#shes the sean bean of action

[trash-but-trying]

I think the funniest part of the resident evil movies is that they kill Michelle Rodriguez. And then they bring her back. To kill again. Amazing

[lukolathoughts]

The crazy woman in the attic

She glides silently across the deck, a pale spectre draped in a flowing white gown that flutters in a breeze no one feels. Her bare feet make no sound on the worn wooden planks, and her greasy, oil slicked hair streams behind her like seaweed caught in the gloomy moonlight. The ship groans softly beneath her, as if remembering something lost.

Her face is turned slightly downward, eyes shadowed yet distant, fixed on a point far beyond the ship’s railing—as though watching a horizon that no longer exists. A dark shadow clings to her, faint and unearthly, casting a melancholy sheen over the deck and leaving a trail of cold in her wake.

Sometimes, she pauses by the helm, resting a translucent hand on the wheel. Other times, she lingers by the lifeboats, lips moving in a silent litany. Always alone. Always searching.

The fog thickens when she appears, muffling the world into stillness, and though the sea may churn and the stars may shift, she walks on—eternally adrift in the ghost-light hours, a memory carved into the bones of the ship.

One of my favourite fiction novels is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I love this gothic tale of female empowerment, secrets, romance and mystery. I studied it for A Level English Literature in Sixth form college back in the day and I have loved it ever since. I think this is because in my early teens I read novels by English author Catherine Cookson. These were romance novels set in the 19th century North-east of England and involved the upper and lower classes living in the manor estates or the slums of Newcastle respectively. These books were later turned into ITV dramas, for example, Sean Bean from Game of Thrones fame appeared in the Gambling Man in 1995. Many British actors got their big breaks appearing in Catherine Cookson dramas. My favourite one is The Glass Virgin that starred Emily Mortimer and Brendan Coyle. Mortimers character Annabella finds out she is the bastard daughter of a prostitute after being raised as a lady all her whole life. She is forced to leave the manor house with dashing groom Manuel (Coyle) by her side and work on a farm. The two eventually fall in love and Annabella reckons with her past. I especially like this one as it gives a romanticized notion that a big, strong, man will sweep in to save you. At thirteen, I found that idea appealing. Alas, dear reader I was too young yet to have discovered feminism.

Enter Jane Eyre, or 'plain Jane' her cruel cousins and aunt called her. Part of my A Level study was analysing whether Jane was plain, or she believed it due to being called plain her entire life. This is the kind of bullying I find abhorrent to this day. Jane eventually grows up after much maltreatment and a tough stint at a school for orphans, she takes a position at Thornfield Hall. She there meets the charming Edward Rochester. Here's me squealing in my tracks! Aha, a love story! How wonderful. This I can get on board with. Oh, it will be like the Sound of Music - minus the Nazi's. Rochester and Jane will go skipping off into the sunset singing Climb Every Mountain.

Our survey says - loud buzzer! Negative. Spoiler alert, there is something more sinister lurking above Jane every night. The floorboards creak with increasing intensity and Jane spots things from the corner of her eye. Edward reassures her she is imagining things and Thornfield is not haunted. Gaslighting 101 from our male lead. I still do not know what is going, but Jane is freaked out, and so am I. Why can’t Rochester be honest to Jane about what is really going on with his wife? Why all the lies and secrecy that literally ends up with Rochester losing his sight. There are consequences to your actions, Rochester.

Onto Eloise's instalment of the Bridgeton books 'To Sir Phillip, With Love." I love this book as I find book Eloise quirky and funny and Sir Phillip dark and mysterious enough to be unbelievingly sexy. I am going to spoil to fifth book here briefly, and by proxy the show. Let us talk about Marina. Oh, Marina. We last saw the universally loathed character of TV show Marina 'happily' wed to her dead lover's brother Phillip, after Colin makes a visit to Romney Hall to settle his 'unfinished business'. Marina is suffering from what I suspect is post-natal depression, possibly post-natal psychosis and the fact she does not love Phillip. Colin is too absorbed in himself to really understand the nuance of what is going on here and only really hears the word 'Penelope' that makes his head whip around like someone offered him a million pounds. The Nile is a river in Egypt, Mr Bridgerton (cough, Newton). In the books (spoiler) some years after the birth of her twins and the death of her love George, Marina dons a red dress and walks through the ghostly, morning mist and wanders directly into the estate’s lake. Sir Philip rescues her, but it is too late. She dies from fever a few days later.

Marina is dead and I'm assuming the producers of Bridgerton will go down this route in the show as the actress Ruby Barker has her own well documented mental health struggles as well as criticism of Shondland and does not want to be involved in the series. But the spectre of her will always be there, won't she? Eloise has no idea what she is walking into in the aftermath at Romney Hall with 'the ghost' of Marina floating about, emotionally at the very least. Colin and Penelope still have some unresolved issues when it comes to their relationship on the show and how Lady Whistledown saved Colin's ass from the fate of being married to a pregnant woman who tried to trap him into a loveless marriage. I'm sure some of this will be addressed shortly within the show, because frankly Colin should be kissing the ground Pen walks on and I'm sure she does occasionally make him do that.

I find that with Luke and Nicola, art literally imitates life. You can't make it up sometimes. Whether you think of Antonia as Marina - the ghost that wanders around the manor driving an invisible emotional wedge between them. Or Mrs Rochester, the crazy, vengeful woman in the attic who burns down the house. Or Cressida, the blackmailer, who wants money and infamy in exchange for silence. There are many possibilities to choose from. Even as I type this, Antonia is up to some shizz on social media, and I am determined to find out what is going on.

There has been a curious timeline of events since January 30th when Luke appeared out of the blue with Antonia after not being seen with her since July 2024 in Sorrento, where he left alone and two days before the holiday was meant to end. I still remember the shock of that night and thinking what the hell. We have examined Luke’s behaviour, demeanour and aura that night until the cows come home, and I do not intend to rehash old blog posts, however the whole thing really felt like an orchestrated PR set up pushed specifically by Antonia’s team (her parents) and a situation Luke was forced into. His ‘let’s get this done’ comment was a statement sniggered at by Lukola’s all over the world.  As well as witnessing Luke hand swatting Antonia’s hand away as they walked into the event.

Prior to this event, on 20th January 2025, Nicola and Jake papped photographs were released on the ‘carrot walk’ stroll. All of us Lukola’s laughed hysterically about that at the time. It staged and Nicola and Jake thought it was funny too. But what if this was a calculated strike by Luke and Nicola’s PR teams to take some heat of the impending shit show that was coming up with Luke and Antonia ten days later. I think that failed as everyone and their mother was shocked and horrified to see a angry Luke drag out a terrified and stricken looking Antonia. I always thought Antonia would smirk and gloat and relish to be seen with Luke again. Her behaviour seemed so anxious and peculiar; it almost seems as if she was forced into the appearance herself. I will return to this point shortly.

One month later 18th February Luke was solo papped in Kensington in London taken by papazzi photographer Josh Mawr, incidentally the same pap who took the carrot stroll pics of Nicola and Jake. The photos were shared by Deux Moi.  The fandom breathed a sigh of relief, he was alone. He was also alone at the Valentine’s Day event the week before. But he had not been without Antonia at the BAFTA after Party on Sunday 16th February. There was lots of speculation again about Luke’s ambivalent behaviour towards Antonia at this event also. Luke made a point of sharing to his SM that he left the event alone but got into a pasta bed and watched Love Island. Unfortunately, the fandom associate pasta with Antonia. I think we have pasta PTSD. But we also associate Love Island with Nicola, and her love for reality TV. What message was Luke trying to convey here?

Then we had the glory of the SAGS. The whole world was captivated by Luke and Nic and I honestly think after the event, Nicola panicked and went into her default setting of oh shit. We got some suspicious sightings of Antonia suddenly in the LA hotel that appeared to be old and the ‘buddy’ narrative from Nicola. Then Nicola follows Antonia on Instagram. The earth shook. This can’t be right, right? It’s a joke? Antonia eagerly follows her back. I don’t like to pit women against each other, but to me these screams keep you friends close, but your frenemies closer. Also, PR/contract obligation. Antonia gains some new followers, not many and seems to have a bit of actual work going on around the time.

Here comes the big kicker. On 18th March, Luke and Antonia are papped running errands. Antonia looks like she just rolled out of bed and Luke looks like he needs to take something for constipation. He’s also seen picking his nose and looking like rather be anywhere else in the world. Who was the paparazzi I hear you ask? None other than Josh Mawr. Third time lucky, eh Josh? These paparazzi pictures did Luke and Antonia no favours. But as someone just pointed out to me, patterns be patterning. Most appearances from the adjacents or paparazzi shots seem to be around the middle of the month.

A few days later on 21st March, Luke is spotted at his friend Young Blud’s Concert. A fan releases a photo of a furious looking Luke, with Antonia seemingly walking towards him. I have heard from sources a few things about what happened that night, but I cannot share those here. I can confirm that Antonia left the event after Young Blud’s set of four songs and Luke did not. It is interesting to note that the next day, Nicola was seen in the same area of Kensington where Luke was solo papped having a photo with a fan in a juice bar four minutes away from where Luke was papped.

Fast forward to this weekend, yes that right Saturday 19th April and we get a photo of Luke posing in Cyprus with the owner of the restaurant of where Antonia’s father is a chef. There is a lot of speculation about what might be going on here and analysing Luke’s face and clothes etc. Whether recent or not, Antonia is still NOT in the photo. She is still not allowed to post him. She is back to her old tricks of implying she is with him. Yesterday, she posted a selfie with a friend at the same restaurant where Luke was photographed on Saturday. Luke’s photo was shared by the restaurant, and he was tagged in it, as well as Bridgerton UK. How odd that the restaurant where Antonia’s father works at shares a publicity photo of Luke and tags Bridgerton as well? Not suspicious at all. Luke does not accept the tag. Then Antonia goes on a posting spree of random shit. But still no Lukey. How pathetic after over a year, you can’t publicly post your ‘boyfriend’. You push Luke and he pushes back harder. I do not think Luke’s PR team was involved with this as the post is still up and the comments towards Luke are not favourable. It’s all messy and weird and becoming an increasing headache. I also think Antonia’s parents have huge involvement here. They have gotten their pound of flesh out of Luke and for Luke’s sake, I sincerely hope he’s run for the hills and back to the cliffs of Dover.

Whenever I write a blog post, shit tends to hit the fan. I might very well be tempting fate here. There is a pre-Bafta party tonight in London that Luke and Nicola are expected to attend. I am bracing myself for what we will see. I hope it is another SAGS love fest and we will all be rejoicing, as Nic and Luke deserve it. Dragging along adjacents would be a stupid thing to do. I have been criticised again for insisting so strongly that Jake is gay. It is my opinion, but I am simply warning the Jakola’s because the press is coming up for What it feels like for a girl and it is already known to be an all queer cast. I have noted with some wry amusement, whereas previously the Jakolas insisted Jake was straight, now they are saying he is bisexual, and they are holding onto this for dear life. He could be, I do not know Jake. But from looking at his Instagram, I just don’t think he is. But I do agree, it is for Jake to tell us his truth and I’m sure that he will in the next few weeks.

My question is why is Luke so obsessed with keeping his Mrs Rochester a secret? What is Luke hiding in the attic? What is worth all this trouble? Is he protecting his Jane Eyre? We have seen Luke happy and this isn’t it. Granted it is only snapshots in time, but those snaps tell a story.

‘The night - its silence - its rest, was rent in twain by a savage, a sharp, a Shirley sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield Hall.'" Description of Bertha, Jane Eyre.

PS. I did not call into work sick the other day because someone made a nasty comment on YT btw, I was upset going to work and had to calm myself down before going in. I am only human.

PPS. I can see that Jake is getting ready for an event now. I can feel a headache coming already.

[verdemoun]

What subjects do you think the vdlg was good at in school?

quick high school au. grimshaw, hosea, dutch, pearson, swanson, uncle, molly and strauss are all teachers. rest of the gang is de-aged to teens.

arthur: art. he is the definition of the quiet kid the teachers let sit in the art classroom during lunch despite rules because he all he wanted was the peace and quiet to draw

john: pe. not just the actual physical activity side of it but really good at the health and human development, understanding of physiology side of it. could've been an all-star if he hadn't had an injury in middle school

javier: languages and music. unsurprisingly his brain is just pre-disposed to the particular process of learning third/fourth/fifth languages after moving to america as a very smol bean and having to learn english. still argues sheet music is easier to read than shakespeare. english is his least favorite language.

bill: chemistry. admittedly he can't explain how he's good at it and will forget a formula the second he learns it but on the practical side of things will outperform the teacher on experiments.

micah: home economics/FCS. which he will never admit to liking. but a bit of privacy and encouragement from his fav teacher and he can patch clothes, and cook like he's been doing it since was seven years old (because his father's an alcoholic and his mother died so he had to take over domestic duties to look after his little brother)

charles: vocational. woodwork, metalwork, outdoor ed, anything he can do with his hands without being in a classroom.

sean: history is the only class he pays attention in. except he's usually correcting the teacher because 'but my da said' and then going on with a mostly fantastical story about revolution and victory for the working class.

lenny: legal studies. he wishes it wasn't how his brain worked, but it's really intuitive to him even without his father's pressure to excel. he can't help he's got that belief that in righteousness and social justice. presentation on a class action? lenny and sean dream team going to make you think you're in court.

sadie: automotive! at least when she bothers to show up. she skips school more than sean does, usually to hang out with her bf jake and give him a heart attack as he plays backpack on their motorbike.

karen: english but only persuasive writing. captain of the debate team. her and lenny get into a fight it's the presidential debate. sean is increasingly aware he might just have a thing for being yelled at.

tilly: maths, specifically financial maths. but she's an all-rounder who knows she can go into absolutely any field she wants because she's just designed to learn. despite all warnings not to, she decides to go into teaching.

mary-beth: also maths. obviously she loves english but she is a maths prodigy effortlessly doing work several grades ahead of her actual level. when she eventually decides to pursue creative writing she has to put up with everyone who knows her telling her she wasted her potential. no i'm not projecting.

abigail: drama. she's hosea's little prodigy, lead for every play and landing some minor acting jobs while still in school. she's going to end up getting pregnant at prom and spend the next 5 years putting up with john's bs before he decides to grow up.

trelawney: it! he's amazing with computers, stopped attending school for two years at only to reappear at graduation with his wife in a fancy car. he was definitely running scams and apparently already owns his first house and is talking about getting a bigger one for when their first born arrives. he's 19.

kieran: english. yes, he couldn't read until senior school because it took that long for the teachers to realise he is hella dyslexic. but he's getting a lot better at it and it's still his best subject because he's just terrible at everything else.

[anarchic-miscellany]

Terrible Screenplay Ideas: "Heavy is the Crown: A Benoit Blanc Mystery" Partly through their road trip to purchase a rare 1st edition book from a seller across the country, Benoit Blanc and his husband Philip are cursed with a breakdown in their car. As they wait for it to be repaired (and Blanc tells the seller what happened) they find themselves in the normally quaint and small town of Aquinas: now home to its annual enormous LARP "Knights and Knaves", where players from across the world come to live as kings, queens, nobles, peasants and knights in a game of deceit and merriment! Every hotel is booked out, but Benoit and Philip manage to get a room with local boy Warren (Adam Scott), who is actually one of the Games Masters for the LARP, in what will be his final year running this. Philip finds the whole affair delightful, Blanc is more perplexed, and Warren invites them to come along to see the game in action. Blanc plays the court jester "Jingle Bottom" and annoys Warren by figuring out all of his plots when he reads the notebook and simply not understanding "it's MAGIC!", forcing him to concoct better ones, whilst Philip finds himself swept up in the entire affair, Lords and Ladies alike swooning over him. Warren turns up dead in the woods, slain by an errant blade to the chest. Local Sheriff Coburn (Margot Martindale) is quick to write it off as an accident: a case of why one should never play with fake blades. But Blanc is obsessed: he knows that Warren was careful with his blades in the short time he met him, having preferred "magic" in combat, besides which as a Gamesmaster he would never be allowed to participate in combat. Besides, Philip really wants to see how the court would deal with the encroaching threat of the Lord of Darkness... So a murder investigation ensues!

They must navigate both the politics of the fantasy court (all in upheaval after King Winterbloom spurned the alliance with Lady Davenport, before a war with the Lord of Darkness no less!) and the private real lives of the players involved, to find out who killed Warren and why... Plus he really wants to get his car finished so he and Philip can collect that book... Suspects include! 1. King Darius Winterbloom, A.K.A "Clive Bennett" (Sean Bean), by day a labourer who came here to support his step daughter years ago until she passed away from leukemia and he kept going. In game he is the pragmatic and harsh ruler of these kingdoms, holding them together by any means necessary, and feeling his rule slipping... He actually would rather just chill out with a beer and go fishing, but Warren had warped the game and made it a shadow of what it was, defiling his step daughter's memory and why he played to begin...

2. Lady Davenport, A.K.A Claudia Perriwinkle (Jenny Slate) is the leader of the elves, and recently found herself humiliated in front of the court. Warren had been uncercutting her in game and is also her ex, having humiliated her in front of everybody, but she insists she had moved on from him. Outside of the game she is a supposed "tough alt girl" who hides it from her friends and crew.

3. Jeremy Mallard (John Magaro) is formerly a great and noble knight in the game, brought low by Warren's games and trickery, and who used to be best friends when he played D&D with him. The guy's having a terrible life in and out of game: his girlfriend left him and his character has become a joke, a bum and a drunk, and with Benoit here he can't even be the jester anymore.

4. Estella the Dark Elf (Stephanie Hsu) is one of Warren's exes, and they broke up in an exceedingly ugly manner. A popular player, she has now gone rogue and seeks to prove that she is great and charismatic even without a games master as a boyfriend, and she holds sway over many new and younger players, making her own fun.

5. Lord and Lady Sebastian and Sylvia Diamondfern (Randall Park and Ali Wong) are the loyal, diplomatic heads of the court and those who are the trusted council of King Winterbloom despite differing views, and the stable political forces who keep this place going. Unfortunately in real life, Duncan and Janet are having marital problems and bickering all of the time, having to keep up this act, and are thinking of getting out of the game altogether, but for the players who rely on them. Their bickering is starting to slide into the game too... They were (in character) among the last to see him alive, and Warren had been pestering them a lot in their normal jobs about the game, and knew them both from university. He was starting to get annoying, and they did both share secrets with him...

6. Melinda the Dreaded (Myha'la) is a fellow Games Master named Denise, who idolised Warren and was happy to be here, but all of her ideas were stolen by the man, who was soon to publish his new book based on all of her work. She was also the real brains behind the game.

Other suspects come into the fray, but Blanc must not only solve the mystery but keep the whole thing from bubbling over into the real world as the game tries to limp on to its epic conclusion...

[ceoofhelaegon]

In HOTD the “prequel” episodes should’ve been confined to 3 instead of 5 and those 2 episodes should’ve been spent with the green kids, specifically Aegon (older Aegon).

He’s our 2nd main character and we know NOTHING about him going into S2 and the main action other then he’s a r***st and a pos.

All his canon character traits like going to flea bottom, alcoholism, whoring, being a sex addict and a libertine, being depressed over his inheritance etc are all either just implied, hinted to or viewers heard from the books or actor interviews. For most of us it’s the books. If you only watched the show you know nada.

On the other hand we spent SO MUCH TIME with Daemon. We saw what he casually gets up to, kinda a view his daily life, we got to know him in what I even think was too much screen time. He’s an important character but not a main character so the most time should’ve been spent on rhaenyra (5+ episodes of focus) and Aegon (10 minutes max of screen time and in 90% of that we just see him and don’t get to know him at all or it’s already the main action)

We also spent so much time with Leanor who hardly has any significance in the Dance or later events.

We spent so much time on the Stepstones debacle even tho it has little to no contribution to the main plot other then one mention of the triarchy during the dance. The stepstones plot was done imo as a way to flesh out Daemon’s character and Daemon and viserys’s relationship.

But am I wrong when I say “was that really that important and crucial to take up 5 episodes?”

Look how unfair and unbalanced the info we have on rhaenyra vs Aegon is. We see rhaenyra grow up, we see an hour long well rounded view into her life, hardships, conflicts, friendships, etc that shape her into who she will be as a character and her behavior in the later action. By the time we see her in episode 8 and the real action begins she’s a character we’re already familiar with.

Instead we could’ve gotten a good 2 episodes looking into the daily lives of the green kids at the Keep. We could’ve seen Aegon in flea bottom, wandering drunk around the keep, being dragged out of brothels, partying, sneaking out at night, creeping around serving girls in a book canon way, slacking off training and lessons, bonding with or riding Sunfyre, his relationship with his siblings and family outside of only showing us the conflict parts

The whole thing with Daemon stems from “famous actor syndrome” meaning that if an actor less well known than Matt Smith was playing Daemon we wouldn’t be spending as much time with him.

GOT had Sean Bean, I was looking into the promo for GOT season 1 and it was only Sean Bean. GOT firstly attracted viewers because of him.

Kit Harrington and Sophie Turner talked about how all of the actors had to learn Sean Bean’s northern accent because Sean Bean couldn’t do RP.

I think the same could be applied to Matt Smith, without a shadow of a doubt he is the most famous actor in HoTD, and neither him or his fans would like to have him in the sidelines.

In regards to Rhaenyra, regardless of my feelings of the character, making her the protagonist was a mistake. She doesn’t survive the whole Dance, and her death occurs way too late to be like Ned Stark dying in season 1, so we would shift focus to other characters.

Alicent survives the whole Dance, her character is one of the most important to be build up for it. Cregan doesn’t do anything to her to avoid another war breaking out.

Targaryens are supposed to be otherworldly, if we got them through an outsider’s perspective it would make much more sense. Alicent seeing Rhaenyra flying on her dragon and seeing how insane this was, and how Rhaenyra saying that Alicent should ride with her would be a great set up.

Seeing how Targaryens only care about their own, no matter what they say is also a good way of seeing it through Alicent’s eyes.

Aegon, well…he should’ve been the focus of the narrative as soon as Rhaenyra leaves for Dragonstone. How does he feel about Rhaenyra? How does he feel about the fact that he was disinherited for no good reason? Those are the questions the show should be answering.

They have the skeleton of a story, finish the building, don’t knock it down and start from scratch because it never works.

[atopvisenyashill]

What other projects have you watched with got and hotd actors and how do you like their performance outside of got/hotd?

I’ve watched probably….most of Matt Smith’s filmography on account of watching Doctor Who in high school and falling in love with him. I think he’s incredibly talented and charismatic and genuinely perfect casting as Daemon. I had also seen Paddy Considine in that movie Pride altho I didn’t recognize him as Viserys lmao but i adore that movie, you should watch if you haven’t seen it, it’s about the Lesbians And Gays Support The Miners movement and I definitely cried watching it aksjdjd. I also watched all of bates motel as it was airing which olivia is in (and also the sound of metal, which she and riz ahmed are amazing in, and also riz steven and chadwick were robbed that year smh). olivia and matt are actually The Reason i started hotd lol i didn’t intend to watch it but then i was like oh…..but……….i love them aksjsjs.

I have technically seen Rhys in several things but he’s Fine. I am still mad about him having zero chemistry with Lucy Liu in Elementary and ruining an entire season by having negative rizz. why am i supposed to believe that man is like some great love of watson’s life when they don’t even look like they like each other. rhys count your fuckijg days. i’ve also seen graham mactavish in a number of things, the first being Outlander and he was like, one of the best antagonist characters in the show, was both excited and devastated when his character died hah he has one of my favorite lines in the show which is “the idea of grinding your corn does tickle me” 💀💀😂😂

For the main show, I had seen Charles Dance in Phantom (he’s really good even tho it’s a more romantic take on the story but that’s fine i still love it!!!), Lena, Peter, & Mark in like Most Of Their Filmographies bc i was already a fan of them, who hasn’t seen at least five Sean Bean deaths, and I’d seen a few Alexander Siddig, Ciaran Hinds, Iain Glenn, & Indira Varma in a bunch of stuff too and loved them - Kingdom of Heaven & Syriana & DS9, Persuasion & The Terror, Resident Evil, Kama Sutra.

I’ve seen Gwendoline, Elyes (he was Rakharo, rip to an icon), Thomas Brodie, Sophie, Maisie, Kit, Richard, Jason (Momoa), Michelle, and Tobias in a bunch of other stuff since I started the show. I think Gwendoline is incredibly talented, as are Sophie and Maisie. Richard imo usually needs a good script to shine - like Rocketman? amazing. Eternals? Meh - and Kit is uh. Sometimes he has good chemistry with other actors. I paid real money to see him in Pompeii and my sibling holds a grudge against me to this day for that one aksjd. Jason Momoa has a tendency to just play different versions of himself but the movie Red Road Redemption is real good, it’s about MMIW & his acting abilities really shine, I’d love to see him in more serious or more romantic roles and less action roles. I cannot praise Tobias Menzies more highly, hes in Outlander, The Terror, and the Crown and he’s just sublime in all of them and you’d never know it by the way they wrote Edmure. OH SHIT also obviously Jacob Artist in IWTV is amazinnnnnnng EGOT INCOMING and Nathalie Emmanuel was REALLY FUN in The Invitation!!!

Probably my favorite of everyone is Peter Dinklage tho, he’s very serious & choosy with his roles bc he doesn’t want to play a stereotype and it’s made his filmography just *muah* like it’s so interesting and varied and he puts his whole heart into every role however goofy or serious it is. i love him, i want him to be the romantic lead in more stuff bc i’m a romantic and also like, a pervert and he’s so handsome aksksk.

Also Ciaran Hinds & Amanda Root Persuasion >>>>>>>>>>> Those Other Two

[arcadianambivalence]

World on Fire Season 2, Episode 1

Well folks, it’s finally back. After the first season aired in Britain in 2019 and in the U.S. in early 2020, the world has been…going through things. Between lockdowns, travel restrictions, scheduling conflicts, and all the behind-the-scenes difficulty related to these things, World on Fire finally returns for season 2, albeit somewhat different from creator Peter Bowker’s original plans released shortly after season 1. While the cast and crew have worked tirelessly to smooth over the gaps of characters whose actors are not returning, their absences are as obvious as the gaping hole in the Bennett home.

And yet, while you can see where new members of the cast are stepping into the footprints of those who are not returning for the season, the first episode of season 2 breathes a fresh sense of urgency and humanity to the plot. More importantly, it brings new opportunities to the remaining characters while raising the stakes.

The first go is the most obvious: Sean Bean. In true Sean Bean fashion, the Bennett father does not make it to season 2, leaving his children (and granddaughter) to maneuver their new daily perils without him. All jokes about our premature relief that he survived last season aside, the reminder that Douglas would have died reliving his worst experiences from the First World War is particularly distressing. 

When his son Tom arrives back in Manchester, having made it out of Occupied France by way of Fascist Spain, he comes home to a crater where the Bennett home once stood. He learns of Douglas’s death from Lois, who is now staying with Connie and baby Vera. The two begin arguing to cover up their grief, just as they frequently did last season. Anger and blame are more familiar companions than remorse.

Also arriving after an offscreen escape from Occupied Poland are Kasia and Harry, emotionally picking up where we left them last season. Still the romantic, Harry wants to reunite Kasia with her brothers and give her a place to stay at Robina’s. Although he will have to leave soon to a posting in Egypt, he wants to ensure Kasia’s safety (and love) before being separated once again. 

Meanwhile, Kasia is showing signs of Complex PTSD after nearly a year of one traumatic event after another. Between her mother being murdered by a German soldier, her friend and fellow Resistance fighter Thomasz being arrested and killed, her vengeful and soul-crushing routine of luring German soldiers to their deaths, and her own near-brushes with death are taking their toll. 

When introduced to any established character, she reacts with distance and resignation. Her mother-in-law is rude, off putting, and xenophobic? Okay. Her little brother Jan acts more like a young British gentleman than a Polish boy? Sure. Her husband had an affair with a local girl who has given birth to a baby? That’s a thing that happened. But one thing she cannot resign herself to is the blatant hatred some of the local Brits have for “The Other.” Meeting Grzegorz and Jan in a teashop, Kasia gets into a scuffle with a local man after he makes several xenophobic comments towards the siblings. The potential legal action, Kasia’s nightmares, attempts to speak Polish with Jan, and mere existence has bristled Robina’s feathers. It seems Robina has suffered a backslide in the months between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2.

Speaking of backslides, Lois is also not doing well. Not only has she lost her father during an air raid, but her pilot fiance has perished as well. While Connie tries to get Lois to talk about it during their work in the ARP, as an air warden and ambulance driver respectively, Lois has returned to her knee-jerk reaction: deflect, say something sharp, and engage in risky behavior. This time, she puts more than her own health at risk, though. As an ambulance driver, it is her duty to take injured survivors from bomb attacks to a hospital or medical station. While she does this, Lois takes unnecessary risks, driving fast and recklessly through rubble-strewn streets or beside collapsing buildings. Seeing Harry for the first time since her last conversation, where Harry made plans to have Lois inherit some of his money if he were to die parachuting into Poland, Lois is unfortunately still into him, if the sweeping camera zoom on her glowing face is any indication. 

The two secretly meet in a canteen, where Lois urges Harry to make things right with Kasia, something she never could with Douglas. While this would sound like a helpful piece of hard-won wisdom, Lois’s desire to know that Harry will be okay, coupled with the risks taken on the job and the danger of her line of work…sounds like Lois is resigning herself to dying in an air raid. Indeed, when responding to a bombed flat one night, Lois helps the last survivor (a grandfather) out then runs back into the building to grab the man’s prosthetic teeth. Eyes drawn to a massive hole in the burning ceiling and a dogfight in the skies overhead, she steadies herself and lets the house collapse around her.

But this is World on Fire, where she’s one of the main characters (and based off Peter Bowker’s grandmother) so of course she’s going to live!

Less certain, though, are the lives of two new characters, the pilots David and someone with the callsign “Shortbread,” whose name I cannot remember. David is a brash, womanizing, and jovial pilot taking the place of Randy or Vernon with such confidence and presence, you’d think he’d been here all along. Grzegorz, working as a crew member at the local base (not sure what his specific job is yet), is a friend. While I’d love to see a subplot with these two bonding over their shared interests and feelings of being outsiders (with Grzegorz as a refugee and David as a Jewish man surrounded by Gentiles who aren’t so gentle), the preview for season 2 seems to imply a different path for these guys. (A shame, as I want to see Grzegorz happy after all he’s been through! Can’t somebody be happy?)

But having Grzegorz on the air base, representing the significant role that Polish pilots and crew members had on the defense of Britain during the Blitz is what I wanted most for this character, so Bowker, I thank you for this.

. . .

One aspect of history I did not expect this show (or any show) to actually cover is another disturbing aspect of Nazi Germany’s eugenics programs, the Lebensborn program. A new character, Marga, is proud to be chosen for her “duty” to the nation as a young and healthy woman meeting the beauty standards of the day. This means more than pageantry and propaganda, though, she’s already gotten plenty of that in school and as a member of the League of German Girls. No, what it really means (and what everyone else seems to understand but not explicitly tell her) is that she is going to be forced to have a child with a complete stranger who has also been chosen for his apparent health and attractiveness. Or, to quote her concerned teacher, the government will rape this teenaged girl.

Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, this did happen. There were also many children taken from occupied countries and made to live in Germany with German families, and not as an act of kindness for poor abandoned orphan refugees.

So…this is going to be a rough storyline. It makes the flimsy Mancurian love triangle look even more out of place with the tone and content of this show.

(Can you tell I’m not a fan? Can you tell I think Lois and Harry are at their least interesting together? Can you tell I think that a show called World on Fire should focus on bringing together different characters of different backgrounds and different countries?)

. . .

Speaking of bringing together characters from different backgrounds and different countries, there is one more storyline introduced this season that will have plenty of hair-raising action scenes. The North African front, or more specifically, the battlefields along the border of Egypt and Libya. We follow a familiar character, Stan (Harry’s sergeant), and a new one, Rajib, head of a Sapper unit for the British Indian Army. The Sapper unit is responsible for locating, defusing, and removing landmines left by the retreating German army.

Keeping with the show’s focus on overlooked points of view and experiences during the Second World War, the character of Rajib brings the viewer to a world of the unfamiliar and terrifying. From the (green screen) sandstorms to hidden explosives to recognition of the importance of the Commonwealth forces, Rajib is another welcome addition. A brilliant engineer who leads by example and looks at everything as if it may be the last thing he sees (and in this line of work, honestly could be), Rajib and his storyline are a reminder of the unacknowledged risks and sacrifices made to get the Allied forces one step closer to the Axis powers in the North African campaign. 

Even Stan, who let’s remember casually spouted off some racist and ableist language last season, seems moved by the bravery of the Sapper unit and the total lack of protection given to them by their (white) British commanders. Is this a character arc I see before me? I guess we’ll just have to keep watching…

. . .

There are two other conspicuously absent storylines: the American journalist Nancy and the band of French medical workers in Occupied France. While the episode 2 preview promises an answer for questions about one, it's still unclear what will be revealed about the other.

[elshells]

It Blursday!! 🖤💜

WE’RE TAKING THE SQUADDIES TO EISENGARD!

You don’t have to fill all the roles, and they don’t all have to be from the same WIP, but who’s:

the Ring-bearer, entrusted with carrying the One Ring (bonus: funniest instance they use it to nope right out of reality)

the “Sam”, armed with a frying pan and a wizard of potatoes

Sean Bean, who dies in every movie — falls victim to their own hubris

totally crushing on Arwen and has a really cool sword

AND MY AXE

AND MY GLOCK BOW

Merry and Pippin the “package deal”, very concerned about missing second breakfast

the dude with a sick staff and a concerning amount of explosives, may or may not be an actual wizard

— @outpost51

Happy Blursday!! I want you to know that I've been thinking about this question all day XD

So, the Harmont Heroes go to Eisengard! I love this prompt <3

The Ring-bearer, entrusted with carrying the One Ring (bonus: funniest instance they use it to nope right out of reality):

Max kinda takes after Frodo IMO, and I think the others would deem him the most trustworthy. He would take this duty extremely seriously, keeping the ring off his finger at all times—that is, until combat breaks out. It almost becomes a panic response. Anytime he's in danger—BOOM. Invisible. I think it would also be really funny if he just slipped it on anytime he felt like he was third-wheeling too hard on Harley and Jade. Just sliding out unnoticed and without confrontation.

2. The “Sam”, armed with a frying pan and a wizard of potatoes:

Sophia—which might seem like an odd choice until you remember how devoted she is to the people she loves. She will protect them until her last fighting breath.

3. Sean Bean, who dies in every movie — falls victim to their own hubris:

Bellona, stronger than the rest and too proud for her own good. Ultimately, she's her own undoing, which is ironic, since no one else seems able to take her down.

4. Totally crushing on Arwen and has a really cool sword:

Most likely Harley, since there's not much she wouldn't give for a cool sword (Jade is Arwen).

5. AND MY AXE:

Jet, 100%. Way too eager for action, but at least he's got the spirit!

6. AND MY GLOCK BOW:

Janus. Cool, collected, slightly unhinged, and ready to make it everybody else's problem.

7. Merry and Pippin the “package deal”, very concerned about missing second breakfast:

Ahren and August have BIG Merry and Pippin energy. On their own, they're both loyal and semi-competent, but once you put them in a room together, the brain cells cancel each other out.

8. The dude with a sick staff and a concerning amount of explosives, may or may not be an actual wizard:

Evelyn Cho, Max's mother. That woman may have a secret or two up her sleeve.

[tomorrowedblog]

First look at Deep Cover

A new trailer has been released for Deep Cover, which is set to release June 12, 2025.

DEEP COVER is a fast-paced action comedy starring Bryce Dallas Howard as Kat, an improv comedy teacher beginning to question if she’s missed her shot at success. When an undercover cop (Sean Bean) offers her the role of a lifetime, she recruits two of her students (Orlando Bloom and Nick Mohammed) to infiltrate London’s gangland by impersonating dangerous criminals.

[yesterdanereviews]

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Film review #651

Director: Lana Wachowski, Lily Wachowski

SYNOPSIS: Jupiter leads an ordinary life when she is caught up in an interplanetary struggle when it turns out she is the genetic reincarnation of the head of the most powerful business in the galaxy, and inheritor to a vast fortune. Caught up in a battle for the inheritance of her supposed genetic double, Jupiter has to figure out who she can trust as she is kidnapped across the galaxy by those who want her inheritance for themselves.

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Jupiter Ascending is a 2016 sci-film. An ordinary woman discovers that she is the genetic reincarnation of the head of the Galaxy's most powerful empire, and is caught up in the struggle for control of it between three siblings. A simple enough story in theory, but let us set the tone here: it is bad, and borderline incomprehensible. Obviously the film is trying to capture the feeling of the main character being introduced to a galaxy which she has not known anything about, but there has to be some way for the viewer to be able to follow what's happening too. What we get is just Jupiter being passed back and forth across different planets, spaceships and the like, with no real sense of place or establishing where in outer space we are at any given time. The film is constantly interrupted by characters having to explain things to Jupiter, meaning we have to suffer through it as well. The film obviously wants to create an expansive universe, but it really sweats the small details to the point that information overload sets in, and the explanation never applies to anything from that point on. The whole scene with the bees recognising Jupiter in the sense that bees "recognise royalty" was so unbelievably stupid I don't know where to start: they could have just written any other way to show her status, but to do it with bees raises far too many questions: do bees not sting human monarchs as well then? It doesn't matter, because it is never referenced again after it's unceremonious one-time use. The film has some expansive and detailed CG effects, and the action scenes have a certain pacing, but always resolve themselves the same way: with Cain saving Jupiter at the very last second. By the fifth or sixth time it happens it's so predictable the whole fanfare around it is just wasted. Also, Cain has these anti-gravity boots that he constantly uses in his action scenes to fly about, but apparently no one else in the galaxy has access to these things as they are left running about on the ground after him? The Wachowskis bring in their conceptual exploration of transhumanism and discovering who you are as they typically do, but there's no depth to it or interesting exploration; it's just more explaining minutiae that drags the film down into getting stuck on little details that don't matter.

The film is supposed to have this overarching love story between Jupiter (Mila Kunis) and Cain (Channing Tatum), and how Jupiter has never been in love because her Mother taught her never to get close to anyone or something. There's the germ of a narrative here, but it's hampered by another of the film's huge problems: the characters never becomes proper characters. Everybody in the film just feels like they can't settle into their roles, and as such you only recognise the actors just being themselves. These are all fairly competent actors, so they know what they're doing, they just aren't given anything tangible or unique to work with. As such, any chemistry or character development is severely limited. By far the most obscene performance is Eddie Redmayne as the villain Balem Abrasax: he constantly talks in this low whisper which makes him impossible to take seriously. His role is so over-acted that it's distracting from anything his character does. In fact, his character disappears for nearly all the film, so he's not really all that important. The rest of the cast are Sean Bean being Sean Bean (although his character doesn't actually die) and others that barely make a scratch in the film. The crew of the spaceship Aegis have a supporting role, I'm just not sure what it is, due to the constant moving around different planets and locations across space mentioned, it's hard to keep track of just what is going on and what their motivations are.

The film does have some good CG effects and the otherworldly locations are rendered with good detail and a graspable scale. Unfortunately, that is the only positive I can really take from this mess of a film. Jupiter Ascending is a mess of poorly structured plot, ill-defined characters, and bemusing performances that nowhere near fulfil the concepts and narrative themes they are attempting to develop. Every action scene playing out essentially the same even drains the film of any entertainment value. I simply cannot recommend this film in any way.

[bmpmp3]

a couple days ago i rewatched the '06 silent hill for the first time since i was like 12 because as expected of a 12 year old in 2010 i disliked the movie purely for not being like the game BUT also like many of those former 12 year olds i grew up and started reconsidering what i remembered and wondering how unfair i was being. AND i was right i was totally unfair to that movie its actually preddy good!! with some cavaets lol

i particularly adore how they used so much remixed and rearranged game music 1) because thats fun for me as a silent hill game fan obviously BUT ALSO 2) i think more movies should have video game sounding OSTS. i think it sounds really unique and interesting, theme-y rather than purely atmospheric or situationally orchestral

I ALSO did like how the plot changed so much and characters were so different. the sean bean scenes were a little odd and disconnected feeling at times but i did like how that framed the real world and the silent hill world as separate. especially now in a post-silent-hill-ascension world.... we didnt know how good we had it LOL but i digress. the actors were all great, and i loved the very 00's costuming <3 Rose's cellphone neck strap........

lisa in the movie was odd, i guess she was just a bit of a reference for the game fans (which probably backfired kfdsdgfdsd) but it felt a little odd because she looks too distinct to be a random bg character orz but hiiii lisa. lisa i looooove you. hiiiii.

NOW. i say i was unfair to the movie because i disliked it because it was different from the game as a kid. WHICH is true but not the whole truth. i did dislike the mixing of elements from the different games in an adaptation of just the first (especially because the first is my faaavourite game LOL get outta here pyramid head) which is unfair. BUT the biggest thing that actually bugged me was the main character change of Harry to Rose - and I didn't really have the words or critical thinking to know what exactly was bugging me - but I DID know I was REALLY pissed off at an interview with the director about the change: he thought Harry and the rest of the game characters acted more like women than men. ? too emotional, too vulnerable, etc?

WHICH now as an adult who is constantly at threat of essay-ing too hard about gender and protagonists in horror movies vs. horror video games there is a lot i can say. interestingly, video games (especially indie games) have in part moved a tiny bit past the idea that you must play as an action hero man in a horror game (with vulnerable normal guy men and women, and even the occasional action hero-ish woman!) while horror movies (at least in north america) are still pretty scared to have their main protagonist be a weak, vulnerable man (although at least with the rise of the final girl as a marketing tool we can get some beloved and deeply interesting vulnerable women, and even a few action hero-y women sometimes! sometimes...)

NOW. i actually really like the fact that the movie is almost entirely women (it would have been all women if the production didnt mandate more of the slightly disconnected sean bean scenes LOL which is why i brought it up before) AND i do think the theming of motherhood and godhood is really great in the movie to keep it cohesive and easy to follow for a 2 hour experience. i liked the variety of women too, intensely flawed mothers with rose and dahlia, women like cybil who aren't maternal in the slightest, but still protects others (including children) as humans (also shes hot as FUCK in this movie as expected from any form of cybil) cruel women with christabella etc. allessa/sharon was also super interesting as the Daughter motif - with anna as another element of that. really interesting.

but also it is insane that all that interesting stuff came from not a respect of women as people with complex varieties of self but instead from finding a lowpolygon man rambling by himself in a foggy haunted town looking for his missing child too feminine LOL like obviously dads can have. emotions? and worry for their children? and have weird little lynchian dialogue? and of course i wonder if part of this disconnect is mid 00's absolutely unreal degrees of homophobia + a misunderstanding of what traditional idealized masculinity looks like in Japanese media vs US media -> still a type of machismo absolutely but the fact that the hero will cry (to show his compassion and drive above all else as a patriarchal object in the story) throws US machismo for a loop even now.

i guess in the end all i can say is: is silent hill '06 feminist or misogynist? and the answer is yes.

the effects and cinematography was awesome though

[captain-303]

So I watched the SILENT HILL movie. It was pretty good! I have to admit I've only been able to play the remake of Silent Hill 2, I really want to play 1, 3 and 4 but they're simply 2 spooky 4 me. I do know however that this movie is very loosely based on the events of Silent Hill 1, so I'm a little surprised that Pyramid Head made such a prominent appearance, I kind of understand that at this point he is the poster child of the series and it was nice to see a live action version of him, even if his 'pyramid head' wasn't completely game accurate. One thing I really didn't expect was for Sean Bean to be in it... And survive!

I think the only scene I didn't like was where Pyramid Head skinned that woman, like, don't do that man. The only equally violent scene that made me look away was probably Dark Alessa's massacre at the church at the end of the movie, although all the members of The Brethren probably deserved it; firstly for trying to burn Alessa when she was still a child and secondly for burning that nice cop lady. Although maybe tearing the cult leader in half with her barbed-wire tentacles was a little much, maybe not, idk. I thought all the sets were really good too, and the costumes too, the bit with the bobble head nurses was genuinely hair raising espically the way they moved around, that was super spooky.

8 spooks out of 10!

I hear there's a sequel! I hope it's just as good

[kinnie-coins]

Welcome to the . . .

☆ FREAKSHOW ☆

This blog is ran by a HC-DID System who collectively identifies as a Queer VoidFreak, please call us by void/voids and the name Siren ! 💜

We also have NPD, PPD, and BPD. Alongside Autism and ADHD, with medium support needs.

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[thelongforgottenrealm]

BARTHOLOMEW VARMONT, HAND OF THE KING / SEAN BEAN

♛ Age: (57) ♛ Relationships: Ciara Varmont (daughter), Eoin Varmont, Arthur Varont (sons), Roderick Varmont (nephew/king), Alaric Varmont (nephew), Edmund Varmont, Sebastian Varmont (great nephews), Guinevere Varmont, Cassandra Varmont (great nieces), Godfrey Calainon (future son-in-law), Marian Varmont (interest/former lover), Aleksander Royce (distrusts)

the much younger brother of roderick’s deceased father and now hand of the king

responsible for a lot of the more sane choices roderick makes and helps keeping him from going too far off the rails

has watched as his nephew descends into obsession – stopping at nothing as he conquers kingdom after kingdom, but despite this bartholomew believes that there is still much good in roderick, but even bartholomew will admit that it is sometimes hard to see when his ambition clouds all else

bartholomew is extremely loyal to his family & friends

once you are in his inner circle, you are there for life!!!

honestly he always tries to do the right/honorable/just thing but if you are going to get bartholomew to bend the rules, it is probably to avoid the suffering of a loved one

lost his wife during the birth of his daughter, ciara

bartholomew cared for his wife a great deal, but he had never loved her as he loved marian

he had planned to remarry after his wife died and had privately decided to court her, but before he had the chance, roderick announced that he meant to marry her instead and so bartholomew said nothing

instead he remained a good friend to them both and could not help but comfort marian when she eventually confided in him the struggles she had with her marriage to roderick and one day she confessed how she was afraid of what might happen to her if she did not give him a child and it was in this moment of weakness that bartholomew let his feelings for marian cloud his judgement

nine months later when marian birthed a son, bartholomew knew it was his ...

has tried to be a father-figure and mentor towards roderick’s other children, as he knows roderick’s duties often leave his own children neglected -- however when it comes to arthur, bartholomew has said firmly away as not to allow for any suspicions to ever fall upon him

instead, bartholomew has become close with sebastian, in whom he sees a lot of himself and both understand what it is to be a brother to a future king, all while having no desire to ever usurp their position

bartholomew considers it his duty to advise roderick to do what he feels is the best course of action, but at the end of the day, he will follow his king’s commands

however, when it came to invading astaira, bartholomew was hesitant – both because his wife was born there and because he is no stranger to the tales she would tell of what might happen if ever the guardians were neglected. while he has never practiced his wife’s religion, worry prays on his mind on what might happen to them all if her stories proved to be true …

OPEN.

[kittensintinytophats]

So @donnovien and I were chatting about Arthur’s bad habit of dying multiple times and she joked about how he’s trying to surpass the king of on screen deaths, Sean Bean. I jokingly said that if he was 30 years younger he’d be perfect for a Malevolent live-action remake, but I looked up young Sean Bean and it actually kinda works? 

like look at these pics and tell me that’s not Arthur Lester

[naruthandir]

I'm gonna be real with ya'll I do understand why we want to make Tolkien inclusive by drawing elves with different ethnicities and that's AWESOME but is anyone going to talk about it from a character design perspective.

I mean just think about it. Diversity in the way we draw characters is not only good from an inclusivity standpoint it is just. Objectively better? I think? Because otherwise you are left with a bunch of characters that all look so very similar do each other and half the time you can't tell who is who. You can't really tell them apart. I found that it was a lot easier to read and be invested in the silmarillion if I imagined the characters having different skin colors and features.

Same applies to body types. Making a character fat may not be good only for inclusivity "woke points" as some like to call it. It is literally better to have characters with recognizable silhouettes. I never got the hate for the changes in character design in She-Ra for example, when they are, from a technical standpoint, easier to animate and more visually interesting and distinct.

(this is also the reason I don't really watch live action because I have prosopagnosia and I can't tell who is who half the time)

Also next time someone says "representation doesn't matter" tell them that the whole reason Latin America is majority catholic is because they made the virgin Mary indigenous. There's a story about La Virgen de Juquila, a small town from near where I live, that goes something like this: The Spanish brought their God, but people weren't keen on it. One day the church was set on fire, and the statue of the virgin was burnt and her skin made brown. The priests tried to restore it, to no avail. They say the virgin herself wanted to make her skin brown, so the people of the region could better see themselves in her.

Like I'm not religious and I kinda despise the church but this is literally the oldest trick in the book and it works. People like it when the people in stories, their icons, look like them. It just makes the Monke Brain happy. It makes *my* Monke Brain happy. And I feel like happiness is always a net positive.

And while I am no one to tell anyone what to do, I do think it's a good thing, when we make our characters diverse, just for the reasons listed above. I genuinely don't see why anyone would be upset at this? I've seen people be upset. They say it goes against the lore. Casting Sean Bean as Boromir goes against the lore as well, I don't see anyone complaining. He was a good pick, and that's that, even if his hair color isn't the same as in the books. We deal with it and move on. Might be slightly annoying, but the books will always be there for us Black Hair Boromir truthers.