're both quite reasonable and intelligent, not to mention large and basically indestructible. (has anyone counted how many times Zane has died so far? seven, maybe? and he's still kicking!)

in a bit deeper sense, though, they're both outsiders. for Alaska, this is, of course, due to geography. for Zane, it's because he's a nindroid, and despite his best efforts, he doesn't quite understand what it's like to be human. they are different in that Alaska tries to avoid the others and Zane tries to understand and be a part of the others, but nonetheless.

--

alright! this is far, far from a comprehensive list. I didn't do all of the characters- hell, I didn't even do all of the main characters. but that is all of the strong connections I can make between characters, and besides, I think this post is long enough haha. this was so fun to answer, thank you so much for asking this, you are incredible <3 /p

[comtedelafere]

So I just read this afternoon that Ray Stevenson has died at the age of 58 (which is absolutely no age, the poor fella, what a shock).

I'm not gonna pretend to know much about his back catalogue of work or say I was an especial fan or anything disingenuous like that, but I do really want to talk for a quick moment about the one role I really know and love him for - Porthos in the 2011 adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

Now, I know and you know that this version of The Musketeers is massively unpopular for a whole host of reasons - most notably the silly airship storyline (personally, I have such a well-trained suspension of disbelief that I can 100% deal with the airship aspect of it, but I totally get why it's an unpopular addition to the story) - but I will happily die on the hill that it is the closest combination of writing and portrayal of the Core Four yet (sorry, BBC version). Logan Lerman's d'Artagnan was a cheeky 19-year-old rascal who thought he was all that and a bag of chips and didn't care who knew it. Matthew Macfadyen's Athos was sullen and morose (but in a really hot way obvs, cos yknow - Athos) and didn't waste a word of dialogue. Luke Evans' Aramis was quiet, sober, extremely spiritual and didn't go around trying to seduce everything that moved the whole time.

But Ray Stevenson's Porthos? Oh. Oh this was sublime. Up until this adaptation, Porthos had more often than not been played as the comic relief: the large, overweight, affable drunk of no fixed IQ whose prowess at fighting was more down to luck and subtle slapstick than his good judgement. This version of Porthos couldn't have been further away from those portrayals.

He was a quick-witted, smart, physically powerful and agile fighter, whose hand-to-hand combat skills were so notorious that he never needed to use his sword. My absolute favourite moment that showed this fact so beautifully was at the end of the big fight scene with the Red Guards ("Four against FORTY? And you beat them like a drum?! *snort*!" oh, Louis!) when the Guards were reeling a bit, and trying to decide whether to go another round. At that point, Porthos casually pushed his sword from the scabbard with his thumb by about 2 inches - and that was enough to send the Red Guards running for the hills!! I screamed!! Perfect characterisation!! Porthos to an absolute T!!!!!

Not only that, but his version of Porthos was an unashamed yet impoverished dandy, a dedicated follower of fashion who took his time to choose exactly the right cut of new clothes in exactly the right colours - while his rich, married lover happily picked up the tab for him. He understood the way the right clothes and the right combination of appearance and demeanour in any given scenario could give him the upper hand, not only in fighting but also in all of his interpersonal relationships and encounters.

This is the Porthos I had wanted for years. This is the Porthos I cheered and applauded for when I finally saw the version that had lived in my head all those years had finally made it to the screen.

Don't get me wrong, of course the BBC Musketeers owns a huge part of my heart and soul and I love so much about them - but the 2011 Musketeers was so special because for me it was probably the very first time I finally got to see the Musketeers as the book described them, rather than just as the standard accepted carbon copies that had been passed down by Hollywood over the decades, and which bear little to no resemblance to the actual characters in the book. I have no idea if I've actually seen any of Ray's other performances or not, to be honest. Porthos may not be his finest hour onscreen, I really don't know. It may not be the part he's best known for. But if nothing else, Ray finally gave the world a Porthos that Dumas would have recognised.

Despite the fact the film as a whole was received poorly, his portrayal was a genuine gift, and I am privileged to be able to remember him as having given this Musketeer fangirl the abject joy of finally seeing Porthos played as he should have been all along. Not as a large, loud drunk who was just there to be big, strong and funny - but as a highly skilled, intelligent, audacious soldier with a sharp sense of humour and an even sharper dress sense; and who, rather than simply bringing up the rear as The Other Guy or the Big Fella, showed that he was quite possibly the Musketeers' MVP.

Thank you, Ray. Goodnight, and rest well.

[retrosofa]

To commemorate Cutie Honey's 50th anniversary, I wanted to post trivia for all 25 episodes. We'll start this week with the first episode: "The Black Claw Grips The Heart."

Screenwriter: Masaki Tsuji

Art Director: Mataharu Urata

Animation Director: Shingo Araki

Director: Tomoharu Katsumata

In the early drafts Honey Kisaragi was originally Honey Tachibana. Honey’s finalized surname name, “Kisaragi” (如月) is a traditional name for February in the Japanese calendar. It refers to the seasonal “changing of clothes.” The name "Honey" comes from the American TV series Honey West.

Honey was voiced by Eiko Masuyama, who would reprise this role a few times over the years, notably in the Re: Cutie Honey audio drama and the Playstation game, Little Witching Mischiefs. She also had a guest spot in Cutey Honey Flash as Dr. Kisaragi’s old friend, Dr. Mitsuko Kanzaki.

St. Chapel Academy is located in Okutama, a mountainous area that’s about an hour and a half away from central Tokyo. St. Chapel itself was most likely inspired or at least named after the real life royal chapel, Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, France. The hymn the students sing during Mass in these early episodes is “Come, Thou Almighty King.”

The freckle-faced girl who stands next to Honey during Mass is her best friend and roommate, Natsuko Aki. Although she’s almost never referred to by her full name but rather “Nat-chan.” Her first name is in reference to natsu or “summer” while aki means “autumn.” In the original manga she is depicted as having pigtails rather than a bob cut and doesn’t have freckles. Natsuko’s anime design was modeled after an unnamed girl who appeared briefly in the Devilman manga.

Natsuko was voiced by Rihoko Yoshida, who’s best known for voicing the titular character in Little Witch Megu, Maria Grace Fried in UFO Robo Grendizer, and Michiru Saotome in Getter Robo. Yoshida would also voice Panther Zora in the 1995 PC-FX video game, Cutey Honey FX. Noriko Watanabe (Sister Jill, Mami) also voiced Natsuko occasionally for whenever Rihoko Yoshida was unavailable.

Honey’s goofy teacher Ms. Alphonne Louis Steinbeck III is based on a male character from Go Nagai’s Kikkai-kun manga. That same Alphonne also served as the basis for Akira Fudo’s teacher in the Devilman TV series. 

Ms. Alphonne was voiced by the late Noriko Tsukase, who had previously voiced Mr. Alphonne’s wife and son in Devilman. Although Ms. Alphonne appears in every other animated Honey series, this is the only version where she is voiced by a woman.

During the early production stages Seiji Hayami was known as Shun Kazami and was described as "falling in love with Honey, despite knowing she’s an android." He would also have a goofy little sister named Zuuko, who would question if she was really related to her handsome older brother. When the series details were finalized, Seiji became more of a comic relief character and his romantic chemistry with Honey was downplayed. 

Seiji was voiced by Katsuji Mori, who would go on to voice Dr. Kisaragi in Cutie Honey Universe.

Katsuji Mori revealed he had ad-libbed Seiji's lines during Honey's first transformation. Originally, Seiji had no dialogue in that scene.

Honey's motorcyclist form is called "Hurricane Honey" which is possibly an homage to Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009. The lead character, Joe Shimamura, is sometimes a professional car racer who goes by the nickname "Hurricane Joe."

Seiji refers to Hurricane Honey as kaminari musume (カミナリ娘) which translates to something like “thunder girl.” He’s actually referring to the kaminari zoku (カミナリ族) or “thunder tribes”, Japanese motorcycle gangs who were known for their loud and rowdy modified motorcycles.

Black Claw’s name comes from the original series proposal, which described Panther Claw’s soldiers as being color coded. Potential opponents for Honey would’ve included Black Claw, Scarlet Claw, Cobalt Claw and Gold Claw. Each would have possessed a specific skill or element, for example, “Scarlet Claw” would’ve possessed fire powers. For whatever reason the whole color coded aspect was dropped but “Black Claw” was still used as the name for Honey’s first real adversary.

According to Cutey Honey Roman Album published by Tokuma Shoten in 1981, Honey's childhood memories are artificial. They were produced by Dr. Kisaragi because he wanted Honey to have childhood memories like any other human girl.

Dr. Takeshi Kisaragi was originally known as Dr. Seiji Tachibana in the original series proposal. In the original manga Dr. Kisaragi looks noticeably younger, has black hair, no glasses and a goatee instead of a mustache.

Originally, Honey was only going to transform once or twice during the first episode. Tomoharu Katsumata (director for episode one) requested that Honey use all of her main seven forms.

Some of the choreography from Honey and Black Claw’s fight is based on sequences from the Abashiri Family manga, specifically when the lead character Kikunosuke battles against teachers from Paradise Academy.

Junpei is based on Kichiza Abashiri from Go Nagai's The Abashiri Family manga. Kichiza is the youngest son of the Abashiri family and is a master of explosives. Junpei was voiced by Kazuko Sawada.

It’s probably worth noting Honey and Junpei are the only two characters to appear in every episode of Cutie Honey.

We'll take a look at episode two next week!

[foxes-that-run]

2013 Haylor Timeline

Timeline Tag, or years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2024.

3 January hair pinned up at restaurant in Virgin Islands. Harry's "might as well.." Tattoo first seen. Covered with Ferns now.

4 January - Taylor's blue dress on a boat. Harry bite bruise on his hip

7 January -Harry back in London, date People reports that they broke up. Reports Scott swift told them to slow down.

9 January - photos of Harry in Richard Bransons hot hub on front page after the break up. (I often wonder what the less famous people think now that they treated him poorly as a kid and he is massive now). Gordon Smart (1:12, warning he follows it with a bad anecdote about 18 year old H), who worked on media for One Direction, said in 2020 that Harry had said:

"Simon Cowell actually paid me to do some media training with them back in the day so I met them before they were massive and they were again really lovely kids. [...] I wrote a front page story about him sharing a jacuzzi with a girl on holiday and he told me it was bollocks and we still ran it, because we had a picture of him in the jacuzzi. It was probably totally innocuous and I really I'd like to apologize unreservedly to Harry for that because it was an error of judgment on my part and it probably tarnished our friendship."

Richard Branson also has gross sounding comments about this 18 year old that day.

10 January - made fun of his accent at Grammy's

12 January when asked, Niall says he listens to WANGBT, Louis says and Harry’s. 22 MV filmed.

15 January - one direction trip to Ghana for Red Nose Day comic relief

21 January - Taylor in London reports she saw Harry

22 January - Harry got the Butterfly and handshake tattoos.

23 January - Taylor in Madrid before performing at the '40 Principales Awards'

26 January Both at NRG Awards, 25 January Taylor posts Cannes Sunset situation. They both stayed in the Intercontinental Carlton Cannes Hotel.

1 February - Harry's 19th birthday. £5k tab, messy, wild party. Rumour that Taylor had booked a week in Italy which was cancelled

6 February - Savan Kotecha (WMYB writer) gave interview where he said 1D want to be write but can’t. His last 1D credit is Happily and in 2017 praised (45 mins) Harry’s writing.

10 February - Taylor at Grammy's, night Ed says inspired Tenerife Sea

21 February - both attend Brit awards - Taylor performs I knew you were trouble with Harry in the audience. In march she told the Sunday Times "Well, it's not hard to access that emotion when the person the song is directed at is standing by the side of the stage watching." She goes to an afterparty with Tom Odell and out with him the next night. Tom writes Country Star about Taylor and Harry wrote Happily about wishing they were together. Ed is asked if he would trust Harry around his girlfriend and he said “well he trusts me around his girlfriend so yeah I do. We’re friends we don’t do that.” Harry went on Nick Grimshaw from 6am a hungover.

23 February - 3 November - 1D Up all Night tour, start in Europe

7 March - Taylor sells Hyannis Point House at $1m profit

15 March - Taylor vanity fair article. Says Harry pursued her for a year before KCA, better part of a year after and it fell apart one night in London when he went out and he’s texting her to ask to see her again at the time of the interview. Pointed mentioned she was born in 1989, Easter egged wonderland, talks about Connor being 2 months and insignificant. Implies Harry was a rebound from JG and Connor was a Harry rebound. Says she’s looking for someone who is interested in her not her wiki page.

29 March - Taylor played “You're Not Sorry” in Newark. “I truly believe that when dealing with anybody you meet, you should start by trusting them. Any new friend you meet. Any new person you meet. I think you should truly believe the beat in them. And the first time that they tell you they’re sorry I think you should believe them. But then if they keep doing the same exact thing that they say they’re sorry for, that means one thing guys. That they’re not. Sorry.”- here. Appeared in Wonderland cover April 7, 2013

11 April - Louis says 'Taylor Swift' after Harry sings "I'm in love with you" in Little Things

20 April - TS on B stage song before “I Almost Do” in Tampa, FL. “everybody’s got like one, maybe two, I don't know how many you have, but at least one person in your life that doesn’t belong in your life anymore because maybe they hurt you or maybe it’s just over but you kind of want to call them sometimes. And you think better of it. But, you almost do it.”- here. Then a Red tour break till the 25th; One Direction tour break starting in Manchester till Paris on 29th. Louis stays in Europe,

23 April - Harry arrives alone in LA without the Peace ring

24 April - Neither Harry or Taylor seen. The day Harry got the ring

25 April - First day Peace Ring is seen. Harry has dinner with Rod Stewart, Rod then plays the Troubadour and Harry stayed at Rod Stewarts house. Taylor in Cleveland

28 April - Harry posts photo of sunglasses on beach. Taylor photographed in a gym in Los Angles. Wears the ring to leave LAX and there is an absolutely insane mob because he is there alone with no security.

29 April - Arrives in Paris alone, still wearing ring, described as a riot. The ring is in This is Us in Paris

April 30 - Taylor buys Holiday House Rhode Island for $18m cash

1 May - Everything has changed released as single

7 May - Harry goes on a party bus in Norway, photos of him drunk, with blonde and talks about party bus in interviews

18 May - Taylor posted rose’s with a Great Gatsby quote: “Just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer...“

19 May - Taylor said to fans, pointly "You are the longest and best relationship I've ever had" at BBMAs and that she only writes about ex's she doesn't want to see again. In the press room she said

27 May - Taylor wrote Wish you Would

June - September Midnight Memories written with Happily

12 June Taylor on Grimmy, he says Trouble is the “best song ever” 4 times at 11 mins. Best song ever was released 22 July. :)

13 June - Never Gonna Dance Again tattoo seen when Harry got off a yacht in Miami, seemingly drunk, he was underage at the time lyrics from Wham song "Careless Whisper" about regret for being unfaithful. Grimmy had referred to it in September when Harry sung the song on radio

16 June 2013 - Louisville - Harry was feeling himself during “Last First Kiss” and at the end was flirting with someone in the crowd, he mimicked pole dancing then he kissed his heart tattoo

22 June - Taylor and Selena getting ice cream in Mystic Connecticut, near RI.

28 June - Harry seen with Paige

1 July - Harry cross tattoo NYC stayed at the Bowery Hotel NYC

6 July - both play in Pennsylvania, Taylor has a week off after, unseen. On the 8th Harry was sick on stage.

20 July - Harry on Ryan Seacrest in Niall’s place and says the rest of the band went back to uk on their break but he stayed in LA.

22 July - Best Song Ever released.

30 July - September GQ cover story where they badgered Harry about how many people he’d slept with (two)

August 14 - Lover Journal: August 14, 2013, Watch Hill RI. Says she feels like a tiger in an enclosure, feels hunted, talks about paparazzi and cell phones. Also calls herself a rabbit, a flower growing in a sidewalk that is picked and how photos ruin a moment, online photos/comments and 'level of possession'.

25 August - VMAs, texting each other and shade, together at afterparty. Sang purple rain together at after party.

3 September - Harry tweeted 1975, Matty Healy told an interviewer that went from 4K followers to 15k in 10 minutes and they exchanged numbers and texted, made plans to meet up and he stood Harry up.

5 September - the 1975 cover WMYB in the live lounge

8 September - Taylor “"People think they know who I've dated and they just don't," "They don't know everything."

9 September - Harry badgered by paparazzi till he cries in London. They called him a womaniser. GQ Article where the interviewer bullied him into how many partners he had has (2)

11 September - Harry Rose tattoo.

27 September - 1D sign another contract with Syco for 3 albums, they are each paid £10m.

28 September: On the anniversary of the Begin Again weekend in Paris 28 September- 5 October 2012 Harry tweeted: "We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall". from Australia.

5 October - Harry pulled a blonde out of the crowd and hung out with her that night in Australia

8 October - Harry tweeted Shania Twain is so good. Shania thanks him and invites him to her show in Vegas.

16 October - Harry talked about Shania Twain 'Still the One' on stage, Tweet Q's - what song would you like to listen to now?

17 October Harry cried onstage, (0:55) during over again Taylor seen with Alexander Skarsgard 3 days later

18 October - throws up on stage reports touring taking toll

28 October - Harry talked about Shania Twain 'Still the One' on stage again, What's the most embarrassing song on your ipod.

1 November - 1D, Katy Perry and John Mayer take photos backstage at a Japanese radio station in Tokyo. New Romantics was written about Taylor being sad her ex had gone to Japan with his new GF.

November -j14 article where Harry says ok to get back together with ex. Also reports Taylor is house hunting in London.

13 November - Taylors first Victoria Secret show where she wears a union jack dress in NY and performed IKYWT. On 14th Harry in UK for Gemma's graduation, TS in NY for billboard awards.

18 November - Courtney Cox said she hung out with each of them at her house in Malibu

20 November - Harry has dinner with Kendall Taylor tweets ""I've listened to "Hold On" by @ColbieCaillat 45 times today. So on repeat. So important." on the 21st when dinner reported.

22 November - midnights memories release party in la with Ryan Seacrest

23 November, both at AMAs, gold dress. Kendall PDA reported but no record of it

25 November - Midnight Memories released with Something Great written with Jacknife Lee who also worked on Red.

3 December - Lover Journal - December 3, 2013, Sydney.

6 December - Harry leaves Kendalls hotel and they have breakfast. Lunch the next day.

11 December- Taylor ATW speech talks about songwriting like a message in a bottle, she mentions still love you and I’m really heartbroken

12 December - One Direction in Milan, record the Xfactor final interview with cushions on the floor.

13 December - Taylor posts a series of photos to IG about a rose garden party in Melbourne, Australia while on tour for her birthday. Many think 1989 will be called Roses. The captions made a sort of poem "Roses. Red Balloons. Pretty.... Sparklers. The best birthday I've ever had." Which could be a dig at Harry, Roses being common Haylor imagery, his tattoo and she famously said her 2012 birthday was her best ever when he took her to the Lakes. Harry's "better still be my winding wheel" tweet. Harry posts his Cannes photo December 14.

15 December - One Direction performs Midnight Memories on Xfactor UK Final and Harry arrives at Kendalls London hotel at 2am.

17 December - Harry, Ed and Taylor spotted together in Suffolk. Harry got injunction banning paparazzi from outside his home. Harry likely had moved into his current house. First confirmed at Ben Winston's with Morgan Spurlock in April 2012, Harry later told Rolling Stone he stayed there 20 months. He was seen house hunting in July and reports of his house were September 2012.

21 December - midnight memories MV filmed

Continue to 2014

[ceaselesswwatch3r]

Introduction because im bored

~my name is ash

~im demiromantic, lesbian and asexual

~fandoms im in: good omens,the magnus archives/protocol, what we do in the shadows(tv show+movie), venom, nimona, bbc ghosts, across/into the spiderverse, actually just spiderman in general, broadchurch, merlin, heartstopper, dead boy detectives (although i havent read the comics yet), sherlock and co (MAIN INTEREST), the sandman(haven't read the comics), julie and the phantoms, inside job, i am not okay with this, and Jackson's diary

~podcasts i have/ am currently listening to because most of them arent well known enough to really have a fandom (if not its just small):

the fall of the house of sunshine (currently), the magnus archives (have), the magnus protocol (currently), the two princes (have), case 63 (have), 36 questions (have), sherlock and co (currently), malevolent (currently), midst (currently), moonburn (currently)

~i love getting into podcasts

~my pronouns change but i'll take they/them at any time

~my favourite artists/bands are conan gray, julie and the phantoms cast, the struts, tom cardy, fall out boy, louis tomlinson and girl in red

~i get attached to 'comic relief' characters who actually have more depth than the main character/s

~i love to make art but i dont post often

~i wouldn't be able to survive without headphones

~I'm most likely neurodivergent and cannot communicate properly for the life of me so i apologise if i seem creepy or just really awkward i am very sorry

[mercy-misrule]

the closer we get to the release date of iwtv, the more the rancid bad faith takes and just straight up blatant racism crawls out from the cracks in the floorboards

A week ago I saw a post that said having an explicitly sexual and romantic relationship between Louis and Lestat was fan service

and its like, how myopic and thoughtless do you have to be to not understand that an interracial queer couple is, still is, groundbreaking in media, especially as the main characters. The story centers on them, and they aren't a morality lecture or comic relief.

Fully realized characters!

I think about my beloathed fandom, Psych. Gus was Shaun's best friend, his partner in crime. You didn't even have to ship them, you understood that, aside from his dad, Gus was Shaun's most important person and relationship.

But the fandom completely sidelined Gus, in favour of Lassiter, and you could use the weak excuse of 'people like enemies to lovers more than bffs' but don't kid yourself.

If Gus had been white, they would be the main pairing

So now, in IWTV, we have an actual in text couple, not implied, or read through a lens.

And there is a black lead in this, and people can make all the excuses they want, all the pre judgements, but they are all so weak, so very weak.

And look, its not that I think that you can't criticise the show, not at all. That's part of enjoying media, thinking about the good and the bad.

But there's room for thought and self reflection and there's no room for being a racist cunt

[justsomeguycore]

in fifth grade i was soooo eyeroll @ the one girl in theater who was like “i will not play a male character” i was like get over yourself i will play the male characters then. she ended up the female lead and i was the (male) comic relief with an eyeliner mustache on my face. fast forward 8 years and we go to one direction concert together and call each other the harry to my louis / louis to my harry. fast forward ten more years she’s straight married and i’m trans. no real point to this story it’s just funny how things turn out

[symphonyofmalice]

Episode 11 (2.4)

Reactions to "I want you more than anything in the world" .

Before I even start this episode, I've kind of been dreading this one. All of last week I couldn't stop seeing discourse. From what I could see, it seemed to boil down to "did Armand have an involuntary trauma response that Louis took advantage of" vs. "Armand is deliberately manipulating Louis and playing to his sympathy". Having not seen the episode... I don't see why it couldn't be both? Victims of trauma sometimes recreate trauma dynamics. Abused people can do abusive or manipulative actions. The horror of the gothic horror is that none of these characters are good or healthy or ok.

If this is Delainey singing, props to the actress.

Geez the troupe is NOT being subtle with how they're treating Claudia in this play, huh

Santiago calling out the obvious is kind of nice

Sam Reid seems to be having a fun time as Dream!stat

Louis' little glance aside before he says 'no' to Daniel's schizophrenia question is kinda silly/blunt and I'm not a fan

Oooh Armand's jealous

I do feel it suits Santiago to be a gossipy bitch (affectionate)

I don't really like how the show turns hunting from a dark, intimate experience to like... a joke/gag/comic relief

I can see the dinner scene establishing Armand's boredom with the troupe and the 'deeper' conversations he can have with Louis. At least I hope that's what they're going for.

Interesting version of the Louis-Santiago mimicry and "buffoon" line, though the word sounds a bit odd coming from this Louis.

Ah, the Armand vulnerability photo I've seen giffed so much. Louis looks genuinely thrown off.

Claudia is definitely flirting. It's an interesting take. It's very different from Book Madeleine's motive as a grieving mother. The romance emphasizes Claudia's desire for adult relationships more. Though it also begs the question why this Claudia, who looks not much younger than Madeleine, couldn't pass herself off as an adult. (I know now she's forced to wear the baby dress, but before).

God Armand is playing up the romance. (Flowers! Shakespeare!) Especially as, while Armand runs the theater, things like Shakespeare are more Lestat-associated.

Louis calling Armand out a bit for the Power-Romance play

What is the "remember me?" with the Venus statue supposed to be?

Assad's acting duting the monologue is good.

In trailers, when I saw Lestat's "Ha!" I thought it would be a sort of ironic undercutting of something Armand said. But it doesn't really...work here? At least as a response to "Lestat who begat Louis, on and on and on".

Every single vampire on this show is going to pin Claudia by the throat, aren't they?

"I pretended to be an actor for two years" what the hell have they done to my boy Lestat's backstory? Though I guess, since this is Dreamstat, this is Armand's lie to Louis.

I get that Louis is in love with Armand and therefore defensive/denying. But both outright ignoring Claudia when he's seen how the troupe and Armand treats her (no eye contact, the dress thing) and also telling her she left him first (when he's had a new companion the whole time) is just...Bad.

God, they're playing this Dreamstat scene like it's Old Yeller. Why.

And here's the imfamous "I'm a little wet" line. Honestly I'm not 100% sure what to make of it yet. I think I'd feel more clearly about it if I had a stronger sense of Louis' character. But even two seasons in, I find it hard to have a firm grasp on show!Louis. Sometimes they play into his artistic, philosophical side, like his book counterpart. Most of the time he doesn't seem to give a shit about anything. Does he even want the theater? He's rescuing Armand in this scene, to be sure. Being the practical, put-together one as Armand panics. But what does that mean for Louis, what is he thinking/feeling about Claudia?

The Arun line, on the other hand, feels very directly mean-spirited.

Sometimes things I think are obvious are not obvious to others. So maybe I'm being unfair. But any excitement I would feel for what they're doing with the altered memories and reveal is a little dampened by the fact that I (and others) have been anticipating it since the end of Season 1 at the latest.

Like, even if we get to season 3 and I get the most perfect TVL adaptation I've ever wanted, I feel I might be a little worn out by the fact it took them 3 seasons to get there.

Like, if they want to be their own show, that's great. It seems like they're trying to do both.

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Morimyu Op.5 bingo

In the Save our Twisted Hearts Discord group, we put together a list of bingo prompts for anyone watching Op.5 if anyone is interested in playing Bingo.

Cards should be 5x5 with one free space... and if you do score a bingo, you have to do something Morimyu-related (not mandatory since this is just for fun!). Bonus if you include each actor/character on your card at least once!

List:

William doesn't throw his cigarette butt away

Sherlock tries to stop William from leaving 221b

Shogo cries during a performance

Billy will be played by Yuma kun

Billy shows up

Ryo and Shogo recreate the alternate volume 14 cover (backstage/ on stage)

Fujita Rei visits

Arterton's actor visits

Teruma visits

Ryotaro Akazawa visits

Lestrade's actor makes silly videos again

Louis gets a solo but he's singing to Sherlock begging him to save William

Louis and Fred duet

Albert and Sebastian duet

Sherlock and Mycroft duet

Bond contacts Sherlock somehow… about William?

Gregson gets knocked out. hopefully.

Albert has a solo directed towards William again

Fred tries to convince Moran to stop William from dying

Mycroft and Albert duet

melody similar to the one from the Durham date, when William and Sherlock are just talking about the Lord of Crime plays

Nishimori-san and Tadasuke san will be on curtain call of the final stage

non sherliam hugs on stage

Shogo cries during the bridge scene

the MtP theme isn't the finale song for op.5

Bridge part in the opening will be sung by Liam and Sherly

Bond and Hudson interaction?

Moran solo or duet with Louis during bridge scene.

Rooftop scene with Sherliam duet in last act

recreation of light novel/the remains covers

Albert solo takes place while he burns down the mansion

Instead of cracking the glass of the family photo Albert will throw it in the fire or rip it

The fall is Ryo/Shogo moving or dancing normally on stage, but the background is projected upside down

The letter is a Shogo solo, but is followed up by a Ryo solo right after

William having a nightmare

They will announce Morimyu next project at Senshuraku

Morimyu concert or photobook or studio album after Op.5

the secret standees are post time-skip

Louis will cry this time

"i hope" and "i will" are used in a song

melody from 誓い plays

announcement of an op.5 cd

Mycroft cuffs Albert

"i hope, i will" continuation is them actually singing to each other in person instead of apart like the other opus

Adding "wind" reference to the letter

Mycroft ruffles Sherlock's hair

John actually does up Sherlock's tie

Miss Hudson/John duet to Sherlock

"I will catch you" is said?

William does a cape flourish

someone kisses someone's cheek (actors too)

John solo

John duet with Sherlock

William pushes Louis away/walks away from Louis\

ashas dies

bond pointing a gun at William

Op.6 announcement

William and Mycroft talking

Albert and Sherlock talking

concert announcement

someone on their knees

someone kneeling

Moribros get a song together

Sherlock holding William's letter to his chest/heart

Bond and Mycroft interaction

Lestrade comic relief/adlib involves John

Gregson does something stupid

Lestrade mentions Patterson

Albert mentions Jack

Mycroft and Louis duet

Sherlock fires a gun but shoots upward

The violinist imitates Sherlock when he's thinking about William

Violinist and Lestrade have an interaction

Sherlock is the one doing the 'lights out' movement in main theme

Sherlock grabbing William by the collar

Ikkei posts photos of the musical taken from the side again

Mary's actor visits

izawa posting super aesthetic pictures of the show again

“i caught you” is said or sung during the fall

Miyoshi puts out an op.5 illustration

Moran solo takes place after William walks away after killing noble

Lestrade doing something silly

Albert's hand on William's shoulder

no greenhouse

They will recreate Sherlock's board with photos

William will try to wash his hands

I hope I will during bridge scene

Catch me, don't leave me alone + I will catch you in the lyric

Adlib is John/Lestrade try to cheer Ms. Hudson

Wiggins and Bake street irregulars appear

All/Some of the people that Liam saved from last Op appear

Shunly posts backstage short clip everyday

[hooter-n-company]

I imagine the Mythos version of Red Riding Hood would probably have her switched into a deadly hunter that's constantly trying to track Louis down and throw some hands! 🪓 (Like a comic relief sort of character that shows up here and there haha))

I actually had to do some brainstorming with my bud @twistedtummies2 since, before I got this message, I honestly had no idea what my version of Little Red would be like.

I think I settled on her being the daughter of a baker, and despite being young and naive, she is not a pushover. She’s spunky, spirited, and hates her parents hovering over her, but of course she doesn’t have enough life experience to know when to steer clear of danger. And unfortunately that’s what draws Lou in; she’s “spicy” (in both personality and flavor) but also easy to manipulate.

You’re actually not too far off with the “deadly hunter” thing, since this Little Red would absolutely arm herself to the teeth after the incident with the wolf. Definitely taking some inspiration from Into The Woods…minus the cape made from poor Lou’s skin.

She’s probably not actively hunting him down, but the big bad wolf is wise enough to stay as far away from her as physically possible…

[gladiator-gladiolus]

My prejudgement of the engage cast: Firene edition

This is as of before I venture into chapter 3, so obviously I don’t actually know ANYTHING about anyone except what I’ve accidentally absorbed through fanart. This is all purely based on their appearance and the vibe. I’ll reblog with what I actually think of them after I’ve finished the game, or have sufficient enough exposure to them (*☻-☻*)

(These are probably really harsh, I have unleashed my full prejudice)

Alfred

Probably going to be my blorbo

Husjshsja pretty little noodle, very scrunckle

A wet lettuce

Dimitri but make him cottagecore

Major pathetic Alear simp

Too kind for his own good

classic Lord

i want to put him in my washing machine

gay coded but all the ladies want him

allergic to mud

Boucheron

I already know I’m not gonna like him

Friendly neighbourhood patriotic buff man

Probably obsessed with healthy eating

popular with the gorls

looking at him makes me a bit angry

no personality other than to serve a trope

looks like a carpenter

donates food to the orphans then tried to “hide” it

Etie

Likes MLP unironically

A bit of a snobbish pretty Princess that’s going to complain

But we like her for that

Will have a crit line something like “yOu ruinEd mY bOw”

im going to end up liking her a lot

Cold hearted and apathetic until you get to know her

Ed sheeran’s sister

very intelligent when you give her the chance

will commit war crimes

Celine

Cliche waifu sweetheart

popular with straight people

She’s going to annoy me

the worse version of Etie

Nice for no reason

Sings all the time and won’t shut up

Is a Dead mother but has no children and is also alive

Has a slow, soothing voice but to the point that it’s dull

Has no personality beyond being upper class and naive

Louis

Is always late

wish version of Linhardt

loving the bed head

just a happy little guy awwww

I will love him and I will squeeze him

trying his best and it’s good enough

doesnt want a lot from life

has a tragic back story that makes him want to help people like his sister was tragically stabbed to death on the ides of march

Not that clever but has all the brawn

Chloe

Looks like Erika

is Erika

the comic relief

surrogate older sister

Very considerate and compassionate

likes Hatsune Miku

The one with all the brain cells

given responsibility over the children

Murder is okay

Jean

Reminds me of Rune Factory

pretends he can see but actually cant for shit

Has some sort of debt to the royal family

Is overworked

curious but doesn’t want to overstep

Has an anxiety disorder

good with handiwork

quiet and reserved

looks up to either Chloe or Alfred

Probably an orphan

[autolenaphilia]

Count Dracula (1977)

The 1977 BBC tv film Count Dracula might be the best adaptation of Stoker’s novel.

Other adaptations like the 1931, 1958 and 1992 films might have claims to be better as films, but as adaptations they largely ignore the novel in various ways. The 1992 film adapts perhaps a lot of scenes from the novel, but in its storyline, it is more of an adaptation of The Mummy from 1932 than of Stoker’s book. And the 1931 and 1958 films called Dracula are rightfully regarded as peaks of vampire horror movies, but are very unfaithful to the novel.

The 1977 BBC film however is remarkably faithful, with Gerald Savory’s script taking a lot of dialogue straight from the book. There are changes of course, the largest of which is probably the removal of Arthur Holmwood, whose character is instead merged into Quincey, to save time and simplify the film’s character list. There are others changes, like how Mina and Lucy are sisters, and Dracula looks the same throughout and has no moustache.

Yet the 1977 film is probably the film adaptation most based in the book. The film’s length of 2 and a half hours helps in conveying the scope of the book. This faithfulness is to its advantage, as the novel’s characters are usually more interesting than the pop cultural versions of them.

Renfield in this movie is probably the best movie version of the character. It spends time on making him a complex and sympathetic character. It gives him a genuine character arc, where he falls under Dracula’s spell but out of care for Mina rebels against Dracula’s hold on him and pays the ultimate price. Actor Jack Shepard’s portrayal is excellent. Most movie versions cut the character or just make Renfield a creepy bug-eating weirdo, and the 1977 version, by taking more of the character from the novel makes him actually interesting.

The acting and the rather faithful to the novel portrayal of the characters is this version’s greatest strength.

Irish actor Bosco Hogan as Jonathan Harker has an unfortunately 1970s hairstyle, but manages to create a close to definitive performance as Harker. He manages to convey this dynamic character’s whole register, from charming naivety at the story’s start, to haggard traumatized suffering to the fiery determined Jonathan of the story finale.

Frank Finlay as Van Helsing is another definitive portrayal. He truly feels like the Van Helsing of the book, silly fake Dutch accent and all.

Judi Bowker as Mina Harker is also close to definitive. She portrays Mina as a woman who is compassionate and kind yet her kindness is also a strength of spirit, which enables her to resist Dracula’s vampirism. She gets to save Jonathan by shooting his attacker in the film’s climax.

I also like Susan Penhaligon as Lucy Westenra, who conveys a likeable Lucy, and you do feel for her when she is victimized and turned into a monster by Dracula.

Richard Barnes as Quincey has a terrible American cowboy accent, it’s the epitome of an English actor trying to have an American accent. But like with Van Helsing its awfulness feels oddly accurate to how Stoker wrote it, as funny as that sounds. He is a goofy character because of that terrible cowboy accent, almost comic relief, although it’s nice to have Quincey in a Dracula adaptation for once. He is usually left out of adaptations, because the cowboy in a gothic horror feels out of place. Here Arthur has been merged into Quincey, which if anything is the opposite of how most adaptations do it, usually cutting Quincey and keeping Arthur if he is around.

Louis Jourdan as Dracula is an interesting take on the character. Jourdan goes for a suave and handsome Dracula, compared to the book, he doesn’t even de-age into attractiveness. I’m not attracted to men, but I can sense his charisma. And this well-spoken and handsome Dracula probably is attractive to a lot of people. I can barely believe that Jourdan was in his mid 50s when the film was made, he looks at least 15 years younger.

Yet it works, because underneath the charm Jourdan’s Dracula is fundamentally the same character as the book Dracula. He is not a sympathetic misunderstood Byronic hero. Underneath his handsome and suave exterior he is the same monster, selfish and destructive. Jourdan manages to convey a genuine air of menace even when he is being soft-spoken and suave. He exudes a threatening air of complete confidence when he speaks, like he is just playing with his food by having an erudite conversation with his future victim. He can charm and seduce people, but only to destroy them. It’s good acting by Jourdan and a great take on the character.

The film is a tv movie, and it certainly looks cheap compared to some theatrical productions. It’s visibly 70s British tv. The sets really do look like sets, and the switch to video for location shoots is obvious. This movie is uploaded to youtube a lot and youtube compression makes it look absolutely terrible, yet even my dvd copy does show its age and origin.

Yet Philip Saville’s direction is intelligent and tries to do some visually interesting things. There are some nice shots that add to the gothic atmosphere. And there is an attempt to do new things with the TV format, like a POV shaky cam shot, which was probably unusual for TV in 1977. Some of its experiments do fail, like the negative images used to convey the supernatural of Dracula’s power. But the film tries to be visually interesting within the limitations of 70s TV

Overall Count Dracula is a success. It is not the most visually exciting adaptation, but it tries its best within the budget limitations. The overall faithfulness to the novel of the script and the high level of the acting means the characters are more compelling than most pop culture versions of Dracula. Again, there might be better films based on Dracula, but this is probably the best actual adaptation.

[blehworld]

the eclipse series: a review

i will forever love this series and it’s characters. it will be hard to let them go and i will surely come back to them for comfort or nostalgia. i will miss the eclipse fridays, the community built around it and coming here to spend hours reading everyone’s breakdowns and theories.

the incredible cast! (best thing about the series)

first and khaotung as the main leads;

two amazingly talented actors with great real-life chemistry, that translated beautifully into akk and ayan. the dynamic that they created for akkayan, their micro-expressions and eye acting elevated this series! they’re amazing at the emotional, the dramatic, the serious, the fluff, the suggestive, …i hope to see more of them together. gmmtv hit gold with them, finding two actors that match so well. they have what it takes to surprise us with a completely different concept and story. i look forward to see them separately too, as i’ve enjoyed their previous roles and have seen the evolution and range of their individual talent.

neo and louis as the secondary couple;

i had already seen them together in futs, where they were very cute. i had also seen neo, in a couple of other shows. it was interesting seeing their duality. neo being usually a comic relief character, got to show a more serious and tough side, while louis went from loud and clingy, to reserved and distant. i’m curious of what more they can offer as a pairing, and would certainly support them as a main couple. they’ve said that they want to continue working together so, will gmmtv make them stay as a secondary couple forever?

ploy, pawin and aj;

they did great in their roles for the little time they had for onscreen development; as the conflicted young new teacher that chooses to compromise, the misguided kid that wants to be included and belong, and, as the conflicted student with big dreams of becoming an indie movie director, respectively. i think it’s time that aj gets a main role (maybe with ploy? they seemed to be pushing them together a lot). he really impressed me in ep 11 when he was mad at akk, there was something in his eyes, i’d like for him to explore that. i’d seen all three of them before in other projects and they’re pretty consistent.

pak, tee and petch: the world remembers gang a.k.a. the youth rights club;

i loved them. they were the strong ones, the victims all along and who did nothing wrong! they wanted what's best for everyone. they deserve the world! the actors played them delightfully. a series centered around them would be incredible! they were never used for laughs. the show always took them seriously and so did the characters, and i am so thankful for that! this is unfortunately not the standard in bl series.

the adults: p’yai, p’sine, p’iang, p’jum and p’ron;

the “adult” actors that stood out were teachers waree and chadok, and the principal. they were incredibly intimidating, and played great antagonists. i loved to hate them. i have questions about their characters, though that has nothing to do with the actors, like: did waree believe in the curse? was the principal a teacher for chadok, the same way he was for akk? did the principal allow all those changes to suppalo after chadok resigned? and more…. i liked aye’s mother, and was hopping to see more of her. i also enjoyed uncle dika’s performance. we saw him only as flashbacks from different characters’ eyes, and he succeeded in transmitting every good thing that they thought of him.

the plot

the idea of showing a school as an allegory for a nation isn’t new, but it always has great potential, and i believe that they hit the spot many times! it wasn’t necessarily innovative, but it was brave. a courageous story to tell, from it’s preproduction and it’s crew, to the social commentary and political messages at its core, verbalized mostly by the world remembers gang and ayan.

the mystery wasn’t perfectly managed, but it also wasn’t really the focus of the series. it was largely the background for these characters to exist and these relationships to develop. however, it did keep me guessing at times and asking different questions, that were later answered, one way or another.

the diversity of queer representation

my favorite thing about this show was the different types of lgbt+ journeys:

akk who seemed to be only starting it, who was so scared and repressed to be himself. his economic background already made him stand out in the school, he didn’t need to also not be “normal”.

ayan who had already fully and confidently accepted who he was, thanks to his uncle and mother who were so supportive of him.

the 3jums who never really had the choice to hide, so they owned who they were and fought for their (and everyone’s) right of self expression.

kan who knew but wasn’t sure, tried to repress it because society made him think that it wasn’t okay to feel what he felt.

thua who was out, not explicitly by choice. he couldn’t hide it, but he could make himself small, take as little space as possible, to the point of never speaking up, so he would be ignored.

chadok, who unfortunately lost his fiancé because of his own fear of standing up for himself. he chose the same antiquated system that had already hurt him so much for years, the system that doomed his lover, over his own freedom.

the cinematography and technical aspects

they didn’t have much budget, but the plot didn’t really demand it. the direction was purposeful and the cinematography was skillful; there were some very beautiful shots throughout the series. the symbolism of the eclipse always very present, sometimes quite obviously, but often subtle and organic. technically it was well done, with deliberate lightning and the sound being better than most bls. there were some small continuity errors, the biggest imo being the hair lenghts changing between some scenes.

however the writing;

as a whole (mostly the last two episodes) the writing was somewhat underwhelming, not meeting my initial expectations, nor the potential of the series… while most of the elements to make this series exceptional were there, what really affected the quality of the writing —not saying that it was otherwise perfect, but it was good enough— was that 12 EPISODES WERE NOT ENOUGH TIME!

this story, these characters, these conflicts needed, at least, a few more episodes to develop and come to a conclusion, at most, dividing everything into two seasons.

the pacing of the first 10 episodes was so pleasing to me. it gave me AND the characters, enough time to examine their feelings and talk through them. it focused on how the environment and the interactions in it affected the characters! we saw them exist in their world and with each other, without anything being rushed. it felt natural, i loved it.

but we lost this in episode 11. it was just revelation after revelation, leaving no time for the viewer, nor the characters, to process what was going on. unfortunately with one episode left, there wasn’t much they could do. so they ended up skipping what had once been their main focus; the internal emotional journey of the characters.

episode 12 was cute and fun;

i loved that we got to see akk come out to his parents, as well as him and ayan introducing themselves as a couple to them. those are important moments in the lgbt+ journey! especially for a teen.

i loved to see how after being finally out, the freedom akk felt was visible not only in his relationship with ayan, but also in his face and his whole existence.

i loved all the moments between akk and ayan; the rooftop scene, the pool side scene, everything at the beach and in akk’s room, the little classroom exchange, the —in the words of a twitter moot— mutual pinning,

i loved the full circle moments of opening and closing the series on the red boat, and, the school bathroom scene with the hoodies. these showed growth, making us think back at how akk was and felt at the beginning vs now; and how akk and ayan were and felt when they met vs now.

BUT

it brushed over the huge revelations of the previous episode and so the build up of the whole series fell flat.

the apology to the world remembers was one sentence each? i said it before, they deserved apologies and reparations! i needed akk to officially apologise to them, as well as thua, the prefects, ayan, all the students, and the teachers, too. i did like how akk wasn’t expecting to be forgiven.

actually, within the friend group, no one really apologized to one another. i wanted group therapy full of tears and apologies.

the outing was not addressed (as expected, but i had a slimmer of hope).

the changes to the school (although great) felt unearned… we didn’t see who made this changes and why? it just, felt weird to shove them in a couple of minutes at the end of the episode, when the school and its antiquated system were the main villain of the series! the change of heart of teacher waree also was too sudden.

i wanted to see a serious conversation between kan and thua about everything. i wanted thua to acknowledge his wrongdoings the way akk got to do, multiple times, with ayan. i wanted to see kan be there for him while he went through it. i needed this for closure with their characters and their relationship. these posts by heretherebedork go further into this better than i can. honestly, thua’s character as a whole felt very abandoned to me. they hinted at him having a possibly abusive stepfather, but then it was dropped. they showed us signs mental health struggles, with him wanting to disappear (did i imagine that?), they dropped it too. his friendship with ayan, or whatever they had going, was also dropped at some point. i think that, with him, they focused too much on kan, and not enough on thua as an individual. he’s the only main character that didn’t really grow and learn? everyone else ended different than they started.

WHAT WAS TEACHER SANI DOING AT THE BEACH WITH THEM, THEY WERE DRINKING? she traveled with them all the way to akk’s house… i was scared until the las second that she and wat would have a thing.

the ending felt a little too “coming of age” teen movie. not very fitting when the series touched on quite serious and heavy topics. i don’t mean the happy ending, i mean the way it’s was all so quickly wrapped up and summarized. i half expected the voice over to name each character and what they became. “after graduation, wat became a big name in the indie film scene; the world remembers gang became youth leaders for the community; kan and thua decided to adopt singto and moved in together; and as for me and ayan, he’s thinking of studying political sciences, to no one’s surprise. me, i don’t know yet what i want to do with my life, but that’s okay! for now we are taking some time off and traveling the world together, as boyfriends…”

closing comment:

all in all, i thoroughly enjoyed this series; the talented actors and lgbt+ diverse journeys being the main pull. a lot of work was obviously put into writing (most of) the characters, but the plot was underdeveloped. there was a weird tone and pace shift between the last three episodes, and i want to attribute that to a time issue. sincerely, i would not want to sacrifice the pacing of the first 10 episodes, for parts of 11 and 12 to feel less rushed. it needed additional episodes, not a faster pace.