#tiny Olivier!!!

[neversetyoufree]

Oh my god baby rolivier

[crowlixcx]

David Tennant at The Olivier Awards 2024 (winner in our hearts 🧡)

[capitano-ale]

[bloopdydooooo]

i'm asking you abt your version of hamlet but you have to ask me about wtnv ghosts OR kris dreemurr, deal?

for this, i will ask you about both.

(it got too long i hid it under the read more)

ANYWAYS i had a breakthrough like. ten minutes ago cause i was thinking about how i'd put a spin on hamlet. cause i was talking w my director for romeo & juliet a while back and he said how important it is in shakespeare to have something that makes your production just a little special a little unique so people will keep coming to see it. if it's the same plays over and over presented w the same contexts and worlds and everything, no one will want to see it. (i mean i would but i'm. uh. abnormal). and i've been agonizing over what my spin on hamlet would be, were i to direct it (an idea which has taken control of my brain and will not let me go. this has become my dream in life and i'm literally an actor not a director). point is i found it.

i was thinking about Shitty College Kids hamlet and then i was suddenly struck w the passing thought of crime family. and then it kept coming back. and i think i might be a genius. hear me out:

hamlet's family, the royal family of denmark, is actually a crime family. gertrude may be the one who technically runs the show but really she's a mob wife she doesn't exactly make use of her power, instead letting her husband do it. her husband claudius, who has hamlet sr. killed and then marries his sister in law (the kind of wild bullshit i can imagine happening in a mafia movie, of which i have watched none (but will for research)) so he can take control of the family business. it adds a darker, grittier level to basically everything in the play; taking them from high society – royalty, even – to a shady crime family, and fits perfectly with my vision of the play: i crave violence in hamlet, and i think he deserves some blood and gore. its enrichment for him. with a modern take we can give him a gun to kill polonius with, shooting him through something more significant than a curtain (i wouldn't do a mirror obviously but hamlet (2009) i fucking love you for that) and the stakes are all heightened when bullets get involved. plus it really pushes the whole bit where hamlet is sent off to england (and would, i guess, be someone else's territory?), because in this everyone would know he was going to his death. there would be no naivety, no shock horror when he says he was sent to his doom, just people standing by and watching as this kid is sentenced to death. 5.2 is a knife fight, quick and dirty and scrappy – none of the class of a rapier duel – and it raises the stakes a lot. there are rules and regulations in swordfighting, not so much in a rage fueled knife fight. hamlet, in the end, stabs his uncle with either his or laertes' blade but im thinking his. there is no poison it is just a brutal, bloody slaughter. it gives me the darkness and violence i've been hungering for but were harder to push for in the context of a castle, of high society. they still have the power, the influence, but they're taken to a place where i can have all the grit my heart desires without it feeling out of place.

it also makes relationships between characters so much more interesting. hamlet, for example, is still a scholar, a highly emotional college kid who talks in flowery prose and has a passion for theater, but now he's supposed to be inheriting the Family Business and not a kingdom, where all his gayboy bullshit wouldn't be very out of place. it pushes him further as an outsider, as someone that people would turn against, would throw to the wolves. who does that make horatio? hamlet's friend from school, maybe tangentially related to the family but only really through hamlet? how about ophelia? daughter of the councilor to the 'king', is she actually someone that they would want hamlet to marry? and what to make of laertes, who seems to abandon denmark for france? he comes back and is almost instantly accepted back into the inner circle despite having requested leave and happily departed, is claudius gunning for him to take hamlet's place as next in line? rosencrantz and guildenstern? clearly hamlet's friends from within the business they're also at his university, did they follow him there or did they all happen to find themselves in the same place? we're there greased palms to get them in? what about hamlet? and gertrude! the family line ascends through her, it must or claudius wouldn't need to marry her to get the power, but she shows no real desire to exercise it, even when her son is in danger. what's her deal, what's her story? she must have one, she's a fascinating person.

tl;dr the version of hamlet i've been craving is apparently a mob boss au. and you know what? it's awesome.

also. consider the costuming opportunities. they are infinite, and they are fabulous.

i have so many more thoughts but sadly it is 3am and they will not all form properly so i will leave it at this

[littlebear1537]

Little Bear thoughts

When Sam first was assigned to Fort Briggs - They told no one about being a chimera- One mission, they were somewhat forced to shift- it was out of pure rage and they couldn't control it. That was the second time they transformed and still didn't know how to do it on command. Afterwards- Olivier decided it was best to train.

They had to stay in their bear form for most of the day unless it was unsafe. AND WHAT'S FUNNY IS JUST SEEING A WEIRD LOOKING BEAR WALKING AROUND THE FORT- My favourite mental image is just a bear using an elevator GLKJFDSLGK;DSJFG-

Also- since their bear form wasn't full controlled by them at this point- the bear had basically full control when they were in this form. So it was also a trust process for the bear. But because of past experience with Olivier, their bear form already had a sense of comfort WHICH SAM THOUGHT WAS LOST DUE TO WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN THEM AND OLIVIER- so I have the mental image of this bear getting tired and just going up to Olivier and resting their head on her lap- THE LOOK OF CONFUSION- I NEED TO DRAW THIS NOW- GKLFDJSGLKDFG

[zorahiire]

Doodle dump 3

Some doodles of nc chrs :)

[leucisticpuffin]

On a summer evening in Rivendell, Elrond's little family are busy designing a sensory-play room for the twins. (If Elrond ends up hiding in there too after stressful councils, no one's going to say anything.)

For Day 5 of @elrondweek (a little late because of absent-mindedness...) Please click on it to see all the details!!

A lot of research went into this painting (and a lot of thought about how you'd crease a multisensory environment in a fantasy world with no electricity for pretty lights and bubble lamps) so here are some notes and headcanons:

Lighting: A number of elves who studied under Feanor later lived in Middle-earth (especially Eregion) and continued making crystal lamps and light-altering gemstones. The crystals in the small jar are a kind which glows for several hours after being “charged” with sunlight. They are used for decoration and in situations where a flame would be impractical or dangerous, e.g. a child-safe nightlight. 

Light projection jars: Glass jars decorated with colours and patterns. When a light crystal is placed in the jar, the colours are projected across the floor or wall. (Elladan and Elrohir are still a little young to be trusted with heavy glass jars, so for now these will be kept in a locked chest and used with adult supervision). 

Fabrics: Samples of cloth with lots of interesting colours and textures for the kids to choose from. Some (like the star cloth Elrohir is admiring) will be draped from the walls or ceiling of the sensory room to create a dark, cosy environment, and others made into blankets, cushions, etc. 

Star cloth: Cloth embroidered with tiny, faintly-glowing gems, resembling the night sky. First created in Valinor by a member of the textiles guild, it was popular among older elves who wanted to remember the skies of Middle-earth. It was expensive and difficult to make, and fell out of fashion when the Noldor left Valinor. The craft was revived in second-age Eregion, and easier methods of making it were developed. 

Toys: Elladan is playing with a painted wooden rain-shaker. Other sensory toys pictured include a colourful spinning top and a set of tactile wooden balls. They’re gathering a collection to keep in the boys’ toy-chest. Elrohir prefers the tactile objects, while Elladan likes any toy that makes a noise.

Room decor: Inspired by Art Nouveau aesthetics. The rug is based on an antique Donegal carpet, and the wallpaper on Arts and Crafts designs. 

Clothing: Inspired by paintings and antique garments: the twins and Celebrian are (loosely) based on paintings by John Singer Sargent and Henry Arnould Olivier, while Elrond’s robes are based on a 1905 House of Worth tea gown.

There are a number of flowers and plants in this painting; their meanings in flower language are as such: 

Bonsai pear tree: comfort

Irises (in the stained-glass window): wisdom

A vase of white lilacs: joy of youth, youthful innocence

Traveller’s joy (in the patterned wallpaper): safety

Primroses (Elladan’s hairpin and the embroidery on the twins’ dresses): early youth

Daisies (Elrohir’s shoes): innocence

Forget-me-nots (Celebrian’s dress): true love

Lily-of-the-valley (Elrond’s hairpin): sweetness, return of happiness

[spectersgirl]

what if harvey specter’s wife worked from home and has a last minute work emergency, so harvey had to take their daughter to work? hope that made sense 😭.

I loved this prompt! I changed it eeeever so slightly but it doesn't affect the overall product. I'm working on making these longer which does mean that it'll take me longer between posts but I'm hoping length makes up for it?? Or maybe this is too long. Idk. I've been writing it for daysssss. I think I don't love the end quarter or so, but I wanted to get it out there. Also I decided to name the daughter, I'm not sure how I feel about doing that versus just using Y/D/N so let me know what you all think? I'd use a different name each time I wrote something with a daughter in it so that it doesn't feel like a series or the same character in different universes.

-----

Work with Dad

Harvey Specter x Reader (except you're barely in it lol)

You rolled over at the sound of your phone buzzing incessantly on the nightstand, fumbling for it and answering sleepily.

"Hello? Oh shit, okay I'm on my way." Immediately, you got up and began rushing around to get ready.

"Who's that?" Harvey mumbled, having woken up to your call.

"Work, there's an emergency and I have to go take care of it. I know you have to work but, I can't take Olivia with me to the restaurant and my parents work today... Do you think you could bring her with you?"

Harvey sighed, knowing you were right. It would be easier for him to bring the four-year-old with him to his office as opposed to the very high-end restaurant you ran. Normally on the days you worked away from the house Olivia was in preschool, but today wasn't a school day for her.

"Yeah, that's fine. I have a pretty easy day today, and it's been a while since she's seen everyone anyway." He said, getting out of bed himself and heading to take a shower.

You quickly yelled to him before you left, thanking him for taking one for the team.

Once Harvey finished his shower, he pulled a suit from the closet and put the dress shirt and pants on, opting to leave his suit jacket off for now, knowing he'd likely have to do some wrangling of a certain toddler. As he had this thought, tiny footsteps sounded down the hall toward the bedroom.

"Hi Daddy" Said the tiny voice of his daughter as she ran toward him, arms in the air.

"Good morning princess! How'd you sleep?" He asked, lifting her with ease and kissing her cheek.

"Good, where's Mama?" She asked, knowing the two of you normally got ready together each morning. She was pretty damn smart for her age, and Harvey knew this fact would get him into trouble someday.

"Mama had to go take care of something at work, but guess what? You get to spend the day with Daddy at the firm!" He told her excitedly, raising his eyebrows.

Olivia was hesitant at first, she didn't know exactly what it was that her dad did every day, but she saw him on his computer a lot, and that didn't seem very exciting to her. She was about to protest this, but then she remembered some of her most favorite people worked with her dad.

"Can we see Mike and Rachel?" She asked.

Harvey laughed, nodding.

"And Donna?"

"And Donna." He confirmed with a smile. "You wanna get dressed so we can go see them?"

Immediately, she began squirming to get down from his grasp. Harvey obliged, following the girl to her room to help her pick out an outfit. She eventually elected for her favorite pink dress with flowers, and Harvey approved, finding her a pair of shoes to match.

A short while later, Harvey and Olivia were headed up to the Pearson Specter offices. She couldn't stop talking about how excited she was to see everyone, and Harvey had to keep reminding her that they had work to do and that they might not be able to be with her as much as she had hoped. Harvey had packed a day's worth of activities in a backpack to keep the little girl occupied in his office, and hopefully out of everyone else's business.

The elevator doors opened, and Olivia nearly pulled Harvey's arm out of the socket trying to get to her favorite people as fast as she could. He scooped her up into his arms, foiling her plans. She adorably crossed her arms in frustration, making Harvey chuckle as he walked toward his office.

"We just have to drop our stuff off in Dad's office first, then we can go see your friends, okay baby?"

She agreed, understanding that the quicker she cooperated, the quicker she got what she wanted.

Harvey put all their stuff down in a small pile on the couch in his office, telling himself he'd deal with it later. He knew Donna wouldn't be in for a little longer as he was earlier today than he normally was, but Mike and Rachel were more than likely already hard at work.

"Alright princess, wanna go see Mike?"

Her eyes went so wide Harvey thought they'd pop out of her head. He laughed and opened his door, pointing down the hall and following as she ran ahead of him. She nearly missed his door she was going so fast, but stopped herself when she noticed him seated at his desk.

"Knock before you go in, Liv" Harvey reminded the girl, grinning when her tiny fist tapped the glass of Mike's office door.

He looked up, not seeing her at first and waving Harvey in and looking back down at his stack of papers.

"You're in early, something wrong?" "MIKE!!!" Olivia yelled, startling the junior partner before realizing what was going on.

"Livi! How's my favorite Specter?" He asked, getting out of his chair to lift her into a bear hug.

She giggled uncontrollably until he set her back down.

"Well, I'd be offended but she happens to be pretty cool, so I'll let you have that." Harvey said, grinning as he watched his daughter run in circles around Mike's office while he chased her. There wasn’t much space in the junior partner's office, so the chase didn’t last very long.

"Where's Rachel?" Olivia wondered out loud. Mike kneeled down to her level.

"Rachel has school in the mornings, so she won't be here for a little bit longer." Mike explained, but this only confused her further.

"But... isn't Rachel a grown-up?" She asked, making Harvey and Mike smile.

"She's in law school, baby. Some grown-ups go to extra school so they can do their special jobs. Daddy went to law school too, and Mama went to business school and cooking school." Harvey explained.

“Did Mike to go extra school?” Olivia asked

Harvey and Mike share a look before looking back at Olivia.

“Mike’s a long story.” Harvey said.

Olivia seemed to be satisfied, or she stopped caring about his answer. Either way, she nodded and continued laughing and playing with Mike while her dad stood off to the side, only a little offended that she hardly even remembered he was still standing there.

He looked down at his watch, noting the time and figuring Donna was probably at her desk by now.

"Liv, do you want to go see if we can find Donna?" Harvey asked, and the little girl screamed like she was at a Taylor Swift show, jumping up and down with pure glee.

"Did she get this excited to see me?" Mike asked. Harvey chuckled, shaking his head.

"Not even close, sorry Mike. C'mon kid, let's go" Harvey said, lifting Olivia high in the air and onto his shoulders, holding tightly as he walked.

"Oh Donna, I have a surprise for you," Harvey said over the sounds of his daughter's laughter.

"Well, I wonder what the surprise could be! Hmmm, is it a pony? Oh a pony wouldn’t fit in the elevator… Maybe you should give me a hint." She said facetiously, acting as if she had no idea Olivia was there.

"It's me!" Olivia yelled, unable to keep the ‘surprise’ of her presence in any longer.

"Oh it’s Olivia! Hi beautiful! That’s a way better surprise than a pony!" Donna exclaimed. "How'd you get so lucky to come to work with your dad?"

"Her mama had a work emergency so daddy got to take her in with him, huh Liv?" Harvey explained, and Donna nodded in understanding.

Olivia nodded, smiling down at both Donna and her dad, still up high on his shoulders. She reached her arms toward Donna, so Harvey lowered her to the floor. Donna quickly scooped her up and placed her on her hip, giving the girl hugs and exaggerated cheek kisses.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, who let you get so big?”

Olivia pointed at Harvey, smiling happily.

“Umm no ma’am, I specifically told you to stop growing, if it were up to me you’d still be my tiny little baby.” Harvey said, poking her side playfully. She giggled, pushing his hands away with her tiny ones.

"Have you had fun so far Livi?" Donna asked, and Olivia smiled and nodded profusely.

"I ran down the hall soooo fast and Mike chased me in his office and then me and Daddy found you!"

"Wow Olivia! That sounds like a really cool morning!" A voice said from behind. Everyone turned to see none other than Jessica strutting down the hall.

Harvey knew Jessica wouldn’t particularly love the idea of his four year old daughter hanging around in his office all day, but he also knew there was nothing else he could do. He was a parent above anything else, so he was going to do what he had to do.

“Livi, do you remember Jessica?” Harvey asked.

Olivia nodded, a bright smile on her face.

“It’s great to see you again cutie” Jessica said with a smile of her own.

“Look I know you’re probably mad but-“

“Harvey relax, I’m not mad. Just as long as she doesn’t get into anything she shouldn’t, she's welcome here." Jessica stated, easing Harvey's mind. He nodded in understanding and watched as she walked back to her office.

"Alright Liv, I've got some work to do in my office and I brought you some fun stuff to do while I work. Maybe later we can come back out and see Donna if she's not too busy, alright?"

Olivia huffed in disappointment, but she knew better than to fight with her dad. He placed his hands out to grab her from Donna, who regrettably handed her over. She had known the little girl since before she was even born, and she loved her like she was her own blood.

Harvey was actually able to get some work done, and Olivia enjoyed her time coloring in her coloring books and playing with the toys her dad had packed for her. Soon enough, she was hungry for lunch and Harvey took her into the kitchen to retrieve the lunchable he had brought her. Eventually, she grew tired and ready for her nap. When Harvey looked over at his couch after a suspiciously long period of silence, he saw her fast asleep. He smiled, standing and taking his suit jacket off, draping it over her small frame. She napped this way for about an hour, and when she woke up, she was overjoyed to learn that Rachel had finally come to the office.

"Rachel!!!" Olivia yelled in the doorway of Rachel's office, and she was quick to run in for a hug.

"Livi! Hi cutie! I heard you were here today, I couldn't wait to get done with school so I could see you!" Rachel said as she scooped the little girl up for a big hug. Olivia wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck happily.

"Do you have fun at big girl school?" Olivia asked.

"Law school is very different from normal school, so it's a lot harder, but it's what I love doing so that makes it fun!" Rachel explained.

"Do you get to color there?"

"No, theres no coloring. There's lots of reading and talking to other students and learning though!"

"I think I like my school better, we get to color and play and sing!"

This made Rachel laugh, and nod her head.

"Keep it that way as long as you can girly." Rachel said.

"Liv, it's almost time to go home. You wanna come say goodbye to everyone?" Harvey interrupted from the doorway.

Olivia nodded sadly, crossing the room to take her father's outstretched hand.

"Bye Rachel, have fun in big girl school."

"I will, bye Livi"

Harvey led her back through the office, stopping at everyone's offices so she could say her goodbyes, stopping at Donna's desk last. She gave the red-haired woman the biggest hug she could, Donna was her most favorite person after all.

When Olivia got home, she was thrilled to find her mom was there waiting for her and Harvey with dinner in the oven. She couldn't resist telling her mother about every last detail of her thrilling day at her dad's job.

"Well that's exciting! It sounds like you were a good little employee for daddy" You mused, looking up at Harvey with a grin.

"She's the best damn paralegal I've ever had. Might just have to hire her" Harvey joked.

"Does that mean I have to go to big girl school? That sounds really not fun."

You and Harvey laughed.

"Baby, if you don't want to go to big girl school we can talk about that when you're older." You reassured.

"You think with that attitude she has she won't want to be a lawyer like her old man?" Harvey said, smirking.

"Oh, she'll want to be in debate before she hits high school."

[leviscolwill]

rating france nt's fits because i have a better style than them

marcus thuram - 4/10

what the hell is going on there ? i like the jacket but his tshirt is so corny (it says "stop copying me you're not even doing it right'), the jeans are okay but the chains ??? and idk how to feel abt that cap tbh

lucas hernandez 3/10

first off points deduction bc i don't like him. now we can talk about the elephant in the room... what are those shoes ?? other than that he didn't take much risk with the outfit, it's very basic. but still take off the beanie it doesn't look good

olivier giroud 7/10

dad! what a nice surprise! he usually pulls the worst outfits out of his closet but i like this one. again not many risks were taken but when you have this face do you really need to ? the slim jeans need to go tho i'm begging

eduardo camavinga 9/10

ate (almost) everyone up here, it's hard to pull off bright green like that but he slayed so hard. point deducted for the glasses and the jeans might be a tiny bit too baggy but it's okay baby, come home now

ousmane dembele 6/10

not much to say, i don't think i would've chosen this colour for the shoes but whatever floats your boat darling. looks like a man who's got his life together, makes you wonder if he's a stay at home dad or a footy player

antoine griezmann 6/10

not bad but not good either. i like the matching shoes but i know he can do better. (comeback soon pls dad)

kylian mbappe 7/10

why is he making that face idk, but the fit is okay, pure dictator fashion as per. the tns (they're tns right ??) are making him a nice dictator tho !

jules kounde 8/10

similarly to the ugly hernandez brother, he actually gets a bonus because i'm in love with him. i always love a good overalls look ! and the green/yellow??? jacket + bucket hat is a nice risk (can't tell if i like it for now) but the moon boots ??? take them off i'm begging

ibrahima konate 10/10

he's serving face, body, looks, everything. love myself a good décolleté moment. love the asymmetrical jacket and the all black look is nicely done.

aurelien tchouameni 11/10

THE REAL WINNER TODAY ‼️ i love everything about this outfit, i want to kiss him so bad that's not eben funny anymore. the lego hands tho, you can tell he hangs out w jude too much

okay that's it bye, don't take it too seriously <3

[littlebear1537]

THIS IS MY FAVOURITE THING I'VE SEEN ALL DAY OH MY GOSH-

I AM CACKLING AT THIS-

{editing this because I forgot to guess who drew which one-}

OK OK- 1 is Thea - 2 is Casther - and 3 is Val-

Olivier, no one is a gifted artist like the Armstrong family..

Leave your guess on who drew which one in the tags/comments!

[neversetyoufree]

Gnawing at the bars of my cage wondering what personal hatred Olivier is referring to here.

Does he mean hatred is "the reason he's standing here now" as in it's the reason he's reached his current point in life? The reason he's stayed with the chasseurs and become a paladin? Or does he mean "the reason he's standing here now" as in the reason he's still alive?

He brings up his own relationship to hatred in the context of people clinging to it for their very survival, but he also dismisses his own feelings as "trivial," so I can see an argument for either way.

Olivier sees himself in pre-trauma Astolfo, which means he must have grown up relatively privileged and comfortable. The tiny glimpse we've seen of his childhood seems to support that. What desperate straits did he end up in that forced him to rely on hatred? Was it despite or because of that privilege? Despite or because of his involvement with the chasseurs? He doesn't seem that intense in his hatred for vampires (not relative to some other chasseurs, anyway), and we've yet to see him express particular dislike for anyone besides when he got into a fight with Gano over cruelty to Astolfo, so it could be almost anyone that he's talking about here.

I was never that interested in Olivier before these chapters came out, but MAN I'm curious about his history now.

[kimjimagery]

This art was base of a illustration for the 2024 calendar drawn by Olivier Schwartz. https://x.com/siondanse/status/1822956767375937539

I thought it was the prefect scenario for Zantafio.

But I did stop at just a drawing; I written a short short story to go with it!

Zantafio Inferno

By KimJ

“Where am I? How did I get here?” Zantafio says to himself as he walks through a mysterious cave, he doesn't remember how he got there the last thing he remembers was he was carrying the Marsupilami that he knocked out with a tranquilizer and ran off with it leaving Spirou and Fantasio to get attacked by the jungle animals, then something hit him in the head and when he came to he became dizzy and then attacked by the natives who ambushed him in the density of the jungle and now all of a sudden he finds himself in the cave.  

“I must have run in here to escape them,”  he thought and continued to wander looking for a way out, he saw a light at the end of the cave and quickly ran to it but as he got closer and closer the stench of brimstone assaulted his nostrils as he stumbled through the cave. 

When he finally ran out he was met with the terrifying sight. A smoke filled sky, a landscape of jagged, molten rock, lava, and the sounds of tormented souls echoing through the desolate air. And the air was filled with an infernal heat. He saw a colossal, fiery gate, and etched upon it, were the words "Welcome to Hell."

His heart, pounding like a war drum, nearly burst from his chest. “This can’t be real!” Zantafio Exclaimed.

All of a sudden the gates opened up on their own like it was beckoning him to enter. Zantafio immediately turned around and made a mad dash back the way he came only to be met with a fiery gust of hot wind pushing him back to the gate and through it. Zantafio tumbles on the ground as the gate closes shut. 

"Well, well, Look what the flames dragged in!" A voice bellowed.

Zantafio got up to see two giant figures towering over him. “No! it can’t be!” Zantafio said to himself in disbelief.

Before him stood devilish versions of his arch-enemies, Spirou and Fantasio. Red skin, eyes burning with infernal flames, wings, horns, and pitch forks.

"Welcome to Hell, Zantafio," Spirou sneered, his voice dripping with malice as he they greeted Zantafio with a sinister laughter.

"We've been expecting you." Fantasio boomed, his voice a thick, echoing rumble. 

Zantafio stared at them, fear gripping him like an icy hand around his throat. How could this be? He had never done anything so bad... or had he? He couldn't remember.

"I never did anything... wrong," he stammered, his voice trembling.

"Wrong?" the devil-Spirou chuckled, a sound that was like nails scraping against a chalkboard.

"Everything you did in your life, every little transgression, every selfish act and misdeeds, greed and hatred, it all led you here!"

 Zantafio’s face went pale as he remembered all of the things he had done in his past and gulped.

“And now that you're here we can have some fun”  Fantasio chuckled menacingly as he snapped his fingers.

A tiny, demonic creature scurried out from the shadows, its fur red and its eyes glowing. It was a demon version of Spip, the squirrel, only now it was a being of pure malice. The little devil-Spip snarled, its tiny teeth bared in a threatening snarl. It lunged, its claws extended, aimed straight for Zantafio, and bit him on his ankles Zantafion cried out in agony.

Then more rustling sounds interrupted his despair. Zantafio’s eyes widened as he saw a fearsome sight around him swarms of mini-devil squirrels, each one brandishing pitchforks and devilish grins.

“No!” Zantafio shrieked, backpedaling frantically, but his retreat was futile. With surprising speed, Spip and his hellish entourage charged at their prey, chattering with malevolence. Zantafio’s heart raced as the tiny devils leaped upon him, biting his ankles and nipping at his shins, the sharp little bites clawing and ripping his clothes and stabbing him with their little pitchforks.

“Look at him!” Spirou mocked, leaning against a molten rock as he roared with laughter. “Poor Zantafio, brought down by a bunch of furry squirrels!”

The heckling continued as the demon-like squirrels swarmed Zantafio.

“Get them off! Get them off!” Zantafio screamed. He began to run to get away from the demons. He tried to fight back, but the little devils were too quick, agile, and numerous. He was helpless, overwhelmed, the demonic squirrels attacking him in a hellish frenzy.

He continued to run until he couldn't take the pain any longer and fell to the ground and shield himself in a fetal position hoping to protect himself as best as he could from the little demons.

Spirou and Fantasio were doubled over, their laughter echoing the fiery landscape.

"Oh, Zantafio," the devil-Spirou cackled, his voice dripping with sadistic delight. "This is just the beginning.”

“You have a lot more to experience here. And you have all of eternity to look forward to” said Fantasio Grinning maniacally.

The laughter continued, echoing in Zantafio's ears, the cackle of the devil squirrels fading into a gruesome chorus. Their laughter echoed through the abyss, a cruel symphony that shattered Zantafio's hope. He realized that his torment was endless, a never-ending cycle of suffering.

Zantafio's body convulsed violently as he continued to shield himself against the relentless assault. But his resistance was futile. The devils held him captive, their power overwhelming.

As the pain reached its peak, Zantafio'yelled out one final scream.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Then Zantafio woke up, he was drenched in sweat. His heart pounded as he looked around he noticed that he was back in the jungle.

A sharp sting was in his back and he reached behind him to remove whatever it was as he pulled it out and brought it up to his face he noticed that it was a dart from those natives that attacked them no doubt it was a poison tip dart but thankfully it wasn't poisonous enough to kill him for that he was thankful.

Zantafio looked around and realized that he was in a small ditch-like hole, he must have stumbled in there to hide from the attacking natives and luckily it worked. Zantafio leaned back against the walls with a sigh of relief remembering the nightmare he just had and chalked it up to the hallucination brought on by the poison. 

One thing is for sure he is still alive to scheme for another day. And one way or another he will find a way to seek revenge on Spirou and Fantasio and get rich in the process.

THE END

Art and Story © KimJ

Characters © Dupuis

[yamy-brett]

Jeremy Created a Detailed Past For Sherlock Holmes

During a 1991 NPR Interview Jeremy spoke about how Laurence Olivier taught him to always develop a backstory for any character he played as it would greatly enhance the actor's portrayal. It would be an understatement to say that Olivier was an expert at this technique.

Jeremy said, in the 1991 interview, that he created a very detailed past for Sherlock:

"...his nanny...; for example, she was covered in starch. She probably scrubbed him, but never kissed him. I don’t think he probably saw his mother until he was about eight…. Probably he didn’t actually see his father until he was twelve. I guess college days were fairly complicated because he was quite isolated. He probably saw a girl across the quadrangle and fell in love, but she never looked at him… so he closed that door. And he became a brilliant fencer… and a master at boxing…and many more tiny little details which I have to kind of make-up to fill this kind of well… that Doyle so brilliantly left out. To bring it off the printed page for myself, I invented little stories about… the loneliness of his university days, of his brilliance at sports, and his total removal from any kind of social activity… everything to bring a bit more illumination.” (NPR Interview 1991)

[starlightseraph]

i, in a moment of weakness, unblocked one of the major rpf bloggers just to see how they would turn the sweet, loving smiles and pictures of the olivier awards into some intricate web of secret relationships and abusive partners, and i was not disappointed.

i think the months during which tumblr was flooding my dash with an endless stream of these posts (despite my attempts at blocking) had desensitised me to all of the genuinely awful things that get posted. i thought it was weird and gross, but i’d lost sight of just how completely tinfoil hat insane it is.

case and point:

HUH? what??

that is not what this looks like to any reasonable person. what it does look like is a conversation between them, during which georgia signals (with some urgency) that another person is trying to make it through behind them. she gestures that they need to move, and david notices. anna, facing the aisle, sees this person clearly, and tries to guide michael out of their way. michael, not quite sure where the person is, backs up first, before realising that he blocked their way more.

there. what the rpf people seem to think is michael’s agitation really only looks like he’s trying to move out of someone’s way, without being able to see them, while in the middle of a conversation. i do that head-to-one-side-then-to-the-other move whenever i’m in that situation. idk how they got “recoiling” from anna. georgia is clearly pointing to people, not desperately flapping around to get david’s attention.

i’ve watched this video several times. to form my initial opinion, to screen record, and to clip the recording. i looked out for specific instances the rpf blog mentioned, including a barely there “slap” of georgia’s hand in the first fraction of a second of the video, and i see nothing but perfectly normal body language for people standing in an aisle in a crowded room. you can quite literally see her hand formed into a pointing position, with one finger towards the group and another directing towards the isle. like it’s literally right there in the video, she’s pointing.

and here, a lovely group photo. except…

am i genuinely losing my ability to read people??because they look fine. not like they’re the most comfortable and free they’ve ever been, but they are at a crowded, televised awards show and they probably have limited time to take photos. ughhggg

then, this:

for the first screenshot, there’s a third distinct possibility: she’s poking fun at him. do these people really not understand banter in a relationship?? i would happily post about my loved ones or see them post about me with a “don’t encourage them” joke. playful annoyance and insults are super healthy, and from the way david sticks to his point in the video from georgia’s story, i’d guess he’s responding in a “watch me” way. as long as no one feels undervalued, which david’s firing back would suggest he doesn’t, it’s fine.

for the second: i cannot even imagine what would possess someone to edit a happy photo of a husband and wife, remove the wife, and edit in someone else. it has the same vibe of obsessed teenagers sticking cutouts of their own faces over photos of band members. especially with the blog’s caption, it feels like they’re implying that georgia is an annoyance or dead weight in david’s public life. she’s his wife, she deserves to be with him publicly whenever they want.

at the very least, find some real pictures of david and michael together to use as fuel for this dumpster fire.

the aforementioned rpf blog that i unblocked has spoken many times about how she’s autistic and can have trouble interpreting nonverbal cues. i can’t help but wonder if these analysis posts are, to some extent, an overcompensation, overlooking the simple explanation in favour of something complex. or maybe these people don’t have a good frame of reference for normal relationships, or they’ve spent so much time in an online echo chamber, originally spurned by some tiny notion, that they’ve forgotten how real people interact.

i’m neurodivergent myself (though not the more commonly recognised autism or adhd; i have other conditions that fall under neurodivergence). the result is that i’m hyper vigilant and often paranoid. in middle school, people would call me sherlock because i’d notice things that let me predict behaviour or work out the details of a person’s recent activities by looking at them. i’ve always found it very easy to read people and situations, and, from experience, i’m almost always right. i’ve never tried to do this, it just kind of happens subconsciously, and has for all my life. i generally don’t talk about these observations because i’ve creeped people out more than a few times by offering pens before they’ve realised they’ve lost theirs or dodging objects while facing another direction. but here i feel my observations can hold value coming from someone who has no trouble interpreting social interactions and with high situational awareness.

i really am just baffled by the insanity of all of this. “reaching” and “doing too much” come to mind. if david and georgia and anna and michael wanted us to know or say something, they would tell us. explicitly. if they really wanted people to think something, they would actually portray themselves that way, and not in a secret, can’t-hide-their-true-feelings way.

i’ve sighed so many times while writing this.

i’m actually quite proud of myself for going this long without unblocking them; when i see something i consider to be a batshit train wreck, i find it very hard to look away and i’ve gotten sucked into hate-reading many things in the past. not that i hate these blogs (although i do find their behaviour unacceptable and very confusing), but that’s the best descriptor i could come up with lol

anyways, all i really want is for the four of them to be happy and free from the amateur tmz reporters. ideally, this stuff will never reach them or have any impact on their lives, but it could, and that’s the most concerning thing to me. even if they are unhappy, i can’t imagine that seeing strangers saying that their misery is so obvious would be any less than horrible.

such brazen speculation is disrespectful to them, their privacy, and their agency to make good personal choices and share information responsibly. if they don’t tell us, they don’t want us to know, and it’s really as simple as that.

[thealogie]

"Tennant’s grace makes it easy to see the contours of the action: he never fusses. Yet there is nothing broad-brush about his interpretation. His gathering determination is made up of tiny unforced moments. The pause when he says the king will leave his castle the following day — «as he purposes» — is perfectly judged; no more than a hover of hesitation that summons a cloud, without exposing his intention. As he gains purpose his eyes seem to change shape, to narrow into shiftiness.

Jumbo’s Lady Macbeth brims with radiant energy: she goes for the big job because she simply can’t help driving on. Yet doubt always shadows her: when she declares «the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures», she is not rebuking her husband’s fear but challenging her own. Both make the verse sound startlingly of the moment, not by adding but by seeming to strip back: to focus on what is really there. Or is it?"

The Guardian continues to heap praises a week in, I'm tentatively smelling an Olivier at last. Or do I...

Bad ending: he gets snubbed again

True ending: he loses to Michael Sheen

Best ending: they both lose to Brian Cox but Cush Jumbo does win an Olivier

[tindome-art]

Isodora Belladonna af Wrede, former Master of the Tempel-fort Sanctum, in the larp campaign world of Sanctera.

Until, well, the Dragon appeared, rifts to the Netherworld/literal hell opened, demons flooded out and made the world their second playground. The Fair Folk said "bollocks to this", withdrew into Sideways and closed all doors behind them, eight out of nine gods were killed except of course The Betrayer. The Templars and the licensed magicians were killed and scattered, and Tempel-fort Sanctum was dragged down into hell.

I played Isodora before all of that, before she became Master of Sanctum, and this small larp was set ten years after everything went to, literally, hell. So she's more worn, more pissed off and at the start, more homeless than a decade ago. But she held fast to the "holy blue" of the garments, as they became dirtier and more worn, and during this tiny larp, she got back a lot: Her brother, her hope, and a long-term goal.

Lux: "Oh, yeah, Sanctum's still down there, I didn't die when it was dragged down, I've just been in the blood games arena." Isodora: "My fort!!! ...hey, everyone, we're going to hell. First we'll free Lux, then we'll drag Sanctum back up. What do you mean, 'how'? Figure it out!"

Let the fight against the demons, not just in the back foot, but pushing forward, begin!

Also yes she was heavily influenced by Olivier Mira Armstrong because Olivier is boss. And Isodora is a 100% badass, evidenced not only by her way of making people follow here by sheer willpower, badassitude and charisma, but also by her punching demons in the face when they try to make her do their bidding. (I am strongly biased.)