#they real loves paddington

[sincericida]

ANDREW GARFIELD and FLORENCE PUGH gifted their on-screen daughter GRACE DELANEY from ‘We Live In Time’ a Paddington bear.

(source)

[petitenuisance]

IN A CANADIAN TUXEDO WITH THAT PRECIOUS LITTLE SMILE!!

Kendrick Lamar wins Record of the Year for Not Like Us at the 2025 Grammys.

[wannab-urs]

Pedro Pascal Character Quotes as Queue Tags

idk guys i got bored. steal if you want! (mine is #a real queueboy)

#do queue wanna have sex with me (dieter)

#i'm trying to queue but it's hard (dieter)

#paddington queue (javi g)

#queue can't quit acting (javi g)

#no i have not been queue hunting (javi p)

#fucking queuebilly (javi p)

#queue what i say when i say it (joel)

#is it everything queue hoped for? (joel)

#not what i call a queuetucky welcome (whiskey)

#queuenado in a trailer park (whiskey)

#queue is good! but it could be better (max lord)

#queue can have it all (max lord)

#together we ravage the queue (ezra)

#i must queueposte (ezra)

#queue never loved me (silva)

#queue never loved anyone in your life (silva)

#I can bring queue in warm (din)

#queueever i go he goes (din)

#i'm fucking queueing people (frankie)

#what are we queueing at in here? (frankie)

#queue died that's what happened (dave)

#there's just shit people queue (dave)

#is that the best queue got? (pero)

#i know what queue are (pero)

#my queue style is effective (max phillips)

#that was bullshit we queue fear (max phillips)

#will you queue with me to D. C.? (marcus p)

#it's a decision queue need to make (marcus p)

#the queue was poisoned (oberyn)

#when it comes to love i don't queue sides (oberyn)

[berryispunk]

The Art Of Giving

pairing: Javi Gutierrez x f! reader

summary: you plan on visting friends up north, your boyfriend isn't prepared so you go shopping.

tags: sweet sweet boy Javi, nicknames (mi sol), kissing, established relationship, brief mention of anxiety, Javi spoiling his partner, no smut, minor mention of smutty thoughts tho, all the fluff, Javi deserves an award for best boyfriend

notes: Hello! this is my very first entry for my own writing challenge I'm hosting over at @fanfictionoverload with @lady-bess ! (still feels weird to say 😵‍💫). moodboard for the vibes made by my angel @frnkiesaviators 🤍

word count: ~ 1k

Your sweet, sweet tanned boyfriend Javi is a lot of things. He’s attentive, kind and the reason you started to believe in mankind again. 

But one thing he isn’t good at is planning ahead. 

The moment you told him you plan on visiting friends in a northern country, where the temperature is cold and the chances are high for snow he blinks at you in disbelief. 

“Snow? As in the cold, powdery thing falling from the sky?”, he asks, almost whining which causes you to laugh.

“Yes, the cold, powdery, real snow. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen snow?”

He looks a bit sheepish as he answers you, rubbing his neck. 

“Well… It’s not like we get much of that where I come from. So I’ve probably never seen it in real life. At least not that I’m aware of…”

You shake your head, grinning as you cross your arms in front of your chest. 

“I guess we have to go shopping for some winter clothing then. I don’t want you to be freezing your cute butt off.”

His answer is a soft scoff and a wide grin, the one you love so much.

A smile so genuine it reaches his eyes, the little wrinkles around his eyes causing you to smile even wider in return. 

A few days later you find yourself in the busy local mall. 

You should have known better than to come here on a Friday afternoon. 

Usually you try to avoid large crowds at all costs, because it makes you nervous to no end. And Javi knows, so as the two of you stroll through the mall his big hand never leaves your lower back, his thumb gently rubbing soothing circles over the fabric of your shirt, guiding you through every narrow alley of people. 

He smiles reassuringly at you at all times, making sure you’re still okay, keeps asking if you need anything or if you want to leave to which you just shake your head. 

You don’t want your anxiety to win again. 

Sweet Javi Gutiérrez, with more money in his bank account than you will ever be able to earn, thrives in crowds of people, unlike you. Something about him draws people in, making them talk to him; asking him for directions or where a certain shop is. Sometimes it annoys you but that’s just the effect he has on people. He’s a walking sunshine with a presence so kind and calming you can't blame them for feeling drawn to him. Hell, it even was one of the first things you noticed about him as well. 

He’s so freaking genuinely authentic it’s almost hard to believe. 

In your mind people who are rich are always entitled, uppish and don’t give a fuck about “mere mortals”. 

But Javi is different. He never, not even once, made you feel worth any less because you’re not upper class. In fact he never even asked about it. The only thing he was interested in was your time and now, your love. You softly raking a hand through his hair, you gently caressing his back when the two of you lay cuddled up on the sofa. The way you look at him when his eyebrows scrunch while he concentrates on doing something.

Javi is a sensitive soul. You noticed that pretty quickly, but especially when he cried while you watched “Paddington 2”. 

At first it had thrown you off a bit, as you were not used to men showing big emotions easily. But over time you’ve learned to cherish it, because it means he’s in touch with his emotions and therefore also aware of your own which shows in the way he handles you. 

He showers you with all the love and affection he can muster and it almost makes you feel invincible.

“Mi sol, you okay?”, he suddenly asks, yanking you back into the present. His brown eyes are full of worry. 

“Oh… yes. Sorry, I was just lost in thought,” you smile apologetically. 

He smiles in return as he leads you into a shop with no price tags.  That's how you know the items in here are expensive. He tells you to take a seat on one of the imposing big salon chairs as he searches for one of the employees. 

You can’t help but look around, taking in the surroundings of this other-worldly experience and your jaw almost drops to the floor. But you find your bearings quickly and instead sink deeper into the chair until Javi returns with an employee who’s got the same exaggerated smile on their face as in every other high-end shop you accompanied him in. 

They talk and you don’t pay proper attention until Javi’s voice is reaching you. 

“Mi sol, you also need a coat, right?”, he asks and you look at him with wide eyes. 

You know what that means so you shake your head. 

“No, I’m good, thank you.”

“Don’t be like that. Let me get one for you.” He pauses for emphasis. “Por favor”. 

Shit. 

His big pleading puppy eyes are lethal every time so you can’t help yourself but nod.

“Good girl,” he praises and it makes your cheeks get hot and the heat pooling in your lower belly. 

You shift a bit in your seat until Javi’s hand is on your waist to help you stand up. 

You leave the store with two coats that cost an astronomically high sum. 

“You know you didn’t have to do that, right Javi?” You search for his eyes. 

As his gaze meets yours he simply says, “I know, but I wanted to. You deserve this,” caressing your upper arm. 

You step closer to him, your hand caressing his cheek gently. 

“Thank you,” you say and capture his lips in a soft kiss that makes him melt immediately into it. 

His hand is on the back of your neck as he deepens the kiss. 

“Let’s get you home,” he purrs and it sounds like a promise for more. 

[pommedepersephone]

Just took the kids to see Paddington in Peru. While I miss Paul King's aesthetic from the first two films, I loved this story.

In an interview in Big Issue, Ben Whishaw said,

“I love that there is a quiet political message running through the films and inherent in the character. But I’m also aware that it’s easy to feel very tender towards a cartoon bear, yet we fail to extend those feelings towards other real humans. So I’m reluctant to draw too many parallels. But it’s a start. I hope that we, all of us, can improve the dialogue and the discourse around these issues of vulnerable people, I really do. And if the Paddington films contribute something to that discussion, then brilliant.”

Well Ben, my kids loved it and we sat and had a good conversation about immigration policy afterwards. The thing is that while empathy is natural to humans, we are encouraged to confine it to our own in groups, and learning to extend "us" to include people who look, talk, live differently than you takes work. Given the state of the world, it's work more of us need to do.

If you are looking for a good Paddington gift for this holiday season, the Migration Museum in London has their Migration is Not a Crime collection featuring our favorite bear.

Anyway, go see Paddington in Peru.

[mxbo]

So what are the stamps and user boxes actually used for other than just being silly and cute

IS THIS MY CHANCE TO INTRODUCE SOMEONE TO THE CULTURE OF THE OLD WEB AND PROFILE CUSTOMIZATION!?!?!?!?

OK, so other than being cute and silly their purpose is to uh… be um… cute and silly decoratio- who wrote this script?? Whoever did is horrible at its job, like yeah it's right but- let me just sugarcoat it a bit mor-

WHAT ARE USERBOXES

“Userboxes are boxes containing a little bit of information about someone! They originated from wikipedia and were meant to be put on people’s user pages, but here people either choose to reblog those that apply to them or put them on their about pages (or both!)”

—Definition stolen borrowed from Userboxed's FAQ

So, basically, Wikipedia had this little thing where NERDS would code* boxes of information and people said “HEY, THAT'S SO COOL WHY DO ONLY THE SMART PEOPLE HAVE THOSE” and said “IMMA MAKE MY OWN, SCREENSHOT IT AND PUT IT ON MY WEBSITE/PROFILE/PINNED POST”

*Zzz boring code (I have a website myself, I'm allowed to call it boring)

WHY I LOVE USERBOXES

✦ Most people won't read your pinned post in its totality, but will read the userboxes. ✦ They're colorful, have one or two sentences max per userbox and have an image on the side, so it catches people's attention more than just plain text. ✦ They get their point across: your personality, interests, sometimes aesthetics… ✦ MAKING YOUR OWN IS SUPER EASY!!

The standard size is 239px × 49px, but bigger/high quality userboxes can be found, always following that ratio, of course.

WHAT ARE STAMPS

Basically, just images/GIFs with a border resembling a real life stamp. These are called static or animated stamps, AND I'M IN LOVE WITH THE LATTER TYPE. I believe they come from Deviantart and serve a similar purpose to userboxes: decorating your profile.

WHY I LOVE STAMPS

✦ Collecting them is super fun!! It reminds you of which parts of the internet you have visited. ✦ Groups of stamps look super cool together. ✦ That thing about getting your point across but without text and writing AESTHETIC in bold red underlined text.

The standard size is 99px × 56px, but bigger/high quality stamps can be found, always following that ratio, of course.

BUT WHERE DO YOU PLACE THEM !?

You can have a couple on your profiles (Spacehey), pinned posts (Tumblr)… But where people COLLECT THEM is in

A CORNER ON YOUR OWN WEBSITE / NEOCITIES

EXAMPLES OF COOL NEOCITIES THAT WITH COOL STAMPS/COLLECTIONS

✦ Shishka ✦ Cinni ✦ Oddity Commoddity ✦ Ko's Crag! ✦ Cloud Cover ✦ Echo's Graphics ✦ silly zone ✦ Mad Paddington ✦ My own website lmao

THIS IS YOUR CALL TO MAKE YOUR OWN NEOCITIES !!

(Because it's my hyperfixation, topped only by TF2, and I MUST share it with the world) (I already convinced my light to make a neocities, YOU ARE NEXT.)

CONCLUSION

TL;DR: They're silly and cute BUT, they're also nostalgic and an important part of internet culture

I also recommend watching the next videos just because (you won't understand userboxes or stamps any better, but the culture around it)

✦ Whatever Happened to Profile Customization? ✦ Old Websites Were Cooler, Actually

I hope you found my explanation/yapping interesting and also answered your question (if you can find your answer, there's so much filler, god) HEHE

[daisychains111]

incorrect chb camper quotes but it's actually just my sister's quotebook from Twitter

Disclaimer: This post is gonna be LONG AF

Percy: "Ahh, die quieter"

Clarisse to Silena: "Do I look majestic?"

Will: "I live in America. Cultures?... casserole"

Nico: "At-home lobotomy"

Baby Nico to Clarisse: "You look like Harry Potter, You just need a scar black hair, different clothes, and to be a boy. "

Annabeth:"I don't know if I have enough sanity for 2 Holy books"

Leo: "I've seen titties before....not really in person, but yk"

Annabeth: "Do you have ears?"

Jason: "I kinda wanna work at Taco Bell"

Piper: "I've never been passive-aggressive in my life"

Will to Apollo: "There's no batteries in my butt Dad I'm not a robot"

Clarisse: "I'm not upset I don't hold grudges"

Ares to Clarisse: "I don't like your clothes it forces me to look at you"

Frank to Leo: "It's not 'drip' it's stupid"

Travis to the whole Hermes Cabin: "I'm the Rizzington bear... like Paddington bear but Rizz" (after his 1st date with Katie)

Nico: "I love Olive Garden, I wish Italians were real"

Rachel: "Come on, you guys stop trying to cockblock the view"

Katie: "If people can smoke weed in the middle of the day, then I can drink chamomile tea"

Rachel: "You don't want to piss me off I'm witewally a werewolf"

Piper about Jason: "All my friends are boys, and one just died... he would have made a great bridesmaid"

Frank: "I was doing a silly but the funny didn’t land"

Jason: "Why am I white"

Rachel: "I am not a whore, I am a celibate queen!"

Drew: "It's not the fashion statement that you think it is"

Nico about the Ares Cabin: "They're gonna call you a slur, but they're gonna be really nice about it"

Piper to Annabeth: "If we both think it, it's not bitchy"

Grover: "I'm just gonna write a paragraph or two about global warming"

Annabeth"I have like a 7th-grade reading level!!! (this is impressive when you're dyslexic)

Jason: "Dude I love yoga"

Will: "They say that Utah is the promise land"

Kayla: *explains what a text-fic is to grandparents (Apollo)*

Clarisse: "Put that on your Twitter!" *points knife at me*

Travis: "Do you eat?"

Katie: "...um yes?"

Travis: "Oh, I mean do you want to eat." (when he asked Katie out the first time)

Hazel: "That's not gonna change my heart. That's just gonna make me cry!"

Alabaster: "I wanna find someone somewhere to impregnate and then steal the baby......Where's your Twitter, that was kinda funny"

Percy about Leo: "I would spoon that man so hard"

Frank: "The closer I get to nature, the closer I get to being a werewolf"

Apollo: "I feel like Jaba the Hut"

Rachel: "It's because you ate girl dinner"

Apollo (same convo^)"I fell asleep, and I woke up, and I ate a girl dinner, and I didn't feel that good"

Percy: Don't mind me just cleaning the ocean" *hand angrily on hip*

Will to the Stolls: "Although my bellybutton was once my mouth I don't want soda in it!!"

Connor: "Look at how majestic I am"

Clarisse: *gasps* *throws uno cards* "This is communism at its finest, and I hate your life." *Is losing* "All I'm doing is humoring you now. There is no reason for me to play anymore." *throws cards* *again*

Nico: *passes out*

Will: "We need to take you to the doctor like right now."

Nico: "No fireworks are more important than my health"

Leo about Percy: "That's a pretty boy right there... if we were in prison, it's over."

Kayla when Will came out to her: "Slay motherfucker"

Annabeth: "I hope to not run over any old ladies...old men are fair game tho."

Percy: "Main characters get bullied, Jesus....yep!"

Leo: "What if I was an astronaut!!!!"

Travis: "Banana, Banana, Meatball"

Clarisse: "I am going to break your toe shut the hell up"

Katie to Connor: "I hope you get bullied in high school."

Clarisse about Leo: "This guy's a fuckin goober"

Clarisse: "What did you do to your sweatshirt? Did you get hungry?"-Grover: *sighs*

Nyssa (Hephaestus kid) to Leo: "Dont hurt me. I'm Batman!.... You better not tweet that"

Kayla to Apollo: "It's called multi-tasking Apollo! "

Apollo: "It's mother to you"

Clarisse: "I could fight God and win"

Percy: "So you wanna fight rn"

Clarisse: "No, I'm good"

Jason; "You look gang"

Leo: "What? I look gay!?!?!"

Jason: "You look straight, but nice"

Leo: "Oh... thanks!"

Apollo to Rachel"Lie, deny, cry, and for good measure be a raging slut."

Silena: "There's all kinds of nature out here"

Katie: "Live, laugh, love, low iron"

Annabeth to Piper: "Keep backing up...Cuz you have a fear of commitment

Lou Ellen to Katie: "Does your knee affect your shoe size... or are your feet just that small??"

Travis: "The amount of testosterone in me, peanuts are allergic to me!"

Leo: "I'm cracked up on feeling sexy"

Connor to the whole Hermes Cabin: "The "10" of us? our parents sp*rm pets"

Apollo about Athena: "OH gods, a single mom"

Apollo about Kayla's dad: "I cheated on myself with a man"

Malcolm about Athena: "She's a mom boogie woogie woogie"

Nico: "I cried at Chick-fil-A the other day"

Nico: "Live, laugh, lobotomy."

Drew about Thalia: "She has no friends and a dead brother."

Katie: "I wrote fanfiction on my i-pod touch"

Lacy to Leo: "Was it a tech? or was it a human?"

Will: "Live, laugh, love, tampons"

Kayla: "Die, cry, hate, condoms"

Aphrodite to Clarisse: "Do you like being a girl? You just always wear pants"

Percy: "Chill I know how to make conversations I have Rizz"

Will: "What! no! cow!"

Frank: "Fvcking knock it off seriously you guys are acting like children!!"

Travis to Lou Ellen: "Yesss pussy-pop you slayed"

Ashlyn (Hermes kid): "Chick-fil-A is mid, Taco bell is where it's at"

Percy during tlt: "You couldn't even buy a gumball with that shit (drachmas)"

Percy (same convo ^): "A quarter? You could buy a gumball with that shit"

Nico: "Your soul and your money!"

Tyson: "You've seen fishes, fishes move fast"

Leo to Frank: "What the fvck is a kilometer"

Leo making fun of Frank: "Mua ha ha ha I'm Canadian"

Percy: "Jesus didn't give up his life he gave up his weekend"

*as seen at 2am in the Apollo Cabin*

Gracie: "You're discriminating against me"

April (the token straight): "It's cuz she's gay"

Will: "We're all gay."

Nico: You don't have any slurs about you."

Leo: "No because I'm perfect"

this was fun to make lol....there will probably be a part 2 but like far in the future. if you made it this far I love you....also if you don't recognize names it's bc I deep-dived Wiki to find canon names for each cabin.

If y'all want one-shots based on these TELL ME I NEED STUFF TO WRITE ABOUT

[adamwatchesmovies]

Wonka (2023)

Wonka practically steps onto the stage and declares itself a new favorite. When the film was announced, it was met with skepticism. We’ve already had two adaptations of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Going back to see how the book’s most memorable character became who he is felt like a desperate attempt to cram more chocolate down an already-filled stomach. Here’s what the naysayers should’ve paid attention to, however: writer/director Paul King. I know you loved Paddington and its sequel, Paddington 2. Everything that made those films great – except for the titular bear – is present here, along with catchy musical numbers. This is a lovingly assembled film the whole family will eat up.

After an extended journey around the world gathering the rarest ingredients and learning everything there is to know about sweets, Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) dreams of establishing his own chocolate shop. Unfortunately, his initial trip to the Galéries Gourmet sees him pushed out by the “Chocolate Cartel”. Shortly after, he’s swindled out of his savings and forced into indentured servitude by Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and her co-worker, Bleacher (Tom Davis). He’ll be doing laundry for the next twenty-five years unless he can settle his debts. The only way to do that is to become the chocolatier he's always dreamed of becoming.

Wonka has been called a “companion piece” to 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but come on. It's a prequel. Two songs are reprised/expanded upon, several visual cues are ported over and Chalamet’s portrayal of the titular character is reminiscent of Gene Wilder’s. If you were to watch the films back-to-back, however, you would spot certain inconsistencies. Some, there’s no way you could’ve worked around, such as the character Hugh Grant plays. I won’t spoil what his part in the film is (even though he is on the poster) but if you were to watch this movie before the original, he would give away one of the latter’s biggest surprises. There’s also an aspect of Wonka’s character that’s a bit off. I personally think people label WW&tCF as being much darker and scarier than it is but you can understand why people would call it frightening, or "a gateway to children’s horror". This film has no cynicism or darkness in it whatsoever. It’s one of the reasons why it works so well but if this film is indeed a prequel, that's an inconsistency.

With those minor complaints out of the way, let’s talk about the many ways Wonka succeeds. First, the cast and tone. There are many villains in this movie. Keegan-Michael Key plays the corrupt, chocolate-addicted Chief-of-Police. Paterson Joseph is Arthur Slugworth, the leader of the Chocolate Cartel. He, along with his cohorts Gerald Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Felix Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) are not above sending innocent people to be enslaved or even murdered. Then, there’s the extended Cartel, which includes a small, but funny role for Rowan Atkinson. Finally, the combo of Mrs. Scrubitt's & Bleacher. On paper, these characters are quite sinister - even children are being enslaved by Scrubitt and Bleacher. Despite that, you kind of… like them. They're all delightfully ridiculous and quirky. You can tell the performers are having a blast hamming it up – in the best way. They’re all evil. They all love being evil. You love seeing them do their thing.

Nearly everyone we meet is more eccentric than anyone in real life could ever be - including the other "inmates" at Scrubbit's boarding house (played by Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Rich Fulcher and Rakhee Thakrar), except for the friend Wonka makes once all his money is stolen: an orphan named Noodle (Calah Lane). She’s in a worse spot than anyone else, which makes her apprehensive and cynical but also most receptive to the idea of hope once Wonka gets going. You can bet that by the end, all of the heroes will have played an important part in the story, even if their skills seem to make them kind of useless. Seeing how they fit in the big picture is part of the fun.

Between the big laughs and musical numbers, we get scenes of magic and wonder - the kind you can only in worlds where people spontaneously burst into dance. There's something so earnest about Wonka. It knows exactly what it wants to be and isn't afraid of going for it. Paul King takes single gags and turns them into characters for the sake of a big punchline at the end. You can tell from the way the story flows that's going to be the case and there's almost a sense of suspense as you wonder what's going to happen with that. Wonka pokies fun at itself more than once but is willing to be serious when the scene calls for it. That's what makes it, why it's a great prequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Wonka is the kind of movie I wish we’d see more often. You think back to the movies you used to see as a child and it feels like we used to get ones like this all the time but actually, we didn't. Movies like this one are rare, it's just that they're so much fun you never forget them and they get passed down from generation to generation so it feels like there's this large library you had before and haven't been able to add to. Push away any apprehension you might've had initially and you'll see. Wonka fits in with those childhood favorites. (November 22, 2024)

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … December 16

1863 – The Spanish-born philoopher, essayist, poet and novelist George Santayana was born on this date (d.1952). Born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, Santayana was a lifelong Spanish citizen, was raised and educated in the U.S., wrote in English and is generally considered an American man of letters, even though, of his nearly 89 years, he spent only 39 in the U.S. He is perhaps best known as an aphorist, and for the oft-misquoted remark, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," from Reason in Common Sense, the first volume of his The Life of Reason.

Although late in fully understanding his sexual preference, he wrote a series of sonnets celebrating his love for a friend who died young and described his male friendships in rhapsodic terms in his autobiography. One finds Santayana's clearest homophile expression in the set of four elegiac sonnets for Warwick Potter, the young man Santayana called his "last real friend," who died of cholera following a boating accident in 1893.

By his own account, Santayana did not really understand his own sexual preference until fairly late in life. During a 1929 conversation about A. E. Housman, a favorite poet, Santayana told his secretary Daniel Cory that Housman "was really what people nowadays call 'homosexual'; the sentiment of his poems is unmistakable." Santayana then added: "I think I must have been that way in my Harvard days, though I was unconscious of it at the time."

It is frequently said that Santayana's The Last Puritan is the best novel ever written by a philosopher. It is also one of the saddest novels in literature for it relates the story of a painfully unrequited love that was Santayana's own. The Harvard philosopher spent almost his entire life in love with an unresponsive heterosexual who, at times, couldn't even remember his name. And it is this lifelong love — for Bertrand Russell's brother Frank — that is reflected in The Last Puritan.

1899 – The English actor, playwright, and composer Noël Coward was born on this date (d.1973). Among his achievements, he received an Academy Certificate of Merit at the 1943 Academy Awards for "outstanding production achievement for his film In Which We Serve."

He was a valued friend of Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Mills, Gene Tierney, Judy Garland, Elaine Stritch, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. He was a close friend of Ivor Novello and Winston Churchill.

Coward was Gay and never married, but he maintained close personal friendships with many women. These included actress and author Esmé Wynne-Tyson, his first collaborator and constant correspondent; the designer and lifelong friend Gladys Calthrop; secretary and close confidante Lorn Loraine; his muse, the gifted musical actress Gertrude Lawrence; actress Joyce Carey; compatriot of his middle period, the light comedy actress Judy Campbell; and (in the words of Cole Lesley) 'his loyal and lifelong amitié amoureuse', film star Marlene Dietrich. Coward refused to acknowledge his sexual orientation, wryly stating, "There is still a woman in Paddington Square who wants to marry me, and I don't want to disappoint her."

Coward's insights into the class system can be traced back to London life in World War I, when thousands of troops passed through the capital every day, and officers and other ranks met civilians in dozens of highly secret clubs.

He enjoyed a thirty-year relationship with the stage and film actor Graham Payn from the mid 40s until Coward's death. Payn later co-edited with Sheridan Morley the collection of his diaries, published in 1982. He was also connected to composer Ned Rorem, with details of their relationship published in Rorem's diaries. Claims that Coward had a 19-year relationship with Prince George, Duke of Kent, were strongly denied by Payn, who said that Coward always denied anything had happened between him and the Prince.

He was a product of his times (and his own imagination, to be sure) and exquisitely attuned to those times. From his youth Coward had a distaste for penetrative sex and held the modern gay scene in disdain. This disdain, we have to believe is merely a symptom of an era, rather than a matter of character, and something he would have rethought had he been born in another time. His evident innate sense of honor and what is right would have, one has to infer, brought him around.

He was the president of The Actors' Orphanage, an orphanage supported by the theatrical industry. In that capacity he befriended the young Peter Collinson, who was in the care of the orphanage, becoming Collinson's godfather and helping him get started in show business. Later when Collinson was a successful director he invited Coward to play a role in the film The Italian Job; Coward's lover Graham Payn also played a small role in the film.

Here's just a bit of Coward's wit:

Coward was a neighbour in Jamaica of James Bond's creator Ian Fleming and his wife Anne, the former Lady Rothermere. Coward was a witness at the Fleming's wedding and though he was very fond of both of them, the Flemings' marriage was not a happy one, and Noël eventually tired of their constant bickering, as recorded in his diaries. When the first film adaptation of a James Bond novel, Dr. No was being produced, Coward was approached for the role of the villain. He is said to have responded, "Doctor No? No. No. No." * When speaking to Peter O'Toole about his performance in the movie Lawrence of Arabia, he said "If you'd been any prettier, it would have been 'Florence of Arabia'." * When someone pointed out a rising young actor at a party with the words "Keir Dullea" Coward's instant reply was "Gone tomorrow."

The Papers of Noël Coward are held in the University of Birmingham Special Collections.

1923 – Gerald Glaskin (d.2000) was a Western Australian author. Although he won the Commonwealth Prize for Literature in 1955, his works were received more favourably in Europe than in Australia where he had virtually no public profile, and he lived mostly in Asia and later the Netherlands, until returning to Perth in 1968.

Glaskin's extensive time overseas may have been because of the oppressive Australian moral climate of the period against homosexuality. In 1961 he had been charged with indecent exposure (presumably while sexually cruising) on a Perth beach.

His published works were extensive. He wrote poetry, short stories, and novels. Some works also included issues of science fiction and new-age spiritual guidance related to the interpretation of dreams. He was also involved in the Fellowship of Australian Writers.

A resident of Cottesloe, he was enthusiastic for its beach environment. As a writer in Western Australia conditions were not always supportive of the profession.

Glaskin's novel A Waltz Through the Hills was made into a 1989 film of the same title.

The Christos Experiment (or Christos Phenomenon), a phenomenon discussed by several of Glaskin's books, is an Altered State of Consciousness that can produce extraordinarily vivid and realistic Out-of-Body Experiences, Past-Life Experiences and Other-Life Experiences.

His most commercially successful work was a novel about a homosexual love affair, No End To The Way (1965), published under the pseudonym Neville Jackson. Interviewed in later life about the novel, Glaskin said: "It was banned in Australia and the paperback publishers, Corgi, researched the Australian censorship laws, and discovered that the book could not be shipped to Australia. So they chartered planes and flew them in". It may have been inspired by his relationship with Leo van de Pas, whom he met in a gay bar in Amsterdam, and lived with in later life.

Glaskin was also silent financial partner in The Coffee Pot, a popular Perth meeting place for homosexuals, bohemians and students which was established in the 1950s by Dutch Indonesian migrants, and was then the city's only late night cafe.

1930 – Ronald Allen (d.1991) was an English character actor who became a British soap opera star.

Allen was born in Reading, Berkshire. He studied at Leighton Park School in Reading and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, where won the John Gielgud Scholarship. He worked in repertory theatre and had a season at the Old Vic in London. Allen also made several films, including A Night to Remember (1958) about the sinking of the Titanic, the British horror films The Projected Man (1967) and The Fiend (1972), the war film Hell Boats (1970), and the black comedy Eat the Rich (1987).

After roles in the BBC soaps Compact (1963–64) and United! (1966–67)[3] came his best remembered role, in the long-running Crossroads (1969–85). Allen played David Hunter, who was a shareholder of the Crossroads Motel with Meg Mortimer, Tish Hope and Bernard Booth. He also twice appeared as a lead actor in the science fiction programme Doctor Who, in the stories The Dominators (1968) and The Ambassadors of Death (1970).

Allen also frequently appeared as a guest in The Comic Strip Presents. In the first episode, Five Go Mad in Dorset (1982), which spoofed Enid Blyton's The Famous Five stories, he makes a surprise appearance as Uncle Quentin; deliberately sending up his staid image, he most memorably told The Famous Five, . Allen reprised the role in the sequel Five Go Mad on Mescalin (1983).

Other roles included television's The Adventures of Robin Hood (1957), Danger Man (1960, 1961), Bergerac (1990) and The Avengers (1964).

After Crossroads, he was signed to appear in the American soap Generations, but was unable to get a work permit, and returned to London.

A homosexual, Allen lived for many years with his long-term boyfriend, the actor Brian Hankins, who also appeared in Crossroads, until Hankins' death from cancer in 1979. Surprising everyone who knew him, Allen moved in with close friend, Crossroads co-star and on-screen wife, Sue Lloyd. When the British media started to intrude into their private lives, they made it known they were a couple. After Allen was told that his cancer was terminal, they married. He died three months later, aged 60. Sue Lloyd died twenty years later in 2011, also of cancer.

1935 – Gerald Busby is a Texas-born American composer.

Busby was born in Tyler, Texas. He studied piano as a child, playing with the Houston Symphony when he was fifteen. He attended Yale where he studied music in college, but once graduated, began working as a traveling salesman. At age 40 he had an "epiphany" and began to compose, a direction which surprised him.

In 1977, with the assistance of Virgil Thomson, he moved to the Hotel Chelsea in New York City where he has written most of his work. Living at the Hotel Chelsea brought him into contact with numerous cultural figures. One of them was dancer Rudolf Nureyev and his then-partner Wallace Potts. Potts gave Paul Taylor a recording by Busby's music, which led to Busby writing the score for Taylor's dance Runes. Regarding his scores for Paul Taylor's dance "Runes" and Robert Altman's film 3 Women, Busby said "Those two pieces are acknowledged as masterpieces, so that I know they'll last beyond me," Mr. Busby said. "Not because what I did was a masterpiece, but I was part of it."

In 1985 Busby was diagnosed with HIV as was his partner Samuel Byers. Byers died on December 14, 1993; the couple had been together for 18 years. "Sam's death was just unbearable...He lost his mind and withered away. I was there the whole time with him and taking care of him, so I just went nuts."

After a bout of depression and drug addiction, he became sober and began composing again. In 2007, his monthly income amounted to $658 from Social Security, $78 in disability payments, and $156 in food stamps. Income from his music was undependable; in a good month he could get $1000, or nothing. The New York Times ran him as one of their "most neediest cases." Through the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Busby was able to receive $754.96 for digitizing recordings originally made on perishable cassette tape.

Despite being HIV positive, he claims that his immune system has regenerated, something he attributes to his daily practice of reiki. He continues to live at the Hotel Chelsea.

1963 – Liu Bingjian, born in Anhui, is a Chinese film director who emerged on the cinema scene in the late 1990s with his LGBT-themed film Men and Women.

Originally trained as a painter, Liu attended the prestigious Beijing Film Academy where he studied cinematography. Upon graduation, he switched to directing and worked in television before making his first film Inkstone which failed to be screened either in China or abroad.

In 1999, he directed the underground LGBT film Men and Women. Though the film was banned in China, it was seen as a rare example of a Chinese film to treat homosexuality as an everyday occurrence.

Liu followed up Men and Women with Cry Woman in 2002.

Like many of his colleagues, Liu Bingjian emerged from the underground scene with 2004's state-approved Plastic Flowers, starring actress Liu Xiaoqing in her first role in over a decade. The film premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.

1968 – Ross Burden (d.2014) was a celebrity chef from New Zealand. His early career was as a model and he became a chef later in life, inspired by the time spent cooking with his grandmother. Burden was born in Taradale, New Zealand and brought up in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. He was a self-taught cook. Burden hosted and was a guest on programmes across the world.

The son of an electrician, Ross Kelvin Burden was born on the North Island of New Zealand, where, as a boy, he took more interest in the great outdoors than in goings-on in the kitchen. "I wanted to be Jacques Cousteau," he recalled, and in his teenage years he took a job at a marine tourist park helping to look after the animals. After Taradale High School, he read Zoology at Auckland University, modelling part-time to fund his studies.

Burden’s career began in the early years of the 90s when he moved to Britain from his native New Zealand to take a Master’s degree in Zoology. For a bit of fun in 1993 he signed on to compete in the BBC 1 hit series MasterChef, and to his surprise (he was completely untrained) found himself reaching the finals.

Burden's television career began after reaching the final of the BBC series MasterChef 1993. He was also a regular on Ready Steady Cook for at least eight years, filmed a healthy-eating video with Joan Collins, and made at least five series for Taste.

Though feted by the press as "the tastiest man in Britain" and named as one of the UK’s 50 most eligible bachelors, Burden later came out as gay,

Burden published at least two books and wrote columns for two magazines. In May 2006, he appeared on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars along with fellow chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli, Aldo Zilli and Paul Rankin.

In 2010 Burden was lured back to New Zealand to be a judge on the country’s home-grown version of MasterChef. At the same time he returned to Auckland University to take a Master’s degree in Maori Studies, working as a waiter in Sails, an upmarket Auckland restaurant, to help pay his bills.

Burden died in Auckland on 17 July 2014 of an infection relating to treatment for leukaemia. In November 2014 it was revealed that Burden had died of Legionnaires' disease due to the infected water supply in the hospital.

1970 – Kyle Hawkins is the former head coach of the German National Men's U-19 lacrosse team, and former head coach of the University of Missouri Men's Lacrosse team.

In May 2006, he discussed his sexual orientation with several media outlets, including the New York Times and MSNBC.com after having revealed to the university and team that he was gay. In April 2007, the story again made media waves with an Associated Press story featured on MSNBC.com. Hawkins was named the first openly gay man coaching an intercollegiate men's team sport by ESPN.

1980 – Andrew Marin is an American author and President and Founder of The Marin Foundation, a public charity that works to build bridges between the LGBT community and social, theological and political conservatives.

Andrew grew up in the suburbs of Chicago as a self-professed "bible-banging homophobe,". In the summer after his freshman year in college his three best friends all came out to him. That prompted Andrew to move into the predominantly LGBT Boystown neighborhood in Chicago. After years of living in the neighborhood talking to his new neighbors and community, going to gay bars and public events with a goal of listening and learning, he clearly noticed that the LGBT/conservative disconnect was the single reason for so much unnecessary pain and trauma in a lot of people's lives. The Marin Foundation (TMF) was birthed out of this realization, and TMF works to fill the disconnect at the root of these problems.

The Marin Foundation is most well known for their I'm Sorry Campaign, where their LGBT and straight members attend gay pride parades and hold up signs apologizing for how Christians have treated LGBT people. The now famous and viral photo, "Christians Hugging a Gay Man in his Underwear" has been shared over 20 million times between sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, BuzzFeed and Instagram. It was also recently named by BuzzFeed as the #1 Picture to Restore Faith in Humanity. Besides the I'm Sorry Campaign, The Marin Foundation holds their Living in the Tension gatherings twice a month in Chicago, as well as around the US. Among a variety of TMF media appearances on major conservative outlets such as the 700 Club, and LGBT outlets such as The Gay Agenda Show, the BBC World News recently featured The Marin Foundation's regular gatherings held at a popular gay bar in Boystown, in print and on a 30 minute World News special.

2005 – On this date the country of Latvia edited its constitution to ban equal marriage rights to Gays and Lesbians.

Today's Gay Wisdom:

The Wit of Noël Coward:

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

I'm not a heavy drinker, I can sometimes go for hours without touching a drop.

I've sometimes thought of marrying - and then I've thought again.

It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.

My body has certainly wandered a good deal, but I have an uneasy suspicion that my mind has not wandered enough.

People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what's wrong with it.

Wit ought to be a glorious treat like caviar; never spread it about like marmalade.

[jessythebunny]

🚂Duck the great western engine🦆

💚Duck is the first great western engine who came to the island, and he was the number 8 engine in Tidmouth sheds before Emily

💚Duck doesn't like his real name "Montague" and he prefers to be called "Duck" instead, because the other engines in the great western railway were saying he waddles like a duck

💚Duck is a really hard worker and takes everything too seriously and he does the things in the great western way

💚Duck was working in a station in London called "Paddington" before he came to Sodor, so that's why he has a big pride on his work

💚Duck wears that olive green tie on his left knee because he got shot at it one night, which cause a dammage that makes him waddle

💚Duck hates when someone's telling him that he does things the wrong way, like Oliver when he said this to him, he's almost going to kill him If Toad wasn't there

💚he's enjoying listening to the electro swing and dancing with it, Even though he has a disabled leg, he is one of the best dancers

💚He loves anything related to the sea, and spends all his time there relaxing and looking at the waves and relaxing himself. He also loves sailing, swimming, and diving, he also wears that shell necklace because he loves the sea

💚Duck has very rare hair and it has been like this since he was born. This means that over time his appearance has not changed at all, but it is very difficult to tie or comb it. Even James tried a lot with him until he lost his temper because, it is truly a mystery that has no solution.

💚Duck loves to drink british green tea, Sometimes he makes it by himself, sometimes Mia or Oliver makes it for him

💚he has a huge crush on Oliver and he's his husband, Even if they are cousins, they love each other, and a little crush on Donald too

💚He speaks with that west country accent that sometimes makes the ladies swoon (Especially Daisy)

💚Duck collects plastic ducklings

💚he loves singing and humming while he's working

💚Very close with Oliver and Toad, the scottish twins, Skiff, Boco,Edward, Marina(oc), Emily, Percy, Toby, Gina, @lovable-chica's oc Abby

💚good friends with Thomas, James, Henry, Daisy, Rosie, Gordon, Mia(oc), Jenny(oc), Rebecca, Nia, Lady, Molly, Bill and Ben, and very nice to everyone

💚He still feels sad and angry at Diesel after what he did to him and he told the three big engines those lies about him

[newtonsheffield]

Oh, my gosh, what was Kate's reaction to Jem being named after Frankie?? What was Frankie's reaction? 😆 Kate's like, well I guess I gotta be Prime Minister now.

Look, Kate gets it: He’s named after Josie’s twin brother who was actually the donor for both their kids. Kate gets it. Sarah’s middle name is Kate so she’s not too offended. But Frankie Bagwell is just… so much cooler than her. And she wants to be cool Auntie Kate! So yeah, she lied and said being the prime minister meant she knew Paddington Bear! She said she knows all the bears now! Winnie the Pooh, the whole gang! She lied! Because at the point, it also feels like she’d not going to get to have kids because there’s not a whole lot of guys lining up to date the Prime Minister. There’s just so much scrutiny.

But she loves her little nephew and her sweet little niece. She loves them to death and she wants them to love her too.

Frankie meanwhile was more than happy to be the donor, his sister’s always wanted to be a mum and he was more than happy to do it if it means that happens for her. As far as he’s concerned: Those are Josie and Edwina’s kids. He loves being an uncle. He loves being fun uncle Frankie. He loves taking his nephew to his tattoo shop and drawing on his arms with felt tips. Frankie just loves his twin sister, he loves his sister in law, he loves his sister’s mother in law. He even loves flirting with Edwina’s sister Kate who just rolls her eyes and flicks his nose.

“I’m just saying: We could make this a family affair for real! I could be the… Prime Minister’s boy toy!”

“You wish, Frankie.”

[petercapaldi-press]

INTERVIEW

Peter Capaldi: ‘Don’t worry, I don’t suddenly think I’m a rock star’

Sun 14 Nov 2021 10.30 CET

Michael Hogan

The actor on political corruption, the genius of Terence Davies and making a solo album in his 60s

Peter Capaldi, 63, studied at Glasgow School of Art and landed his breakthrough acting role aged 24 on the film Local Hero. He’s best known for his Bafta-winning performance as spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in political satire The Thick of It and as the 12th Doctor in Doctor Who. His film roles include The Personal History of David Copperfield, The Suicide Squad and Paddington. As a director, he won an Oscar for his 1993 short film, Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life. At art college, he was briefly in a punk band; four decades later, he is releasing his first solo album, St Christopher.

You’re releasing your debut album aged 63. How did that happen? We just set out to have some fun. My friend Dr Robert from the Blow Monkeys is a terrific musician and every year he hosts a kind of happening where disparate musicians come together for a recording session. He knew I played guitar and leaned on me to come along. It was very exciting to watch the real deal at work, so I scribbled out a song and they turned it into proper music within a day. I loved that, so with Robert’s encouragement, I had a go at writing more.

You wrote most of the songs in America, right? Yes, I was shooting the Suicide Squad film in Atlanta for four months and had a lot of downtime, so I bought a cheap electric guitar and made demos on GarageBand. I’d send them to Robert, who very sweetly rejected a whole pile of my efforts until eventually we had enough to take into the studio. We’d booked Konk Studios in Crouch End, north London, which was great because it was the Kinks’ old studio and I love Ray Davies. That was cancelled due to lockdown but we sent the demos back and forth until we had something that appeared to be an album.

Why the title St Christopher? I was always intrigued why the Catholic church got rid of Saint Christopher, who was a fabulous saint. They decided he wasn’t real but by then, it was too late because everyone liked him. The public saved him, rather like a TV talent contest. It’s a very showbiz story.

What are the album’s lyrical themes? I was in a band at art school and our obsessions back then were melancholia, punk, synthesisers, power chords, rain and being pale and interesting. I fell back into that studenty groove. Although when you’re making your first record at 63, some of rock’n’roll’s traditional subject matter is closed to you. Don’t worry, I don’t suddenly think I’m a rock star. It was just some friends doing stuff they enjoy that got a bit… elaborate.

As the Doctor alongside Pearl Mackie. Photograph: BBC/PA

Your college punk band was called the Dreamboys. That’s right, the worst possible name. We were trying for a nightmarish Kafkaesque or Dr Caligari feel, not a troupe of Chippendales-type male strippers. On drums was Craig Ferguson, who went on to become a comedian on American telly. Craig was always hilarious. A powerhouse of a drummer, too.

How successful was the band? We did OK, got our record played by John Peel and were part of a thriving scene. But after a while, we were banging our heads against a brick wall. In the old days, we’d put a song on tape, send it to a vinyl pressing plant in France, then physically take it around record shops, begging them to take a few copies. Now, technology allows anyone to put stuff out there. It’s democratised music, although it’d be nice if streaming services spread the money around.

Who are your musical influences? The usual suspects for someone of my generation: Bowie, Lou Reed, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols. At art school in 1976, we all arrived dressed as Neil Young, with long hair and army greatcoats. When the Pistols happened, we came back the next term with peroxide hair and leather trousers. OK, plastic trousers. It was only in later life that I got into Dylan and Leonard Cohen. When you’re trying to write lyrics, they’re the ones to study.

Was your Doctor Who costume partly inspired by David Bowie? Yeah, him and David Lynch, who used to do that buttoned-up white shirt thing. Another reason was I thought kids could look like the Doctor without having to spend any money. Rather than buying a costume, they could just button up their school shirt.

Your Doctor also wielded an electric guitar. Was that your idea? Between my first and second seasons, I said it’d be fun if the Doctor had a guitar to plug into the Tardis console. It was just an idea, I never dreamed it would happen. I imagined the Doctor might have invented the wah-wah pedal. We could’ve done an historical episode where he met Jimi Hendrix and introduced him to this piece of alien technology. I also thought there could be a great blues episode. When Robert Johnson meets the devil at the crossroads, the Doctor could discover something extraterrestrial going on.

What would Malcolm Tucker make of the Owen Paterson and Geoffrey Cox affairs? The whole thing is so awful, it’s beyond a joke. I wouldn’t invoke Malcolm Tucker in these circumstances. We’re in real trouble and people have to wake up to this. Actually, maybe Malcolm could shout and help wake them up to this terrible government.

Succession fans often come up to Brian Cox and ask him to tell them to fuck off. Were Thick of It fans similar? It used to happen a lot. You could say “Fuck off and get a life”, which was quite enjoyable. Sometimes they’d get me to phone up their mates and give them a bollocking. It’s great to see Brian’s success. He’s an astonishing actor.

You can sometimes hear an echo of Malcolm Tucker in Succession’s dialogue. Well, some of the writing team are Thick of It veterans. Armando Iannucci’s influence over two generations of writers and performers is immense. You can trace Succession back to him in a way.

Next up you play Siegfried Sassoon in Terence Davies’s film Benediction. What drew you to that role? Sassoon is a fascinating character and a wonderful poet but it was Terence who interested me more than anything. He’s an absolute artist who’s made some of the most amazing moments ever put on film. He’s a treasure of British cinema, a chronicler of our culture and it’s a scandal that he struggles to get finance for his not-very-expensive films. People like him should be cherished and supported.

If you had your time again, would you still be an actor? I wouldn’t change anything. I would’ve loved to be a professional musician but that would’ve also had its ups and downs, so I’m happy to be coming to it at this late stage. My life has been enormously blessed. All the side-waters and strange corners I’ve gone around have made me who I am.

St Christopher is released on 19 November by Monks Road Records. Benediction will be in cinemas early 2022.

[quirkwizard]

Sorry about that sometimes my phone glitches and gets rid of some words weird it rarely happens but it happens sometimes lol so my question was what each pro heroes favourite movie be based in their personalities

For the sake of this, I will go more with generalizations with a few examples for each of the heroes.

Fat Gum: Just any kind of feel good movie. Anything that you put on to help you feel better after a bad day and you will feel better for watching it, like the Princess Bride or Paddington.

Gang Orca: Movies where kids befriend monsters or other kinds of odd pairings, especially Free Willy and Iron Giant. Because it gives him hope that one day kids may not be scared of him.

Endeavor: I could see him really being into those rogue agents movies, such as the Dirty Hairy franchise. Just seeing a lone man taking at the worst in the world no matter what it takes.

Miruko: Basically any movie with lots of fighting, specifically a lot of hand to hand combat. She could not care less about the movie as long as there is good action, like The Raid or Nobody.

Best Jeanist: Painful climb stories. Movies where the protagonist is going through the wringer, but they are working their hardest to get what they want, like the Devil Wears Prada or Whiplash.

Edgeshot: Ironically, into a lot slower films. Dramas where it's a bunch of people talking where you can enjoy every detail of the performance, like Twelve Angry Men and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Kamui Woods: I could see him having an appreciation for legal movies, especially ones that deal with tougher subjects like To Kill a Mocking Bird and A Few Good Men.

Mount Lady: She tries to hide it, but she loves musicals. Anything with bombastic numbers she can sing along to, she is in, with her favorites being La La Land and West Side Story.

Ms. Joke: Obviously comedies, but ones that actually have some weight and commentary to them, like the Big Lebowski or Dr. Strangelove. She wants to laugh and she wants to think.

Ryukyu: Heavily into fantasy stuff. Obviously, her favorite would be choice would be the Lord of the Rings trilogy, extended versions of course, and she points all of the trivia with each of her viewings.

Hawks: This could be because he looks like a college kid, but I want to say real arty movies. Stuff that seems like it doesn't have a lot of meaning, but has more depth to it, like Mulholland Drive and Citizen Kane.

Sir Nighteye: Super critical and objective about film. The type of person who will take apart movies to find any flaws with them, with the Cornello Trilogy being his favorite given it's mix of thought and comedy.

[dandelionpixels]

doctor who hcs

favorite childrens books

ask: How about a Doctor Who headcanon for what each Doctor's favorite children's book is, and why they like it?

Nine: The Little Prince + Paddington

- The Little Prince. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly: what is essential is invisible to the eye” This one is self-explanatory, a boy traveling planet to planet, learning life lessons. Dude its HIM.

- Paddington is a big one. A little bear who had to leave everything he’s every known? Who found a second family? Nine shed real tears over that book.

Ten: Matilda + Curduroy

- Matilda. I don’t really have an explanation for this one, I just know it’s true. I also know he loves Ms. Honey and unbearable amount.

- Curduroy :’)). Ten sees himself in this book like nothing else. A lonely little bear who just wants a home and someone to love. ″This must be home,” he said. l know I’ve always wanted a home!”

Eleven: Goodnight Moon

- Goodnight moon. It really reminds him of Amy. Can’t stress enough that it’s their book. (Eleven bought her a copy one time, and wrote a message in the sleeve)

- Clifford and Curious George. One thing about 11 is that he will be obsessed with wacky animals. Curious george is honestly so entertaining to him and Clifford makes him want to cry in a good way.

Twelve: Where the Wild Things Are + The Giving Tree

- Where the wild things are. This picture is literally twelve btw. Like ohmygod he’s just a lonely little boy who wants a hot dinner and his mom and to play king.

- The giving tree. Lowkey his and Clara’s book. “And the tree was happy.” Augh he’s old and happy and tired and growing. He’s such an old oak tree y’know?

[pommedepersephone]

Just took the kids to see Paddington in Peru. While I miss Paul King's aesthetic from the first two films, I loved this story.

In an interview in Big Issue, Ben Whishaw said,

“I love that there is a quiet political message running through the films and inherent in the character. But I’m also aware that it’s easy to feel very tender towards a cartoon bear, yet we fail to extend those feelings towards other real humans. So I’m reluctant to draw too many parallels. But it’s a start. I hope that we, all of us, can improve the dialogue and the discourse around these issues of vulnerable people, I really do. And if the Paddington films contribute something to that discussion, then brilliant.”

Well Ben, my kids loved it and we sat and had a good conversation about immigration policy afterwards. The thing is that while empathy is natural to humans, we are encouraged to confine it to our own in groups, and learning to extend "us" to include people who look, talk, live differently than you takes work. Given the state of the world, it's work more of us need to do.

If you are looking for a good Paddington gift for this holiday season, the Migration Museum in London has their Migration is Not a Crime collection featuring our favorite bear.

Anyway, go see Paddington in Peru.

[fritzes]

tennis ramble idea: say one positive thing about each player in the top 40

atp:

jannik sinner: I love how committed he is to The Process and improving

carlos alcaraz: he's so positive on court but he also knows his own limits and when he can't be like that

skip

daniiil medvedev: he's very honest

novak djokovic: he's living his best life right now and really prioritizing what's most important to him, both in tennis and outside of it

taylor fritz: he proved the haters wrong!

casper ruud: even when he's struggling on court, he never takes out his frustration in a destructive way

felt a little conflicted, but I'm gonna skip

alex de minaur: he's so funny. like legitimately, every interview he gives has me chuckling

grigor dimitrov: I admire his commitment to flirting with everyone

tommy paul: his tennis is so pretty

stefanos tsitsipas: uh... his situationship with daniil is funny

holger rune: if he has opinions, he'll make them known

jack draper: his improvement this year is genuinely insane

hubi hurkacz: he unironically wears paddington slippers

I genuinely couldn't think of anything sooo skip (just one of those players I don't like for no reason)

frances tiafoe: he's just so fun and I love how friendly he is with everyone

ugo humbert: he plays piano!

ben shelton: he's so smiley and giggly when he plays doubles and I love it

arthur fils: his title runs this year are crazy impressive

karen khachanov: he peaks exclusively against francisco cerundolo

alejandro tabilo: when he's on, he's ON

SKIP

alexei popyrin: he had maybe the most iconic summer hardcourt swing ever

tomas machac: best backhand on tour for real

sebastian baez: he wins a bunch of random 250s and does nothing else and I respect him for that

jordan thompson: he's peaking in singles and doubles

felix auger-aliassime: he always has good sportsmanship and seems like such a genuinely kind persn

francisco cerundolo: he's a good sport about the h2h against karen

giovanni mpetshi perricard: his serve scares me (affectionate)

jiri lehecka: lots of my mutuals love him so by extension so do I

flavio cobolli: he's just such a cutie

nuno borges: he beat rafa in a clay final

alexander bublik: dgaf (except the times when he randomly does gaf)

matteo berrettini: doesn't seem too bothered by being cursed

nicolas jarry: his son is adorable

brandon nakashima: peaks against fellow americans and then goes into hiding for the rest of the season. truly an icon

matteo arnaldi: just a lil spider scuttling around the court

tomas martin etcheverry: I love how excited he gets to play novak

jan lennard struff: winning his first title at 33 was iconic

wta:

aryna sabalenka: she seems like such a genuinely fun person to be around

iga swiatek: she's so insanely talented, genuinely mesmerizing to watch when she's really on top of her game

coco gauff: always proving the haters wrong

jasmine paolini: her rise in the rankings this year was incredible

elena rybakina: I love her game so much, it's just so clean

jessica pegula: she's always randomly beating top players and I love that for her

zheng qinwen: medaling isn't for everyone but it is for her!

emma navarro: she keeps things interesting

daria kasatkina: the tennis world would be in shambles without her vlog

danielle collins: she's always honest and open

skip

barbora krejcikova: winning a slam and doing pretty much nothing else is quite the season to have

anna kalinskaya: may not be very good at converting championship points now but I think she has a really high ceiling

diana shnaider: has so much potential and a really nice game

jelena ostapneko: simply iconic

mirra andreeva: I love how much she's genuinely a fan of tennis and how she fangirls over players like andy murray

beatriz haddad maia: I admire her commitment to not playing straightforward matches

marta kostyuk: I really love the glimpses we get to her friendship with her coach (sandra zaniewska), they seem really close and it seems like sandra is the only one who can really communicate with her on court

donna vekic: randomly peaked during the summer and also against aryna sabalenka

victoria azarenka: she's so resilient

madison keys: she hits the ball so hard

karolina muchova: best volleys on either tour

magdalena frech: I don't know much about her, but it seems like she really broke through this year!

ludmilla samsonova: exclusively peaks against elena rybakina

linda noskova: really established herself on tour this year (also, I love her friendship with karo)

elina svitolina: her commitment to her foundation is genuinely inspiring

ekaterina alexandrova: beat iga once and disappeared for the rest of the season. you go girl

yulia putintseva: locks in so hard against top players

katie boulter: she seems so friendly with everyone

anastasia pavlyuchenkova: literally just chilling with her 2021 olympic gold and slam final

maria sakkari: WILL WIN INDIAN WELLS ONE DAY

leylah fernandez: I love her attitude both on court and off court, she seems very positive and kind to both others and herself

dayana yastremska: had quite possibly the funniest ban in all of tennis

elise mertens: doubles queen who also does really well in singles

anastasia potapova: did not let getting double bageled by iga stop her from maintaining her top 50 rank!

amanda anisimova: great comeback season, and also has some incredible powerful groundstrokes

wang xinyu: went from a last minute replacement in olympic mixed doubles to winning silver

hmm... I'm just gonna skip

marketa vondrousova: zero consistency but it doesn't matter, she literally won wimbledon

lulu sun: her wimbledon run this year was amazing