#very fun at comic con last year to have a friend the same height as me and a tall friend cosplay together

[nat-20s]

Me for several years: worst part of being single is I can't do couples cosplay

Me in my twenties realizing that I can just have tall friends to couples cosplay with me: >:)

[liunaticfringe]

(via Lucy Liu's Independent Woman - Interview Magazine)

There have been many great sidekick pairings in the history of modern literature. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet…the list goes on. Yet, it seems there has never been a delightfully tumultuous relationship that comes close to echoing the one embodied by rogue detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend and assistant Dr. John Watson. Written in the form of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the opium-den loving Holmes would terrorize London with his intellectual, astute, and stubborn prowess, with Dr. Watson providing medical expertise and chronicling their entertaining exploits along the way.

Doyle’s works have now long been entered into the public domain, with many film and television adaptions cropping up every few years. Still, when CBS announced in 2012 that it would be turning Doyle’s works into an hour-long crime-drama series titled Elementary, it elicited an unusually high response—this was mostly due to the news that a woman would, in fact, be portraying Watson. Her name would be Joan, not John. And she’s now a fallen from grace surgeon-turned-sober companion and private detective, forfeiting her “Dr.” title in the process. The woman chosen to take on this exciting, contemporary role of Joan Watson was none other than seasoned actress Lucy Liu.

Liu, who’s best known for her roles as a fierce and ill-mannered lawyer in Ally McBeal, an ass-kicking “angel” in the rebooted Charlie’s Angels, and an equally ass-kicking bad girl in the Kill Bill series, certainly provides the yin to the yang of Jonny Lee Miller’s gritty portrayal of Holmes. Elementary chronicles the duo’s relationship as they consult for the NYPD on various criminal cases while living in a shared brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Initially starting off in Season One as a substance-free friend to the fresh-out-of-rehab Holmes with a keen interest in solving crimes, Watson quickly transformed into a sharp and observant right-hand woman who now clearly has the aptitude to work on her own. And it appears she’ll be doing just that—the end of Season Two left viewers witnessing Watson’s decision to move out of the brownstone and start a new career as a solo private detective, seemingly fed-up with Holmes’ erratic behavior.

The warm and delightful Liu recently called up Interview from her home in New York City to discuss Elementary’s upcoming third season.

DEVON IVIE: Were you on set today?

LUCY LIU: I was running around like a maniac, yeah. It’s beautiful today, it started getting a little bit cooler again. But of course I’ve been bitten by the two mosquitos that are still alive in New York City.

IVIE: I know you were recently at New York Comic Con. How was it?

LIU: It was amazing. It’s such a spectator place. Not only do you get super fans, but you also get people who are curious and inventive and imaginative. It’s fun.

IVIE: Did you run into any cosplayers dressed as Joan Watson?

LIU: Oh, no, I don’t know about that. That’s funny! We did a panel with a huge audience so I couldn’t really see if anyone was wearing anything specific, but it’s an excuse for kids and adults to get dressed up and just be crazy. You know you’ve made it when you have super-fans out there.

IVIE: When you first read the scripts for Elementary, what was it that attracted you to the role of Joan?

LIU: I liked the fact that it was going to be about [Joan and Sherlock’s] relationship and their friendship, and bringing that into modern times. And I thought it was wonderful to change up the gender.

IVIE: Did you immerse yourself in Arthur Conan Doyle’s work as preparation at all?

LIU: I did, I did! I started reading the short stories. I never read them before so it was a really great excuse to read them. I can’t believe it was written so long ago, because it’s so current. The characters are so colorful, which is why I think there are so many incarnations of Watson and Holmes.

IVIE: Do you have a favorite story? I love “A Scandal in Bohemia.”

LIU: There were some pretty amazing stories. The one that stood out to me, which was a Watson story that I got to know him a little more through, was “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” He really is on his own in that. Of course it turns out that Holmes has been there all along, but it’s interesting looking into his interior.

IVIE: Yeah, the entirety of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is narrated just by Watson. And his diary and letters, too.

LIU: Yeah, I think it’s really cool. We started incorporating that into the show, too, the letters and journals.

IVIE: Has this detective genre always appealed to you? Did you grow up watching or reading detective whodunits?

LIU: I remember more of the old school Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys sort of thing. I also grew up with the Scooby-Doo mysteries. Remember when the villain would go, “I would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for you rascal-y kids!” Those were the kind of the things I immersed myself in. I have to say that my mother has always been a huge fan of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, so this show was her dream come true. I don’t think she totally understood what was going on with Ally McBeal. [laughs]

IVIE: I’ve enjoyed witnessing Joan’s evolution throughout the course of the show, starting off as a sober companion and eventually ending up as a trusty sidekick and confidant to Sherlock. What can we expect from Joan in Season Three?

LIU: When you see them in the third season, you see some friction between the two characters. Joan is now on her own, she has her own detective agency, has a boyfriend, and has been without Sherlock for eight months. She’s got her own apartment, she’s settled, and he shows back up. I think she’s a little bit hurt by what happened and how their relationship and partnership ended, which was basically his decision and his choice, and he left it all in one little note for her. I think she felt that their relationship was much deeper than that, and that he was dismissive in the way that he handled that.

IVIE: How would you define the relationship between Joan and Sherlock?

LIU: I think that it’s a really positive and good relationship, overall. They really have a good chemistry together, work really hard together, and understand each other. They acknowledge each other and respect each other, which is a really important way to have a friendship. And they can learn from each other, you know? She’s very curious about him and I think he sees that she’s a very smart person—that’s vital for him in having respect for someone, having them be intelligent and thinking for themselves.

IVIE: Do you see any of Joan in yourself?

LIU: I do to a certain degree. She’s a lot more measured and patient, for sure. She’s a very curious person, which I think I am, and I think she isn’t afraid of change. She was a doctor, and then became a sober companion, and then jumped off and became a detective. I think sometimes it’s good to make big leaps.

IVIE: You’ve probably been asked this question many times, but do you think a romance between Joan and Sherlock could ever fittingly happen?

LIU: It’s a question that’s often asked and I think it’s really up to the executives. Rob Doherty, the creator [of Elementary] really feels incredibly strongly about keeping their relationship platonic. He has already taken great strides to keep the relationship as clean as possible according to the literature, but he has also changed so much of it by changing the gender of Watson. To have them have a romantic involvement would turn the whole thing upside-down in a way that might really jump the line. [Doherty] felt really strongly about it and I think that’s the one thing he really wants to stay true to.

IVIE: I totally agree. Even on the BBC’s Sherlock, there are campaigns to get Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson to become romantically involved. It’s like, enough already, no!

LIU: No way, that’s so weird! People do have that level of friendship oftentimes, but it doesn’t mean it’s physical. I think that everyone just assumes because there’s chemistry the next thing should be happening. I would vote “no” for a romance. I think for sure the creator would vote no on that, too.

IVIE: I’ve talked to both women and men who watch Elementary, and they all consistently mention how well dressed and fashionable Joan is. Do you collaborate with the wardrobe department on styling decisions at all?

LIU: That’s awesome. Yes, I collaborate with Rebecca [Hofherr], who’s the costume designer, who’s wonderful. She’s very easy to work with. One thing we try to maintain about Joan and her style is that she’s a bit wrinkled, you know what I mean? Sometimes it looks like things are really put together, but we always want to make sure things aren’t too tight and are comfortable, kind of like she throws things together. We don’t want it to seem so business-y, so we go away from suits. Chic, but not corporate. Also just to make her seem like her outfits aren’t so put-together all the time. But I’m glad that people really seem to like it, it’s a relief! We don’t splurge a lot on the show, we try to do cheaper things, like things Joan would wear a lot. She wears the same white jacket and shoes frequently.

IVIE: Will we be seeing more of the infamous Clyde the Turtle in the upcoming season?

LIU: Clyde will indeed be in it again. We have to share custody of Clyde.

IVIE: Is it true that Clyde is actually two tortoises? Pulling a Mary Kate and Ashley in Full House on us?

LIU: Yes. It’s just like having twins on a show. Just in case one is crying and screaming and passed out or something.

IVIE: You made your directorial debut for an episode of Elementary last season [“Paint It Black”]. Do you have plans to direct an episode again soon?

LIU: That was so exciting. I’ll be directing another episode again very shortly in December, so you’ll be seeing it in a month and a half.

IVIE: Where did your interest in directing come from?

LIU: I guess I was curious about it. Having been in this business for a while, you kind of see and get a glimpse of everything doing film and television. I think it seemed like a natural progression to go into directing, and I hope to explore more of it, because it’s very exciting and a really good way to collide all the things that you’ve known and experienced in the business and put them all into one.

IVIE: Is there an ideal guest star that you’d like to see on the show in the upcoming season?

LIU: I would love to see Mycroft come back. I really think there was a wonderful tension for Mycroft and Sherlock as well as the triangle that occurred when Joan became involved with him. There’s something very deep about that relationship, and I also think that Rhys Ifans is a fantastic actor. He commands the screen, but off-screen he’s incredibly lovely. A real treat to have on the show.

IVIE: I remember the first few episodes that I saw Rhys in, I was like, where have I seen this guy before? So I looked at his Wikipedia page and it became obvious: he was the crazy guy from Notting Hill!

LIU: Yes, the roommate! So good! Everything he does, he just kills it, no matter the role.

IVIE: And it’s always good to have some MI6 action on the show, which Mycroft provided. Some international flair.

LIU: [laughs] International flair, exactly, some added spice. Just throw some spy stuff in there to throw people off their game. You just don’t expect it, you know? It came out of nowhere.

IVIE: That whole three-episode arc at the end of the second season…

LIU: That was awesome. I was lucky enough to direct one of those episodes, which is more narrative in tone. It’s more fun in some ways, too.

IVIE: You’ve done a range of acting work for both television and film. Do you now find yourself preferring one to the other?

LIU: I love both of them equally. The lack of predictability with television is something that’s constantly changing what your perception of who you think your character is. Suddenly I have a father that’s schizophrenic, or I discovered something else, or I have a relationship with Mycroft. The things that pop up and change the game for you and always keep you on your toes. The wonderful thing about film is that you have something that has a beginning, middle, and end, and you have a concrete amount of time to shoot it. And the process of that can be longer, like editing and advertising and testing the movie, so it’s very different. Television you just continue going, no matter what’s happening outside of your world. You get lost in that vortex a little bit.

IVIE: It’s interesting that America is now embracing the “mini-series” format that has already been so heavily utilized overseas, where there are a set amount of short episodes, and that’s it. In a way, it’s kind of like a cinematic experience.

LIU: I like that, too. It allows you to have a freedom of creativity and at the same time you don’t feel like you have to be contracted to something for that long; you’re really working on a piece of art. And then you’re done and you move on, or it comes back, like Downton Abbey. You don’t know. Those things become little masterpieces. The thing about television is that you see a range of actors now that you may not have seen five years ago even, 10 years ago absolutely not, and I think now there’s no wrong about doing television. There’s no definitive category for what kind of department you fall into anymore.

IVIE: What’s a fun, secret fact about your costar Jonny Lee Miller?

LIU: A fun fact about Jonny Lee Miller is that he oftentimes does handstands on a wall before he does a take, sometimes with pushups, to get blood to his brain and get him geared up for a long monologue that he may have. He stays there, hangs a little bit, and then turns around and does the scene. Most of the time in the brownstone more than anywhere else. He’s in full costume and everything. That’s trivia!

IVIE: I wish I could do wall-handstands by myself.

LIU: Oh my god, I need someone to push my legs up and then hold me there. I’m a cheat!

ELEMENTARY PREMIERES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30 ON CBS.

[citizenscreen]

On September 8, 1930, in the midst of the Great Depression, the world was introduced to Blondie Boopadoop, a dizzy blonde flapper created by Murat Bernard ‘Chic’ Young. Blondie debuted in newspapers across the country on that day. She was Chic Young’s fourth strip featuring a young woman, but this was the one to catch fire and eventually become iconic in the world of comics and media at large. It is hard to believe that the blonde hero of blissful domesticity turns 90 and that her stories remain tops with audiences the world over.

Blondie’s early days featured the star popular in dating circles. Her courtships made for several storylines. Blondie’s main squeeze, however, was bumbling playboy Dagwood Bumstead, son of millionaire industrialist, J. Bolling Bumstead. Dagwood introduced Blondie to his ill-natured father in the very first strip announcing their plans to marry. The elder Bumstead was aghast that his son would be interested in a woman of Blondie’s lowly social status.

For the next couple of years, the Blondie comics centered on the couple’s struggles to get the Bumsteads to agree to the pairing. Blondie does everything imaginable to no avail. In the meantime, she also entertains several other admirers – although Dagwood was never far away. With readership dwindling, Chic Young and the comic’s distributer, King Features Syndicate, decided Blondie and Dagwood should finally get married and in February 1933 they did much to the chagrin of the Bumsteads who disowned their son and heir. Mr. and Mrs. Bumstead only grudgingly acknowledged the union because Dagwood went on a hunger strike that lasted over 28 days spotlighted by daily coverage and countdowns that helped circulation. Every day people tuned in to see how Dagwood was doing on the hunger strike. After all, one of his favorite pasttimes has always been eating. One of my favorite Blondie scenes is of Dagwood emerging from his bed after the hunger strike to reveal loads of dishes under the covers.

It was after the marriage of the disinherited blissfully happy Dagwood and the carefree vivacious Blondie took place that audiences truly warmed to their humorous domestic escapades. Blondie and Dagwood became a happy family whose troubles reflected those of the readers’ in many ways. The couple started their married life penniless, as were most during the Depression, which lent itself to many enjoyable scenes. First Dagwood’s need to find work made great stories and eventually so did his relationship with his boss Mister Dithers. However, the charms of Blondie the strip relied on the couple’s home life and its place in the pantheon of all things domestic comedy, which was a revolutionary one at that as Chic Young insisted that the young Bumsteads share a double bed, not the twin beds audiences saw on all other domestic stories in media. (loc.gov) In fact, the Bumsteads did not share a bed in their movie incarnations.

As the strip continued its run, Blondie and Dagwood changed as did their family. Blondie, who started as an airhead of sorts, became the Bumstead voice of reason and Dagwood became the flake to whom all things happen. Part of Dagwood’s charm is he remains a child of sorts, an innocent whose zany antics we cannot get enough of and all because he can’t seem to get things quite right. Except his sandwich, which is a masterpiece every single time.

On April 15, 1934, the couple welcomed their first child, Baby Dumpling (later Alexander) who received almost as much media attention as baby Ricardo on “I Love Lucy” two decades later. Except without the power of television.

In 1941, Blondie and Dagwood welcomed a daughter, Cookie, whose name was chosen by hundreds of thousands of submissions in a contest run by Chic Young. Blondie’s popularity soared when the Bumsteads became a family in earnest in their home in Joplin, Missouri, including Daisy (family dog and Dagwood’s best friend) and the pups. At the height of its popularity, Blondie rivaled Peanuts. No doubt, this creation by Chic Young is one of the all-time greats in the pantheon of comic strips. I would say a masterpiece people have enjoyed for its love conquers all stories and wonderful drawings. It has been one of my favorites for years.

Aside from daily strips and Sunday editions, the Bumsteads have enjoyed comic book popularity as well with seven versions spanning from 1947 to 1976.

  As you probably know Blondie’s popularity jumped to screens and the airwaves as well. As far as the movies go, the story is that as the strip’s popularity grew, Columbia Pictures’ boss Harry Cohn decided that the characters had potential for a B-picture or two so he signed a deal with Chic Young. The result was a 28-picture, 12-year run between 1938 and 1950. All twenty-eight movies star Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as Dagwood. The first and best is Frank Strayer’s Blondie. Strayer directed more than a dozen of the Blondie pictures.

Some of the signature gags from the strip made it into the movies such as Dagwood running into the mailman every morning as he is late for work causing the mail to fly all over the place. That happened early in all of the movies welcoming devoted fans to the hijinks of their favorite family. Following Dagwood’s signature,” Blondieeeeee.” Dagwood’s legendary sandwich also made its way into every single one of the movies and into Webster’s New World Dictionary.

The first movie in the series sees the Bumsteads about to celebrate their fifth anniversary, but money troubles ensue. They have money troubles often in their history. In fact, the Bumstead budget, as Blondie mentions in one of the movies, is the pulse of the family. Dagwood asks for a raise from Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale), owner of the J. C. Dithers Construction Company, with whom Dagwood is always at odds just like in the strip. Blondie, on the other hand, orders new furniture (from an uncredited Charles Lane) since they just finished paying off other furniture. Her logic is impeccable, a logic inherited by an almost-too-cute Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms). Dagwood loses his job after getting into a jam at work, but makes up for it by wooing a wealthy businessman (Gene Lockhart) into investing with the Dithers Company.

Staying true to the comic strip, Blondie (1938) features several of the same characters throughout the series played by the same actors. Aside from Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake, Larry Simms plays Baby Dumpling in all of the movies. He was so popular in the role that he was credited as “Baby Dumpling” in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) where he plays the Hopper Boy. Marjorie Ann Mutchie (as Marjorie Kent) makes her debut as Cookie Bumstead in Frank Strayer’s It’s a Great Life (1943), the thirteenth movie in the series and one of the few without “Blondie” in the title. More on that later.

Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake as Blondie and Dagwood in the first movie in the Blondie series

Rounding out the regulars that make up the Bumstead family is Daisy, the cocker Spaniel/Poodle/Terrier mix whose real name was Spooks and plays the Bumstead’s trusted pooch with flair. Spooks appeared in a good number of movies in character parts, but is best remembered as Daisy. The prolific Willie Best appears as a porter in the first movie and does what he can with the stereotypical part he is given. Best plays varied roles throughout the series and remains mostly uncredited. Fay Helm appears in several Blondie movies as Mrs. Fuddle, neighbor to the Bumsteads and Blondie’s best friend. Danny Mummert plays her son Alvin, Baby Dumpling’s nemesis.

The Blondie movies are typical B-fare. They are fun, perfect for Saturday mornings, but substance is hard to come by. There are a few hearty laughs like the one in Blondie with the talking scale in the hotel men’s bathroom. It advertises your favorite radio voice will talk to you and when it does, it tells Dagwood he’s a loser.

Probably the best part of the series, however, are the actors that appear throughout. If you are a fan of the great character players you’ll get to see the likes of Donald Meek, John Qualen, Edgar Kennedy, William Frawley, and Mary Wickes to name a few. Many future major Columbia stars also make appearances. I was quite surprised to see Rita Hayworth, for instance, play prominently in Blondie on a Budget (1940). She is an old friend of Dagwood’s who plays right into Blondie’s jealous hands. When Blondie was not trying to finagle the family budget in order to buy something, she spent her time worrying that Dagwood would leave her for another woman.

  Larry Simms, Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake and Rita Hayworth in BLONDIE ON A BUDGET

The Blondie movie series ended with Edward Bernds’ Beware of Blondie (1950) where we see Dagwood in charge of the Dithers Construction Company while the boss is on vacation. You can just imagine how well that goes. Adele Jergens plays Miss Clifton, a con woman who takes advantage of Dagwood’s innocence to get to Dithers’ money. Of course, all turns out fine in the end with one important resolution to the series to close out a continuous loop. The mailman (Dick Wessel) decides to end Dagwood running into him finally by delivering the Bumstead mail on his own time at night. No more dirty uniforms. No more bruises. No more scattered mail. Unfortunately, the day he decides to do his first night delivery is tax day and guess who runs out of the house to mail his taxes at the last minute.

By the time Beware of Blondie was made the stories were stretched thin. The familiar Bumstead elements held the movies together as the family survived all sorts of domestic misadventures. According to AFI, Columbia had lost interest in the series after the first fourteen installments. They released two movies without Blondie’s name in the title and stopped producing the series in 1943. However, audiences wanted more and production resumed for another fourteen movies making this series the longest in terms of pictures to date. When the Blondie pictures ceased altogether in 1950, Columbia intended to replace it with another comic strip series, but that fell way short at the box office forcing the studio to reissue all 28 Blondie pictures.

Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, and Marjorie Kent in the final picture in the series

America’s love affair with Blondie, Dagwood and the gang was not limited to movies, as we well know. The comic strip continued to strong readership and between 1939 and 1950, Blondie was also heard on radio. Arthur Lake played Dagwood in this version as well with Penny Singleton replaced by Alice White, Patricia Van Cleve and Ann Rutherford at various times. Blondie originally aired on CBS with Camel Cigarettes as its sponsor and later moved to NBC and Super Suds. Lake and Singleton made an appearance as Blondie and Dagwood on The Bob Hope Show following the 1938 release of the first movie, which led to their own show as a summer replacement for The Eddie Cantor Show. They originally aired on Monday evenings at 7:30 and just as the strip helped Depression-era audiences forget their troubles, the radio show helped them through World War II. Enjoy the following episodes of Blondie out of the funnies and into your homes…

From October 1939, “Dagwood Buys a New Suit”

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/OtrBlondie/Bd1939-10-30018DagwoodBuysANewSuit.mp3

  From April 1940, “The Gypsy Queen”

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/OtrBlondie/Bd1940-04-22043TheGypsyQueen.mp3

  From March 1944, “Abbott and Costello with Blondie and Dagwood”

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/OtrBlondie/Bd1944-03-02AbbottCostelloWBlondieDagwood.mp3

  From July 1944, “Plumbin Problems”

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/OtrBlondie/Bd1944-07-21PlumbingProblems.mp3

  From May 1945, “Socialite Blondie”

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/OtrBlondie/Bd1945-05-27SocialiteBlondiesocialAspirations.mp3

  From July 1947, “Three Week’s Vacation”

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/OtrBlondie/Bd1947-07-27ThreeWeeksVacation.mp3

  Unlike radio and the movies, attempts to bring Blondie to television proved unsuccessful. Its power were in the mediums already discussed, but it’s at least worth a mention that those in charge thought enough of the characters and their stories to give them several attempts at TV productions. The first such attempt, Blondie, premiered on January 4, 1957 on NBC and ran for one season. Pamela Britton starred as Blondie with Arthur Lake reprising his famous role once again. Stuffy Singer, Florenz Ames, Ann Barnes, and Harold Peary were also in the cast. In 1968, CBS gave Blondie a turn with The New Blondie, which also ran for one season. Patricia Harty and Will Hutchins star as Blondie and Dagwood in this version with real-life married couple Jim and Henny Backus as Mr. and Mrs. Dithers with Pamelyn Ferdin and Peter Robbins playing the Bumstead kids. As you can tell from the short run of both series, neither managed to capture the charm of the Bumsteads the other versions of their stories did.

Chicago native Chic Young drew Blondie seven days a week from 1930 until his death in 1973 producing more than 15,000 strips. His legacy, continued by his son Dean Young, is one of warmth and humor and home. No matter the decades that have passed, people still visit with the Bumsteads – 90 years after meeting them. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the laughter during difficult times.

Chic Young’s BLONDIE turns 90! On September 8, 1930, in the midst of the Great Depression, the world was introduced to Blondie Boopadoop, a dizzy blonde flapper created by Murat Bernard 'Chic' Young.

[wintcrwinds]

(me: matty is on break also me: here is a giant matty factfile)

The Basics

Name? Mateo Rosario Hernandez Moreno

Age? 26

Approximate height? 5′9

Hair colour? Dark brown

Eye colour? Brown

Do they speak with an accent? No

Where are they from? Zuzu City

Where are they now? Stardew Valley

Backstory

Who are their parents? Héctor and Jennifer Moreno

What is their earliest memory? Watching campy old superhero cartoons on tv with his dad, back at their old apartment. Matty would stay up late waiting for him to get home from his job bussing tables at their local diner, and would inevitably fall asleep before the show was over.

What did they want to be when they grew up? A costumed crime-fighter, a server at JojaBurger, or Tony Hawk, in that order.

What did/do their parents want them to be? They don’t really see each other enough to get into it on the job front, though Matty supposes it would’ve been nice if he’d’ve been a tech genius like them - carried on the family business or something.

Do they have siblings? Older or younger? Brothers or sisters? None, but he did have an imaginary older brother in the same way most kids have imaginary friends. Bit sad, innit. 

Do they have or have they ever had children? How many? No, none, and never!

Do they or have ever had a significant other? Are they still with them? Why? Why not? Not a significant other - he’s dated a little, but his enthusiasm tends to scare people off.

Up until now, what’s the most noteworthy thing they’ve done? To them? To the people around them? Matty doesn’t really think he’s done anything noteworthy. Noteworthy things are for other, cooler people.

Tastes

What’s your character’s favourite colour? Red! No, blue! Wait, no, red!

Do they/would they choose to wear a scent? What would it be? Axe bodyspray, he’s rich but also basic.

Do they care about what things look like? All things, or only some? Not at all. His apartment looks like a college dorm crossed with Comic Con crossed with a dumpster.

What’s their favourite ice cream flavour? Phish Food!

Are they a tea, or coffee drinker? Or soft drinks, or do they drink a lot of alcohol? What kind? Doesn’t really drink tea or coffee because his palette is that of a ten year old. He drinks a lot of JojaCola, and only bothers with alcohol when he has someone to share it with. Which isn’t very often.

What kind of books do they read? What TV shows and movies do they watch? Matty doesn’t read anything except for graphic novels and comic books because focusing on lots of words is haaaard. In terms of TV he likes most popular stuff if it isn’t too cerebral, stuff like the Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, anything from the MCU...

What kind of music do they like? Do they like music at all? He likes pop punk mostly, it’s hype!

If they were about to die, what would they have as their last meal? Mexican feast, next question.

Are they hedonistic? In all cases? Or does practicality sometimes/always/often win out? Yeah, in a way! Matty doesn’t see the point in doing stuff if he’s not excited to do it!

Do they have any philias or phobias? Nah.

Morals, Beliefs, and Faith

Do they have an internal or an external moral code? Both?

To what extent are their actions dictated by this code? Mostly, though some things (mostly grafittiing and trespassing) are worth breaking the law for.

Do they believe in a God or Gods/Goddesses/Higher being of some description? Nah.

Are they superstitious? Not really, but he will call out stuff as being bad luck.

Do they believe in an afterlife? If so, what’s it like? Yeah dude, he believes in like... alternate universes. So you die, and then you start your life over again in another version of reality.

Do they have any specific beliefs that manifest obviously? No.

Are they respectful of the beliefs of others? To what extent? Yeah, but he’d rather not talk about it? He thinks religion is private and therefore awkward to talk about.

Have they ever had to stand up to criticism for being religious? Or not being religious? Nope!

Would they be more likely to act for the good of the one, or the good of the many? The good of the many.

Relationships

Do they make friends easily? Not really, in the past people have tended to find his personality too intense to handle, and he has been told frequently that he’s annoying.

Do they have a best friend? It’s Bartholomew, his butler. Bit sad innit.

Can they get people to do what they want them to? If so, how? No. Even bribery doesn’t really work.

Do they have a lot of romantic relationships? Serious, or short term? Matty hasn’t found anyone to tolerate him long enough for any kind of romantic relationship.

Do they fall in and out of love easily? Yeah, he’s a sucker for a pretty face and a kind word.

Do strangers and acquaintances actually like them when they meet? Historically, no, but he’s hoping that will change!

Do they have a network? Not really... his parents are too often absent to count, and Bartholomew can’t be a network on his own.

What is their relationship like with their family? BIT SAD INNIT. Matty really loves his parents, and he knows they love him too, but the physical distance between them has made a metaphorical distance too.

Are they still in touch with non-family people they were in touch with a year ago? Five years? Ten? More? No.

Do they like children? Do they want children of their own? He likes kids (and frankly they usually have overlapping interests), but Matty is more a fun uncle than a father figure, he thinks.

Physical Appearance

How does this character dress? How would they choose to dress, if all options were open to them? T-shirts, hoodies, jeans, converse, denim jacket, and probably a hat of some description. Matty has enough money to dress how he wants, but his tastes trend on the cheaper side.

Do they have any tattoos? What do they mean? None.

Do they have piercings? How many? None, but maybe he wants his nose pierced.

Do they have scars? Where did they come from? Yes, Matty is extremely accident prone and hurts himself a lot. Luckily, most injuries don’t phase him much.

Do they alter their appearance in some way on a regular basis? Nope!

Is there something they’d choose to change about their appearance if they had the opportunity to? His wonky chin? :(

Is there something about their appearance they’re particularly proud of/happy with? His hair!

Objectively, are they physically attractive? Fairly plain? Unattractive? He’s cute for sure.

Do they have an accurate mental picture and opinion of their physical appearance? Yeah dude, Matty knows what he looks like, and he thinks he looks fine!

How much time do they spend thinking about their physical appearance? It would be a lot less if he wasn’t so obsessed with his hair.

General Knowledge

Can they navigate their own local area without getting lost? To what degree? No, his sense of direction is absolute garbage. Without his phone he’d be lost like 90% of the time.

Do they know who the top politician or monarch is where they live? What about elsewhere? He knows Mayor Lewis, does that count?

Do they know if/where there are any major conflicts going on right now? No.

Do they know the composition of water? ... no...

Do they know how to eat a pomegranate? Carefully?

Are they good with the technology available to them? Average? Completely hopeless? Okay, tech is something Matty is good at. 

Could they paint a house? Without making a mess of it? Paint it? Yes. Do it without making a mess? Absolutely not. He’s happy to be invovled though!

Could they bake a cake? Would you eat it if they did? No, and no, he’d try so hard, but he’s literally useless and would definitely give me food poisoning.

Do they know how to perform basic maintenance on the common mode of transportation? He can maintain his skateboard, but that’s it.

Do they know the price of a loaf of bread? How much can a loaf of bread cost? 20G?

Specific Knowledge

Do they have a specific qualification in a narrow area? The only qualification he has is his high school diploma, so no.

Is there something they do or know exceptionally well that most other people don’t? He’s actually a very good artist.

Do people often comment on a particular skill or area of knowledge to this character? Behind their back? Maybe on his lack thereof. Matty doesn’t really give the impression that he has any skills or knowledge. 

Is there an area this character could be considered top of their field or a genius in? God no.

Have they deliberately sought to gain knowledge in a specific area? If so, why? No, he’s stupid :(

Do they speak more than one language? More than two? Why? He speaks an embarrassingly small amount of spanish - the white family butler literally speaks more spanish than him.

Does their cultural background effect what they would be expected to know? I mean, maybe his taste in Mexican food should be better than frozen burritos from JojaMart.

Have they ever been publicly acknowledged for being well-versed in something? Never.

Have they ever been bullied for knowing a lot about something? Yeah, he reaaaally loved superheroes as a kid, and got rinsed for talking about them so much.

Do they actively seek new knowledge, or let it come to them naturally? If anything Matty avoids knowledge.

Miscellaneous

What did they have for breakfast this morning? Dry cereal because his milk went bad and he was too lazy to go and buy more.

What ridiculous belief/s did they have as a child? ): I mean, the imaginary older brother was pretty silly.

Do they like marshmallows? Yeah!

Do they sleep on their side, front, or back? On his front, mouth open, snoring.

Do they work better with sound or silence? Sound! Music makes brain work faster.

Do they have a strange obsession with something minor? His hair? Superheroes?

Do they like art? Uhhhhhh, medium? He likes comics and stuff, but he’s not going to a museum anytime soon.

How fast can they run? Fast!

Do they prefer to sit on the floor or on a chair? Floor.

What do they want, right now? A breakfast burrito. Preferably one he didn’t have to microwave himself.

[xwaywardhuntress]

The Batman to my Catwoman

Summary: Imagine Y/N gets Comic-Con badges for herself and the Winchesters.

Pairings: Dean Winchester x reader

Warnings: Curse words.

Word Count: 2500+

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is fanfiction only. Please do not redistribute my writings on other sites, horrible or not. Thanks!

Author’s note: Another slow day at work, so here’s a quick fic.

“Y/N, come on! What’s taking so long?” Dean banged on the bathroom door of the motel.

Sam snickered while sitting at the table with a laptop in front of him. “Relax, man. She’s excited as you are, if not more with what she bought to wear to it.”

The older Winchester shot his brother a glare. “If she was so excited, we’d be at the convention waiting in line already. Also, I’m not excited. I’m only going with her so she’s not alone with a bunch of nerds.”

“Right.” Sam just shook his head at his brother’s denial. Every year, he’d hear both his brother and Y/N talk about comic con. This year, Y/N was able to get badges for all of them.

“Are you almost done yet? The line to that panel you wanted to go too is only getting longer.” Dean commented frustratingly.

Y/N threw the door open as she came walking out of the bathroom. “Who put a stick up your ass today? I’m done. Geez.” You stalked over to your duffel bag, placing in the clothes you had worn earlier when you went to go grab yourself and the boys’ coffee from the motel lobby. You were oblivious to Dean’s astonished look. When you turned around, you saw Dean eyeing you from top to bottom. “What? I’m cosplaying?” You stated.

Sam couldn’t help but chuckle at his brother’s speechless reaction. He stood up, closing his laptop. “It looks good, Y/N.” He complimented.

“Thanks, Sam.” You smiled as Sam started to talk about the panels that he actually wanted to check out.

Meanwhile, Dean was truly speechless. You were dressed as one of his favorite superhero’s love interest. Catwoman. And it was a very tight costume as he was able to see all the curves of your body from top to bottom. The cosplay was making him feel things he fought almost daily to keep hidden away. As much as he wouldn’t mind staring at you all day in the costume and fantasize about you, Dean finally found the will to clear his throat. “If you’re both ready, let’s get going then.” He stated as he walked past Y/N and his brother, grabbing the lanyard with the badge and throwing it over his neck. He had missed the disappointed look on your face since he hadn’t commented about your cosplay.

At the convention, Dean found himself grumbling to himself almost the whole time. Every Batman they passed by wanted to take a photo with you. What made him more frustrated was that you would never say no.

“This is pretty fun.” You commented as you made it back to Dean.

“Oh yeah, posing with a bunch of random strangers is fun.” The older Winchester complained.

And that was the last straw. All morning long, Dean just complained or said snarky remarks and you had enough. “Says the guy who sleeps with random strangers all the time!” You replied back as you stalked off into the crowd annoyed at Dean’s words.

Dean ran after you, unaware of where exactly he was going. He hadn’t paid much attention to the layout as his eyes were glued to you basically all morning. Eventually, he lost you in the crowd as he came up to another Catwoman cosplayer, mistaking her for you. “Shit…” He mumbled as he pulled out his phone to try to call you.

You had made your way outside of the convention, needing some air to cool yourself down. You sat down on one of the outside steps. Feeling your phone vibrate in the secret pocket compartment you had added to suit, you saw Dean’s name flashing on the screen. You rejected his call, sending him straight to voicemail. You didn’t want to fight with him while you all were supposed to be enjoying this hunt-free day as well as nerding it out. However, Dean’s complaints and smart remarks, which you had caught onto every single one of them throughout the morning whenever you’d talk or pose with other cosplayers had been getting to you. You had no idea what his problem was, especially since he didn’t exactly compliment you on your own costume either.

While mumbling about how Dean was being ridiculous to yourself, another voice spoke behind you as it cast a shadow that covered your own. “Why do we fall?” The gruff voice asked.

You turned your head to look at who was behind you. It was a rather slender Batman. You stood up to find yourself almost the same height. The stranger was a much shorter Batman than the usual ones you had run into so far.

The slender Batman continued, this time in a feminine voice, “So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

The feminine voice sounded definitely familiar as you looked questioningly at the Batman. “Do I know you?” You couldn’t help but ask.

A grin came across Batman’s mouth. “I’m Batman. And you shouldn’t let a jealous jerk ruin the comic con experience, especially a green-eyed one who doesn’t have the balls to say how he really feels.” The Batman spoke in their regular female voice.

You caught on to the words green-eyed one, forgetting that the voice was familiar, as your hands slid to the whip that came with the costume. The whip might’ve been just a prop, but you were sure you could figure out how to use it to defend yourself if needed. There was only one green-eyed jerk that you could think of at the moment, Dean Winchester. If this Batman knew who you were, could the stranger be a demon?

While cautious and in thought, the Batman cosplayer decided they would remove their mask as red flocks of hair came undone. You instantly relaxed at the sight of a friend.

“Charlie?” You asked, surprised.

“Duh! Who else would it be?” Charlie asked chuckling as she went in for the hug. “I can’t believe you’re here! I ran into Sam at the Game Of Thrones panel and he said you had dressed up as the feisty Catwoman.” The redhead pulled away from the hug as she couldn’t help but check out your Catwoman costume. “Damn are you hot as Catwoman! Are you sure you don’t swing the other way?” She joked. “I was told Dean was with you too, but I’m guessing he was being a jerk which is why you’re out here by the stairs by yourself.”

You narrowed your eyes away, confirming Charlie’s suspicions, but also not wanting to continue thinking about it. “You can say that, but let’s not talk about him. I’m so glad you found me! I don’t know why I didn’t think of you when coming here. I feel so stupid.” You chuckled.

“I know! This is my guilty pleasure once a year.” Charlie stated proudly.

“And you’re batman!” You added.

“Dude, he’s a chick magnet, and not just for one way…if you know what I mean. “ She winked at you. “I’ve gotten some numbers that I definitely plan on calling later. But, I could always use a Catwoman by my side if you’re up for it.”

“Oh definitely, yes!” You exclaimed when you felt your phone vibrating again. It was probably Dean.

As you took your phone out and saw the name that flashed on your screen, confirming it was Dean, Charlie grabbed your phone and answered for you. She turned on a device attached to her batman suit that changed her voice to make it deep. “Sorry, but the Cat is with the Bat. She’ll maybe call ya later when we’re done together.” And then Charlie hung up on Dean without giving him a chance to talk.

You couldn’t help but laugh at what Charlie said.  

“And now he’ll definitely be looking for you. But he won’t find you if I can help it! Let’s go back to the convention?” Charlie asked as she placed her mask back on and then held her arm out.

“I suppose just for some time the Cat can follow the Bat.” You commented chuckling as you intertwined your arm with hers and then walked back into the convention.

-   -   -

Meanwhile, after Dean got hung up on after who he thought was a man answered your phone, he met up with Sam again as he explained to his brother what happened.

“I can’t blame her, honestly. You’ve been acting like a jerk since we left the motel. If she found someone else to have fun with, then let her. She’s a big girl.” Sam explained as he shrugged. “There’s still some other panels I want to check out. I’ll see you later back at the motel.” The younger Winchester shared as he began walking away, leaving his brother speechless as Dean had no rebuttal to what Sam had said.

Instead, Dean was set on finding you, so any Catwoman and Batman pair that he saw, he went up to all of them.

-   -   -

You had spent about three hours with Charlie without Dean finding you. Luckily, Batman and Catwoman were popular cosplayer pairs. You and Charlie had also checked out one of the panels you had shared with the Winchesters as wanting to go too that probably helped in hiding you two as well. As you and Charlie were leaving the finished panel, that’s when you spotted Dean sitting at the back of the panel room. Had he actually listened to you before when you listed all the panels you had wanted to go too? He looked tired and defeated. As much as your brain kept telling you to leave him, your heart felt a bit guilty for leaving him alone the past three hours. After all, you had fallen for the jerk.

You pulled Charlie off to the side to let others pass you two. “Dean’s here.”

Charlie looked around till she spotted him sitting down still. “Do you want me to go all Batman on him?” She asked, half-serious, half-joking. The redhead knew she had no chance against Dean, who fought off real monsters practically every day.

“No. I’m kind of over it. I should probably spend the last part of the convention day with him.”

“Alright, if you say so. I think he should apologize to you, at least.” Charlie suggested as she looked over at Dean. “He does look kind of lame and lonely.”

“You’re welcome to join in, of course.”

Charlie bit her lip. “I’ll think about it. Go get’em, tiger!” She said as she pushed you in his direction.

As the room cleared and you made it over to the lonely Winchester, the moment you came into view, Dean stood up and embraced you.

“H-How do you know it’s me?” You asked confused but enjoyed the embrace, nonetheless.

“I just know.” He mumbled as he continued. “I’m sorry I was a jerk.” He said as he pulled away from the embrace. “I just wanted to spend time with you and nerd out on all the things that you and I share an interest in. I know I messed it up with my complaining all morning, and I’m sorry for that. I was…” He paused for a moment.

You couldn’t help as your eyes stared back into his green ones, listening to his not-so-bad apology.

He closed his eyes, letting out a breath of air as he reopened them to stare back at you. “I was jealous.” He finally admitted. “You’re hot as Catwoman. I get what all those Batmans saw. And honestly, when you first walked out in your Catwoman suit, I didn’t want anyone else to see you in it. I wanted you all to myself.” The Older Winchester chuckled as he shook his head. “Geez, what am I saying? I sound selfish. You’re too good for me.”

“Stop.” You finally spoke. “Don’t say stuff like that. Maybe I want you to be selfish. I’m too good for you? Don’t make me laugh.” You smiled at him as you placed your hands on his face to make him look at you. “You know you’re a stubborn asshole sometimes.”

Dean’s eyes widened at your comment. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but he wasn’t expecting you to call him names.

You continued as you felt the frustration and anger from earlier being released. So much for being kind of over it. “You’re also an overprotective jerk. You always think your plan is the way to go. You’re always getting mad at others when they get hurt, but when you get hurt, we’re not allowed to get mad at you.”

Dean scrunched one eye, feeling each blow of a sentence you spoke. “Okay, I get it. You’re still upset.”

“Oh no, I’m not done yet. You always have to be the right one. You act without thinking. You complain about strangers giving me attention when I don’t complain at all about you hitting on chicks at the bar. You get mad at me for stupid reasons. You’re a downright jerk!” You paused to catch your breath. “But…” You lowered your voice to speak softly. “…somehow, despite all of that, you still made me fall for you.” As you were about to lean in to kiss him, a familiar Batman interrupted which caused both you and Dean to look away from each other.

“I’ve found you kitty cat.” Charlie spoke in her Batman voice.

“You!” Dean recognized the voice from the phone. “Listen, you stay away from my girl! She doesn’t need you anymore, she has me! And…” He yelled walking up to the Batman as he lost his train of thought, noticing that this was a very short and slender Batman. “…wait a minute.”

“About time.” Charlie spoke in her usual voice as she took the mask off.

You had started laughing behind Dean, who was confused to see Charlie dressed as Batman.

“Charlie? W-what…? Wait, were you the one that hung up on me on the phone?” Dean asked still processing the reveal.

“Guilty. Had to put you in your place, Winchester. If you weren’t going to make a move on Y/N, then I was ready to try to convert her.” She laughed.

Dean looked down, “God, I’m so stupid.”

“You are, but you deserved it.” Sam spoke out of the blue, joining the group. “I knew Y/N was with Charlie this whole time, by the way. I figured letting you think she was with some guy would push you to tell her your feelings finally. Looks like I was right.”

Charlie greeted Sam as the younger Winchester also complimented Charlie in her costume.

While Dean was processing that he had been an idiot thinking Y/N had chosen some random guy to hang out with this whole time and had literally hunted down every Batman and Catwoman cosplayer he saw for about an hour, you walked up behind him.

You tapped him on his shoulder. “So….will you be the Batman to my Catwoman?” You asked with a smile.

Dean pulled you to him with a mischievous grin. “We’re endgame, baby.” He said as he pressed his lips to yours.

“Wrong superhero verse!” Charlie shouted from the sidelines, as she and Sam watched the hunting world’s very own Batman and Catwoman finally get together.

[buddaimond]

Extracted Rob’s quotes from article Robert Pattinson: 'Without therapy I don’t know how you’re supposed to do life' by Elisabeth Day published Nov.3 2017

About not going out much

He’s 31 now and freely admits he still doesn’t get out that much. ‘I don’t know anything about anything,’ he says, only half-joking. ‘I live in a bubble inside my ivory tower.’

About difficulty in trying to shoot Good Time undercover

‘You walk down the street and there’s like, one person, and you can see that even if they don’t really recognise you, there’s a kind of flicker of something.’ After that, someone might send a tweet, and then a photographer arrives having been tipped off, and then ‘within hours the entire situation changes. People in the street start looking, then everyone starts taking photos and the entire energy is…’

He breaks off, and when he speaks again it is with a sort of helpless matter-of-factness: ‘You just can’t shoot.’

About Connie

He even exchanged fake prison correspondence with Benny Safdie and improvised a physical altercation at a car wash. His performance was influenced by the 1970s classic Mean Streets. ‘Definitely,’ Pattinson agrees. ‘He lives in his own reality. I think that’s what very successful con men do. It’s like, even when they’re lying, they’re not lying.’

About not doing superhero movies or other franchises

Unlike many of his contemporaries, he has successfully resisted the lure of lucrative superhero movies or comic-book franchises. ‘It’s because I can’t get a six-pack, I’ve tried for years,’ he deadpans. ‘No, I think it’s scary to be sort of synonymous with one part… I’ve never even auditioned for them.’

About his own look and style and image

When we meet in a London hotel, Pattinson is in the middle  of filming High Life, the English-language debut of French director Claire Denis, who he has wanted to work with for years, and is finding it a struggle to shift his mindset from filming one movie to promoting another.

He repeatedly apologises for being ‘totally spaced out… I’m kind of, like, all over the place’. Normally, when a film star says something like this it stems from an automatic politeness reflex or an attempt at offbeat charm. But Pattinson really is exceptionally spaced out. In person, he is about as far-removed from the self-possessed immortal high-school heart-throb of Edward Cullen as it’s possible to be.

‘Sorry,’ he says at one point. ‘This is terrible. I’m trying.’ I’m surprised how unsure of himself he seems. Even his clothes are uncertain. When he went to the Coachella music festival recently, ‘I felt like I looked like a bit of a narc [an undercover drugs cop]. I looked way too overdressed.’

Today, he is wearing a boxy leather jacket, turned-up trousers and trainers, all of which are in shades of black or navy blue. ‘I had to do a photo shoot so I look very, very styled today,’ he says.

About falling into acting

At 19, barely out of school, he got the part of Hogwarts prefect Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. ‘I sort of fell into it and went on from there,’  he says. Does he think he’s a good actor? ‘I don’t know. I know I try hard.’

Still, when Twilight came along, his life would never be the same again. At first, his family were ‘worried’ how he would cope with the attention. ‘But then I just didn’t really change. And it was fun. For me. I had good agents and stuff and I’ve had really good friends since the beginning. So  I think when it gets dangerous for people is when you have no friends and you think, “Oh, if I get strangers to love me then it will fill that hole.” And then when it doesn’t fill the hole then you go 10 times crazier.’

About fame and mental health

Does he think fame comes with certain mental-health issues? ‘Yes,’ he says, not missing a beat. ‘Definitely. Pretty much every person I know who’s got famous is completely nuts. It’s just isolation and also the repetitiveness of your interactions with people… It’s just weird.’ At the height of his fame and while living in Los Angeles (where he still has a home), Pattinson came up with a complicated system to throw the paparazzi off his scent.

Wherever he went, be it a bar or a restaurant, he would take a change of clothes. He would then order several Ubers, swap outfits with one of his friends in the toilets, and send them out into the waiting taxis as decoys. During one period, he had five hire cars parked around the city.

Each one had a change of clothes in the boot. If Pattinson was being followed, he’d drive to one of the rental cars, switch vehicles, change outfits and then leave.  Is it important to him to be able to disappear? He nods. ‘I try to not be seen whatsoever between movies. So hopefully the only thing that exists of you in the public realm is what you agree to put out there… It’s always just a control thing.

If the control of your life has been taken away from you, that’s when you go a little crazy.’ And has he ever gone ‘a little crazy’? ‘I mean, kind of,’ Pattinson admits.

‘I can’t really tell how crazy I was before. It’s definitely difficult to really know. But yeah. I think being able to disassociate and compartmentalise kind of helps you quite a lot. If you let everything hit you all the time it would probably be quite difficult to cope with.’

About crazy fan mails he received

Celebrity has often been surreal. Pattinson says that when he was in Twilight, his agent used to receive sackfuls of fan mail. ‘I remember once my old assistant found this letter from this woman that was just the worst sob story ever. And it was like, “You have to read this, this woman has had the worst life ever.”

And I was reading it like, “F—k. I should call her. I should definitely call her.” And then he was going through the rest of this box and he was like, “Wait a second,” and we noticed the exact same handwriting on a totally different sob story… It was funny.’

About his anxiety and therapy sessions

‘I get a lot of anxiety with everything.’ How does it manifest itself? ‘Just kind of paralysis, indecision. You don’t really end up doing a lot.’ He describes acting as a means of escaping the intense thoughts in his own head.  ‘One really nice thing about acting is that it’s like a weird therapy exercise. If you’re insecure or shy or something, then you can kind of experiment with expanding your horizons within the framework of a fiction.

‘I get so much anxiety in performance and everyone’s reaction is to say, “Just be yourself!” And myself, in general, is the last person I want to be.’ A few years ago, Pattinson started going to therapy. When he told his parents back in England they were ‘literally horrified. And I was like, “Why is that a bad thing?” There’s just this weird stigma. It’s so strange… But I think it’s a sort of throwback attitude.

‘I don’t go that often. I just really like her [his therapist]… You’re just trying to figure out how you feel about something. I’ve got a lot out of it… I mean [without therapy], I don’t know how you’re supposed to do…’ He sinks into a lengthy pause. Life, I suggest? ‘Life,’ he agrees and he looks down at the floor and then back up at me and smiles.

Robert Pattinson is not what I expected. From the outside, his existence looks charmed. Yet behind those perfect looks, his head is a bubbling cauldron of anxiety, self-doubt and unanswered questions about life. It makes him interesting to talk to. It’s possible it even makes him a great actor. But above all, it makes him less teen vampire, and ineffably, undeniably more human.

Full Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/11/03/robert-pattinson-without-therapy-dont-know-supposed-do-life/

Note # I am extracting Rob’s quotes from this print interview because the interviewer does not seem to know much about Rob’s filmography (besides Twilight) and used a lot of her narratives and background from tabloid sources e.g. suggesting Rob’s smoke “substances”, cheating and fake engagements.

[kas-not-cas]

People Can Change

Summary: Y/N is a nerd about to graduate from high school. Dean is her best friend's older brother who is always with Sam. Together the two of them fight like cats and dogs, but is it hatred causing it or is it love?

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Jessica Moore, Bobby Singer, Reader

Pairings: Dean Winchester x Chubby!Reader, Sam Winchester x Jessica Moore

Warnings: NSFW, smut, self doubt about weight, language

Word Count: 4,687

Request: Do you think you could write me a fanfic where its Dean x Reader but they're both in high school and the reader is this adorable chubby lil nerd and Dean is a bad boy who used to tease her but they both really like each other and it ends up in smut of fluff please and thank you! Love the writing and keep doing' you!- Anonymous

A/N: This is my submission for @dancingalone21 Lau’s AU Funny Quote Challenge. My quote was “I say we get drunk and shoot crap.” I hope y’all enjoy I loved writing this because I’m a chubby nerd like the reader. Feedback is always welcomed!

The bell for the end of the day chimed, and all of your classmates started packing their things up. Mr Singer, your teacher yelled out to everyone that they needed to bring their homework in on Monday or they’d receive no credit. As everyone else rushed to get out of the class, you took your time packing your things up before walking to the from of the class.

“Mr. Singer, here’s my homework.” He looked up at you with a smile on his face as he took it from you. “I just figured I would give it to you now.”

“My star pupil, thank Y/N I’ll be sure to get this graded and back to you by Monday.”

“Thank Mr. Singer have a great weekend!” You grabbed you Captain America backpack off the back of your chair and headed out into the hallway. People were laughing and chatting as they made their way to the front of the building.

You stopped at your locker putting your books away, “Hey Y/N!” you turned around to see your best friend Sam heading towards you. His girlfriend Jessica clinging to his arm as he waved at you. You couldn’t help but laugh at him, he was so tall you could always spot him out in a crowd he was one of the tallest kids in the school. “Hey, do you have anything planned tonight?”

“What are you talking about Sam?” Cringing you slowly turned around looking up at Sam’s older brother Dean. He was wearing a white t-shirt with black jeans and a matching leather jacket. His sunglasses were on shielding you from his mossy green eyes. “She has no friends aside from the two of you, so why would she have any plans?” He was leaning against the lockers watching you, a smirk pulling at the corners of his pink lips. “No offense.”

“Oh yeah that totally wasn’t offensive at all asshole!” You glared daggers at him as he turned his head in the other direction. “You’ll always be an asshole, and Batman will always suck ass.” You murmured under your breath before turning to look back at Sam and Jess.

“I just heard that insult little nerd!”

“Good I’m glad you heard it!”

“Batman could totally kick Captain Assholes ass!”

“Captain America is a superhero! Batman is a billionaire with a bunch of gadgets.”

Dean pushed himself off the lockers and towered over you. “Oh yeah!? Well at least Batman has a bunch of ass kicking weapons.” He leaned down getting closer to your height, making his point by pushing his sunglasses to rest on the top of his head. “All your stupid Steve Rogers has is a little shield!”

“Captain Rogers was injected with Super-Solider Serum, and through ‘Vita-Ray’ treatment he became a superhero! He’s faster, stronger, and his endurance are better than Batman’s! Captain America would kick his prissy ass in under a minute!”

“Oh you’re on nerd, you take it back right this second!”

“Never!”

“Guys!” Both you and Dean turned around seeing a very confused Sam and Jessica watching you. “If you’re done arguing over useless stuff can we please get on to more serious matters?”

Clearing your throat both you and Dean stole a glance at each other before quickly looking away. You adjusted the strap of your backpack giving Sam an apologetic smile. Dean pushed his sunglasses back down over his eyes before crossing his arms over his chest. You had no idea how Sam and Jessica dealt with you and Dean. The two of you were constantly at each other's throats, all because Dean makes fun of you. And by some miracle Sam was always to separate the two of you.

“I know you’re busy with working on your costume for Comic Con but would you wanna come to the lake with us? There’s going to be a whole bunch of us there.” Glancing down at your shoes your kicked at a scuff against the polished white tile. ‘Come on Y/N, Jess and I are leaving for Stanford in August. We’re not going to be in Kansas much longer.”

Sam and Jessica were your only friends, seeing you couldn’t really count bad boy Dean as one. You were staying to go to a local college while taking art classes online. When they left you were going to have no one but yourself. You could hang out with Dean, but he was too busy working at his Dad’s auto shop to hang out all the time. So this summer was really going to be the last with your friends for awhile.

Jessica placed her hand on your shoulder, “Come on Y/N, it’ll be fun.” She was right, being with them would make this a memorable night.

“Alright, my costume can wait until tomorrow I guess.”

“That’s more like it!” Sam shouted pulling Jessica closer in his arms as the two of them started heading down the hall. “Let’s make this the best night of our lives.”

__________

“This really has been amazing.” Sam smiled staring at the sunset with Jessica sitting next to him. His arm was wrapped around her and they both had a beer in their hand. Jessica leaned her head back against his shoulder as she whispered something to him. Sam tightened his grip around her, standing up suddenly. “Hey. . . uh Dean do you mind if I get the keys to the car?”

Dean was sitting across from you a beer bottle in his hand as he poked at your fire with a stick. “Sammy why do you need my car keys?” He glanced up at his little brother, a knowing smirk across his face. “Are you going to take the log to the beaver?”

“Oh God Dean.” Sam groaned looking aways as his face turned slightly pink. “Are you going to give me the keys or not man. Jessica left her uh-” He looked up at the dusk sky for a brief second, “her sweater in the car.”

“Sure she did. That’s okay you two have fun, what to do you want to do Y/N?” You laughed softly as Sam rolled his eyes. “I say we get drunk and shot stuff. I mean seeing Sammy is going to shooting his own gun.”

“Oh my God Dean knock it off!”

With a final sigh he tossed the keys to Sam, “Just make sure to lay a blanket down, and crack the windows.” Sam and Jessica were blushing as they head back towards the car. “I do not want you staining the upholstery or Baby reeking of sex!” He laughed sticking his tongue out slightly.

Sam glared back at Dean as they headed through a wooded area behind the lake. When they were gone Dean started laughing poking more at the dull flames. You watched as embers flew up towards the pink and purple sky. You were glad you came tonight, it had been a lot of fun so far. You were all making memories that were going to last you a lifetime.

“Are you having fun?”

You looked back at Dean who was taking a drink of beer, “Huh, oh yeah.” Rolling your unopened beer can in your hand you looked back at him. “It’s just a little bittersweet you know. This is going to be one of the last nights were all like this together.”

“Sammy and Jess might be leaving,” he stared into the flames of the fire, “but that doesn’t mean that just you and me can’t do this.” When he looked at you, you almost had to catch your breath. Dean Winchester was already a sexy guy, but he looked ever hotter in the illumination of the flames. “You know we might fight like cats and dogs but. . .you’re not going to be alone. I’m going to be with you every step of the way.”

You were taken back by his words, not really sure what to say. This was the same Dean Winchester who would tease you about your hair when you were a Freshman. The same asshole who made fun of you love of comics and books. This was the same jerk who made your first year of high school a living hell. And fast forward three years and he was being nice to you.

He huffed looking at you, “Why are you looking at me like that? I’m telling the truth ya know, I’m not just messing around with you.” You turned your nose up at his sudden defensive nature.

“I’m sorry Winchester, I’m just a little shocked that you’re being nice to me.”

“What the hell are you talking about!? I’m always nice to you, I’ve been nice to you since that first day Sammy brought you home from school.”

“Uh no!” You crossed your arms over your chest pressing your breast up a little. “If I remember correctly you were the one telling Cas to get a look at the junk in my trunk.”

You weren’t skinny by any means. You were chubby or as you liked to call it curvy and you had struggled with your weight all of your life. You could care less about what other people said about you. You knew you had your issues, and you were doing your best to work on them.

“Whoa hold on a second!”

You got off the log you were sitting on and started walking in the other direction. You heard the shuffling of gravel behind you as Dean ran after you. “Y/N sweetheart, hold on for a second!” he reached for your arm and you quickly pulled it away turning around to face him. “Look yes I was an asshole when you first met me.” You cocked up an eyebrow rolling you eyes as he spoke. “Okay I’m still an asshole!” He grabbed both sides of your arms holding you still to look into his eyes. “But I’m the asshole who has fallen madly in love with you.”

“What!?” Your jaw dropped at his words, you cheeks burning as he nodded his head. “What the hell did you just say? I’m pretty sure I misheard it or something like that.”

“I said I love you.”

“Jesus Dean, did someone put something in your drink?” You placed the back of your hand against his forehead feeling for a fever. “This is so not like you. You’re not acting like yourself at all.”

He pulled his head back sighing deeply, “No one put anything in my drink, and I’m not sick by any means.” His fingers gently squeezed your arms as he took a deep breath. “Look, I’ve liked you for a long time.” He kicked at rocks underneath his boots before his glanced down at you. His eyes were trying to read you, pick up on what you were feeling. And his guess was as good as your own. There were so many emotions running through your veins, you weren’t sure what to think, say, or feel. “I’ve liked you since you were a sophomore, and I fell in love with you last year.”

“Hold on a second,” you sighed pushing him back slightly, “if you liked me for this long then why are you always a jerk to me?”

“Look this might come as a shocker to you but I’m not good at showing my emotions.” You found yourself gawking at him, giving him a chance to explain himself. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time now I really have. But anytime I feel like it’s been the right time we end up arguing instead. And most of that is me putting my defenses up, not wanting anyone to get close me. But I realized you might not stay here in Lawrence forever, and with Sammy leaving in a few months I realized how short life is. So I decided I was going to tell you before I screwed up royally or I missed my chance.”

“Sam and Jess knew didn’t they?” Dean nodded his head, “That’s why they left right? To give you the chance to tell me how you felt.”

“Sam had known for awhile, hell he probably knew how I felt before I even realized it.” He looked back in the direction that the two of them had ran off to. “This was their idea, figured it would be easier for me to get you alone like this.”

You heart was racing as you took all of his words to heart. Now that you were thinking about it, it was pretty evident the two of you had feelings for each other. It wasn’t always fighting when you were with him, he’s always been there for you when you needed him. He had picked you up countless times, been there for you through the rough patches of life, and always had a smile on his face when you were talking. And you liked him a lot to regardless of the teasing and the fighting.

Dean was so good looking it should be illegal. His creamy skin, those olive eyes that took your breath away, and those plump lips you fantasized about kissing. But he wasn’t just good looking. Dean Winchester was a strong and caring man, who typically put others above himself. You always admired that about him, and that admiration soon turned to love, but you always pushed those feelings away seeing how the two of you were always fighting. Now that you knew the truth, you could see why the two of you were always fighting.

You were in love with each other.

Dean cleared his throat, waiting for you to say something, anything in response to his words. You wanted to tell him how you felt about him, but a little voice in your head was telling you something different. Why would someone like Dean want to be with a nerd like you?”

“Why me?”

“What?”

“Why are you in love with me Dean? I mean in case I’m not the typical girl you’d go for. I’m chunky, nerdy, and I have no sense of fashion. You could be with any girl in this whole world, and you want to be with me?”

“Are you kidding me?” He cupped both sides of your face in his hands. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately Y/N/N? You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. You’re soft Y/H/C hair, those breathtaking Y/E/C eyes, your body. I don’t see how you’re single, not only are you fucking hot, but you’re smart and passionate too.” His thumb brushed against your cheek, your heart fluttering as he touched you. “What’s not to love about you? I’d be crazy to not be in love with you.”

Your heart was throbbing at his words as tears began welling in your eyes. You licked your lips your own hand reaching up to touch his own. Dean eyes gazed over your face, and he slowly leaned in closer towards you. You followed his lead leaning in as well. He stopped looking at you one last time before closing his eyes and the gap between your lips. You inhaled sharply as you kissed him back, his lips gently moving against yours as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

He pulled back for a second his eyes opening as a smile spread across his lips. You returned the smile, and he leaned back in kissing you deeply, his tongue licking your bottom lip. You opened your mouth for him, his tongue slowly sliding inside of your mouth. You moaned into the kiss, your tongues massaging and moving against another. It was intense and passionate, like lightning lighting up a dark stormy summer night. This kiss was way overdue and there was a lot of making up the two of you were going to have to do. But being with him like this, it felt like you had all the time in the world to make up for it.

Dean pulled away the two of you panting and trying to catch you breath. You gazed into each other's eyes before laughing softly. Dean’s hand slid around to the back of your neck, his fingers playing with your hair as he pressed his forehead against yours. “That was well worth the wait, but now I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner.” Yours hands played with the collar of his leather jacket as he spoke. “Like I imagined how that would be for years, but nothing compares to the real thing.” His lips pressed against the tip of your nose before moving further down to your lips. You kissed back gripping onto the fabric of his jacket, pulling him closer towards you.

“Whooa!” Sam shouted from the distance causing you and Dean to turn around. Him and Jessica were both clapping as they sat down around the fire. “Took you two long enough!”

“Come on,” Dean grabbed your hand leading you back to Sam and Jess. “let’s go hear about how Sam has been telling me for years to tell you how I felt.”

This was not how you were expecting your night to go, but you’re glad you decided to come with them. You showed up at the lake single and irritated with Dean, and you’re leaving knowing the two of you loved each other. There was a bright future ahead for the two of you, and you were looking forward to every second of it.

_________

Standing in the Sam and Jessica’s apartment you were fighting back tears. Jessica was hugging you telling you that she would text you every day. Pulling away the two of you wiped your eyes before looking at your boyfriends hugging each other. Dean pulled away clearing his throat as he smacked Sam on the back.

“No chick flick moments.”

“Alright, whatever you say jerk.”

“Bitch.” Dean wrapped his arm around your waist looking Sam in the eyes. “You be careful and be sure to call mom. And if you need anything Sammy don’t hesitate to call me okay?”

“I will Dean.”

With heavy hearts you and Dean said goodbye to Sam and Jessica before heading back to the hotel you were staying at. The drive back was quiet as Dean held your hand tight, his lips pursed together as his eyes were focused on the road. In the five months of dating him, you come to learn a lot more about him. Like right now he was going to assure you he was fine, but deep down you knew he was dreading this day for months. You were glad he didn’t have to go through this by himself. He had you with him, and hopefully that might ease the pain a little bit.

When you got back to the hotel Dean collapsed onto the bed sighing roughly into the mattress. You placed the bags of food on the mattress and crawled up on there with him rubbing his back soothingly. He turned his head looking up at you, as your fingers massaged his tense muscles. His frown slowly turned into a smile as you leaned down kissing his forehead.

‘Let’s eat real quick and then we’ll get some sleep before the long drive back okay?”

“Alright.” He pushed himself up and grabbed the bags of food handing you your own food. The two of you made small talk about the shop and your blog. It was like a typical weekend night back at his place.

As soon as you finished eating you both took you showers before crawling under the crisp hotel sheets. Dean wrapped his arms around you as you stared at the green alarm clocking it’s luminescent glow lighting up you pillow. As your eyes started closing, asleep slowly overcoming your senses Dean pressed a kiss against your neck. All thoughts of sleep vanished as your turned your head, finding his lips against yours in a second.

“Thank you, for coming with me.” he whispered against your lips, “You being there with me made that a little more bearable.”

“Well I love you, of course I’d go with you. It’s like you told me, you’re never going to be alone Dean I’m always going to be with you.” You pressed your lips against his, slow and tentative, and lazy not hurry in it at all. His fingers grazing your skin, but not completely going under just yet. Those lazy kisses that you loved so much, slowly became more heated as Dean shoved his tongue in your mouth. You turned wrapping your arms around his neck as he slid his hand up your shirt. His large hand cupped your breast squeezing and kneading it as your tongues were tangled together.

‘I love you Y/N.” He rolled on top of you, pushing your night shirt up exposing your bare breasts to him. “I love you so damn much.” Leaning down you moaned watching as his tongue darted out flicking your nipple. He looked up at you before his lips sealed around the sensitive bud, his tongue swirling around it as his teeth grazed it. Your back arched off the mattress, and his free hand cupped your other breast squeezing it.

The two of you had fooled around in the several months of dating, but you never went all the way. Part of it was because you both wanted to take your time, while the other fact was that Dean wanted you to be sure you wanted him to take your virginity. In this moment tonight there wasn’t a doubt in your mind that you wanted Dean to be your first.

“Dean.” you bucked your hips against his, feeling his erection through his sweat pants. “Do you,” you moaned loudly as he pinched your other nipple, “do you have a condom?”  

His head flew up hearing your words, he reached over turning on the lamp on the night stand. “What did you just say?” His green eyes roamed over your bare chest before looking directly into yours. He needed to hear it one more time, he wanted to make sure that this was what you wanted.

“Let’s do it, I know I love you I want you to be my first.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

His fingers trailed down lower, sliding into you pajama bottoms. “Well I have to make sure you’re ready for me.” His fingers traced small circles around your clit before moving down further rubbing your lips. “Then we can do it okay?” You nodded as he pushed a finger inside of you, you whined lifting your hips up to meet his touch. He pumped it lazily before adding another finger.

He took his time stretching you out, his finger stretched your walls. Somehow during all the intense pleasure he moved between your legs. His fingers buried deep inside of you as his wet tongue lapped at your clit. You were a wither mess, your chest heaving as the pleasure rushed through your veins. Your moans and the sound of Dean’s tongue licking you was echoing off the walls. You knew your neighbors were hating on you, but you didn’t give a shit. All you care about was Dean being inside of you, and the two of you finally making love.

He made you come twice before you were wheezing roughly, “Dean enough teasing, I’m ready for you.” He licked his lips clean or your arousal, his eyes were locked on yours. “Please I need you inside of me.” You whined gripping the sheets under your body. “I fucking need you.”

Dean got off the bed running for his wallet sitting on the dresser. He pulled out a gold foiled packet and ripped it open with his teeth as he pushed his sweats down. You watched as he slowly stroked his cock before rolling the condom over it, taking his time making sure it was done properly. When he came back to the bed his lips found your instantly as he positioned himself between your legs. You tasted the tang of yourself as his tongue rubbed against yours, his hips slowly grinding against yours as you kissed.

“Y/N,” he whispered as he reached down, leading his cock to your entrance. “I love you so much baby.”

“I love you too.” You kissed him gently as he slowly started pushing inside of you. To your surprise it didn’t hurt like you thought it would. Instead it was a slight pressure and discomfort as he pushed further inside of you.

‘Are you okay?” he asked softly his hips stilling to give you time to adjust to the new sensation, “Do you need me to go slower or I can keep going.”

You kissed him again a little more needy this time. “Keep going, I want to feel all of you inside of me Dean.” He kept moving moaning against your mouth until he was completely buried inside of you. “Oh my God.” you whispered against his mouth, “fuck you’re so big”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Okay?” you moaned laughing softly as you arched your back, “Oh Dean I’m in heaven right now, move.”

He started moving slowly bucking his hips as you moaned a bit louder tilting your head back. As soon as he started moving it was like all of his worries about hurting you faded away. He moved a bit faster grunting as he buried his face in your neck. Before you knew it the two of you were setting, and moaning louder than you had ever moaned before. Dean knew what he was doing, and he was making sure everything felt amazing for you. He wanted you to enjoy this as much as he was.

You moved in time with him, feeling every inch of his cock slid in and out of you. You pussy welcomed him by squeezing around his shaft, which only made him thrust into you harder. It might sound cliche but it felt like the two of you fit perfectly with each other. His cock wasn’t too big for you, it was just fucking perfect.

‘Y/N fuck you’re so fucking tight.’ He growled sinking his teeth into your neck as he rolled the two of you onto your sides. “Your pussy is so tight for me, throbbing and squeezing my cock.” He leaned up sweat running down his forehead as he draped your leg over his body allowing his cock to go even deeper inside of you. “God I love you, I love being inside of you.”

“I-I love,” he nipped at you bottom lip tugging at it gently, “fuck I love you being inside of me Dean.” He dug his fingers into your thigh, his thrusts becoming harder and faster with every move. You furrowed your brow while digging your nails into his shoulders as you kissed him. The coil in your abdomen got tighter and tighter as the head of his cock brushed against your g-spot. “Dean I’m getting close.” You panted as he reached down rubbing you clit causing you breath to hitch in your throat. “Oh shit, fuck Dean!”

He rubbed faster in time with his erratic thrusts, “That’s right baby, come for me come all over this thick hard cock.” As you started screamed his name he kissed your deeply, sending you over the edge. “Y/N, fuck baby.”

“D-Dean! Yes holy fuck!”

“Y/N!” he growled as he trusted deep inside of you, his movements suddenly stilling as he came right behind you.

You both panted as you came down from the orgasmic bliss. You kissed each other as Dean pushed some of your hair out of your eyes. The two of you smiled as he held you tighter against him. Funny how a little over five months ago you were fighting with each other like cats and dogs. Now here you were having dating and having sex, living your lives together. As Dean buried his face in your neck snoring softly you couldn’t help but wish to spend the rest of your life with this man.

______

Forever Tags: @percywinchester27 @the-cucumber-who-lived, @waywardjoy, @sammylynne321@jalove-wecallhimdean, @britney8793, @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms,@castiellerblueeyed,@nathaliabakes,@kristaparadowski,@relationshipyard,@curlycas,@slapinthefacetoyourlullaby,@jessiedangerous @selina-kyle89@jordangardner19@clarita25booklover-blog @impala-dreamer @queenofthe-bitches,@omgreganlove, @jojotink78, applesugar88, @isis278,@thisisthelilith,@10200512,@growningupgeek@fuckyeahfeysand@megafrontliner311@fangirl1802 @typicalweirdbookworm@nerdwholikesword @sociallyimparedme  @riversong-sam@theroute63 @tmccarney @fantasticimpaladoctor @its-my-perky-nipples, @smoothdogsgirl, @little-castiel13, @wonderlandmoonrose7, @deansbaekaz2y5 @starswirlblitz @secretlyfurrydragon @kms1000 @brooke-supernatural16, @queencharley @fabulouslyboredeveryday @therosecolouredpost  @createdbybadappreciation @notesfromalabprincess @just-meh-and-me-dogs @colorfuluniversewhispers @dancingalone21 @pizzarollpatrol @maddieburcham1 @benjerry707 @misguidedconqueress @deanfuckingwinchesterrr @faegal04 @greek-geek481 @gallifreyansass @livelovelike555 @you-didnt-see-that-cuming @we-are-band-sexuals @fandomsandstuffff @petrovadixon @kaylynnw428 @spngirl00 @fairytalesexistxx @mizzzpink @selene-stormborn @milkymilky-cocopuff @freakintasticfan @sandlee44 @likesiriusly

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Tagging: @supernatural-jackles @deanscherrypie @mrswhozeewhatsis @d-s-winchester

[graphicallysam]

Para: A Saturday with the Twins

Who: Sam and Mercedes

When: Saturday, 13 Nov 2010

Where: Evans' Home

What: Samcedes babysit the twins

Mercedes had gotten the text earlier in the day that Sam was in need of backup with his twin siblings.  Two against one were not fair odds when it came to tiny people that could team up on you, so she was more than happy to help.  She had met Stevie & Stacy at the football games when his family came to watch Sam play. She thought they were adorable, and Stevie was practically a carbon copy of Sam.  It also didn’t hurt that she liked kids.

Her mom let her drive to Sam’s house since she had her permit. She could get her license in another few weeks after her birthday, so every last bit of practice would do her good.  Once there, she grabbed her purple backpack out of the trunk and headed up to the door, ringing the doorbell.  She had packed her brother’s old Sega Genesis system that had a bunch of fun games the twins could try like Sonic and The Lion King.

Normally, Sam didn’t mind babysitting his siblings, but at five-years-old, they were like The Rugrats on crack. They pretended to be all innocent and sweet with their parents and around Quinn and stuff, but when it was just Sam by himself, they were The Kindergartners from Recess. Quinn was busy with a church thing or maybe a thing with her mom, Sam wasn’t entirely sure. So he sent out an SOS to Mercedes, hoping that she could save him, and when she agreed, he thanked God for taking mercy on him.

Since he’d started at McKinley, five months before, he’d made a lot of good friends. Finn had kind of invited him to be a part of his crew, which brought the unexpected but welcomed presence of Mercedes all of the time. Sam really liked Mercedes. She was one of his best friends at school, and they hung out all of the time when he wasn’t hanging with the guys or spending time with his girlfriend, Quinn. It was nice to have a friend that was into comics and video games and movies as much as he was. Not that Finn and Puck weren’t good for that kind of stuff, but it wasn’t quite the same. Mercedes just got it in a way no one else did. Quinn just wasn’t into the same things as him. She loved to read and spent most of her time with Rachel. They liked art museums and things he had no clue about. Sam liked art, but not that kind, and he hated reading because it didn’t come easily for him. Mercedes was just different than most of the people he’d met in Ohio. She didn’t think he was weird for speaking Na’vi, and she laughed at him impressions. Plus, she was really pretty, not that that mattered. He did have a girlfriend after all. It was just kind of a bonus.

The doorbell rang, breaking him from his thoughts and offering him salvation. He practically tripped over Stevie as they both rushed for the door. Luckily, height and gravity were on his side. So he got to the knob first and pulled it open as he shoved his brother out of the way. “Hey, Mercedes,” he said with an exhausted grin. “Ignore the mess. The twins promised they’d clean up like thirty minutes ago.”

“We’re still playing,” Stevie explained. He glanced at Mercedes, smiling shyly. “Hi, ‘Cedes!” He waved and then took off running.

“Hey, stop running in the house,” Sam called to him and sighed when his brother was out of sight. “Sorry...come in.” He stepped aside and let her in. Sam’s house was generally neat, but it always looked lived in. Both of his parents grew up on ranches in Tennessee and believe a house should look homely. But they were strict about chores, and the twins had toys scattered everywhere that would need to be cleaned up before they got home.

“Hey Sam,” she smiled brightly as he opened the door, his always adorable face saying more than he needed too in regards to the mayhem his siblings were putting him through today.  Sam had become one of her closest guy friends in lightning speed it seemed. He was so much fun to be around, he always made her smile. Whether he was doing impressions or talking with passion about his fave comic, he was just a really endearing person to be around, and she was happy that he and Quinn had started dating.  She knew he’d get a gorgeous girlfriend because he was fine as heck!

When she saw Stevie peek around Sam, she waved at him, laughing softly as he took off running. “If there weren’t toys around all over the place I’d be concerned honestly. Worried the twins got abducted by pod people or something.” She loved the Evans home, it was the perfect mix of comfy, inviting, and decorative. She loved looking at the pictures of Tennessee they had on the wall, and of course the family pictures as well.  “So, you ready to make a bet?  I bet I can get them to clean up their things in the next 10 minutes.  If I win, you have to let me and Stacey braid your hair.  If I lose...well, what do you want if I lose?”

Chuckling at the pod people comment because honestly, he’d probably think they were pod people too. They walked towards the family room, and he nearly tripped over a toy truck. “Yeah, we can make that bet...I don’t know how you’re gonna do it without mind control.” He stopped when the reached the room and looked at her. “You have to show me how to beat that one part of Asura’s Wrath.”

“A girl never tells her secrets, but I suppose I can help you out with the game,” she replied as she sat her backpack over by the entertainment center, out of the way of the twin tornadoes.  “Now watch me work my magic,” She gave him a wink before she scrolled through her song list and found “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5. The beat would get the kiddies moving, and she could make up lyrics that would cover up any suggestive stuff.  “Whoever gets finished picking up the toys first gets to pick something awesome out of my magic backpack.” She sang.

Sam rolled his eyes playfully. One day, he’d get her to show him even if he lost this bet. He wondered what she was up to when she went into her bag and was a little confused when she pulled out her iPod. He watched her curiously as the twins came running into the room to see what she was doing. She promised them a treat, and he was pretty sure that he’d never seen them so eager to clean up.

Mercedes was pretty good with kids. She babysat to earn extra money and had a nice clientele list. The majority of them were people in her church, and a few in her neighborhood.  She sang along to the music, dancing with the twins in between their battle to get the toys put away the fastest.  “The key to cleaning up is to make it fun, or to make it a competition.  If you can do both, you can do almost anything.” She said with a soft chuckle.

Once the twins had completed the tasks, she took out the Sega Genesis and the games, and then she handed them both coloring books with the special markers that would only work in the coloring books.  “I also brought some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but I’m pretty sure you can’t have any until after dinner.”  Last thing the twins needed was sugar in them right now, the hyper little cuties.

It wasn’t that the twins were bad, but it was almost impressive that she could get them to do what they were supposed to with a song and promise of a treat. His mom did similar things, but it  didn’t work when he tired. He nodded at the advice and gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks...you’re gonna be a great mom someday,” he commented before realizing what he’d said. “I mean...when we grow up,” he added lamely. Luckily, Stevie distracted him with a question so he had something else to focus on.

“Can’t we just have a half a cookie?” Stevie questioned, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy as he spoke.

Stacy’s green eyes widened. “Mommy said no dessert before dinner!”

“Stacy,” Stevie whined, glaring at his sister.

Sam tried to hide his amused grin before he sobered a little. “Hey, hey...she’s right. No dessert before dinner, bud. You know that,” he said gently, hoping to kill the fight before it started. “Mercedes already gave you a nice treat. You should say thank you again and enjoy it.”

“Thank you,” the twins said in unison before going back to coloring.

She smiled, shaking her head slightly. “I’m not having kids until I’m at least 30. I’ve got so much I want to try and do, so when I finally settle down, I’ll be able to be a really good mommy.  Maybe.  I’ll have to get a husband and all that first, but yeah.” She ducked her head slightly, feeling a little silly talking about something that far off.

She sat down on the couch, thinking of a way to change the subject. “Oh, are you going to enter the art contest?” There was a contest to come up with a new school logo for tshirts and other school merchandise.  “I bet you’d do awesome at that.” She knew it wasn’t exactly his style of art, but he was good at a lot of styles.

Sam loved his art. He loved drawing and creating things in Photoshop. He even had his own Deviantart account, but he was still kind of shy about it. He’d only ever shared his stuff with a few people. She was one of them. “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to…” he said, ducking his head.

“That’s okay,” she smiled encouragingly. “I just want you to know that I think you’re good enough to win. Sometimes it’s nice to know that other people think you’re good at something you really love, you know?” She hoped that made sense.  “Do you still want to go to Wizard Con with me and Royce in the summer?”

“Thanks, Mercedes, that means a lot.” It wasn’t that Quinn wasn’t supportive of him and his art. She was, a lot, but it still felt nice to hear Mercedes say it. He really believed she believed he could win. Maybe he’d submit something secretly just in case it didn’t get picked. Then no one would know. “Yeah, I totally still wanna go.”

“Sweet! Start talking to your parents now, that way you have time to negotiate a deal if necessary.” She grinned. “Royce is very responsible and trustworthy so hopefully they’ll be okay with it.  Do you think you’re going to dress up or anything? Royce wants to go as Jax from Mortal Kombat.”  She peered over the back of the couch, checking on the twins who were still engrossed in their coloring books.

Sam was suddenly really stoked. He couldn’t wait for the summer to get there. “I don’t think they’ll be too strict. It’s just like a day or two right? I think since you’re brother’s going too then they know I’m not sneaking away with you,” he joked, but his mind immediately went to what it might be like to sneak away before he pushed the thought away. He had a girlfriend. He shouldn’t be thinking like that. “Oohhhh maybe I should go a Sub Zero.”

She nodded her head. “Yep. We can get two day passes and drive both days, but my dad might let us use his points for a free hotel room, maybe. We’ll have to work out all the details to see. Plus I don’t want Quinn to feel weird about that, so...yeah, definitely would have to get 2 hotel rooms, just so the parents and girlfriends don’t think we’re acting inappropriately.”  She felt her cheeks get super warm. “Not that that is remotely a concern, but parents are weird about things like that.”  A subject change was very much in order right now.  “Oh that would be cool! All the pictures will be taken.”

“Yeah, my parents would definitely think that's weird. Not Quinn though, you don't have to worry about that. She knows we’re just friends,” he said as a reassurance, but he didn't add that Quinn didn't know he was attracted to Mercedes or that he would've asked her out if he hadn’t ended up with her first. He’d never cheat on her or anything, but Mercedes was hot. And Sam really liked her.

“Quinn never has to worry about things like that, she’s easily one of the top prettiest girls in school.” She smiled as Stacy showed her the picture she had finished. “That’s amazing! You’re going to be as good as your big brother if you keep that up.”  She turned her attention back to Sam, amused at how much of a baby face he had.  His parents made very attractive kids. “But Santana is the hottest, I’m under best friend contract to say that.” She chuckled.

“True, she’s beautiful, but she’s not the only beautiful girl at school,” Sam replied looking at her as she looked at his siblings. She really had no idea how beautiful she was, he thought. Her compliment to his sister really made the little girl happy, and he was grateful he'd called her over. “Santana's hot, but she's not really my type.”

“Santana is a lot to handle, but she’s a really nice person. I went through this phase where I wanted her to marry my brother when she got older so she would be my sister.  I was a little kid, so don’t judge.” She smiled.  “You have a type? Well, I mean it’s obviously Quinn. So that means you like smart, sophisticated, and beautiful girls. Which makes sense, I can totally see that.”  She jumped slightly. “Oh, I forgot that I brought you something too!” She got up and headed over to her backpack.  “Stevie and Stacy, has Sam been a good big brother today?”

Sam mouth bowed into a wide grin as she told him the story about wanting Santana to marry her brother, but when she asked if he had a type, she was talking so fast that she didn't give him a chance to respond. He couldn't really say that Quinn wasn't the only kind of girl that fit into that category. He just ended up nodding and biting back a sigh. Then she walked over to her bag again, saying she had a surprise for him, and he waited in his spot to see what she had.

“I guess so,” Stevie replied after tilting his head in thought at the question.

Stacy, on the other hand, was always Sam’s biggest cheerleader. She nodded emphatically. “Sammy’s the bestest big brother.”

Mercedes adored Sam, but she did not want to hear him wax poetic on all the ways Quinn was the epitome of perfection. She knew it was silly, but the only person she could deal with the whole I love my boyfriend/girlfriend stuff from was Tana, and she never did that anyway.  She probably wouldn’t feel that way when she got her own boyfriend, but that was probably never going to happen before she graduated high school.  She chuckled softly at Stevie’s response, shaking her head a little. Stacy’s response didn’t surprise her at all.  “Well then, I suppose I can give him these since he’s the bestest.”  She pulled out an Avengers comic book and handed it to him.  “I hope you don’t have this one. I saw it and thought you’d like it.”   She knew he wasn’t a fan of reading regular books, but he really liked comics.

He wasn’t sure what she was handing him until he could see the cover properly. He looked down at the colorfully drawn graphics before him, and he expression changed from amused to amazed and surprised. “Whoa...I didn’t get this one! Holy-” He cut himself off when he remembered his siblings were in the room. “-heck! You didn’t have to do that!” He reached out and pulled her into a tight hug, careful not to crush his new prized possession, then stepped back again.

“What is it?” Stevie asked as he hurried to his brother’s side. Stacy was right behind him, and he leaned down to show them.

Sam’s expression was so freaking adorable that she wished she had thought to take a picture of him. She was usually pretty good at picking out gifts for her friends, so she was very happy she had gotten Sam’s right.  When he hugged her, Mercedes felt like the room had just jumped up a million degrees in temperature and she was super thankful that he stepped back so she could actually take a breath to get her senses in order.  Why did she feel like couldn't breath when he got that close?

While the Evans kids were busy checking out the comic, she busied herself with connecting the Sega Genesis to the tv.

Eventually, Sam took the comic to his room to read later and headed back into the family room where Mercedes was hooking up her Sega. The twins had moved into the room and were now coloring at the coffee table. So he sat down on the floor closer to the tv and picked up a controller. “What are we playing today?”

“Only the classics of course,” she had brought all the Sonic games, ToeJam & Earl, Golden Axe, Street Fighter 2, and Lion King for the kids. “I figure I can kick your butt at Street Fighter for a bit.” She was a pro at trash talking over video games, she had learned that from Royce.  She sat down next to him, but not too close.

Sam’s grin grew. He was impressed by her trash talking skills. She was seriously one of the fiercest gaming competitors he’d ever met. So he was ready to try his hardest to beat her in Street Fighter 2. “You’re on. I hope I don’t send you home crying.” He said before settling in to play.

[38-planes]

Come From Away Actress Jenn Colella is Out, Polyamorous & Tony-Nominated

Out.com [May 8th, 2017]

One of the Broadway season’s biggest hits, the seven-time Tony nominated Come From Away is a rousing, folksy show about the real-life incident where planes were diverted to a small town in Newfoundland on 9/11 and, for the most part, its passengers were welcomed and celebrated.

A testament to human decency, the show features a gay male couple who slink around the town, terrified of stepping into homophobia, but feel way more comfortable when they realize the people there are just plain nice. The show’s LGBTQ presence is upped by the fact that Beverley Bass, the lady pilot who landed the musical’s central plane in Canada, is played by the self-described “mostly gay” Jenn Colella, who just got her first Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Jenn debuted on Broadway in 2003 in Urban Cowboy and has many other credits to her name (including shows like High Fidelity and Chaplin).

I recently caught up with her to discuss her work and personal life.

Hi, Jenn, Congrats on the nomination. I heard that Beverley Bass, the pilot you play, adores the show so much, she’s a repeat viewer.

She’s seen it 62 times. She loves it. She’s not just given it her stamp of approval, she cries and gasps every time as if it’s her first time. She was the first female captain on American Airlines. She was retired, but since the show, she started to creep back into flying. It ignited it again.

When did you meet her?

Not until the last preview in La Jolla (the California venue where it played pre Broadway). In a restaurant, we spotted each other across the room and she came up to me and said, “I think you’re playing me.” I said, “I think you’re right.” She has definitely helped inform some of the things people put into the show. There are more stories she shared with the writers that got integrated, and I started adding little mannerisms of hers to make it as authentic as possible.

The message of the show is so uplifting that you must get incredible responses to it.

It’s been awesome, especially right now. It’s become the norm to be mean and spit vitriol at people, and we’ve gotten out of the practice of kindness. This shows us to practice kindness and says that we are all inherently good, which I deeply believe.

With the conversation about immigration raging, Come From Away reminds us how we need to welcome foreigners.

100%. I couldn’t agree more. When tragedy happens, you don’t care about their religion or socioeconomic background or where they stand politically. You shouldn’t at any time. I think these Canadians live this way all the time. It’s a reminder that it’s possible all the time.

Speaking of living openly: Were you always out in your career?

I wasn’t until I did an off-Broadway play [in 2008] called The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, taken from the Ann Bannon pulp fiction novels, playing a butch lesbian. I was getting a lot of attention, and it didn’t feel right not to be out anymore. It felt ridiculous, in fact. When I first got to New York, I was encouraged by people I respected to not come out. But I couldn’t do that anymore.

In 2013, you played a lesbian again in If/Then. You’re getting typecast.

[Laughs] Awesome, that’s great. Let’s do that all day long.

You told the New York Times you’re “mostly gay.” Offstage, are you dating or married?

I’m in a polyamorous relationship. I’m currently dating a married couple [a man and a woman]. They live in D.C. And I’ve also just started dating another woman.

Is she in the business?

Yes.

So these are obviously open relationships.

Yes.

In fact, you’ve said that your girlfriend is now on OK Cupid. Have you ever had longtime monogamous lovers?

Many. I’ve been married twice, and I used to joke that chicks love it when you propose.

But we haven’t had same-sex marriage long enough for you to have been married that many times.

It wasn’t legal. The first one was in ’95—a big ceremony in South Carolina [where Jenn was born and grew up]. It was a huge uproar. I was 21 and she was 10 years my elder, and the state newspaper covered my wedding and they had thousands of cancellations of the newspaper in protest. Then I remarried nine years ago, and it still wasn’t quite legal then. That one was dissolved as well. I’ll probably stop proposing. [laughs]

Why did you go ahead with these ceremonies if they weren’t legal?

The ritual of it. Humans love rituals. We like to get together and celebrate and make proclamations. It means so much. I don’t regret it. Both were incredible marriages and beautiful weddings.

What’s your best feature as person?

My practice of kindness. It’s really something I’m dedicated to. I try to treat each person I meet with respect and be as pleasant as possible.

Your best quality as an actor?

It might be the same. My present awareness helps me stay in the moment onstage. I believe I’m talented, but I think we’re all talented in New York, and a great deal of what I’ve accomplished is my leadership ability and my ability to help form a family on a show. I put myself in that position. They call me captain.

In every way!

I try to connect with each person. It’s kind of insane that I got a nomination when it’s such an ensemble show, but I put myself in the position where people look to me like a leader.

One last question about Beverley: Did she experience misogyny as a female pilot?

Absolutely. “Me and the Sky” [Jenn’s big song in the show] is almost directly taken from transcripts. She talks about the WWII pilots calling her “baby” and literally saying women don’t belong in the cockpit.

I guess they take the word “cockpit” very seriously.

[We both laugh].

THE SEASON IN GAY

The gay male couple in Come From Away aren’t the only LGBTQs on Broadway this season. Also up for Tonys: Lesbian playwright Paula Vogel’s Indecent is about a real-life Yiddish play that dabbled in lesbianism, to the horror of cultural oppressors. War Paint—a musical about warring cosmetics titans—has a character who shifts corporate allegiances, but is always true to his male partners. And in the realm of revivals: Falsettos deals with a man, his wife, his lover, and AIDS. Six Degrees of Separation centers on a real-life con artist who beds a hustler and flirts with anyone who can help him. And The Glass Menagerie’s narrator, Tom—based on author Tennessee Williams—has always had gay subtext, but with openly gay Joe Mantello playing him, it’s possible it comes out even more. The season also brought us a gay who has trouble dating, a small-town gay who’s not afraid to let his father know, and same-sex couples dancing at a ball.

Among the Tony nominees are the openly LGBTQ David Hyde-Pierce, Andrew Rannells, Gavin Creel, and Nathan Lane. And Jenn Colella! Congrats to all for a diverse and stimulating bunch of work.

A TARD DAY’S NIGHT

A polyamorous couple comprises one of the sketches in Unitard’s show Tard Core (There Are No Safe Words) at Joe’s Pub, but that sort of thing is mercilessly skewered, as per usual with this troupe. (“We have rules. You can cum in their mouth, but you can’t hold hands.”) In the riotously funny show—which will have you spitting out your overpriced wine—the comic trio also lampoons people who troll Whole Foods for tofu key lime pies; Facebook addicts who are horrified that someone else posted a photo of their breakfast burrito and got more likes than their own inane posts; and Russian hackers who discover that Hillary’s password is “Monicasucks.”

The show starts with the long running trilogy of terror—David Ilku, Nora Burns, and Mike Albo—as folk singers musically lamenting what’s happened to New York City. (“Where have all the porn shops gone? Turned into Soul Cycles and nail salons.”) But while the edge-depletion of the new NYC is one of their favorite targets, Unitard also makes fun of anyone who whines about it too much. A satirical Mod Squad for the new age, they hold a mirror to our pretensions while carving up soulless real estate agents, fruity designers who’ve crash landed on QVC, and the desperate Ann Coulter, who has a cell phone battery for a heart. Best of all are the Narcissists Olympics sketch and one in which the comics are hemorrhoids popping up in Trump's butt and dodging all the fatty foods. No one is better at satirizing up-to-the-minute foibles than these three kooks. I would just add an 11 o’clock sketch probing some really dark pathos and despair, just to bring things to a different level, but having nonstop hilarity is nothing to kvetch about.

STAND BACK

Pure entertainment was also on display at the 27th annual Night of 1000 Stevies, a riveting Stevie Nicks tribute at Irving Plaza, where “enchantresses of ceremony” Chi Chi Valenti, Paul Alexander and Hattie Hathaway, and DJ Johnny Dynell presided over swarms of twirling, spinning wiccans and vegans. The Garbo theme added yet another diva into the mix—the Jackie Factory is genius at blending metaphors—and the show sizzled with performers like Xavier, Divine Grace, and Amber Martin, who rocked the place with a fierily fierce “Angel.” “Stevie has a pre-existing condition,” I told the crowd as one of the night’s presenters. “She’s fabulous!”

SAINTS AMONG US

Tom Eubanks’ Ghosts of St. Vincent’s is a memoir about the legendary NYC hospital (now closed), which catered to AIDS patients like Eubanks, who also has researched the place’s extraordinary history from 1849 to 2010. I asked Eubanks, an old clubbing/ACT UP friend, to relate the most eye-opening things he learned about the hospital as a patient and author. He replied, “During my repeated stays during the height of the crisis, two things opened my eyes: time is subjective and friends are paramount. When you’re dying—or told that you’re dying and being asked if you’d like to see a priest about last rites—you achieve a kind of peace you never imagined on a deathbed. All sense of time ceases; it’s unnecessary, really. The only ones who gain any perspective when you’re dying are the people who visit.

“When you’re told that you will live, time and perspective return full-force. As I write in the book, it was a cruel trick Jesus played on Lazarus. That’s what AIDS did to all of us who made it through the maelstrom. The hospital’s destruction to make way for luxury housing illustrates the moving on of time we never thought we’d have. Also, it’s crucial to note that those of us who spent time on the seventh floor of St. Vincent’s learned a lot about selflessness, especially from the nurses and few remaining nuns.

“In a juicier vein, through my research I learned that St. Vincent’s was responsible for plenty of true life resurrection stories in its 161 years, with characters like Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sidney Lumet, Gloria Vanderbilt, Cardinal Franny Spellman, Ed Koch, the Ramones, Sam Wagstaff, Robert Mapplethorpe, Vito Russo, and others, about whom I write in the book.”

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

In 1982, Hal Prince directed a gigantic flop of a Broadway musical in A Doll’s Life, a sequel to the 1879 Ibsen classic A Doll’s House, about a woman who breaks free of male oppression and finds liberation. Critics thought the original play was perfect enough, thank you, and found the musical additions uninvolving and unnecessary. If anything didn’t cry out for a sequel, it seemed, it was A Doll’s House. But here comes Lucas Hnath’s new play, A Doll’s House, Part 2, which shockingly makes the same premise work. First of all, Hnath starts the action 15 years after Nora Helmer has walked out on her husband Torvald (Chris Cooper), so he doesn’t even recognize her when he’s confronted with her again. (He never did notice her much anyway). Furthermore, the play—under Sam Gold’s direction—often attains a screwball comedy tone, with modern thinking and behavior mixed in and some wacky interactions that make things seem very now. The killer is that Nora—who’s now a successful writer of women’s books and has come back to finally make her divorce official—still faces battles with each person she talks to, whether Torvald, who still can’t see how he condescends to her; the chatty maid, Anne Marie (Jayne Houdyshell), who keeps insisting that Torvald isn’t necessarily unhappy without Nora; and Nora’s even chattier daughter, Emmy (Condola Rashad), who refuses to believe Mama’s idea that while love is grand, marriage is just enslavement. The resulting debates about romantic entanglement, responsibility, and compromise are fresh and entertaining, and there’s also pathos in the fact that Nora is still seeking validation. (Hnath has said that Nora and Torvald don’t really get to hash things out in Ibsen’s play, so he wanted to give them the chance to do so).

Miriam Buether’s set has the title in neon, which rises up (as the house lights stay on throughout the play), revealing simple furniture surrounded by very tall walls, making this home feel like a difficult one to escape, especially twice. Cooper is fascinating (and refuses to make his character an ogre), Houdyshell is hilarious, and Rashad is truly electric, with direct and affectless spoutings of Emmy’s logic. As Nora, Metcalf commands the stage, using all her expert comic and dramatic skills to create one of the season’s most indelible performances. I generally deplore sequels, but I hope they do A Doll’s House, Part 3.

MULTI-CULTI BROUHAHA

Notice that when I mentioned Rashad as Metcalf’s daughter, I didn’t say anything about the fact that she’s black. Who cares? She's brilliant. And while her casting is one of director Gold’s purposely novel touches, it’s not the first time she’s played a role written for a white person. She was Juliet in 2013’s Romeo and Juliet, cast because she’s good. And this season, the African American Denee Benton is playing the female lead in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, and it didn’t bother me—or the Tony committee, which nominated her for Best Actress in a Musical—since she doesn’t happen to be Russian either. It’s theater. It’s acting. And I’ve long felt that people who aren’t white should not be penalized for their color and limited to roles any more than white people have been—and lord knows, Jonathan Pryce got flack for playing the Eurasian Engineer in Miss Saigon in 1991, but he also won raves and a Tony for it. Ideally, they should get the person who’ll give the best performance—and in the current production of Miss Saigon, it’s Jon Jon Briones, who’s fabulous. (And I didn’t sit there going, “But the character is half Vietnamese and half French, whereas Briones is Filipino American!”) Similarly, Glenn Close and Bette Midler might not be the right age for Sunset Boulevard and Hello, Dolly!, respectively—they’re older than what’s written—but they’re definitely the right people for the part.

Years ago, I got a screaming email from a theater writer (who just recently nabbed the critic’s job at a popular Broadway site). Since we were friendly, I thought he was going to say, “Thanks for doing that panel for me, which you just did,” but there were no niceties involved. He just launched into a fuming rant about how woefully wrong I was regarding something I’d written about multi-cultural casting. Seeing as his screechy email didn’t even bother to say specifically what he was reacting to, I had to dig into my brain and remember that months earlier, I had written a throwaway, light hearted sentence on the subject for a long-lead-time magazine. Lest I argue back, the writer’s screed included a pre-arranged defense, saying, “And don’t say people don’t usually sing in real life either!” blah blah blah, thereby trying to block any discussion on the matter. He had decided I was guilty of journalistic treason for not wanting to theatrically limit black actors to roles written for people of color—and my light hearted comment hadn’t even really said what I think on the subject.

But he guessed right. As I’ve said, I am in favor of not relegating black people to only Raisin in the Sun, Porgy and Bess, Showboat, and August Wilson plays (and some other works). Some of those are great properties, but—with white people controlling the business for so many years—it becomes an unfairly limiting palette for those who didn’t happen to be born white. So, if Audra McDonald wants to play Maria Callas, I say fine. She’d no doubt be magnificent, and I can use my imagination for five seconds and then forget about her skin color for the rest of the show. I also don’t think trans people should just play trans people. They should play all people, just like cis people get to do. And last year, I liked The Taming of the Shrew with Janet McTeer as Petruchio and the biracial Cush Jumbo as Katherina. This season, I had no problem with multiracial castings in shows like Groundhog Day and Present Laughter and I didn‘t hear anyone else gripe about it either.

Of course, someone might interject, “But what if a white person played Othello?” I’d reply that the point of multi-cultural casting isn’t for white people to get more roles. And also, that things get sticky when you’re dealing with plays that are specifically about race. But ideally, if everyone becomes able to nab a larger variety of parts, that should be a viable possibility too, once we’ve arrived at a more equitable landscape. And if some bold director tries it before then, then we’d have to accept the fact that theater should retain the power to offend (though let’s definitely stop short at Olivier-like blackface. See, white people have already played the part). It’s complicated—and case by case—but I welcome alternative viewpoints, as long as they’re clear-minded and not screaming or patronizing.

[silverstarsheep]

I just adore your art style, it's so cute! I'm thinking of making comics myself. Do you think you could give me some tips on angling or facial expressions or overall detail?

Thank you so so much! I really appreciate that! Like, a whole lot. ^^

I’m not exactly sure how much I’ll be able to help you, though I can at least give you some pointers on expressions! I’ll do my best. I’m sorry this is coming a bit late! 

I’m going to use Bendy for my examples, just because he’s super easy to draw and I have him on hand/mind at the moment. But! These can be used on just about anyone.

Keep in mind: this is just my way of doing things. There isn’t one “set” way to create great art! There’s a lot of experimenting, testing and growing when it comes to artwork.

When it comes down to expressions, there are a few things to consider: what are they feeling? How intense is this feeling? How far can, or should you push it? How can you make this feel realistic? In visual storytelling, showing what a character is going through is far more important than telling the reader. In a comic setting, there’s a very fine balance–since you have images to go with the words, but you can’t convey each minute action… At least in a reasonable amount of panels, the dialogue and the images have to work together when they’re used in tandem.

When a character is shouting, you have to push their expression further–it won’t be enough to show them with their mouth slightly open, or with a flat face. Give them wide eyes, or shut their eyes completely with frustration. Open their mouth wide, maybe even get their body language involved if you have enough room. Throw their arms in the air, have them pulling at their hair!

Likewise, if what they’re saying is quiet or somber, soften their expression. Have their gaze ill-focused, or looking to the ground. Their shoulders could be slumped, their brow could be low. Their mouth could be almost, or entirely closed. Or are they happy? Raise their eyebrows, widen their eyes with joy! Bring out that smile! Use as much variety and as many shapes as you can!

Because I’m a visual person, here are a few examples to give you a better idea of what I mean:

(I’m sorry if my handwriting is hard to read)

Which facial expressions are more interesting? Sure, the ones on the left are going through the motions of emoting, but the ones to the right REALLY show how the character is feeling!

Body language is also immensely important when it comes down to expressiveness. Every part of the body can be used to convey a message. The crossing of arms can indicate disgust, or even put a small barrier between two people. Slumped shoulders show disappointment or sadness. Every little movement a character makes can have a massive impact on their overall tone. Here are a few examples like the above:

Even minute changes to a static pose can make a BIG difference! Test around and see what works best.

I’ve noticed that some animators have mirrors near their desk. This is so they can look up at their reflection and make a face into the mirror. They project their character’s feelings onto themselves, that way they can see what sort of facial expression would be best suited to that emotion. Nowadays we can just google this, but it’s still a good idea. Don’t be afraid to look up references whenever you need them. I know I do frequently! There’s no shame in using references!

My friend linked me to this wonderful guide, which goes more in-depth than I did here. Take a look!

I’m sorry I can’t help you quite as much with angles. I feel that I’d need to do a little more research in order to be able to articulate this more fluently. Perhaps some other time I can try and revisit this and go more into depth about perspective and foreshortening, but for now, here’s another great guide that might help you along in the right direction. I use a similar structure for my own drawings! 

Speaking of foreshortening, here’s another tutorial! I don’t use this particular method, but it may work for you!

I know you didn’t ask for it, but I’d like to give you some tips about comic making. If you don’t want them, then I guess you can just stop reading, pfff. Either way I’ll put it under a cut so this post doesn’t take up so much of the dashboard.

I have to admit, my method of creating comics is… Unconventional in a variety of ways. I’m sure it’s not the worst way to go about it, but it may be a bit odd. Everyone has their own way, and a part of the process is finding what clicks well with you and your work flow. This is just my method, one of many!

I’ll start off with some of the important basics in comic making! I went to a small panel about comics at a con last year, and there I learned a few tricks and tips!

When it comes down to speech bubbles, it’s a good idea to keep the flow of the comic in mind. Usually comics are read from left to right, so when it comes to speech bubble order it’s best to keep this in mind. Height and distance between the bubbles in the same panel can also alter the order that they’re read in. It’s likely that our eyes will go to the panels on top first, so when it comes to order, it’s better to put the first bubble higher up than the second!

It’s also a good idea to keep in mind where your speech bubbles will be, and how much space they could potentially take. To avoid covering up too much of the characters it’s a good idea to plan these out ahead of time, and leave some extra space for these.

As well as speech bubble order, character order is also important. Again, since we read left to right, the first character we see we will assume is the protagonist, or even the hero. For example, let’s say you have a man using binoculars to spy on someone within a building. This can go two entirely different ways! If this spy was on the leftmost side of the panel, looking into the building that the person on the right is working in, it’ll come across as a hero digging up some dirt on an evil organization. Flip it around, with the person being spied on to the left inside of his home, and the spy outside and to the right of the panel, it’ll come across as a protagonist in immediate danger!

Something I need to remind myself of frequently is guiding the reader’s eyes about the page. This is best done in a subtle manner, where you use the characters and scenery to “point” towards the next panel. You can also use speech bubbles to do this, as when we read our eyes naturally follow along to the next bubble! Having the rightmost bubble lead into the one within the next panel is a pretty easy way to do this. One way I did this in my BatIM comic was by using Bendy’s spaded tail as a literal arrow. Did you notice? Even if I didn’t have the end of his tail pointing, I tried to aim his tail towards the next panel, especially if he’s not facing the “right” direction. The way that a character faces can also have an effect on this, so keep that in mind. They shouldn’t always be facing right, so it helps to have ways to lead reader eyes along.

One comic I poured a lot of focus on for this particular tactic is this one. Here I have Reaper Bird essentially point to where I want the reader’s eyes to go. You’ll also notice that it pops out of the panel now and again. That was a fun little detail I decided to add; in this case I used it to make Reaper Bird feel a little stranger, as it didn’t always fit into the box, even though Gaster did. A nod to how it covers up the dialogue box in-game. You can use this tactic to draw more attention to a character, such as for an introduction! Sometimes you don’t even have to limit them within the confines of the walls of a panel!

Speaking of panels… Making them all the same size and shape gets relatively… Boring. Not to mention there will be times where you either will have too much room for a single panel, or simply not enough! It’s far more engaging when the panels are different in size and shape. Just be sure to keep the flow in mind. We read from left to right, top to bottom. If you want to stack corresponding panels, be sure to make it clear that the top leads into the bottom, and the bottom leads into the one to the left of those!

So here’s how I make my comics: first I start off with my idea, and I plan out the basic idea in my head. From there I’ll write down the idea, and where exactly I want the comic to go. If I need to, I’ll write a basic script so I know what needs to be said and when. If I need more detail, or if I feel I’ll forget what I want to see I’ll script it out more, maybe sketch out panel ideas/format. From there I sort of… Grab paper and start going at it. I ghost out panels on my page. When I say “ghost,” I’m referring to the very light sketches and shapes I create to give myself a basic idea of where I want characters to be, and what I want them to be doing. I start with these light sketches to help me shape my drawings, and so I can easily go back over them and fix any problems or errors.

Once I feel I’ve got the panel looking basically like how I want it, I put a box around it and move to the next one. Though it’s probably better to use a ruler or a straight edge to create your panels. Even though I’m pretty good at making a straight line, and when I ink the boxes it usually works out… My panels are a wee bit lop-sided, haha! I used to plan out each panel carefully and then measure them out on the page I’ll be drawing on. While this doesn’t work for my flow NOW, it may be a useful tactic for you! For larger comics, careful planning is definitely key, but for shorter comics it’s not quite as important.

Anyway, once I have a page ghosted, I’ll go back over it and finish up the sketches, and make sure that each one is easily distinguishable for the inking process. This is usually where I make sure that the readability of the comic flows well for the reader. It’s also when I’ll share it with friends to get outside opinions. It’s usually a good idea to do this! Because you tend to get used to your own art, and you’ll likely miss errors. (I’ve done this too many times to count.)

After things are settled, I start working on the backgrounds. While not absolutely ESSENTIAL, having backgrounds can make your comic look a little more natural. It can help build atmosphere, and give the reader an idea of where the character is! I usually wait until I get the characters drawn, that way the background and character can mesh together a bit better. However if it’s easier to start with a BG for you, then that’s fine, too!

Then it’s off to inking! I focus first on the characters, then the foreground objects, then the background. Colors are next, should I go with them.

Here’s one page I have where I have the ghosted sketch, please excuse the potato cam quality! It’s not much, but I hope it at least gives you an idea.

Here’s a sketch of the full comic, before I inked it. You can still see some of my rough sketch work and where I started to plot out the background.

But that’s all I can think of, at least for right now. Feel free to ask more questions–I’ll do my best to answer them! I hope this helped out, at least a little bit. I’m sorry that it got quite a bit long… And hopefully this all makes sense, somehow. I feel a bit scatterbrained when it comes to teaching!

Good luck with your comics!

[addisvnsarchive-blog]

( lindsey morgan , she/her ): addison garcia is a survivor , who is twenty-five years old. she has been part of the saviors for over a year. some say she can be intelligent but can also be rebellious. best to stay on their good side. ( one of negan's wives. )

*uberhaxornova voice* alright helLO ( watch, no one else knows who that is ) i’m caitlyn, ( or cait, it doesn’t matter ) and this is my rought around the edges baby named addison. i’m sUPER excited to be here and i would have had this intro up yesterday but things got hectic around the house and i had to wait :( i have some basic info and stats about her under the cut and a basic af plots page up here! ( i will add more as i think of them, i promise ) if you’d like to plot w her, please just like this or IM me!! i can’t wait to get to plotting w ya’ll.

( tw: mentions of death, weapons, drugs, alcohol & violence. )

BIOGRAPHY

was born in dallas, texas and lived there until she was 17.

lsn ok addi grew up… hella wealthy.. however, that money was not really made legally ??

her parents were a part of the mafia ( or gang, however u wanna phrase it ) and lets just say she didn’t have the most ‘normal’ life growing up bc of if.

even though her parents did that for a living, they tried to keep her and her older brother out of the loop as best as they could, making a life for their kids that was not a life like their own.

however, she knew there was something up at a very young age, there were far too many times where her parents were gone late at night for her not to catch onto their job positions.

but for the longest time, she just told herself they were doing whatever they needed to do to keep her and her brother safe and left it at that.

being the curious person she was, she ended up sneaking out of her first day of class ( i’m talking middle school here ) one day, tracking down her parents car and found a window that was open and listened to the entire conversation about how they needed to end an opposing gang that was treading too close to her parent’s territory. that’s when she found up they were much higher up in rank than she thought.

she kept quite about it for a while, dropping subtle hints here and there until her parents finally caught on. they weren’t even mad that she eavesdropped on their conversation, instead they sat her down at a very young age and explained everything they did and why they needed to do it.

not only that, they started training addi as well, teaching her how to use various weapons, how to pick locks, how to get in and out of places unseen and everything else she would need to know to eventually take their place one day.

much to their surprise, she picked up on these things as easy as it was for her to breathe the air around them. she was a natural born criminal and that made them proud as can be. but she knew she wasn’t the only child they had, so she tarted asking questions.

after asking why her parents weren’t teaching these things to her brother, she found out that his life path was no hat of their parents. her brother had enlisted into the military and after getting shipped away for a while, came back to texas and started training to become a cop.

for a while, she couldn’t understand it, wanted to know why her own brother would be on the side that could potentially lock their parents away for the rest of their lives.

but that didn’t matter, he wasn’t even an official officer when she was pulled out of school only to be told their parents died in a crash. it was almost too much for her to deal with, but it also made it clear to her why her brother chose a different path.

she knew that crashes happened and for a year or so, she lived with that and just wrote it off as an accident. but what people didn’t know was that she’d become really, really good at hacking into people’s information, finding out that her parents weren’t just killed in the crash, they were murdered. the whole thing was a set up.. done by someone below them in ranks that didn’t like the fact they were in power.

this set addi off, making her go into this downward spiral that even her brother couldn’t get her out of.

she went out partying at a young age, started doing drugs.. anything that would make her forget about her parents for a while.

not only did that happen though, she became more and more motivated to take over their legacy, bursting in on one of the mafia’s meetings only to punch the person responsible directly in the face. she thought it would get her killed, and there was a part of her that didn’t care. but it didn’t, in fact it not only scared the other mafia members, but it instilled a respect for her in them that she had gotten from her parents.

things were fine for a while, she was 15 and living with her brother who tried to keep tabs on her as much as he could, but even that didn’t help him when he had a con-artist of a sister who paid people to lie for her about her whereabouts and things like that, but he tried and that was enough for her because it showed that he loved her and cared.

but things changed once again when she turned 16, her own brother catching her trying to steal clothes from the store. needless to say, he was probably a little more harsh on her than he should have been given that it was his sister.. he put her in a cell for a  good three weeks, probation after that and that was when she started to dislike him and his life choices.

after her probation was over, she knew she needed to get out, go somewhere where no one knew her name, no one knew what happened to her parents nor the ties she now had with the same mafia that got her parents killed. so she made the choice to move to georgia. she’d seen articles on it and fell in love so she figured why not?

shortly after that, she found out that she could do dangerous things for a living and basically tried to do anything and everything she could to make sure she got a job as a stunt double.. which she loved more than life and for the first time in her life she felt whole.. safe and completely free.

this however, didn’t last long, as she was quickly made aware of the outbreak that took over most of the country.

in a panic, she was able to contact her brother before everything was cut off, telling him to meet her in georiga. however, her brother never made it and she’s gone on believing that her brother probably didn’t make it, even if she has the tiniest bit of hope he did survive.

thanks to her mother and father, she was able to take care of herself and keep herself safe, but she knew a life alone was not a life to live inn a world full of walkers, so she began searching for a group, finding a few people who were out on a run and asking them if she could stay with them.

to her surprise, they reluctantly took her back with them and not too long after that, she had the title of wife and she was probably one of the few people that didn’t mind it all because she knew it meant she’d be happy, feed and safe.

PERSONALITY

first n foremost… addison has an southern accent, meaning that she tends to jumble words together ok like... forgive her she doesn’t mean to

while addi is sarcastic and blunt, she’s always extremely outgoing and charming when she wants to be.

she normally get along with everyone because she lives her life as chill as she possibly can. sure, there are some people that annoy her but she has never hated anyone other than the person that killed her parents. plus, you can’t really hate people in a world that doesn’t have that many of them left, u know.

loves to party, drink… be wild, do stupid things.

used 2 be that girl that probably sends half nude photos to her friends 2 see if they’re up to par ?? like ‘hey do u think this is good enough 2 send’

extremely reckless.. like probably will try n get people to take her on runs with her because she loves the rush it gives her??

curses like a daMN SAILOR

drinks…. a lot… like….. way more than she should

loves 2 cuddle but also hates it… like she’ll cuddle if she’s drunk or if she’s v close w u but if it’s after a one night stand ( before the outbreak ) she’s like.. lmao no bye

speaking of… she flirts… with everyone....no matter what

wears glasses 2 read, but hates them w a passion so she tries not to use them when she’s in public bc she doesn’t wanna get made fun of??

can cook like a five star chef??

a little guarded at first but once those walls are down, she considers you a friend.

the people she trusts fully though?? shit, she’d do anything and everything for.. like she’d even take a bullet for them ??

sub af & proud.

acts like she’s okay all of the time even if she’s not because she doesn’t want to burden people with her problems, they have enough to deal w as it is.

fluent in quite a few languages.

a burnt cupcake who’s trying

STATS

BASICS

Full Name: Addison Gabriella Garcia. Nickname(s): Addi, Gabs. Age: Twenty-five. Date of Birth: October 31st. Zodiac Sign: Scorpio. Place of Birth: Dallas, Texas. Ethnicity: Hispanic. Nationality: American / Canadian. Gender: Female. Sexual Orientation: Bisexual. Romantic Orientation: Bisexual. Religion: N/A. Occupation: Stunt Double ( before the out break ), surivior & negan’s wife. Language(s) Spoken: Spanish, French, Welsh, Russian, German, Gaelic, Italian & Japanese Accent: Southern.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Face Claim: Lindsey Morgan. Hair Color: Brown. Eye Color: Brown. Height: 5′ 3″. Weight: 124 lbs. Build: Average. Tattoos: None. Piercings: Left & Right. Distinguishing Characteristics: n/a.

PERSONALITY

Label: The Cataclysmic. Positive Traits: Outgoing, Intelligent, Adventurous. Negative Traits: Reckless, Sarcastic, Flirtatious. Goals/Desires: To survive. Fears: Arachnophobia & Monophobia. Hobbies ( before the outbreak ) : Playing video games, drinking, riding motorcycles / atvs, boxing, reading comic books, watching old movies, cooking and baking. Quirks: Believes in karma, counts stairs when she walks up or down them, fidgets constantly, is extremely flexible, is extremely ticklish, knows how to code websites, knows a lot of useless trivia. Likes ( before the outbreak ) : Makeup, oversized sweaters, dancing, singing, going out, social media, mac n cheese, nighttime, coffee, reading, video games, comic books, netflix marathons, animals, fruits, yoga, nutella, cuddling. Dislikes: being alone, bugs, thunder storms.

FAMILY

Father: Mateo Garcia. ( deceased ) Mother: Marielle Garcia ( deceased ) Sibling(s): Older brother. ( presumably deceased ) Pet(s): None.

[argocitycosplay]

This was one of those weekends where there was too much going on to choose. Over in Eastlake, my buddy Ed was heading out to Weplcon, while I noticed Mark and Brandi hitting Grossfest in Pittsburg. Maddie had already bailed on Geekfest in Akron (which I was planning on skipping anyhow – great show, but it’s always EXACTLY the same thing every year) and I figured I would just take the weekend off.

Then a notification popped up in my feed from Craig, a friend from Panels : The Comic Club. Pekar Park Comic fest was also happening this weekend up in Cleveland Heights. I haven’t been out to Coventry since Big Fun moved out. The heights district just seemed to lose some of it’s soul when the shop shot down. Still, this is an event that’s been around for a long time, a celebration of indie comic artist Harvy Pekar and as such, very focused on that style of comic book. When I say “Indie” by the way, I don’t mean Image and Dark horse. I mean R Crumb, American Splender, underground comix and the ‘Zine scene. I noticed that Urban Otaku was also involved, taking a good 1/3 – 1/2 of the activities, infusing the event with a significant anime influence. It’s a show that I’ve always meant to get out to, but keep forgetting about. That and the screening of My Friend Dahmer, complete with a Q and A afterwards was enough to get me moving.

While screenings and panels are held in the library, normally the vendors and most of  the events set up outside, but this weekend Cleveland was in the middle of a record heat wave and the decision had been made to move as much as possible indoors. Vendors were split between the Library and the Grog Shop across the street. A tent popped up to give shade to the chalk art section and the cosplay fashion show had been moved to the Grog shop.

I settled into the screening room at the Library around noon for the anime shorts. Some confusion with the laptop led to us watching One Small Step three times. Still, Control Bear and Out of Sight were charming. On Your Mark  and Poulette’s Chair were beautifully done and Cat’s Run was lighthearted and fun – almost loony toons meets Anime.

I ran out into the artist alley while Urban Otaku set up for their panel, grabbing stickers for the girls, a flyer here, a zine there, and a couple of indie graphic novels I’ve never heard of before. I was back in time for Pocky at the Anime panel where we discussed the history, themes and diverse art styles in Anime. Just over a dozen people filled out the back room and we each went around sharing names and our favorite anime. The moderators kept conversation flowing, tossing candy and pocky to anyone who answered questions and participated in the discussion.

Afterwards, I decided to head over to the Grog shop and check out what was going on over there. An entire second set of artists and vendors were set up inside the club, but I never made it across the street. Between the Library and the shop, I ran into the chalk art contest.  As I was looking around I noticed a few empty squares. A quick watch check showed me I had well over an hour before the next panel that I was interested in, so I grabbed a square near some pastels and pulled up a reference picture of Stitch on my phone before rendering him on the sidewalk.

Before I knew it, an hour had passed and I realized I needed to  move my car from one of the three hour parking spots to a different one. My phone was dead so I sat and charged it for about ten minuets (enough to be able to take more pictures)  while I read one of my new comics.

Recharged and ready to go, I popped into Mac’s Back bookstore for a moment (Used book shops are becoming an increaing rarity in northeast Ohio and I hate to miss an opportunity to browse one) then moved on to the Grog Shop for the other vendors. Scott (Formerly of Comics are Go, and writer of the book by the same name) caught me near the entrance and we talked about NEO comic con coming up in two weeks. The summer is flying by. A little further down, one of the Urban Otaku guys was there and pointed out my Excel Saga shirt.

“Much respect for the old school anime,” he told me. We chatted a while about the different eras in the genre and reminisced about the late and lamented Retropolis – an anime store hidden near the border of Lakewood. It was a closet. A hole in the wall that you could only find if you actually knew about it. This sort of lace could only exist back in the days when the only way to get certain anime was to pirate it – THEN transfer it to VHS. Funny, most of my Anime collection is STILL on VHS.

I realized I had missed the last two panels but made it back to the Library in time for the film screening. My Friend Dahmer is a graphic novel as infamous in Cleveland as it’s subject matter. Told from the perspective of a high school friend, it chronicles serial killer Jeffery Dahmer’s adolescence and was only recently made into a film. As the end credits rolled, the author of the book wandered in.

“Hi, I’m Derf,” he said in a friendly, casual tone. Derf took up a spot in the corner and proceeded to field questions about the graphic novel and how the movie may have altered certain parts to fit the narrative. The director had done a great deal of research to expand the story beyond Derf’s work, detailing events that hadn’t been a part of his experience. I sat, fascinated.

Afterwards, as the library was kicking us out so they could close, derf signed an autograph for one person and took a photo with a young lady who had mentioned they were studying his work in her college class.

“Do you get extra credit for getting a photo with me?”

“I better!”

You know, I had come out to the comic fest on a whim, mostly out of curiosity. I wasn’t sure I’d stay that long, but they managed to keep me engaged and entertained all day. It was well past seven before I made the walk down the block to my car. I had a good time here. A REALLY good time, and I wish I’d made it out sooner.

    Pekar Park Comic Fest This was one of those weekends where there was too much going on to choose. Over in Eastlake, my buddy Ed was heading out to…

[prinzenhasserin]

Rare Male Slash Exchange

Dear Creator!

I had so much fun doing this exchange last year, and please don’t feel obligated to use my prompts. This letter is just in case you might want to poke at some more of my likes. Generally, I’m open to a lot, and will be happy with any rating from gen to explicit.

My AO3 account is here. My prompts are pretty ridiculous in places. That’s just how my mind works! Feel free to play them entirely straight, or subvert them to your heart’s desire. I’m not so much a fan of darkfic, exceptions apply for hopeful/happy resolutions.

Feel also free to include other characters or OCs as side-characters, if they are necessary because of plot reasons. ❤️

(If this letter cribs a lot from my other letters, it’s because I’m lazy, and my likes don’t change around that much :D You can find some of my other letters under the exchange letter tag. I hope you have fun creating!)

Likes:

loyalty 

odd couples! 

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other 

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren't unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life); I also like homophobia-free societies! 

cultural differences! age differences! height differences! 

heists, rescue missions 

character driven narratives 

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy 

Space AUs 

competent characters 

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success 

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings 

cynical humour 

mutual pining 

everything is better in suits, corsetry, fancy dresses 

crossdressing 

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities) 

Blatant Lies 

Enemies becoming friends and/or lovers 

outsider POV 

epistolary, poetry, unusual narrative formats 

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality 

non-verbal expressions of affection 

Kinks I’m always down for:

wall sex

shifting power dynamics

semi-public sex

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming

sex toys

sex toys in public (though I get embarrassed if someone else notices)

DNWs:

infidelity in mentioned pairings

suicide

permanent character death

Specific Art Likes:

sketches!

textures!

background!

lavishly designed worlds and setting!

Kisses! Sleeping Together!

Trees!

Colours! Black and White! Sepia!

Explicit art! beauty spots and scars! hair!

Astreiant (fanart+fanfic)

Philip Eslingen/Nicolas Rathe

I'd love something exploring why the city has decided on calling Eslingen Rathe's "black dog", or maybe a scenario where Caiazzo uses Eslingen's relationship with Rathe as a distraction leading to much angst (but pls don't end on a unhappy resolution) Rescuing each other from uncomfortable situations/criminals/too much work?

How Rathe deals with Eslingen's coming promotion to the City Guard would also be great! Or even an AU, where they meet later--do they still find each other? (Other very intriguing AU ideas: integrating soulmates into the already pretty wacky magic system of Astreiant, an arranged marriage AU because Caiazzo and the surintendant want to unite Astreiant's lawful element with it's unlawful element...)

for art I'd love some costume porn, but also a spotlight on Eslingen's long hair, or Rathe's ratty exterior, and their contrast to each other. really, illustrating any scene would be amazing

Cowboy Bebop (fanart+fanfic)

Spike Spiegel/Vicious

The whole mysterious past these two have going on with each other is very intriguing to me, and while I'm much more of a fan of enemies to lovers, the other way around is also good. Was Julia just a beard? Did Vicious resent their relationship? How did they come to feel so violently about each other? did Vicious keep Spike as a pet, that also happens to be really good at murder?

Or maybe, their relationship had always been violent, and the whole killing thing was just a courtship gone horribly wrong?

or maybe Spike meets Vicious during on of their bounty hunts, and distracts him from following the crew with sex? maybe they get locked into a treasure vault together, and need to wait for rescue, and things happen?

or maybe, possibly, despite being riddled with gunshots, Spike survives his last stand, and Vicious regrets his hasty decision of killing him, and (okay, this maybe slightly ooc) nurses him back to health?

Original Works (fanart+fanfic)

Prince/Prince of Enemy Country 

- do they know that the other one is royalty? maybe they meet on a Grand Tour, and only later find out that their countries are at war/have a contemptuous relationship? - arranged marriage to end the war? arranged marriage to remove them from the order of succession? - one of them seduces the other for political gain (and/or accidentally manages to fall in love) but also happy with just PWP! - I'd love this in every imaginable setting: set in SPACE, fantasyland, 1920s NYC, modern times, Byzantine Empire; they are fairies, bunnies, mermen, aliens, whatever

Spy/Ghost of Enemy Spy 

- (does the ghost retain a sense of loyalty? it could be interesting either way!) - ghost sex: does the ghost need to possess someone to be able to have sex, or can they influence the spy directly in some way? telepathic sex? dream sex? - does the spy try to seduce the ghost to get at the enemy's secret? does the ghost simply tell them, because he's bored and stopped caring? do they go on spy adventures together? maybe the ghost helps the spy escape from prison, because the ghost was executed because they knew too much and now they want revenge? -also consider: space ghosts.

Young Crime Boss/His Grizzled Bodyguard

- yes please. Special bonus points if the Bodyguard is smitten, but feels so much guilt, and only lets himself be very carefully seduced - I'd love this in every imaginable setting: set in SPACE, fantasyland, 1920s NYC, modern times, Byzantine Empire; they are fairies, bunnies, mermen, aliens, whatever - young boss gets kidnapped and needs rescue? bodyguard manages to get caught by the police trashing the abusive ex-boyfriend, and young boss needs to bail out the bodyguard, and pays too much money and makes the bodyguard pay by using his body?

DCU (Comics) (fanart+fanfic)

John Constantine/Bruce Wayne

I saw this in the tagset, and it's so tantalising! (I am also eagerly awaiting Batman:Damned, so if you want to create something in that direction, feel free to!) Otherwise, I don't really mind which version you write!

- John is a member of the Justice League, and so he had to have met Batman. How does that go? Bonus point if it ends with Constantine in Bruce Wayne's life and bed! - Or maybe Constantine meets the Bruce Wayne persona on one of his adventures, and expresses his utter bewilderment at posh people, as he does, and somehow they end up having sex to resolve their issues? - or perhaps, Batman needs a ritual done, and so he turns to Constantine, who convinces him that nothing can be done without a sex magic ritual?

Harry Potter (fanfic+fanart)

Orion Black/Abraxas Malfoy

--you know what would be really cool? If they had a livelong relationship with each other, and only reluctantly married to get kids (also the reason Orion Black married his cousin, perhaps? Because he was already a "confirmed bachelor"?) would also love a kinky PWP! or love letters that are only found after their death

perhaps they have a fling at school, and Voldemort blackmails them into joining his deatheaters because of it? and there's much drama, but they can't let each other go because of true love?

but also consider a complete AU, where Orion and Abraxas marry for political reasons to give the Malfoy family legitimacy or whatever; or Orion and Abraxas coming back as ghosts and really annoying the owner's of Grimmauld Place with their constant ghost banging (literally and figuratively)

Harry Potter/George Weasley

yes please. Fred can be alive (I prefer that, actually), and I prefer if Ginny wasn't fridged, but I'd really like this way of connecting Harry to the Weasley family. does it start when they are still in school? George really wants to repay Harry for the Triwizard money, and manages to con Harry into some sort of relationship because he feels like that's the only thing he's really good for?

Or, they get together after war is over, and Harry/Ginny stops working out--maybe they fall into bed with each other after a boring Ministry event, and drunkenly decide they need some excitement in their life? Or perhaps, a prank gone wrong looks them into a broom cupboard with or without sex pollen?

The love potions they sell in store are accidentally keyed to George, and Harry manages to get dosed, and somehow it works out great?

Severus Snape/Charlie Weasley

Snape needs to lay low and comes to Romania? Somehow, Snape survives Nagini and brews the best burn healing paste, of which Charlie is always in need?

Charlie comes back as Professor for Care of Magical Creatures, and manages to seduce Snape? I'd prefer if Charlie was at least 17 if they start boning while he's still in school. does it complicate Snape's spying duties? does Charlie dress up in lingerie?

Bungou Stray Dogs (fanfic+fanart)

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Dazai Osamu/Nakajima Atsushi 

- pls give me violent relationships based on mutual assured destruction

- i’d love a relationship based on one-upmanship, on a general push-and-pull, even all the way at the beginning in chapter 9 of the manga, where Dazai is like "My new subordinate is so much better than you ever were."—and they have such a great chemistry between all of them. I’d like it even if you split up the pairings! Each one you could do is very intriguing!

- Dazai is always so hyper-focused on pretty women, and yet, for some reason, most of the people he surrounds himself with are pretty boys, and he’s such a mastermind with all other things, it would be super intriguing to see him have this epic blindspot of how attracted he is to Atsuchi and Akutagawa— Atsuchi and Akutagawa make such great foils too, they’re such great rivals (for Dazai’s affections?)

- does someone finally look them in a room together, to make them work out their tension?

- there’s this new ability user called EL James, and their ability is sex pollen, and it surprises the three of them on a mission? alternatively, I'll take other authors with wacky powers :P

- I’d even love an AU where, say, Dazai is some rich mogul who likes to keep pets, or anything really, as long as you preserve their character dynamics. Or soulmate AUs!

- Dazai manipulates them into sleeping with each other for the greater good, and only then does he notice that he kinda likes them too, and feels much angst about it, or maybe Atsuchi can’t take Akutagawa’s pining, except accidentally he sleeps with him, and then they seduce Dazai together?

- I’d also be very interested in encounters with literary figures that haven’t been seen yet

Inuyasha (fanfic+fanart)

Sesshoumaru/Inuyasha

am here for all the contrived reasons to get them together. Hate!sex? Yes! Sex Pollen? You got me! Arranged marriage by their dad to keep dog demons with dog demons? I am here!

What I like is their contemptuous relationship with each other, that nevertheless evolves – I like that they claim to not spit on the other if they were on fire, but when push comes to shove, they do help each other, and defend the other from their enemies. I like that they are halfbrothers, that they clearly recognise the power in each other, the underlying class issues, and all.

How about a small snippet of them teaming up together? Surprised by sex pollen, or a gender-changing well? time loops would be awesome! as would Inuyasha and Sesshomaru meeting again in the future, with Inuyasha time-travelling and Sesshomaru getting there the conventional way. Would also read soulmates!fic, or a sleeping beauty AU

I see both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru as fairly aggressive and forthright, and would prefer you not to characterise either of them as submissive (outside the bedroom).

The Inheritance Cycle (fanfic+fanart)

Murtagh Morzanson/Eragon Shadeslayer

Would love this at any point during canon, but please don't change the setting! Adding additional worlbuilding is really awesome, though.

- do they sleep together during their days on the run, to keep themselves warm and then it turns into more? do they get caught in an old sex pollen trap somewhere?

- Saphira and Thorn go into heat and it transfers over to their riders?

- would also love post-canon things, where Eragon goes to look for wild dragons, and finds where Murtagh went instead, or something

- AU, in which Galbatorix makes them marry while Eragon is captive, and because they said their vows in Elvish, it's still valid after they kill him, and they have to deal with hearing each others thoughts and being connected until death do them part?

The Three Musketeers - Dumas (fanfic+fanart)

d’Artagnan/Jussac

- Then, there’s also Jussac–and their rivalry is set up so well! The longstanding Cardinal’s Guard against the new impulsive Musketeer? Perfection. And then Jussac disappears, and it made me so sad. - So, rival hate!sex? Are they assigned to protect someone and have to arrange themselves with each other? Are they banding together for a greater enemy? - Is one of them blackmailed for their sexuality, and they can only go to the other for help, because nobody is going to believe the gossip they have about the other? I’d prefer if the blackmail doesn’t put emphasis on homophobia, just that the sexual behaviour was not socially acceptable. - They are wooing the same mistress. Because of reasons, they have to hide in her closet together, and the only reasonable recourse of action is banging each other. - Foiling an assassination attempt? getting imprisoned together, because they duelled in public? - I’d also be game for a total AU! But please preserve the general fucked up character dynamics, because they are what I like about this canon.

d’Artagnan/Athos

- d'Artagnan pays so much attention to Athos, and his many swings of temperament, and he has such a crush on him! It’s hard to tell if he wants to be him, or bang him, and I really really want the latter. When Athos says, he has sworn off of women, what he means is that he’s only interested in men, right? right? that is to say, I’d love canon divergence, where they end up together (and please, with the possibility of longterm happiness) - If you want to set this before Milady’s appearance, sure! If you want to set this after Milady’s appearance, I would love to see the dramatic fallout of Milady flirting with d'Artagnan, or hurt/comfort after Athos kills his wife the second time. - Treville makes them root out the Cardinal’s spies out of his ranks! They have to spend a lot of time close together; or Treville makes them go on duty together, because Athos is very experienced, and that’s not the only thing he’s experienced with ;) - d’Artagnan needs help managing the estate the King grants him, and Athos lends a helping hand I like a good helping about catholic guilt, but not just specifically about homosexuality.

[mirika]

This weekend I have been to Dutch Comic Con; my favourite out of the four we have in my country.

This time I am wearing my new Ladybug outfit from Miraculous Ladybug. Sadly my friend did not get her Chat Noir outfit ready to go, but it did not influence our fun.

I’ve added some DCC tags to this post in case people want to find photos of their own cosplay back; I can send you a full version.

Day one!

Saturday I went with two friends of mine. My annual friend, who I’ve been visiting Dutch Comic Con with every year and who will be joining me as Chat Noir, and my friend who I have been visiting other Comic Cons with. My friend who will be Chat Noir is in a photo somewhere at the bottom of day one, as that photo was taken at the end of the day.

I was very nervous about getting to the event on-time as the actress I wanted to see only had a morning slot (11.15 AM). As someone who has to take a two hour train and will have to take into account a line to get in, this was no joy. We made it though; we were inside at 11 AM. The actress is Emilie de Ravin and she portrays Belle in Once Upon A Time. I sadly did not get any clear shots of her.

But that is her! One of my two friends wanted a question answered, but not do it herself, so I got up and asked her what her most memorable behind the scenes moment was; she gave multiple answers.

After the Q&A we went shopping and took photos with other cosplay. Like last year, we could not shop within a single day! There’s too many shops. Not that I am complaining, but I had to remind myself every time I need to see everything before I do big purchases. That is why all I purchased was some sausages and a few badges. I planned to buy more badges!

I got two Miraculous Ladybug badges and one badge of Mei from Overwatch from the same vendor. I later turned back to where my former teacher was having her art shop and got the Lucio badge, who is also from Overwatch. It actually made me sad how so many shops with Overwatch items ignored Lucio’s existence; he’s not an unpopular character at all, yet he gets no love. Does he not look like a cheery fella on that badge there? We need more Lucio.

I planned to buy more badges the next day (an ace flag with a cat on it; it was too cute; and some others). I also saw a Balrog Funko for about 20 euros, which seems like a good deal. I was heartbroken the Lord of the Rings shop did not have a bust statue of Frodo (these are often 75 euros and I kept money behind for this); the only other options were 135 euros or higher in price. I figured I better go see what else the event has.

As for cosplay, I saw a fair amount of other Miraculous Ladybug cosplay! I saw many Chat Noir whom I’ve had to ignore because we were busy, so I only got few photos of the other cosplay. First is the lass who gave me chocolate!

She told me she was going to visit the next con as Adrien, but instead surprised me as Marinette. This is because her friend was going to show up as Adrien (from as far I understood) and it worked better due to their height.

This is her friend, who took a surprising pose;

I googled some anime blushing sprites to throw on my cheeks. You see, Adrien is in love with Ladybug, but does not know Ladybug’s identity. The person behind Ladybug likes Adrien, but does not know Adrien is also Chat Noir, who she does not fancy. It’s a complicated love thing, but this is the version that would work out. Adrien likes Ladybug, and Ladybug likes Adrien.

So this person hugged me and me, not knowing how to react in real life, came off quite well as Ladybug as she would not know how to react either, probably (if you know what her crush on Adrien is like, this is only fair). In my mind I thought I looked more surprised than the photo turned out to be, I guess I don’t control my facial emotions all that well.

Oh, and the chocolate the lass dressed as Marinette gave me!

Isn’t this fitting? It’s an adorable ladybug chocolate!

After that I found a Chat Noir cosplay. Apparently they were just about to ask me to have a photo taken when I walked up to them. Works for me!

I saw few more with the traditional leather outfit and I am truly bummed I missed them.

Instead, I found a couple of Fire Emblem cosplay. This is in my opinion rather rare. Look at this, I found an entire group of them.

I first noticed Gaius. I was able to confirm him because of all the candy he carries, haha. I asked him for a photo and slowly noticed it was a whole group of them!

I have to admit I am not familiar with Echoes of Valentia, so other than recognizing them as such characters I had no clear image of them (it helps I play Fire Emblem Heroes, and Alm is simply very recognizable as a main character). The left two folks are characters from Echoes; Lukas and Alm (correct me if wrong). The folks on my right side I could clearly recognize though, as I do play Awakening. Those are Tharja and Gaius. I kept wondering if I was not mistaking her for Rhajat, as Rhajat and Tharja look very much alike, but Rhajat wears different clothing and has much less of a role in the games.

I also saw a Robin cosplay from a few Comic Cons ago, but I didn’t bother him. I did bother Marth! Eh... yeah. That’s Marth, no one else!

I kept insisting on saying this as my friend has not played Awakening yet. No spoilers!

I wonder if she as well was comfortable with the mask; I liked wearing a mask. Even though no part of me is anonymous wearing it, I still have that anon vibe going on, and I liked it.

I also of course had to take a photo with a Mei cosplay. You know, from Overwatch.

She was actually the first person I took a photo with! I’m sad I never saw that Lucio cosplay again; the one that made me want to play Lucio in the first place.

When we were just leaving the building, I saw a version of Alice from Alice: Madness Returns, one of my favourite mindless hack-and-slash games. I already had my ponytails down (still not sure how I prefer my hair as Ladybug has ponytails, but my outfit is already a custom version so who knows).

I love it especially when I see Alice cosplayers who decide to go with another version than her regular dress or Hysteria mode. Not that those do not look awesome as well though; please don’t get me wrong. I would go for the regular dress if I would ever decide to cosplay her myself, at least the first time. It’s more accessible. How cool would it be to have all versions though?

Either way, after this we were really leaving... or so we thought. 

We got offered to take a photo for free and have it printed straight away. My friend, who will be Chat Noir, did not mind as well. We realized we had never taken a photo together despite annually visiting this event. Well, here’s the result!

Please don’t ask me who she cosplays again; my anime knowledge is horrible.

That does sum up day one though!

Day two!

On Sunday the floor was filled with a lot less people, which made shopping much easier. We arrived later this day as compensation for starting so early on Saturday. The first thing I did was pick up some items I had written down, which were mostly buttons, and bought an extra from the shops I had not seen the day before.

Those are a fair amount! I also bought new dice for Dungeons & Dragons now that I actually play it more than I usually do. They are glow in the dark and it gives more of a healer-vibe than my red dice (in D&D I am a cleric who wants to heal the world with her magic).

The buttons are from several different things. The first button is Mei from Overwatch again; this button was too adorable. I think I expressed to too many shops that Lucio is lacking though, and I hope they did not take offense as I did not mean it in such a way! The heart-shaped button is all the Digimon from the first season. The bottom left is a Pokemon button; I am not a huge Pokemon fan despite playing Pokemon GO like an idiot, but Ninetales is my favourite Pokemon and the Alola version of Ninetales and Vulpix are amazing. The last button in particular has nothing to do with anything in particular other than being a pride button expressed through a cat.

I also bought a flower crown from the shop I saw on Saturday. I bought it by the end of the day and I only had 10 euros of budget left; just enough for one flower crown. I wanted more, but I had to pick my favourite.

My friends and family both agree that this flower crown basically screams my name. Black and blue is my favourite colour combination and roses are my favourite flowers. In other words, it’s perfect!

That was all the merchandise. I had to make some tough calls; I did not buy the Balrog Funko despite being a very fair price and I had to say no to Digimon charms (though to be fair I think I have seen them cheaper elsewhere). I’ve never owned so many buttons in my life; I want a proper bag to show them off on now. That is for later.

Because there were a lot less people, there were a lot less people in cosplay, so my amount of photos is limited for this day. I also had to pass on a photo with another Ladybug and a Chat Noir because my mate was doing something else at the time and thus I could not take a photo of us (I don’t like doing selfies as I prefer the full costume shot). I did see a rather casual version of Chat Noir and once I read the text on their shirt I freaking loved it.

It was another case of “I was just about to ask you for a photo as well,” which I find flattering.

Oh, and as you can tell, this day I just decided to have no pony tails. No hassle.

We also went for a “pound it!” shot, but for the photo’s sake we did not do the full arm reach. It’s still a place full of people.

I like it when others come up with pose ideas as I never know what to do (if you look closely you will find I often just do the hero pose in most pictures).

I also bumped into yesterday’s Marinette again (who brought a different Adrien). We took some photos together, but she is the owner of those photos, so I am hoping she will send them to me. I’ve also given many hugs to her and Adrien despite not being much of a hugger, haha. We were inspired by a girl with a ‘free hugs’ sign (who of course also got a hug as she was almost at 200 hugs from strangers).

The other cosplay I took a photo with was Thor and Helya.

When I walked behind them I said to my friend ‘if that Thor actually has a beard I want a photo taken’ - saw their front and went right towards them, haha. The con was actually over, so I was lucky I could get a photo with them. Usually when a con is over people just want to leave, which I can totally get into. We look like a really awkward super hero squad since I look a lot happier than the other two, haha! 

That’s it for photos that I took with other cosplay, but one remarkable thing happened.

Someone dressed as Newt from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She made all the creatures herself if I recall correctly (see images below). A true craftswoman. This is why a couple of people (including yesterday’s Marinette) suddenly went down on their knees and bowed for her!

I think it is safe to say she was flabbergasted (but did end up owning it for the photo’s sake). I had never seen this before and she told me this had never happened to her before either. This was a true unique sight!

I am also very impressed with her creatures. She used felting for the tiger, that must’ve taken so much work as most people only use felting for small things. This lass deserves all those bows. I said that if I wasn’t in a skirt, I would’ve joined in as well.

That sums up my adventure. If I find any photos taken of me online, I will edit this post and add them to the bottom. Dutch Comic Con is always such a hoot!

Oh, and I hugged a furry. For some reason this was on my bucket list. I always wonder how they get their suits, sounds like an expensive (and exhausting to wear) business!

Other unrelated side note; Pokemon GO and Dutch Comic Con worked together, allowing all visitors (or other people in Utrecht) to catch the Unown letters that shape the words Comic Con (C, O, M, I, N). I thought this was an amazing twist, you should have seen me when I arrived Saturday. I opened the app and saw five Unown nearby. I went nuts and told my friends to GO TOWARDS THEM RIGHT AWAY without knowing this would be a weekend-long event. I think this is one of the few times you could have seen me that excited, haha!

DCC 2018 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) RCC 2018 - Mimi (Digimon) WDCC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) ACC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) DCC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) RCC 2017 - Mimi (Digimon) ACC 2016 - Hook (Once Upon A Time) DCC 2016 - Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug) DCC 2015 - Sunday - Hobbit (Lord of the Rings) DCC 2015 - Saturday - Ellie (The Last of Us)

I have been to Elfia in 2015, but I cannot find this post. I was Donna Noble and I actually had a really bad day, which is why I have never returned to Elfia.

[vitalmindandbody]

Eddie Izzard:’ Everything I do in life is trying to get my mother back’

Transgender hero Eddie Izzard has done standup in French and German, guide dozens of marathons, and is now in a period drama with Judi Dench. But, he reveals, his can-do attitude has a sorrowful source

There was a literal turning point in Eddie Izzard’s lifelong pursuit of personal freedom. It came one afternoon in 1985 when he had gone out for the first time in a dress and heels and full makeup down Islington high street. He was 23 and he had been planning- and forestalling- that time for just about as long as he could recollect. The turning point came as he was chased down the road by some teenage girls who had caught him changing back into his jeans in the public toilets and wanted to let him know he was weird. That chase ceased when eventually, faced with the screamed question” Hey, why were you dressed as a woman ?”, he chose simply to stop running and deflect and illustrate himself.

He spun around to give an answer, but before he got many paroles out the girls had run in the opposite tack. The suffer schooled him some things: that there was dominance in tackling dread rather than avoiding it; and that from then on he would never tell other beings define him. After that afternoon, he says, he not only felt he could face down the things that fright him, he went chasing after them: street perform, standup comedy, marathon leading, political activism, improvising his stage show in different languages- all these things seemed relatively easy after that original came to see you as what he announces” transvestite or transgender “.” You envision, if I can do something that hard, but positive- maybe I can do anything .”

The ” anything” he has been doing most recently is to take on the challenges facing acting opposite Judi Dench and Michael Gambon. In Stephen Frears’s interpretation of the real story of Queen Victoria’s late-life love with an Indian servant, Victoria& Abdul , Izzard plays a full-bearded, tweed-suited Bertie( afterward Edward VII ), reining in his comic inclinations to inhabit the outrage and scheming of a son encountering his mother apparently making a gull of herself. Izzard has done abundance of movies before- he was in Ocean’s Twelve and Thirteen alongside George Clooney and Brad Pitt and the rest- but nothing that has required fairly this height of costume drama self-restraint. He loved it.

Watch a trailer for Victoria& Abdul .

He and Dench are old friends. She has been a regular at his stage shows and has been in the habit, for reasons forgotten, of sending a banana to his dressing room each opening night, with” Good fluke !” written on it. Construing her channel Victoria at close quarters was a daily masterclass. The movie was hit partly at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight( the first time any cinema gang had been allowed inside by English Heritage) and the throw would let their mane down in the evenings. One age, Izzard remembers:” I was dancing with Judi to Ray Charles’s’ What’d I Say ‘. She felt like a young lady, a young teenage daughter virtually. Judi has this amazing activated of vitality that traces all the way back to her youth .”

Watching the film, you’re so ready to see Izzard slip into one of his rebellious meanders of consciousness that for a while it seems odd that he stays on write. Does it feel that mode to him very?

” Not now ,” he says.” My early wreak as an actor wasn’t very good because I precisely switched all my comedy muscles off, and I didn’t know what to replace them with. I envisage I have learned more how to just’ be’ on movie now. It is similar to knowing how to both travel a bicycle and drive a car. If you are in a auto you don’t want to lean sideways to turn a angle. You know the difference .”

Ever since he bunked off academy and conned his direction into Pinewood Studios as a 15 -year-old and strayed the film sets for a day, he has imagined himself relevant actors. The first thing he did when his comedy ultimately took off after years of trying and often failing to constitute parties laugh was to get himself a drama agent and see if he could engage a twin vocation. He has never been satisfied with simply doing one thing, and it is suggested that determination to alter has only just proliferated. He’s 55, and because of his running- which peaked at 43 marathons in 57 daylightsin the UK and 27 in 27 daylights in South Africa for Sport Relief– he gazes lean and almost alarmingly bright-eyed. We are talking in a hotel chamber in London, and he is garmented sharply in” son with eyeliner” mode. He works on the notion, he says, that human beings were never made to sit still or decide, but to target themselves in objection places, and then work out how to cope.

” World battle two is a good example ,” he proposes.” People got fallen behind enemy lines with no hypothesi of what they were going into. They had to learn to do a great deal under extreme distres and on the move. And they proved we are able to. In a very different way, I make came to see you as transgender let me to make myself in other scaring situations and wreak them out once I was in them. I knew I would get through the bad, panicking bit- and there was a lot of that when I was a street performer- and eventually get to a more interesting place .”

Leading one of many marathons for Sport Relief in July 2009. Photograph: Alfie Hitchcock/ Rex

He has, of late, paused to reflect on the same reasons behind that motivation, first in a documentary film, Believe: the Eddie Izzard Story , made by his ex-lover and long-term collaborator Sarah Townsend, and then in an autobiography, Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens . The first two elements of that latter subtitle primarily preceded Izzard back to his mother, who died of cancer when he was six years old. Representing the film, Townsend came to suggest that all Izzard’s invigorated digressive attires curved around this fact, and in his journal, in opening sections extremely harrowing to read easily, he expands on that thought.

” Toward the end of the film, I started talking about my mother …” he recalls.” And I said something revelatory:’ I know why I’m doing all this ,’ I said.’ Everything I do in life is trying to get her back. I think if I do enough acts … that maybe she’ll am coming .'” When he said those texts, he says, it felt like his unconscious speaking. The thought remained with him that” I do feel I started performing and doing different kinds of large-scale, crazy, ambitious happens because on some height, on some childlike magical-thinking degree, I saw doing those things might introduce her back .”

I wonder, having went those happenings out into the public, nearly half a century on, if it has changed how he thinks about himself?

” I surely feel I am in a better place ,” he says- but also it has given him a sense of his own strangeness.” There is that situation where people say wow about the marathons or whatever. And I kind of say wow very, because there are some things I did that, looking back, I don’t know how I did them. Running a double marathon on the last day in South africans. It was 11 hours of not fun. And about five minutes of euphoria. I’m not sure how I did that .”

One of the things about marathons- even if you are running, as he was some of the time in the UK, followed by an ice-cream van reverberating the Chariots of Fire topic- is that there is an dreadful spate of meter for recollecting. Does his intellect ever pause for sigh?

” I have a luck occasion ,” he says,” which is that I am interested in any question- how did we get here? all the religions. I can think about anything. For sample when I did the 43[ marathons] I led past a signal saying’ the Battle of Naseby: 1 mile’ and I’m immediately off “ve been thinking about” Cromwell and Fairfax, Prince Rupert maybe, and how this path I was leading on would have been a track back then and maybe the cavalry came down it, how did they get cannon round that bend, all that, at every moment …”

Campaigning for Labour during the general election in 2015. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/ PA

Talking to Izzard, and watching him act, you feel he has a kind of the requirements of not ever wanting to miss any scrap of experience. It’s partly, he intimates, why he has widened his range of doing standup in different languages in recent years.

” German has been the hardest so far ,” he says. He is doing Arabic next, contriving a show in the Yemen( he was born in Aden, where “his fathers” worked for a experience for BP) to draw attention to the harsh civil battle there, and after that, Mandarin Chinese. As he clarifies this, blithely, I’m prompted both of the aisles in his notebook where he writes about the strategies he developed to overcome severe dyslexia as a child, and his apprehensive relationship with his late stepmother, Kate. The antithesis of performing as a younger human for the memory of his mother was a refusal to be limited by Kate’s efforts to control him. She craved him to be an controller because he was good with digits, if not with speak. He echoes her once telling him:” You’ve got to understand that you are a cog in the machine. As soon as you understand that, they are able to fit in and get on with life .” You can only imagine how that was downed. Does he ever think he will become more assume of limits?

” I have a very strong sense that we are only on this planet for a short period of time ,” he says.” And that is only ripening. Religious people might think it goes on after demise. My look is that if that is the case it would be nice if simply one person is coming and make us know it was all fine, all proven. Of all the thousands of millions of people who have died, if just one of them could come through the clouds and say, you know,’ It’s me Jeanine, it’s brilliant, there’s a really good spa ‘, that would be great .” He pauses.” Although what if heaven was exclusively like three-star, OK-ish. You know,’ Some of the taps don’t work …'”

He gives his success down not to any particular knack, but to his being” brilliantly accepting. Some beings are maybe brilliantly interesting. But I have the opposite knack .” That, and staman, and that unlimited curiosity about the world.

For a BBC series about genealogy he went to Africa to find percentages per of his genetic make-up that was Neanderthal. It buttressed his sense that there was nothing new under the sun, that parties had always been the same.” We never think of cavemen being resentful of the neighbours with the better cave, but no doubt they were ,” he says.

In villages in Namibia, dames were mesmerized by his nail lacquer; some of the men, more.” You know if you have a football and some tack refine and a smile you can walk into any hamlet in the world and find friends ,” he says.” There are 7 billion of us on countries around the world now and we should be connecting up more. Ninety-nine per cent of us would be live-and-let-live and’ Hi and how are you ?’. But the 1% aren’t glad with that, they want to actively stimulated it up and tell us that is not the way to go on .”

Satisfying the Bakola Pygmy in Cameroon for a BBC series to trace his genetic make-up. Photo: BBC

Talk of politics is a reminder of Izzard’s involvements in last year’s referendum campaign, in which he tried to use his experiences of doing humor in French and German and Spanish as an example of how Europe might be a place where you could share culture, rather than be defensive about it. In those fevered weeks, his arguments were sometimes made to look naive; the Mail and the rest cooked him after an awkward encounter with Nigel Farage on Question Time .

He admits that he is sometimes still learning in politics, but is unrepentant about his efforts to try to advance a campaign that he has been engaged in as a performer for a long while.

” Running and secreting from Europe cannot be the way forward for us ,” he says.” The thought that Britain can go back to 1970 and it will still be all the same exactly can’t be an option .”

Does he think there is still hope for Remainers?

” It seems to me beings are always capable of being either courageous and curious or hideous and suspicious. If you track humanity the whole way through, the periods of success for civilisation are those periods where we have been brave and strange .”

There is plenty of panic and idea in the world though. How does he think it will go?

” I don’t know. If you look at the 1930 s there are obviously clear examples of how individuals can twisting this type of panics and twist them, and then you get what historians often announce mass-murdering fuckheads in supremacy .”

He has long talked of looking to run as a Labour MP in the next election. Is that still the occasion?

” Yes, the plan was always to run in 2020, though Theresa May has changed that with her failed supremacy grab. So now it’s the first general election after 2020.”

He will also employ himself forward for Labour’s national executive committee at the working party meeting this year. He didn’t make it last era, though he got 70,000 votes. And if and when he becomes an MP, he will give up behaving and acting?

” I would. It’s like Glenda Jackson; she gave up behaving for 25 years to concentrate on it, then she alters up back as King Lear .”

With Ali Fazal, Judi Dench and head Stephen Frears for a screening of Victoria& Abdul at the Venice film festival. Image: Pascal Le Segretain/ Getty Images

I wonder if another desire, to eventually have children, still exercises?

” I always said children in my 50 s. But I likewise ever felt that I had to do thoughts firstly. Get this trash done. But yes, I haven’t given up on that .”

For someone who was treated an early lesson about the fragility of life, his long-term planning sounds peculiar. Does he feel that inconsistency?

” I think we should all choose a year we would like to live to, and do everything we can to establish that work. I make it could all go wrong at any point, patently. But we also know that if we don’t get ailment or get hit by a bus we are able ourselves by drinking enough ocean and keeping as fit as you were when you were a kid. As we get older and we get a bit creaky we take that as a signed to stop doing material. My sense is we should push through creaky. I was detecting a bit sluggish lately, about a month ago, I believed right, I’ll do seven marathons in seven days. And off I croak. The first four were a bit rubbish, but you push on through that .”

He must have good joints?

” I mutilated my knee up a while ago, trying to move over a barricade ,” he says.” But it healed up, and now it deplores only when I don’t use it enough .”

Is there some genetic cause for his energy?

” Dad adored football, played until his late 30 s. I don’t know about Mum. She liked singing and slapstick and Flanders and Swann but I’m not sure about boast .”

I discover his articulation interruption just slightly. Izzard still can’t really talking here his mother easily, at least not in an interrogation. In his work he describes how in the immediate consequence of her demise he and his father and his brother wept together for half an hour and then stopped in case they went on for ever. In lieu of regiman father bought his sons a pattern railway adjusted and they improve it in the spare chamber and immersed themselves in it. The give recently resurfaced when Izzard had it restored and donated it to a museum in their home city of Bexhill-on-Sea, another part of his excavation of that time.

” Dad supported us with it after Mum succumbed ,” he says, by way of justification.” He made a counter for the americans and we invested hours and hours constructing it. Then in 1975 my stepmother, Kate, came along and it was put away into containers and never came out again. It moved from Dad’s attic to my brother’s attic, and he didn’t know what to do with it. I supposed, why not give it to the museum in Bexhill? I predicted there might be batch of simulation railway enthusiasts in Bexhill, and they rebuild this thing, it’s kind of a collector’s item. They are now going to build another one, a Christmas version. We had a grand opening and Dad came down to see it .”

He likes the facts of the case that he is in a position to prepare these kinds of things happen. Is he happier now than ever?

” I ever craved the various kinds of chart that they are able to leverage to do the things you miss ,” he says.” There is no path into it. You have to work out how you get there- over the wall, or tunnel your practice in. I always considered doing the same situation was actually going backwards. And if you start saying’ Hi, I like chicken’ on some advert, you know you have probably contacted that quality .”

You hesitate a little to ask him what he is working on next, but I do anyway.

” I’ve written my first movie ,” he says.” It is called Six Instant to Midnight , set in the summer of 1939. I’m developing a show in French in Paris. This December I am going to be on a boat, just below Notre Dame, doing two shows nightly. What else? I’m not a good reader but I always wanted to read all of Dickens, so I have found someone who will let me read them as audiobooks- I have done a third of Great Expectations and it took four dates. So: 12 eras. And then there is the premiere of Victoria& Abdul for which Dad is coming up from Bexhill to invest his 89 th birthday with Judi Dench …”

Out of all the things he has done, I question, of what is he proudest?

” Mostly I hope I have done things that help other people to do them ,” he says.” That was the thing with coming out as transgender, and “its been” the same happen doing the marathons, or discovering the languages. I hope people might think, well if that moronic can do it, why can’t I? I signify, I’m just some guy, right. Nothing special ?”

I’m not quite convinced.

Victoria& Abdul is released on Friday 15 September. Imagine Me issued by Michael Joseph( PS20 ). To ordering a transcript for PS17 going to see guardianbookshop.com or announce 0330 333 6846. Free UK p& p over PS10, online orderings simply. Telephone guilds min p& p of PS1. 99

Read more: www.theguardian.com

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Last weekend I attended YALC (the Young Adult Literature Convention) in London, which takes place as the same time as London Comic Con. This was my first time ever going to YALC and I ended up having one of the best weekends of my life.

Friday the 28th of July

I arrived at YALC with Vicky (@hunguponbooks_) and met up with Nazima (@readinghijabsy) once we were inside. We spent the first while (I lost all track of time during the weekend) rushing around the place looking to see if any publishers were giving out arcs. I told myself I wouldn’t do that… but then I got there and was caught up in all of the excitement.

I had a lot of fun and managed to grab quite a few arcs, but in hindsight it was not organised well at all. Hollie Blog goes into detail about it, but basically if you weren’t able to run, constantly checking twitter or prepared to embarrass yourself then getting arcs would have been very difficult. I think if I hadn’t been so caught up in the excitement then I wouldn’t have enjoyed it quite so much.

I went to four signings that weekend, and on the Friday I met Alwyn Hamilton and Elizabeth May. They were both absolutely lovely and as my friend, Nazima, knew Alywn we actually stood and had a conversation with her which blew my mind. It’s always so odd seeing authors you follow on social media in real life!

I was so excited to meet Elizabeth May that I ended up a nervous wreck. I was pretty near the front of the queue and for some reason just had an internal meltdown. I ended up turning bright red, hardly saying anything and getting my friend Nazima‘s name spelt wrong in her book. Meeting authors I don’t really know is always fine, but then when I get the opportunity to meet my favourite authors I ruin it by being weird. The picture of me is so awful it gives me nightmares… but Elizabeth May looks wonderful so I”m sharing anyway.

Saturday the 29th of July

Saturday began with us almost being crushed to death waiting for an arc of Zenith (I’m only half joking). This is another instance where the arc drop was not well organised. Fortunately, I managed to get my hands on one as we were basically at the front of the queue from the start.

Nazima and Vicky spotted V. E. Schwab wandering through YALC and went running off to say hello. I joined them and she was kind enough to get a picture with me (in which I once again look awful). I asked her about her middle-grade book set in Edinburgh which she recently announced. I was sad to hear that the main female character will be from London (we never get Scottish gals in books) but she was so lovely about it. I hope I’ve somehow planted a seed and we will see one in book 2. We then met her later on to get our books signed.

On Saturday the 29th of July at 11:51am (thanks iPhone for noting the time) Benjamin Of Tomes and I spotted Benedict Cumberbatch. This is probably a good time for me to mention that I have been a Benedict Cumberbatch fan for years, likely beginning with Sherlock (2010). I am a huge fan of his work, with some of my favourites being Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Imitation Game (2014) & Doctor Strange (2016). A friend in high school once bought me a Benedict Cumberbatch calendar…

So, Ben and I were just casually sitting on the floor (we were stalking Penguin Platform waiting for the arc’s of The Hazel Wood to drop…) when a door opened and Benedict Cumberbatch wandered through. We both shrieked so loud that he actually looked over, gave us a little wave and said hello. I’d kind of forgotten how much I loved was a fan of Ben C until he was IN THE SAME ROOM AS ME. I still can’t believe it.

I went down to Comic Con twice on the Saturday. The first time I went with Nazima and Vicky because we realised that the queues for the toilets there would be smaller (and we were right). The girls toilets at YALC were queued out the door whereas at Comic Con there was no queue haha! The average height seemed to jump from 5ft something to over 6ft. Comic Con was packed full of people, most of them giants, and it was 100% less relaxing!

I then went down again with Vicky and Ben. I hadn’t even realised that we could go to Comic Con, and as I’m a huge Marvel fan, I was so excited to be able to experience it. I never thought I’d be at a Comic Con!! We found a stall which sold £2 comics and each bought one. You can’t go to Comic Con and not buy a comic, right? I got a Wonder Woman one. It’s probably the 56th in a series or something but it was hot, busy and stressful so I just bought the first nice cover I found!

Sunday the 30th of July 

The first thing we did on the Sunday was join a wild queue to try and get a copy of Invictus by Ryan Graudin. It was a pretty tense wait but luckily me (and everyone I was with) managed to get a copy. I’m so excited to read this book as I’ve heard such great things about it + it’s a standalone which is always interesting.

Later that day I met Ryan Graudin at her signing and she was absolutely lovely. She had on the most gorgeous silver skirt (which, now I think about it, was probably to match Invictus). I bought her book Wolf by Wolf  in Foyles the day before meeting her and I am so excited to read both! She could tell that I was Scottish from my accent and was telling me about her trip to the Cairngorms.

After getting a copy of Invictus we had a wander around the stalls and, much to my delight, spotted Benedict Cumberbatch again. The green room for the actors attending Comic Con was beside my wonderful friend Josephine Boyce’s stall and so we unashamedly (that is probably not a word) hung around there while we had lunch. The waiting was worth it.

It was pretty obvious that the five of us were waiting for him to come out of the door, so when he did he said hello to us, said “good thanks” when Vicky said how are you and (most importantly) gave me a little “helloo” at the end. It was probably a “I hate these stalkers, maybe if I speak they’ll go away” kind of hello… but it completed my life. As you can see in the photo on the left he looked right at me. I’m pretty sure I had an outer body experience because I hardly remember anything.

This tweet from Hollieeblog on twitter sums it up well. I just can’t believe it. What are the chances of me being in the same room as my favourite actor in the world + them saying hello to me?! If you’re not really a big fan of anyone then this is probably just annoying… but it was amazing to me.

YALC 2017 Book Haul

Here is my book haul from YALC. My shoulders were aching every single day and, thanks to us having to wake up at 6:30am every morning, I was exhausted by the time I got back home to Glasgow! I will tell you the books I got in order of when they are being released (I hope to read them all before they’re out):

Already released:

Resistance by Josephine Boyce (which I’ve read before and gave 5 stars!)

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (which I bought in Foyles)

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody (it was on sale for £1 on the Sunday!)

September 2017:

Alex & Eliza by Melissa De La Cruz (I ran and got the last early copy they were selling for a fiver!)

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

There’s Something Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

House of Ash by Hope Cook

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo (We each found a golden coin which got us an exclusive sampler containing one story! I got sampler 2 of 30!)

October 2017:

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

November 2017:

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty (we ran out of the middle of a talk to try and get an arc and managed to get the last three!)

January 2018:

The Fandom by Anna Day

Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart

I think this might be the longest post I have ever written, so congratulations if you made it to the end. I had a wonderful weekend at YALC (despite it being exhausting and wild) and I really hope to go back again.

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You can add my first book, The Changeling’s Journey, on Goodreads here!

Books & Benedict: YALC 2017 Last weekend I attended YALC (the Young Adult Literature Convention) in London, which takes place as the same time as London Comic Con.