#michele breton

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Performance (1968)

Dir. Nic Roeg and Donald Cammell

[lifeinasmalltowninjapan]

BBC2 Moviedrome (1991)

Performance (1970)

Michèle Breton, Anita Pallenberg and Mick Jagger

[balthazar-sketti]

[roseillith]

PERFORMANCE (1970) dir. NICOLAS ROEG, DONALD CAMMELL

[bluesrocknrollingstones]

Chas , Turner , Pherber n Lucy

[helena-bottom-farter]

[drachman]

My latest article in Oblivioni. Ever try to find someone who's vanished from the internet? Where did they go?

[curtainofflesh-blog]

Didn't realise that in the first two frames it was Mick in bed not Michelle. Need to rewatch the film...

Performance (1970) dir. Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg

[acmeoop]

Superior Backgrounds “Superior Duck” (1996)

[masochismustango]

oh wow

me?? doing a trendy stuff??? nooo, you must be dreaming

[dozydawn]

L’Officiel, 1990.

Photographed by Michel Breton.

Model: Christa Doelman.

[chaoticdesertdweller]

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a movie buddy of mine about how we need a Criterion release of Performance. They've announced a February release. Talk about manifesting! 🤣✨️

[lifeinasmalltowninjapan]

BBC2 Moviedrome (1991)

Performance (1970)

Michèle Breton, Anita Pallenberg and Mick Jagger

[balthazar-sketti]

Performance (1968)

Dir. Nicholas Roeg and Donald Cammell

[revuetraversees]

Claude LUEZIOR, Au démêloir des heures, Postface Alain Breton, Liminaire de l’auteur, Éditions Librairie-Galerie Racine -Paris- Illustration Diana Rachmuth, Format 13x21, Nombre de pages 93 -  Avril 2023.

Une chronique de Michel Bénard Claude LUEZIOR, Au démêloir des heures, Postface Alain Breton, Liminaire de l’auteur, Éditions Librairie-Galerie Racine -Paris- Illustration Diana Rachmuth, Format 13×21, Nombre de pages 93 –  Avril 2023. Après son remarquable ouvrage : – Sur les franges de l’essentiel. – suivi d’ – Ecritures – Claude Luezior nous revient avec une œuvre clé de haute et forte…

[myhandsarentsmudgediusedigital]

So!

Delphine.

One of the last Blades, undercover as an inn owner, hates all things dragony, bossyass old Breton lady. Like all Skyrim characters, she's underused and underdeveloped in the vanilla game.

I have thoughts on her now.

Warning: SPOILERS FOR A BARD'S TALE BY GABBICAV (link to the story here)

I was going through and revamping one of my old Dragonborns I hadn't worked with in a while*. And I got an idea for a scene that happens right after the fight at Kynesgrove. Minerva and Michel** drag Delphine out of town to finally get an explanation as to who she is.

And as I was writing her dialogue, I realized that her motivation isn't just about the Blades.

Of course she wants to reform the Blades, that much is obvious, but I don't think that's the end of it. It's not just the Blades she wants back, she wants everything back: the Dragonborn, the Empire being whole, and the Blades being the Emporer's most trusted bodyguards.

Delphine wants the Third Era back, or at least the idealized version of it she has in her head. As far as she's concerned, everything started going wrong as soon as Martin died.

Here's a quick quote from what I wrote that I think helps lay it out:

“That’s what we’ve been doing since the fourth era began. We’ve been waiting for a new Dragonborn, a new emperor, to appear, and become the true heirs of the Empire.” Michel let out a low whistle. “True heirs, huh? The Mede dynasty might have an issue with that.” Delphine scowled. “The Medes can go suck an egg. Ever since Martin Septim sacrificed himself, the Empire has been going downhill! If there’s one thing these past two centuries have proven, it’s that only a Dragonborn can keep Tamriel together!”

Of course we know this isn't entirely true. While the Empire did fall apart in the Fourth Era, cracks were already starting to show even back in the Third Era, what with the Simulacrum and the War of the Red Diamond and all. The Third Era might have been more stable, but it was hardly peaceful.

But Delphine either doesn't know this or doesn't care. She wants that idealized vision back.

A while back, I read A Bard's Tale by Gabbicav on AO3 (if you like bards, intrigue, sibling rivalry, and a new perspective on dragons, this is for you).

Delphine is (probably unsurprisingly) an antagonist in the story. I'm going to put what exact actions she takes between spoiler warnings just in case.

In the story, Delphine, not the Dark Brotherhood, assassinates Titus Mede on his visit to Skyrim. At the time I believed it was simply for narrative convenience and to make her more villainous, but thinking about it from this new perspective it makes sense: Delphine views the Medes as imposters unworthy of the throne. They're not Dragonborn, that's why the Blades didn't serve them and why the Penitus Oculatus had to be created.

Plus, y'know, she probably hates him on a personal level for signing the Concordat.

Anyways, I forget if she and Esbern work with the Stormcloaks in the story or if they just happen to also be an antagonistic force, but her working with Ulfric wouldn't be out of character.

You see, Ulfric:

a) Hates the (current) Empire

b) Hates the Thalmor

c) Has charisma enough to have at least a cult following

d) Obviously doesn't agree with the Greybeards because he left their order

e) Idolizes Tiber Septim/Talos

Add to that the fact he can Shout, even if he isn't actually Dragonborn, it might be tempting for Delphine to forge an allience.

Hell, maybe that was her original plan before the dragons and last Dragonborn showed up.

And now she has someone better then Ulfric: a real live Dragonborn that can absorb souls and kill dragons. Who can shout naturally. A true heir to the Ruby Throne.

All that goes a long way towards explaining her behavior. First, she makes sure you're the real deal. Then she sets you on the path to seeing the atrocities the Thalmor commit (even if they're not actually behind the return of the dragons) and reopening the old Blades temple.

And it explains why she's so huffy about Paarthunax. She and the Blades are supposed to be your most trusted advisors, not a dragon who's committed several atrocities (let's ignore that was thousands of years ago and he's been trying to make up for it since)! She has the very specific idea of what a Dragonborn is, and when you inevitable don't measure up to that for whatever reason, she gets angry.

Delphine is a frustrating character, even with development. She longs for a bygone era of peace that didn't ever exist, where she and those in her organization were held with the highest respect and not hunted down and killed, where the Thalmor don't exist, and all is right with the world (in her view).

And that is why you will never change her mind.

...sounds pretty familiar. Maybe she and Ulfric should team up after all...

*Minerva, if you're curious, may post art of her and her brother soon...if I remember...

**Previously known as Gildas, he's become Minerva's twin dragonborn instead of her older mundane brother