#nocturymiszczu

[luninosity]

For @thebestpersonherelovesbucky: here’s the full text of the fake film review I wrote yesterday, for Steadfast...

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Steadfast Combines History and Heart Into Triumph

 Jillian Poe’s latest directorial effort, Steadfast is at once familiar and unfamiliar: a Regency romance set against the Napoleonic War, full of ballroom scenes and lavish costumes, crackling with politics and passion. It’s (extremely) loosely based on the 1940s novel of the same name, which in turn was based on the historical Will Crawford’s surviving letters and notes, and the romance is real in more than one way—assuming you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve seen the stories about on-set melodrama: Colby Kent and Jason Mirelli hooking up, being injured, falling in love, and from all reports being blissfully happy.

 Leaving the behind-the-scenes drama aside, the question is: is it a good film?

 The answer is unequivocally yes.

 It’s more than good. It’s a brave film, in the best ways: not only in telling a historical gay love story—and it is very, very gay; Jillian Poe and her cast don’t shy away from sex scenes—but in the raw emotion and power of the storytelling and the relationship. It’s the kind of film that gets remembered as a landmark: what good filmmaking can do. And it’s worth seeing, not only for the attention to period detail or the reminder that gay people (and black people, Indian people, and others; we see an impressively diverse London, especially among Will’s Home Office fellow recruits) have always existed in history, but for the sheer emotional experience. Steadfast is a romance, unashamedly so, and it wants you to fall in love, and you will.

 The casting and the script are spot-on, to start.

 Jillian Poe has her favorite stable of actors, so some familiar faces won’t be a surprise. Colby Kent, also a producer, and given co-writing credit with Ben Rogers, stars as Will Crawford—Rogers and Jillian Poe have independently confirmed that Colby did on-set rewrites, which means most of what we see is likely his. We’ve discussed Colby and the industry and uncredited script work at length back when that news broke, so here I’ll just say that Colby is a better writer than any of us realized—good at knowing and utilizing the source material, but also paring down, choosing the exact right word for each moment, giving his fellow actors dialogue that sounds effortlessly natural. Odds on a Best Adapted Screenplay award or two? Pretty high, I’d say.

 Speaking of Colby Kent, he’s always been quietly excellent on screen, often underrated (that Academy Award loss to Owen Heath should’ve gone the other way, no offense to Owen, who is also generally excellent), and equally capable of adorable clumsiness or aristocratic decadence. You could argue that playing young and wealthy and vulnerable and gay is exactly in his wheelhouse and hardly a stretch, and you might be right—but you would also be wrong.

 It’s an award-winning performance. It’s a master class in complex character acting. It’s compelling and dramatic and the core of the film, at least half of it, more on which later.

 Will Crawford—in ill health, a natural scientist, the Regency equivalent of a rich kid and only heir to a vast estate—might have come across as weak, or naïve and fragile, or in need of rescue. And Colby Kent’s good at fragile and lovely and desperate. But Will’s also a literal genius, determined to be useful, and willing to do anything—including spycraft and affecting the tide of battle and the fate of nations—to protect the man he loves. Colby Kent never lets us forget that, and the character and the story become richer for it. He’s almost at his best in moments without dialogue—I say almost because Colby, as ever, has flawless timing when delivering lines, both the heartbreaking and the wryly sarcastic. But his eyes and expressions say so much that every close-up could be a page’s worth of emotion-filled speeches, except not, because they’re not necessary. He’ll definitely get the Academy Award nomination; if there’s any justice, he’ll also win. Though, having said that, my personal vote might go to the biggest surprise of the film, just because I was so impressed and delighted. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

 The supporting cast is also superb—Leo Whyte, as Jason’s second-in-command, embodies complicated and compassionate loyalty, someone who’d follow his captain into battle and also sympathize with his captain’s difficult love, given his own socially fraught marriage to a poor Irish girl (Kate Fisher, having a marvelous time and some of the funniest lines). John Leigh gives his performance as a conflicted would-be mutineer some delicate nuance—he still admires his captain and ultimately makes a painful personal choice. Jim Whitwell epitomizes workmanlike British gentlemanly acting—though we get a hint of the dirtiness of his profession, and of his sympathy for Stephen and Will, which adds layers to his performance. And young Timothy Hayes is worth watching as Stephen’s favorite optimistic midshipman, with deft comedic timing in the midst of storms and the stalking of a French ship.

 The crown jewel of the supporting cast, of course—and the shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor—is Sir Laurence Taylor, notoriously picky about taking on new projects at this point, but here fully committed to his role as Will’s father, the aging Earl of Stonebrook.

 It’s easy to say that Sir Laurence is a legend, but sometimes we forget what that means. In this role, we remember. He delivers words that cut right through his on-screen son, and by extension the audience; but his anguish and grief are equally genuine: he’s a man who loved and lost his wife, who doesn’t understand his only son and heir, who clings to the need to protect the family name and estate and future, while faced with the dual truths that his son prefers men to women and in any case might die young—of illness, if not from daring the world in Regency spycraft. The Earl is awful and vicious and cruel to Will—but watching Sir Laurence stand at his son’s bedside, or come to the window and silently watch his son depart for London…those moments will make you hurt for him despite yourself, and it’s a virtuoso piece of acting.

 Speaking of brilliant pieces of acting, let’s talk about that biggest (and I don’t mean just the physique, though that can’t be missed) surprise of the film: Jason Mirelli.

 First, a confession: I, like quite a few people, felt some skepticism about this casting choice. That’s not to insult action films as such, and Jason Mirelli’s been a consistently reliable action-hero lead. But it’s a very different genre, and Jason’s previous filmography hasn’t, let’s say, exactly indicated much dramatic range. (Having said that, I’ll admit to unironically loving Saint Nick Steel. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Is it hilarious absurd so-bad-it’s-amazing fun? Also yes. Does it have Jason Mirelli in an artistically torn shirt chasing terrorists through a shopping mall while protecting small children and wearing a hat that makes him the reincarnated spirit of Christmas? Hell yes it does. We watch it every year.)

 If you, like me, were on the fence but willing to be convinced…

 I’ll say it right now: Jason Mirelli should be on that Academy Award ballot alongside Colby Kent.

 He’s the other half of the heart of this film, and the second he steps down from that carriage in the opening shot, he’s commanding the narrative. He’s captured the physicality of a wartime ship’s captain, but more than that, he’s captured the layers of character. Every motion of those shoulders, those eyes, that jawline, all means something—as do the moments when he chooses not to move and be still. Take the moment when he looks at Will in the morning-after scene, which is just a look and a few beats on camera, but Jason’s able to convey Stephen’s love, and wistful frustration over their different social classes, and genuine affection, and fear about Will’s illness, and surprised joy at having someone to wake up next to. It’s a hell of a role—romance, war, leadership on a ship’s deck, the shock when Will falls gravely ill, the emotion of the ending, which I won’t spoil here—and Jason’s a revelation. He’ll have his pick of roles after this, and he’ll deserve the Oscar nod, though it’s unlikely he’ll win—the Academy likes to reward previous nominees and is notoriously skeptical of popcorn-flick pedigrees, and Jason might need to prove himself once or twice more. But he shouldn’t have to. This is enough, and it’s fantastic to watch.

 Part of that epic transformation should be credited to Jillian Poe’s direction. With Steadfast, Poe demonstrates her skill as a director and her ability to handle multiple genres—she started out, you might remember, with lighter romantic-comedy fare, often also with Colby Kent—and her ability to get quality performances from her actors, every single one, every single time. I also wouldn’t be surprised at her picking up a directorial award or two; it’s an ambitious project, and also a labor of love, which shines through in each frame.

 The costuming and sets are as plush and attentive to detail as you would expect from an Oscar-bait period piece that’s a Jillian Poe production—that reputation for perfection’s deserved. The score is, if not anything out of the ordinary for a Regency setting, handled with delicacy and love—the music plays into the mood of each scene unobtrusively and expertly.

 Fans of the novel might have some minor critiques involving the looseness of the adaptation, in particular the ending, which—let me offer a minor spoiler warning, no detail, but stop reading if you want to know nothing at all—adds a final sequence that provides a happy ending for Stephen and Will. Is it book-accurate? No. But I called Steadfast a brave film earlier in this review, and this ending is an act of courage: imagining a happy ending for gay men in history, demanding that their love story end well and with joy. (And Colby Kent personally met with the novel’s famously reclusive author, so for all you purists, this change was made with permission.)

 Those stories matter. Steadfast as a film matters. Go see it. Fall in love.

[yabbyabb]

@nocturymiszczu Ahh your right, they aren't worth it! It just makes me so mad when people are rude (especially to my coworkers) for stupid/no reason at all >:(( and of all things? Over some off brand glue??? Really??? But //hugs thank you!!! QwQ♥️♥️♥️

[hatchanddixie]

@nocturymiszczu from this !!!!

SOMUCHSUGARSOMUCHSUGARSOMUCHSUGAR !!!!!!!!!!! Dixie will be set on sweets for WEEKS thank you so much !!!!!!! <333333

[chibikinesis]

purple, cinnamon, mauve and I'd like to add ruby - your jack x edward fluff always makes me go "awww" ^^

This message made me go “awww” ♥ I’m so glad, you like my stuff though ;u; Thank you! 

[luninosity]

turtletotem said:                                                                                                                            Also Colby is younger than me and that makes me feel weird                           

turtletotem said:                                                                                                                            Omg someone else remembers that song                            

~

I absolutely remember that song! That song was everywhere during my first summer trip to the UK! SO CATCHY.

Colby is younger than me too. Which I didn’t fully process until I was working out their ages/dates. I’d offhandedly said “oh yeah he’s thirty, almost thirty-one” in, like, the very first chapter, which seemed like a reasonable age, like, thirties, sure...and then I had to think about it, and oh god that means he was like ten years old in 1999. I am OLD.

Jason - who is nearly forty, and born in 1981 - often forgets that Colby’s that much younger. Most people do. Colby tends to seem older - not just because of trauma and recovery and maturity, but because of the whole having lived in multiple other countries in upper-class circles, and preferring museums to nightclubs, and knowing how to do things like calligraphy and paper-marbling and the waltz, and not being on any social media really.

And then Colby, especially once feeling more comfortable and bubbly, will randomly start singing B*Witched or Spice Girls songs while waking Jason up in the morning, or while baking lemon tarts, in the kitchen. Or he’ll start a sentence with, “...when I was, oh, maybe eleven, I think that would’ve been in the spring of 2000, when we were living in Paris...” and part of Jason’s brain just. Short-circuits for a second. Flailing noises. What. No. Nooooo.

[luninosity]

For @thebestpersonherelovesbucky and @nocturymiszczu and @esaael -

I’ve just realized that, if Colby’s almost 31 and Jason’s 38, then Colby was born in 1989 and Jason in 1981, and now I am one hundred percent picturing young!them in nineties and eighties fashions and I cannot even

young!Jason was a giant (literal and metaphorical) nerd, a D&D player, a fantasy reader, etc, but also a Cool Nerd because his family worked in Hollywood and he knew about cars and motorcycles and he learned about stunts and fighting and martial arts at a very young age. I imagine he was one of those kids who just kind of got along with everybody, the jocks and the cool kids and the geeks, in a laid-back go-with-the-flow way, though he also kind of secretly wished he could talk to more people about that really cool epic fantasy novel he just read, and he was kind of figuring out that he might be into boys too but he didn’t want to say anything and mess up bro-friendships...

young!Colby was also a giant nerd, but very lonely, very wealthy, generally the new kid in a few different foreign European countries (and with a very American politician father, which could make things complicated), and not exactly shy but very reserved: very aware that mostly he wasn’t especially wanted, not least by his parents, and very aware that interruptions or exuberance wouldn’t be welcomed. He totally would’ve had unicorn and rainbow stickers and glitter pens and the shiny Lisa Frank everything (his parents wouldn’t remember to buy him anything but he had a credit card from a very young age and would buy himself school supplies and also things that made him smile but only under a strict and self-imposed amount of money: Being Good) and he would do his homework the second he got home, very neatly, and then quietly sit up in his room and teach himself calligraphy or paper-marbling techniques or Morse code (he just thought it was neat), or read a fantasy or romance novel, something in which the main characters ended up loved.

[luninosity]

Would you all like a tiny preview of the next Character Bleed chapter? @thebestpersonherelovesbucky @esaael @nocturymiszczu @turtletotem anyone else?

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“I want you to listen, okay? I mean this. Everything I should’ve said. I think you’re a genius.”

 Colby didn’t say anything; Jason drew a breath and kept forging ahead.

 “I mean, like…you’re an actual genius. You’re an amazing writer.” He leaned down, trying to catch Colby’s eye. Colby wasn’t quite looking back. The chest-cavern where Jason’s heart had broken ached even more. He’d done that. “Seriously. I don’t even know what to say. I’m fucking in awe of you. Your words.”

 “It’s only tidying up…”

 “It’s not. You make scripts work.”

 “It’s only—”

 “I told you once,” Jason said, extremely gently, venturing onto this brittle ice because he loved Colby and Colby shouldn’t be facing the treacherous path back to solid ground and self-worth alone, “not to insult yourself, didn’t I?”

 “But that’s hardly the…” Colby paused. “You think it is. The same.”

 “I think you’re brilliant and I think you don’t give yourself enough credit.” He bent, kissed Colby’s shoulder, sketched a heart in lotion in the same spot. The heart came out lopsided. That was fine; it gleamed cheerfully despite that. “You love stories. You know when a story’s good, right?”

 “Ah…I hope so?”

 “And you trust your own writing. Your screenplays’ve been nominated for awards. Jill’s friends send scripts to you—I know they don’t know it’s you, you said, I remember—because they want your help. They wouldn’t do that if you weren’t good. And you were excited about fixing up our scenes. You like your writing.”

 “I…suppose I do, yes.”

 “So don’t tell me it’s not significant. Not when it is. Not when it makes you happy.”

 Colby went quiet for a handful for seconds. Jason crossed fingers—figuratively, but also literally, fleetingly, where those blue eyes couldn’t see—and got back to the massage.

[luninosity]

Since it is WIP Wednesday and all...

...have some Jason and Colby? I’ll tag some people, like @esaael and @chalenmimi-frenchtoast and @nocturymiszczu and @thebestpersonherelovesbucky (even though I think I am in trouble for being evil)...

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Falling off a cliff, Colby concluded, caused far too many difficulties. Ought to be avoided. Not generally practiced.

 He listened to the world for a moment, eyes shut. Hospital equipment murmured, a susurration and an unavoidable reminder of their location. The storm rustled and rumbled. He wanted to see it; he wanted to taste the rain, to touch the water, to at least look out the window at the ripples and swirls of light and liquid. Some well-meaning person had closed the blinds.

 The doctor had been and gone again, explaining more, telling him they’d keep him overnight for observation and likely send him home tomorrow, prescribing bed rest for another day or two and then light exertion, slowly building back up. The man had also asked earnestly whether there was anything the staff could do, apologizing for being only a local village hospital and nothing newer and more polished, but vowing that they’d take excellent care of him, and anything he could want, anything that might make Colby Kent happy, they could certainly handle that, yes indeed…

 Colby’d smiled, thanked him and the staff, promised to ring a nurse for any wants or desires—he wouldn’t, of course; the thought of causing more work made his head ache—and did not wince at the hearty gush of enthusiasm and adulation in reply. The doctor’d left; Jason had stroked Colby’s hair and gently teased him about fame and not having mentioned just how big a deal he and his family were. Colby’d known Jason meant it kindly, being amused by and grateful for the assiduous care. He’d dredged up a smile, though it took effort. He could only imagine the follow-up media stories, and his mother’s reaction.

 Physically he wasn’t hurting much—the painkillers were doing a splendid job—but the threat of pain lurked, a pointed fin just under the surface. Oddly, he felt mostly tired: drained and battered and beaten and hollowed out. He’d held himself together through all the touches and pokes and prods with unfamiliar clinical hands, not wanting anyone to fret. He knew it could’ve been worse; he knew it hadn’t been worse. He’d be all right.

 He could’ve wept with the enormity of it all. He had, a bit, before Jason’d finally come in and brought the anchor of those deep brown eyes and firm broad shoulders.

 Jason currently held his hand as if warding off a cataclysm with the gesture. That California voice splintered apart over grief and relief. “Colby? Do you need—do you just want to sleep? Or—I mean, you’d tell me if you weren’t feeling okay—”

 Colby promptly opened both eyes. Squeezed that big hand, as much as he could. “Only rather worn out. Engaging in battle with rock monsters’ll do that, it seems. I’m here, I’m fine, I’m not even in pain.”

[yabbyabb]

@nocturymiszczu Ahh your right, they aren't worth it! It just makes me so mad when people are rude (especially to my coworkers) for stupid/no reason at all >:(( and of all things? Over some off brand glue??? Really??? But //hugs thank you!!! QwQ♥️♥️♥️

[yabbyabb]

a quick lil pokeme uvu

[yabbyabb]

nocturymiszczu replied to your post : yzghuldar replied to your post :one of the hardest...

Azumarill is water/fairy if it helps :D As for myself, I’m thinking Scizor, ‘cause bugs are cool~~

AZUMARILL!!! i didnt even think about that one !!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh HHH !!! thank you!!! ;w;  OH MAN scizor is so cool, thats awesome !!!! Bug type is deff underrated, i have a soft spot for venonat uvu