#with all the love in my heart a good movie is not primarily composed of references and deep cuts

[narendur]

:(

Modern star trek has honestly only made more convinced that as soon as a property is old and established enough that you can plausibly make an installment that's a masturbatory ego trip not just about the genre or medium but about how awesome and significant and culturally important that specific series is, the IP should be seized by the government and locked in a vault for the next forty years. Make new things.

[mayiwritesomething]

Love is An Unfamiliar Name (Pt. 1)

You’re a sucessful and methodic award winner music composer and producer, that after working on a few movies got invited to coordinate the sound department on a TV series, by your busy and controlled schedule, it will be just another project on your portifolio… but life sometimes has a funny way to surprise you.

Wordcount: 1,6k

A/N: guys just be nice to me since this is my first fic haha, that i decided to write just for fun. I apologize if there is any mistakes since english is not my first language. In this first chapter i tried to give a little bit of our main caracter background (she may seem a little stupid at first, but she’s got a big heart and is just scared of showing too much affection). And since this is a real person celebrity fic i tried just to write a fun story. Hope you like it :)

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Dinner

"Goodbye, boss! Could you please brief me on how the meeting will unfold?" Jennifer says with a smile.

"Stop calling me that! Jesus!" you respond with a less than welcoming expression, that might scare those unaware of your kind nature.

Jennifer continues to laugh, saying, "Oh, come on! I'm just getting into the spirit. I've already gathered the entire team for the project and sent you the email with the details. I heard this guy Craig is as methodical as you."

She takes another sip of a drink, the contents of which are unclear due to the image quality, but you assume it's some kind of energy-boosting juice. "I also discovered he's a fan of your work, so you're all set! The brainstorming session you organized for the plot is fantastic", she adds, concluding with a laugh, "Bye, good luck, bossy!"

“Bye Jenny!”

Jennifer, has been your assistant of nearly a decade and a friend for much longer, understood your aversion to titles. Despite this, for the next ten months at least, you were going to assume the role of a boss. Coordinating an entire sound team was no easy feat; having experience on both sides, you were well aware of the challenges ahead. However, in this case, you were not just a regular composer working on a typical project. You were a fan adapting one of your favorite games for the big screen, something that filled you with anxiety.

As Jenny had predicted, the meeting was a success. Time seemed to fly by as you delved into your passion for music and its transformative impact on a serie. This phase of your career gave you the freedom to choose your collaborators, and Craig was someone you wanted work with for some time. Over the course of a three-hour Zoom call, you found that you connected well, not only with Craig but also with the rest of the team. Together, you had a productive briefing, establishing the desired atmosphere that would align with both the essence of the game and the script you held in your hands.

As life began to regain its rhythm post-lockdown, you still felt a hint of anxiety about going out and mingling with more than four people. However, this evening called for celebration with your friends, primarily because Jenny wouldn't let you be, insisting that you only pretended to enjoy being by yourself. She believed you needed "some drinks, good food, laughter, tears, and maybe getting laid."

Following your last breakup, you had made a promise to yourself to not date anyone for a year, a vow you upheld not just for one year but for the following one as well. Suddenly, all the men and women you encountered seemed uninteresting, but you still had some fun in one night standings, which by the way made some of the people you met quite angry, as you would just leave without saying anything.

As soon as you arrived at the bistro booked by Jenny for you and the girls, Maria said out loud, “Here comes THE GOAT!!”

'”Shhhhh, Maria! This is a private place,' you whispered, glancing over your shoulder, although people were emerged in their own worlds and conversations, allowing you and your friends to enjoy a pleasant girl night.

“Come on, girl, you're the award winner here, not to mention THE SOUND COORDINATOR! Aren't you thrilled?” Jenny attempted to lighten the mood.

“Of all the episodes, by the way” Amy chimed in.

“Yes, girls, of course, I'm happy”, you replied with a smile. “I am a bit nervous and overwhelmed. It's going to be a year-long project, surrounded by a considerable number of people, that might include some famous individuals whose crazy egos I definitely don't enjoy working with.'

“But hey, you’re not a jane doe honey” Jenny added.

You went on to explain the challenges of dealing with ego driven actors. 'I don't even know what the Game of Thrones guy is like in real life, we only spoke via Zoom. He's an actor; he could portray niceness on screen and be difficult in real life. We all know that's a possibility.'

Jenny and Maria appeared surprised or apprehensive you couldn’t understand the reason, so you kept going, 'He's an actor; he can pretend to be nice and be a dick off-screen; we all know this can happen.'

“Girl… just…” Amy interjected, her expression showing concern.

“What?!” You interrupted her “ Amy, I'm not lying... I'll have to talk to him a lot,' you retorted, visibly frustrated by the thought.

"Stop!”, she continued.

“Why?” Judging by the expression on the girls' faces, you knew you had messed something up. Were the HBO executives present? Where anyone that shouldn’t be there listening to you? Damn it.

Resignation.

This time, Jenny spoke in a hushed tone, “By the 'Game of Thrones' guy, you mean the one sitting right behind you?” She attempted to maintain calm so you would’t crack. She said something else, but you were so flustered that you couldn't make out her words or anyone else's. Should you turn around to face the person behind you? Should you chuckle and say you were joking? Should you just...

“Well, I assure you I'm not a dick, even if someone who doesn't know me may think so,” a male voice behind you interjected. Damn the Game of Thrones guy.

You turned to face him, and he continued, “Hi, pleased to meet you in person, award winner sound coordinator. Well… I'm the Game of Thrones guy, or Pedro, whichever you prefer.” His words made you reflect on how snob you must have sounded. He had heard everything. You felt awful.

“Oh, well, pleased to meet you in person too, Pedro! I didn’t…” You struggled to form a coherent sentence in your head. Damn, he smelled good. “My name is... um… I am…” Nothing seemed to make sense in your mind anymore. Why say your name when you had spoken to him before?

“Never mind,” he said, smiling. “I know your name and who you are. We met before. By the way, I'm a huge fan of your work.” He knew how to be cirurgical yet polite, which made you chuckle, even though you just wanted to vanish.

Pedro was undeniably good-looking, not exactly your cup of tea, but you couldn't deny his charm. The way he responded to your stupid remarks made him seem more intriguing. You felt a bit woozy. What had you gotten yourself into?

“Pedro, I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m sorry,” you apologized, attempting to clarify. “I'm terrible with names.” You were being honest. Now he appeared more serious, and your voice began to tremble. “I mean... I'm only making things worse, aren't I?”

“A little bit,” he chuckled softly, sounding genuine. Glancing over his shoulder, you noticed a beautiful brunette lady at the other end of the table. You waved, receiving a forced smile in return. Back to Pedro. Stop behaving like a teenager. Pull yourself together. Jenny said something, but you didn't catch it. Keep. It. Together.

"I guess I'm the one who came off as a jerk... I know I sounded pretentious, and I apologize," you began, finding your voice. "I've had some really bad experiences with certain actors and their egos, so I was worried you might be like them… so i…" All those therapy sessions seemed to be paying off; he was listening to you, paying attention not only to your words but also to your uncomfortable gestures. You pushed past the discomfort and continued, "I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Your voice dropped to almost a whisper in the last sentence.

"So you might want to think twice before mentioning someone’s name in a private restaurant in Los Angeles, don't you think?" He spoke with a hint of irony, almost provocatively. You took the bait.

"Not tha-" You were about to respond when Jenny interjected, "Hey! I believe Pedro here has a date to attend to, right buddy?" He nodded smiling, and Maria chimed in, "And you, girl, promised us a night out and turned it into a work-related gathering." Those girls were true diplomats.

"I don’t want to take up any more of your time, Pedro," you said, maintaining a serious expression as you locked eyes with his dark gaze, your usual impenetrable poker face firmly in place.

"Never mind," he replied. "By the way-"

"Hey babe, do you want to call your friends to join us?" the attractive lady accompanying him interjected, her tone dripping with irony.

"It won't be necessary," Maria retorted, clearly annoyed. She was hungry, and anyone who knew her understood how irritable she could get when hunger struck. You KNEW she was on the verge of losing her cool.

"I'm sorry for this disruption; we didn't mean to interrupt your date, guys."

"Sorry... you do seem to like that word, don't you?" The pretty brunette girl knew how to be ironical.

"Yeah, thanks for the heads up," you responded, laughing almost manically and subtly holding Maria back, knowing she was on the brink of saying something that could have gotten all four of you kicked out of the restaurant. Jenny steered you to another table far away from them, while Amy engaged the waiter in conversation. Your hands felt as cold as ice.

"See you soon, sound coordinator... oops, AWARD-winning sound coordinator," he said with a chuckle as he returned to his table. "Hopefully, we can prove to each other that we're nice people."

"I'm looking forward to it... Game of Thrones guy." You waved and smiled more than necessary as you both returned to your respective dinner conversations.

You replayed this encounter in your mind all the way home. How could he not be angry with you? There were still a few months until filming begins, and yet you felt an unfamiliar sense of anxiety creeping in. Opening your door, you continued to mull over his ironic parting words: "Hopefully, we can prove to each other that we're nice people," you repeated with a grin.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see.” You said.

Wait. And. See.

[magnusmodig]

╰┈➤  headcanon prompts / @valeriius / accepting !

[ 🎵 ] is there a specific song or songs you associate with your muse? why is that?

||. there are a couple! (my thor playlist is 11.5 hrs long...) but if i had to narrow it down to three, i'd choose his two themes from his first movie, and one non-OST track.

In Thor (2011) Thor has two themes. They're named as follows:

"Sons of Odin"

"Earth to Asgard"

Both songs perfectly encapsulate who Thor is as a person, a prince and a hero. Sons of Odin features strings (primarily cello and violin), with touches of brass and fierce percussion. The horns and percussion are pretty standard instrumentations for 'heroic' characters, but what I've always thought was absolutely incredible about Thor's two themes is that the trumpet and percussion beats, while prevalent and proud (as a prince of a space-viking society would be expected to be!), actually take second fiddle to the strings. Specifically the cello/violin duo. (I could go on for days about how the violin tends to uplift either the cello or the horns, similarly to how Loki fits into place at Thor's side and helps him keep stable for days but it's true. It's just as much Loki and the Asgardian Royal Family's theme as it is simply Thor's.)

"Earth to Asgard" is equally as noble, quiet and regal, starting with the absolutely iconic synth beat mixed in with mysterious violins, and those instruments leading into the warrior-esque drums that all build into the final melody shared between horns (thor's heroism) and strings (thor's heart). It's absolutely stunning, the work that Patrick Doyle did. He really makes Earth to Asgard really FEEL like a sovereign, cosmic alien is looking at earth and falling in love. It's the perfect love theme for Fosterson, and I adore it for that.

In short: both of his actual two themes encapsulate Thor's noble, strong personality absolutely PERFECTLY. There couldn't have been a better composer to create his themes. And Dark World's Thor, Son of Odin only elaborates on what was already there, so while that's an honorary mention, the first two definitely deserve the praise more.

Otherwise! I tend to relate Thor to the song on his sidebar. It's called "Zephyrus" by The Oh Hellos. There are a lot of songs by The Oh Hellos that catch my eye for Thor, but that one in particular captures his more poetic musings, the way he tends to compartmentalize his thoughts into metaphors and sentiments that seem almost tragically poetic.

The calm and homeliness of the banjo and the bass capture how soft he is. How king and selfless. Many of the lyrics have a wonderful, tentative optimism and hope that linger within it. It's beautiful. just like him!

Are we not threaded by the same weave of the wind? Terra firma and unparted sea? Whether by accident or fortune You and I, we are matter and it matters. I want to spin something out of nothing Lead to gold, spring to winter Story from moted sky The way they encourage one another To push high, touch the sunlight, against their tender leaves They'll be full grown before we know it And I breathe, so does she We are breathing.

[ ❌ ] is there something your muse struggles with that they might never overcome? what is it? why do they have so much trouble with it?

Oh I think there's PLENTY of things that Thor struggles with. His compounding grief over the many losses he's suffered, his slowly decaying trust in the good of the world and where he fits into it, his incredibly deep-woven insecurities concerning whether or not he's a good man who is worthy... He's got a lot of hang-ups just about Loki letting go from the Bifrost in Thor (2011) ...it came so out of left-field for him.

Ultimately, while there are plenty of ways those things all combine and feed into one another, the absolute biggest struggle Thor is troubled by is the notion that love does not have to be earned. it never did, and should never have been posed as such.

Whether that means "earning" the love of his parents, Odin and Frigga, earning their time, their patience, their pride.... Or earning the respect and loyalties of his people, his knights, his personal band of warriors as their comrade, their prince and their future king... Or earning Loki's love as his brother, or a place in the Avengers, or a place at Jane's side.

Thor has ALWAYS struggled with the notion that what he does is good enough. and by proxy: that THOR is good enough, as he is, with no strings attached, no walls up or performances to put on. That he is worth love, and can be loved even if he can give nothing to the people around him. When he's finally burnt out and spent, that he can still be held and that can be enough.

and so when he was told:

you are unworthy of these realms! you are unworthy of your title!

you are unworthy!

...of the loved ones you have betrayed.

....well let's just say that he took that incredibly personally.

[always-andromeda]

i am very curious as to how you quite exactly feel about holden worther from the good girl for the character bingo. like tell me. how do you feel about this poor, messed up child? i need specifics

send a character for an unhinged bingo ask!

Oh goodness gracious, Soph. Under the cut I'm gonna leave possibly an entire essay on how I feel about Holden because whoop dee doo I feel a lot of things about his character!!

First of all, I don't think him directly comparing himself to Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye is just some fluke; it's 100% intentional. Now I've never read Catcher in the Rye but based on the reading I've done of the main character, he is so similar to how Holden (or Thomas lol) composes himself. Both characters heavily judge others around them based on superficial traits and tend to see themselves as superior in some way. I think Holden (Thomas) found a lot of solace in this character and takes it as a thing of pride to imitate him, especially on matters of morality. It's partly why he gets so personally offended when Justine sleeps with Bubba (because lol it seems that book Holden feels the same way with just the concept of casual sex existing). It's also how he can so easily look down on almost everyone around him.

I think Holden's issues with his parents can't go unstated either. Like I haven't watched the movie since we watched it a few weeks ago bUT DO YOU REMEMBER A SINGLE TIME WHEN THIS GUY'S PARENTS GAVE A SHIT ABOUT HIM? NOOOO. It really is that parental neglect that both fuels his wild thought processes but also allows them to go unchecked.

AND ANOTHER THING. Even just knowing a sliver about Catcher in the Rye has really helped my interpretation of his character. Because The Good Girl is primarily about the monotony in the lives of these two people. Everyone else seems to have found their little niche in their lives and they're content with that living. Corny is cool with being the church guy, Cheryl manages to have fun working the makeup counter and annoying everyone over the loudspeaker, Phil is cool with getting high and doing his job and watching TV every day, Bubba is also cool with just watching his friend live out a "perfect" relationship. Everyone except for Justine and Holden are fine with all of this.

Holden, just like the character he admires so much, is a symbol of rebellion. Rebellion against the slow, mundane, cyclical lives that they live. But it's a rebellion that Justine ultimately can't go along with. Because picking up and running away with him would be the "easy" option. That's the great divide between them; Holden is young enough to believe that he is invincible and that they can do anything and be anything and they don't have to face the consequences. Justine has enough maturity to see the bigger picture and accept her life for what it is and decides to work with what she has in order to spare the people around her.

I genuinely love this movie so so so much and like...I'm genuinely debating reading Catcher in the Rye just so I can see if I can find more parallels between it and the movie. Because, GOD, The Good Girl embodies like. Almost everything I fear in my life. And I love Holden with all of my heart; wish I could cart him off to a good therapist. <3

Thank you for asking, soph 🥺 hope you enjoy the essay lol

[guiltymepleasures]

[Series Review] SQUID GAME (2021)

8/10

*spoilers ahead because I have a lot of feels, okay?*

So I first knew about this a month before release, I think? I watched the trailer and thought it was interesting. Of course, I also thought it would be similar to As The Gods Will or Alice in Borderland (if you haven't watched those, try them too). Nevertheless, I turned on my Netflix notification and I watched it a few days after release. No, I didn't binge-watch it. More like 1-2 episodes per day.

Anyway.

*spoilers ahead, read at your own risk*

The premise of the show was nothing new but the execution was good. There were certainly tear-jerker moments, great suspense and cliffhangers. But the main thing I loved was the set design. Everything was so colorful and vivid. A breath of fresh air from all the dark (literally) movies I had to squint to see anything. The playful, childish but somehow eerie background music was also *chef's kiss*

I wasn't familiar with the cast but I think they did well individually and as an ensemble. My favorite character is Kang Sae Byeok (played by Jung Ho Yeon) primarily because she was the most observant and arguably the smartest (street smart not book smart like Sang Woo) among the players. And then we see her backstory and we see her reason for playing and I was sold. That's why one thing I didn't like about the show is how they had to get her mortally wounded right at the penultimate moment just to have the two guys go at it.

My second favorite character is Ali (played by Anupam Tripathi) because he was honest and kind. He represents the people who are still down on their luck no matter how nice they are. Life is unfair like that. Was he stupid? I would like to say he was too trusting (and Sang Woo seemed like a master manipulator anyway). He saved Gi Hun too, while Sang Woo tried to dispose of him as early as the Honeycomb game. I was neutral with Sang Woo until he did what he did.

Seong Gi Hun (played by Lee Jung Jae), our protagonist, represented people whose life had been topsy turvy all the way. He was simple-minded that was for sure. But he had a kind heart, I guess? I wasn't particularly attached to him but the show made sure to make us accept he was the main character. Nothing I could do about that. I did pity him during the scenes with his mom and Sang Woo's mom. I liked him when he took Sae Byeok's brother sorta under his wing (but leaving him in the care of Sangwoo's mom). But to be honest, his character fell flat to me.

Sang Woo, oh dear, Sang Woo (played by Park Hae Soo) . The first scene where we knew he embezzled stuff, I knew he was gonna be a... I really don’t know what to call it. Antagonist? Anti-hero? But yeah, I was suspicious since the beginning. The actor was great though, no complaints about him. 

And then we go to 001 (played by Oh Yeong Su). I like grandpa characters but I think another thing that lessened the impact of the show to me, personally, was how I immediately thought him suspicious. The game, we've been led to believe, by Gi Hun's plight and the initial montage of the players getting duped to playing the game, was composed of players who were either neck-deep in debt or were facing some sort of trial (arrest for Sang Woo, death from gang shenanigans for that long-haired gangster), and anything in the spectrum. But 001 said he had a brain tumor, that he was terminal. And immediately, I thought of Jigsaw from the Saw franchise. And since then, I was looking really closely at all his scenes.

The police officer, Hwang Jun Ho (played by Wi Ha Joon), was okay. He was necessary as a plot device for viewers to learn about the game slowly. The loudmouth aunt and the gangster were both annoying characters.

Other things that felt open-ended to me were:

1. How Jun Ho's brother came to be the front man - maybe in S2?

2. Did Sang Woo's mother just accept that her son was abroad? Not even trying to contact him?

3. So Gi Hun chose to go back to the game instead of "finally being a dad to his daughter for once" as he declared before the last game on Sae Byeok’s deathbed?

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

'Christmas Tree Lane': Alicia Witt & Andrew Walker on Finally Working Together

By Meredith Jacobs 

Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker are very familiar faces to Hallmark fans, but until one of this year's "Miracles of Christmas" offerings, they had never met.

That changed with Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' Christmas Tree Lane, in which the two stars play a will-they-or-won't-they potential couple. Witt's Meg runs into Walker's Nate (and keeps running into him) before she learns he's partially why her music store may have to close; his company is seeking to redevelop Christmas Tree Lane. You can guess where the romantic complications comes in.

Here, Witt — who is also an executive producer and wrote an original song for the movie,Christmas Will Never End — and Walker preview their characters' journeys.

Introduce your characters. What's missing in their lives?

Alicia Witt: Meg's going through a period in her life where she's happy, but she senses that something is missing; not only someone special to share her life with, but also her music, which is a great big part of her soul and her spirit. She has long since stopped seeking a life where she's making music professionally or seeking to be a recording artist for a living. She gets great joy out of working with her students and running the family music store they've had for generations, but such a big part of her identity is composing and writing songs and putting those out, expressing herself in that way, and, when we first meet her, that's something she has squelched for quite a long time. 

Andrew Walker: When you're met with similarities in your own life ... it's like this exorcism in a way. Nate is very similar to me in a lot of respects. He's constantly on the move, constantly got things happening, but he's been trying to find some sort of peace in his life, hence him moving back home. His dad and him have been working together. He's been going city to city, developing properties for his father. Kids in general have their issues from time to time with their parents and, in this respect, Nate and his father have butt heads for a long time. Nate is more creative. He's trying to find a new sense of what his norm would be, just trying to connect with himself and his family.

Then he's met with this challenge in trying to convince Meg this could be a good thing for her and her family, and also trying to appease his father. He's been a guy that's been on the run from facing reality and maturing, and [I'm] very similar. I feel like I only started maturing after the birth of my first child; I'm still on that journey. ... I do meditate now, and this is something Nate would probably be doing as well, just trying to be a better version of himself and, when he meets Meg, she is the catalyst to him being [that]. That's scary, when you meet somebody who has that much of an impact on your life. 

What initially draws each to the other and keeps bringing them together, other than her friend playing matchmaker?

Witt: [Laughs] I'm just remembering how much fun we had filming those scenes with my friend just constantly shoving us together and vanishing. For Meg, a big part of this is what Andrew brought to the role of Nate and how he embodied him. It felt like there was some purpose Meg was aware of without even knowing exactly why. It seemed like she was supposed to be talking to this guy. The fact that they keep running into each other is meaningful enough. Meg, like me, is somebody that pays attention to coincidences that seem too strange to merely be a coincidence. 

It's such a strange time, where her whole life as she knows it is about to change with Christmas Tree Lane having been sold and everything she grew up with seemingly about to shift, so it's true when she says, "I'm focused primarily on saving Christmas Tree Lane." But at the same time, this guy's coming in and causing her to feel inspired and alive in a way she hasn't allowed herself to in a few years, and the fact that's happening at the same time as all these other changes, her life is already so strange that it isn't any more strange to have this wonderful, new human that's shown up. 

It is, for her, also very scary, and he's also opening that door for her to start creating again and feeling inspired. For myself, when I meet somebody and all of a sudden I can't stop coming up with ideas for songs that I know are largely about them, I know those are some big feelings coming up.

Walker: On Nate's side, being challenged in a relationship is the best place to be. When you're open to that challenge, to change, there's something there. My wife and I own a business, and she challenges me, but as reluctant as I am sometimes, I am open to that. When Nate does meet Meg, he doesn't really realize it, but she pushes him to be open and available and accessible, and that's scary for anybody.

Alicia, what did you specifically want to showcase with that original song?

Witt: I thought the most important thing for Meg to express though that song is this sense that, whatever the future holds, it's going to be alright and a large part of that has to do with Nate, and it's all tied into the history and the memories of Christmas Tree Lane: her whole life spent there, her family, her closest friends. But then there's this sense that this newness is now going to come in, and whether it continues on Christmas Tree Lane or elsewhere, he's going to be a part of future memories and in so doing that, he'll be a part of all the past memories. 

There's something about Christmas that ties together everything we've ever experienced anyway, which is what I loved about the idea of creating a story set in this world of vintage stores that have been around for over 100 years, and at Christmastime, we automatically find ourselves flashing back to where we were Christmas Eve when we were 4.

I wanted there to be a sense of hope, and what Meg would want, as I would want, in creating any Christmas song is something that hopefully whoever's listening can relate to, even though it's specifically about Christmas Tree Lane and our love story. And it's also tricky writing a song like that because it's too soon for, "I love you with all my heart and we're going to spend the next 30 years together without question," but it's hopeful, saying, "I have a feeling, you could be all of this, and let's go for it."

You both have been in quite a few Hallmark movies, but you've never worked together before now. What made this one the right one?

Walker: That's a question for Alicia because I feel like I just lucked out in being available and chosen for this role and taken on this journey with her, but she held the power in that. 

Witt: Hallmark suggested Andrew. I knew of Andrew's work but I just watched a few quick things to remind me, and I think it took me about a minute and a half to say, "Oh yes, absolutely, 100 percent, no question."

Walker: Two minutes maybe?

Witt: Maybe two minutes. [Walker laughs.] It wouldn't have been two minutes of watching time, it would've just been two minutes of searching time to try to find a sample of a couple different types of roles.

There's such an obvious, genuine, playful, completely guileless, what-you-see-is-what-you-get, but also super-intelligent and deep, and a quality that makes you want to know more. I thought that Nate was such a complicated character in many ways to find the perfect spirit to embody because you need to not be 100 percent [sure] who he is at first, but you have to like him a whole lot, and you have to also question just a little bit where his loyalties lie when you find out his allegiance to Cloverfield. 

But at the same time, you have to really root for him and believe what he's saying is true and he really wants to save Christmas Tree Lane and there was every quality and more than I ever could have dreamed of in Andrew. I was so, so grateful he was available and able and said he liked the script. I like him even more now that we've worked together, and I truly can't wait to do it again.

Walker: That's very sweet, Alicia. I couldn't have picked a better person to work with, honestly, coming back from COVID and this journey we've been on and both of us felt so grateful to be not only working but also working together. I had known of Alicia, obviously, for years, and I've seen her work many times, and to work with somebody like her, the caliber of game that she brings in every role, it was nice to see her work off camera and what goes into that and how devoted she is.

It felt like most of our scenes, even though there was a framework to it, we improvised a lot, and you don't get that with somebody you don't trust and feel has your back. I felt we could sit there and not say a word to each other and just feel like there was progress in the scene. I have wanted to work with Alicia, and I feel like this was the perfect time, the perfect project, and I feel so honored she supported Hallmark's decision in bringing my name to the table. I would love to have another opportunity down the road to work with Alicia again.  

I made a point of not listening to Alicia play piano or sing before we started this movie because I had heard through the grapevine that she was uber-talented, but I left it for the scene, when Nate and her are sitting there and she does a test run on the piano for me, and you're incredible, Alicia. This movie is your quintessential Hallmark movie, but the added flavor of having her sing and play and the musicality this movie has in it is amazing. And it was nostalgic for me because every single holiday was based around music [for my family]. 

Christmas Tree Lane, Movie Premiere, Saturday, October 24, 10/9c, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. 

Link to full article at tvinsider.com HERE

[mystic-voyager]

Hello, Goodbye.

Date: 27/11/19

Ship: (Romantic) Prinxiety

Word Count: 1,599

Trigger Warning: Self Harm

Song Inspiration: Today is a gift

Summary: Virgil is struggling. Roman helps him see the good in the bad by giving him purpose and reason to fight to see another day. Come what may, His prince will always be there, by his side.

Quote: “My sun sets to rise again”  –  Robert Browning

Roman and Virgil were both relaxing within the commons, located on the sofa watching a Disney movie that Virgil had picked out. Roman was seated comfortably on the sofa with a content and relaxed Virgil situated in his lap, happily watching the film, making the odd comment here and there which in turn would earn a soft chuckle from the creative side.

Roman was playing around with the younger males hair, as he took small locks and twisted it around his finger loosely before releasing and allow it to settle back down. He found his focus primarily fixed on his boyfriend instead of the film, not that he minded much.  As roman continued to observe, He took into account how quiet the other had become which was unlike him. As Virgil was always chatty, and always willing to question motives that he didn’t agree with in films they watched, which were one of the reasons Roman loved watching films with the anxious side.

Although Virgil had made a snide remark here and there earlier on about the characters or the plot, it was far from his usual self. Roman slowly picked up the remote that laid alone beside him, just in case one of them needed it, and he paused the film.  Seeing the film paused had Virgil looking up to the other in question, pouting as he was getting into enjoying the film. “Why did you pause it … it was getting good” The male prodded as he lightly poked the taller males chest in question. “Wait don’t tell me … you need the toilet again” The anxious side joked lightly, as there was no harm behind his words, only playful banter.

Roman hesitated, not replying right away, as he gently placed the remote back down and off to the side so it was back on the sofa. There was a worrisome pause between the two, as both locked eyes with each other. Roman had taken the opportunity to do a little searching. He searched deep within Virgils eyes, trying to read him. Only there was one problem with that, Virgil was adversely knowledged in how to hide emotions.  Roman searched his face for any indication whilst the other stared back up at him, almost in a blank expression.

“What’s Up?” Came Romans collected, caring voice, so quiet it was almost inaudible. His features relaxed as his gaze softened even further. Roman slowly raised his hand as he gently brushed a stray hair out of his boyfriend’s face, tucking it back into its respectful place.

“Nothing, Nothings wrong” Virgil shot back although there was no malice behind his tone or words. “I never said anything was wrong … Come on Virgil. I know you better than you know yourself. Talk to me.” Romans voice never waved as he gently pressed on, trying to coerce the other but not wanting him to feel forced into talking either. Roman used his fingers to lightly trace small patterns onto the others paler looking face, in a soothing and comforting gesture. Wanting the anxious side know that he wasn’t going to force him to talk and that he would wait, no matter how long.

Virgil slowly shifted in his boyfriend’s lap, so he was able to sit up straighter than he had been before. As he did so, the males head dropped a little as his eyes closed. A low, slow sigh was audibly heard from Virgil, which resulted in Roman brushing his hands through anxieties brown hair in a thoughtful gesture. Virgil knew the truth behind Romans words. Roman did know Virgil better than Virgil new himself. Although he didn’t want to admit it, something was wrong.

Roman mimicked Virgil’s movements from before, as he too, slowly shifted so he was sitting crossed legged and opposite his lover. The silence continued to spur around the commons surrounding them both. Engulfing them like a bear hug. Roman allowed the time to pass in silence knowing that the time would allow the other to gather his thoughts.

After what seemed like a long time, but was only mere minutes, the silence broke. “How do you do it?” He mumbling, finding himself unable to meet the prince’s eyes. “Do what?” Came Romans response, surprised and dumbfounded by the question asked. “How do you get up every morning? How do you get through the day? How are you so generous and loving? How do you find purpose and reason for seeing every sunrise and sunset?” Each question tumbled from his lips continuously, one after the other. Finally meeting Romans eyes, his eyes showed exhaustion and defeat.

“You” was Romans only response, which only fueled anxieties spiralling emotions as tears formed within the smaller males eyes. “You are the reason, Virgil. I get up every morning, knowing that I will get to see you, touch you, love you, care for you … It’s all because of you” The prince smiled as his voice because breathy and almost inaudibly quiet. Roman took hold of Virgils hands in his. “You are a wonder, Virgil. You are the greatest gift anyone could ever hope or wish for. Since the day I laid eyes on you … Knowing I get the chance to be with you, the chance to fall in love with you all over again, as each day passes.” Roman spoke as if it were a promise. His eyes were filled with lust and honesty.

Virgil was unable to comprehend the bombardment of emotions that flood through him as if a dam had just broken. He allowed the tears to spill over, not wanting to stop them even if he could.  "Mi Amor …“ Roman spoke in a fluent spanish accent, unsure of why the other had such a distressing reaction.

Virgil finally spoke up, which relieved princy, knowing he hadn’t gone too far, only for it to have taken an unexpected turn. "Why me? Why not fall in love with someone else? I’m flawed Roman! Broken! Can’t you see? You deserve better, someone who can love you the same way you love them …”

“Virgil” The prince pleaded, in a broken strained tone, before the anxious side cut him off. “Look! ” Virgil raised his voice as it cracked. The smaller, distressed male yanked up the sleeves of his hoodie to reveal what was truely laying underneath. Underneath lay reddened healed scarred which were dressing his arms. “I’m a mess Roman” Tears descended from the males bloodshot red eyes, as they travelled down his hollow cheeks, leaving stains in their wake. Romans eyes travelled up and down the arms of the other, his heart-shattering in pain at the sight before him, soon to compose himself into a more manageable state as he held the tears at bay, unwilling for them to fall.

“Virgil … Virgil, Look at me” Roman gently placed his finger and thumb below the others chin, ever so gently lifting it so Virgil could see him. “Virgil, I’m not mad … I’m not upset” Before he paused taking a calming and steady breath. Both Roman and Virgil locked eyes as the prince continued. “Virgil, I look at you and I see my whole future. I’m not going anywhere storm cloud” He reassured as he allowed the nickname to roll off his tongue like silk, before smiling sadly.  "I hate to break it to you, but you stuck with me, whether you like it or not.“ Roman joked lightly, trying to lighten the mood between the two of them.

"Why didn’t you tell me?” Came the taller males, sympathetic and gentle voice in question as he maintained its levelness. The overdramatic side now gone only to be replaced with sincerity.  "I - I was scared … I didn’t think … I didn’t want to be a burden …“ Explained the anxious side chocking on the sobs that got caught in his tight throat, as he confessed his reasoning behind his actions of the past. "I-I’m Struggling Roman” His words came out stagged, dissipating Romans heart in one fellow swoop.

Virgil collapsed into his boyfriend as his sobs racked his frame, having confessed the truth, after so long of covering it up and hiding it behind his facade.  Roman instantaneously wrapped his arms around the smaller male. Virgils words having taken a traumatic toll on him as he tried his best to keep it together, knowing he had to stay strong for both of them. His heart still fragmented at the feeling of having failed. Failed to protect his damsel in distress. Failed to protect his equal.

Virgils sobs quietened down as he grew more and more tired from the emotional turmoil that raged on inside of him. He took hold of the last remains of control he had over his mind and body, always remaining in the others embrace, which brought a sense of being guarded, allowing his walls to come down.

Roman steadied his breathing and subtly wiped away the tears that had unintentionally escaped away. He placed a loving kiss upon Virgil’s head as he made a silent promise. A promise he would honour and keep until the day where he would take his last dying breath.

“Don’t worry about what was or what will be. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift. That is why they call it the present.” Roman hummed as he recited the words to the male who was curled up in his lap, in peaceful slumber with his prince who would protect him, come what may. Roman would always be there to protect him.

[susangalvez10-blog]

What’s The Distinction Between An Opera And A Musical?

As hip-hop continues to evolve as a genre, categorizing sub genres by sound or location is becoming a an increasing number of difficult activity. Beginner musicians can compose or perform music for their own pleasure, http://www.audio-transcoder.com and derive their income elsewhere. Skilled musicians are employed by a variety of institutions and organisations, together with armed forces (in marching bands , concert bands and standard music teams), church buildings and synagogues, symphony orchestras, beckyskidmore86.wikidot.com broadcasting or movie production corporations, and music faculties Professional musicians typically work as freelancers or session musicians , seeking contracts and engagements in a wide range of settings. There are sometimes many links between newbie and professional musicians. Beginning newbie musicians take lessons with professional musicians. In group settings, advanced amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles resembling group live performance bands and group orchestras.

But like all musical kinds, emo is due for a 20-year resurrection this decade. Proper on cue, a new wave of bands has emerged to let their meek flags fly in the age of the selfie. The movement is not precisely nascent; key gamers like Algernon Cadwallader and My Coronary heart To Joy have already come and gone, and a dense network of groups thrives on Bandcamp, replete with its own emasculating lexicon ( Twinkle Daddies ???). It is nonetheless a distinctly underground phenomenon too. None of these bands seemed primed to cross over in this pop local weather without a Fall Out Boy-model digital makeover, and the bands that influenced them within the first place were by no means more than cult favorites anyhow. Electronic music legend Isao Tomita's debut album "Snowflakes are Dancing" reaches the top 50 of the pop charts and receives 4 Grammy nominations. Tomita is called the Wendy Carlos of Japan, famous for synthesizing classical works. Some easy insights can nonetheless be taken. Hip-Hop is approach ahead of the other genres (d'oh). People is available in second however since there is only one people artist (Bob Dylan) within the analysis it's not consultant at all. Pop is the genre with the most number of musicians and robynreimann34639.wikidot.com its average vocabulary size (2464 words) is near the average vocabulary size across all artists (2677 words). Same factor applies to the Rock style as nicely. Reggaeton is normally straight-up celebration and dance music, which makes it perfect to blast loudly, dance to and sing along with. In my guide, it is maybe the perfect genre for Spanish students just due to the fun factor. That said, some regional varieties of Spanish combine in indigenous words. For instance, Ecuadorian Spanish speakers often mix a number of alternative Kichwa words into their speech It might be valuable so that you can hearken to music in indigenous languages, simply to get a feel for the way these sound.

Perhaps enjoyable rock music continues to be being made but it isn't being performed on my native different station, so I am not aware of it. It looks like pretentiousness has taken over rock music. If a music would not have a severe which means, it has no proper to exist. Rock followers decry the demise of "real music." This is a flip off to many people who want music to serve completely different functions. Typically, it should be enjoyable. Generally, it needs to be severe. Sometimes it should be about things we are able to relate as to if that is falling in love or a painful breakup. Typically it may well cope with social issues. Germany will not be identified overseas for its music, however take a closer look and you can find quite a few international hit songs which originate within the country. A few songs even handle to become hits regardless of being music in the German language which must be thought of quite an accomplishment. The 1980s proved a moribund decade for pop. Styles got here and went, but it surely was an era quick on memorable music. Only Wham! (and later George Michael) emerged as true pop stars. This Tune Dynasty (960-1279) painting, entitled the "Evening Revels of Han Xizai," exhibits Chinese language musicians entertaining guests at a party in a 10th-century family. Neil Younger once sang Rock n' roll can by no means die," but based on Gene Simmons , it's already dead. The Kiss bassist recently made controversial remarks about Donald Sterling , immigration and depression (which he eventually backed off from), and now the Kiss bassist has one other huge statement to make: Rock is lastly dead," Simmons declared in an interview with Esquire The loss of life of rock was not a natural death. Rock didn't die of outdated age. It was murdered," he added. However rock's killer wasn't the blurring of musical genres or lack of craftsmanship. As a substitute, Simmons blames file sharing and the truth that nobody values music sufficient to pay you for it" for murdering rock n' roll.

6. Shared References. The other thing that's palpably totally different between jazz and classical musicians has to do with specific musical references. What did you play 1000 times in high school to the point that you simply now roll your eyes each time you hear it—Beethoven's 1st Symphony or Blue Bossa"? These shared references, at the same time as we might mock them, kind a cultural substrate that actually plays a surprisingly large role in how we interact on a day-to-day basis. Deep home is best described as music that you'd hear in a lounge. It's usually far slower and more laid again than other genres and options very deep bass. Of the entire genres in EDM deep home is among the least energetic.

Music Style Classification is among the many branches of Music Info Retrieval From right here you'll be able to carry out other duties on musical information like beat monitoring, music era, recommender programs, track separation and instrument recognition and many others. Music analysis is a various area and also an fascinating one. A music session someway represents a second for the user. Discovering these moments and describing them is an attention-grabbing problem in the area of Knowledge Science.Classical Music: Classical music lovers are usually extra introverted but are also relaxed with themselves and the world around them. They're creative and have a very good sense of shallowness. The style has seen a slow but noticeable revival in recent times, with many electronic musicians, DJs and remix musicians experimenting with it once once more, partly as a result of a renewed reputation in lots of circles (primarily due to Memetic Mutation , Speedy Techno Remixes and Japanese Pop Music ). Its renewed influence may be seen in varied types of laborious Techno and Trance music, with Pleased Hardcore (and to a lesser extent, Arduous Trance) being heavily influenced by it.

[brobi-wanwrites]

Out-Dated Review: Iron Man

A decade ago life was a bit more simple. I was turning 15 and besides finding time to play GTA IV and high school I didn't have a care in the world. My birthday was never a big deal but earlier that year I got my first PS3 and was desperate to start a Blu Ray collection. I told my mother the one thing I wanted for a gift that year was Iron Man. She delivered. That night after reading the case over a dozen times me and my best friend would sit down and watch the movie that jump started the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

At the time I knew as little as you could about Ironman. I spent most of my time reading Spider-Man, X-men and Batman comics so the only things I really knew about Tony Stark was that he was a rich alcoholic and was really prevalent in 2006s Civil War which was in my backlog of comics. Going into this movie I really had nothing to go on besides the great reviews it was getting and that I was always excited to see a comic book character get their chance on the big screen. After credits rolled like many people my expectations were blown away. I watched it again and again enjoying every minute of it. I then dove into my comic backlog and read Civil War and any other Ironman story I could find. It’s safe to say that the first Ironman reinvigorated my and many others love for comics, all while starting a universe that would have as deep of lore as the comics they adapted from. 

So ten years later, does Ironman hold up?

(SPOILERS)

Lets start things off with the story. 

We’re introduced to Playboy Billionaire Weapons Designer/Manufacturer Tony Stark and he’s just as much as cocky jerk as you would think he’d be. Skipping out on an award presented to him so he could gamble, sleeping with a reporter who’s writing a hit piece on his company and giving little care to the crew of his private plane as he arrives late for its departure. Couple this with how he almost gloats at the amount of death and destruction his weapons bring you would be safe to assume that Tony is unremarkable cliche villain, except he’s not. 

I don’t know if it’s his charm alone, his acting chops or how relatable he is to the character but Robert Downy Jr. makes Tony Stark probably one of the most believable and entertaining personality in the MCU. He brings so much life and fun to Tony even before his good guy turn in this movie. Easily stealing every scene he’s in, RDJ was undoubtedly destined to play Tony Stark.

Speaking of good guy turns.

Things go astray for Tony after a weapon presentation in Afghanistan as he’s fatally injured and kidnapped by a terrorist group known as The Ten Rings (more on them later). He awakes in a cave with a car battery attached to his chest, powering an electromagnet that’s keeping the shrapnel away from his heart and other vital organs. Parties amirite? He’s made aware that The Ten Rings are his “loyal customers” and have been using all his weaponry and is then forced to build them his latest weapon. Tony reluctantly agrees and uses the supplies and resources to build something a bit more powerful, a miniaturized Arch Reactor. An invention of his fathers that’s used to power a factory, Tony designed his to be a little more compact. It has enough power to keep the magnet [in his chest] charged for a thousand lifetimes or something big for ten minutes. 

Thus Ironman is born.

Even for ten years old at this point, the CGI still holds up. The suits in this movie, whether it’s the Mk I, II or III all look fantastic and just completely seamless. I never once even questioned if they built an actual prop suit or not, it looked so good i assumed they did. Coincidentally the first Ironman is the only movie they actually built the full suit, every subsequent movie they used mo-cap primarily. 

After 3 months using only weapon parts and presumably some scrap metal Tony builds the Mk I and kicks some serious ass in his escape. He’s quickly reunited with his friends and coworkers back in the States and damn does he want a burger. Also he announces very publicly he’s done with making and selling weapons. This is Tony’s big turn, he realizes the real cost of him profitting off war with his weapons and decides he is alone responsible for making things right. His business partner and his deceased fathers long time friend Obadiah Stane advises him to lay low for awhile after crashing his companies stock with his big announcement.

The Stark Employee Roster.

RDJ may steal the whole show but Ironman boasts a pretty big and talented cast. Gwenneth Paltrow as the remarkable and composed assistant to Stark Pepper Potts, she’s a joy to have on screen and perfectly bounces dialogue off RDJ. Terrence Howard plays Stark's best friend and military liaison Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Howard plays this character really cool and I have a hard time seeing Rhodey as much as I see Terrence Howard. His chemistry with RDJ is phenomenal off the bat though, something that takes Cheadle & RDJ about another movie or so to get right. Paul Bettany lends his soothing voice to articulate Siri knock-off known as JARVIS. While his role obviously becomes more expanded upon in later films, Bettany brings a simple yet appealing approached to the A.I. here that pairs well with Tony’s persona. Rounding it out you have the rugged Jeff Bridges playing Tony’s mentor and eventual madman Obadiah Stane. Bridges brings something to this role that I can’t quite put my finger on, he just fully leans into this character and I can feel his presence on screen. He does however have a very sudden change of character entering the third act, he goes from conniving business man to super villain so abruptly I may have whiplash (wink) now. 

Bored and nothing to do.

Stark finds himself in isolation and does the only thing his obsessive brain lets him do, work. He begins designing and testing an updated version of the suit he escaped imprisonment with. The Mk II is a thinner, shinier and more airborne suit than its predecessor. It just isn't up to snuff for Tony though, so after a quick flight test with some icing issues, he completely redesigns the suit. After seeing on TV that someone is throwing a party without him, Tony decides laying low just isn’t for him and crashes the party. Thankfully the party is hosted by Stark Industries so Tony can just walk in with no real problem. It’s here that Tony learns that his mentor and friend Obadiah Stane filed an injunction against him and is trying to force him out of the company and may be dealing weapons under the table. 

Tony decides take the moral high ground and hops in his new suit the MkIII which must be the coolest getting dressed montage I’ve ever seen, then flies for 6 hours back to Afghanistan. He proceeds to just ruin the Ten Rings day by destroying their weapon caches, which include plenty of Tony's own weapons. After surely making the locals think he’s some sort of alien or metal angel he flies back home, only to be intercepted by two fighter jets. What ensues is an entertaining little game of cat and mouse for a minute until Rhodey, whose job is seemingly just to be convenient to Tony shows up and Tony informs him he is in the suit that the fighters are chasing. Rhodes clears everything up as a trainig exorcise and Tony makes it home.

It’s here our big reveal happens, Obadiah is a bad guy and he hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony but they didn’t like the deal, so they altered it like Vader. Now they want to alter it even further and have Obadiah build them Metal Soldiers like the one Tony escaped with.  Obidiah smiles and politely kills this faction of the Ten Rings and figures he might as well build his own suit with his own arch reactor.

Back at the factory while speaking to his team of scientists about their inability to replicate Tony’s miniaturized Arch Reactor, Jeff Bridges delivers the best line in the movie. 

“TONY STARK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAAAVE, WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS”

After this everything starts to happen real fast. Pepper finds a video that directly incriminates Obadiah, he panics and politely tries to kill tony, Rhodes shows up to try and save a dying Tony but he already saved him self. Once he catches his breath Tony hops in his suit to go find Obadiah. Terrence Howard takes a look at the MkII and decides it’s better that Don Cheadle gets to use it. Pepper while accompanied by some agents finds Obadiah's lab only then to be ambushed by Obadiah in a what can only be described as the offspring on the hulk-buster armour and war machine, Iron Monger. 

Tony flies in with no time to spare and saves Pepper. A street fight ensues between Iron Man and Iron Monger with them chucking cars at one another. This fight seems oddly small scale now, having been spoiled by the massive fights we’ve seen in recent MCU movies. The smaller scale and one on one fight does feel more personal though and given that this is Iron Mans first outing it makes sense.

The fight goes airborne after Tony realizes he’s no match for the strength of the Iron Monger suit. Much to Tony’s surprise Obadiah has upgraded his suit as well and its now able sustain flight but as a call back to earlier in the film, the Iron Monger suit has an icing problem in higher atmosphere. Tony's suit begins to lose power as they fall back to the roof of the Stark factory. Tony sabotages Obadiah's suit so he cant shoot straight and Obadiah squishes Tony's helmet. Rude. The two men begin to fight with there wits and the bare minimum of their suits. Tony tells pepper to overload the Arch Reactor beneath him and Obadiah and after Tony begs she pushes the bug red button. Boom. Obadiah's suit short circuits and he falls to his death into the Arch Reactor causing it to explode.

I am Iron Man

I gotta give credit to this movies ending. Setting itself up like Tony is going to become your average secret identity super hero but in perfect Tony Stark fashion it subverts that by Tony declaring to the world he is Iron Man. It’s easily one the most memorable moments in all of the MCU. We also get our first name drop of SHIELD here, which at the time blew my mind because up until then super hero movies were so self contained. Credits roll and a Marvel tradition is born as the credits finish and we’re given another scene as Tony walks into his house to see a someone standing in his living room. NICK MF FURY.

“Think you’re the only super hero in the world? Mr.Stark you’ve become part of a bigger universe, you just don’t know it yet.” 

One of the single most important lines in all of the MCU. When I saw this my 15 year old brain melted and while at the time I was ignorant to who owned what in regards to film rights my mouth foamed over the idea of all marvel characters existing together in a shared movie universe. It only took ten years and a couple billion dollars but all the marvel are finally gonna share a universe together.

Does it work?   

With full retrospective Iron Man is your cut and paste Phase 1 MCU origin movie where the bad guy is basically just a different color pallet than the good guy, which is totally fine. There’s a reason they use that formula, it establishes characters perspective and personality along with their skill set to the audience. It could be because it was the first or just the combination of Favreau and RDJ and all the other cogs in the machine but no movie uses that formula better than Iron Man. I’m in awe of how much fun I had with this movie, I highly recommend going back and watching it again if you haven't recently. It holds up as it’s own movie but with the added benefit that you can clearly see how the whole MCU evolved from the style of Iron Man.

VERDICT  

You should already own this, go make some pop corn and watch this./10

[aion-rsa]

How the Passion of Hannibal Lecter Inspired a New Opera About Dante

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When you hear the name Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a few things spring to mind—and none of them are likely to involve Italian poet Dante Alighieri or opera. Of course there’s good reason for this, with Lecter’s exotic cooking ingredients superseding his gentler affectations. But even so, when author Thomas Harris first imagined how the character might move in the wild for the novel Hannibal, it was with baroque glee he unleashed the doctor in Florence: Italy’s Renaissance city and Dante’s medieval stomping grounds.

Director Ridley Scott similarly understood that secret recipe. His film version of Hannibal relishes every Italian colonnade Anthony Hopkins walks under, or the way the shadow of the statue of David casts darkness on its star’s face, often as he stands in the same spot where men were hanged or immolated centuries ago. In its better moments, Scott’s movie savors that this is a story about a devil who covets the divine; it delights in playing like an opera.

Hence for the picture’s best sequence, the filmmakers commissioned a new “mini-opera,” one that would for the first time put music to verses that Dante wrote more than 700 years ago. And in the decades since the movie’s release, those fleeting  minutes of music have blossomed into a real, full-fledged opera about to have its world premiere. Once again the doctor’s distinct tastes and influences appear singular within the realm of movie monsters.

“He is a character that’s so exaggerated and extreme, I’m not sure if a person like Hannibal Lecter really could exist,” composer Patrick Cassidy says when we chat over Zoom, nearly 20 years to the day after Hannibal’s release. “He’s a great figure for drama because he is all of these extremes.”

Cassidy should know. Once a young Irish composer who was a relatively new member of Hans Zimmer’s large Remote Control Productions film scoring company, Cassidy’s sumptuous Italian aria “Vide Cor Meum” elevated Lecter’s Italian sojourn on screen, and placed its composer on the path to eventually becoming a Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Star of Italy). That’s all the more remarkable since Cassidy didn’t even speak Italian when he first set a Dante sonnet to music.

Looking back now, Cassidy remarks, “I was working with Hans Zimmer at the time, who was the composer on the movie. He works on a lot of projects simultaneously and he knew my strength was choral music… They needed an aria and they were shooting the scene in two weeks. So I was in the right place at the right time.”

The sudden impetus for needing an original aria in the movie seems to hail from Scott. In Harris’ novel, a similar scene occurs when Dr. Lecter attends the performance of a real symphony written in the 19th century, but for the movie Scott, Zimmer, and producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis wanted something original: an aria based on a Dante poem which Hannibal repeats several times throughout the book and film. Written in 1283 when Dante was just 18, the poet’s first sonnet in La Vita Nuova is a paean to Beatrice, the woman he loved. Within its verse, the sonnet includes the following:

Joyfully Amor seemed to me to hold

my heart in his hand, and held in his arms

my lady wrapped in a cloth sleeping.

Then he woke her, and that burning heart

he fed to her reverently, she fearing,

Afterwards he went not to be seen weeping.

– Dante’s First Sonnet

Says Cassidy, “[The aria] had to be based on the first sonnet in La Vita Nuova because that sonnet has a metaphor about eating the heart. But of course Hannibal might have taken that in a literal sense.” Indeed, on both the page and screen, storytellers wanted Hannibal to pivot around the uneasy idea of the debonair cannibal giving his heart to Clarice Starling. After all, “Vide Cor Meum” is Latin for “Look into My Heart.”

Cassidy, however, had little time to digest these finer details when the opportunity to write the aria arose. Relatively new to Hollywood after being in Los Angeles only a year—and succeeding as a choral composer in his native Ireland with Children of Lir, the first major symphonic work in the Irish language—he was primarily tasked with working on library music at Zimmer’s company when the assignment came down: They needed “a good aria” ASAP.

“There was no room for anything to go wrong in a sense,” Cassidy says. “Ridley was already in Florence shooting the movie, but Ridley’s editor Pietro Scalia came into my studio and he brought in lots of CDs of Italian arias, being Italian himself.” This proved particularly useful because while the composer speaks Italian today, he needed to rely on Scalia’s ear while putting Dante’s words to music then.

Cassidy adds, “Ridley also sent me some sketches, which are very fantastic sketches of what the opera would look like. Of course then there was also Dante’s poem. So we started from that, and I think Pietro came back two days later and while I didn’t have the full aria written, I had a nice thematic kind of sense at that stage.”

By his own account, Cassidy estimates he wrote the full aria in under a week.

As a piece of choral composition, “Vide Cor Meum” is transcendently beautiful. Reliant on choral harmonies and luscious strings, the piece more than recites fragments of Dante; it taps into a sense of revelry and underlying melancholy—bringing out the inherent musicality in Dante’s lamentations. This is crucial to both the sonnet and the music’s effect, since the original verse was written in a style of poetry later dubbed by Dante to be the “dolce stil novo” (sweet new style) due to its idealization of Beatrice. This level of worshipfulness was significant for the author since the woman he adored died at the age of 25, four years before La Vita Nuova was released in 1294, complete with new prose around the sonnets in which Dante grapples with her death.

“Vide Cor Meum” brings those aspects out so hauntingly that it’s demanded greater attention ever since its inception. Even back in 2000, the piece was originally only meant to exist in its one minute of screen time; yet it was expanded to two and a half minutes at the request of Scott and the De Laurentiis’ after they heard that minute of music. And once the film was complete, Cassidy was then asked to turn it into a full aria of more than four minutes, or “mini-opera,” on the soundtrack.

Says Cassidy, “Everybody loved the aria instantly, and it was kind of immediate, really, for all the people involved, including Martha and Dino. Ridley especially loved it, and they were all thinking, ‘Maybe you should write a full opera?’ But then nobody knew what the opera should be about.” Editor Scalia did offer an amusing suggestion: write a full-length Italian opera about Hannibal Lecter.

It’s probably for the best that the Hannibal the Cannibal opera never happened, and as the years passed, everyone, including Cassidy, moved onto other projects. Still, the legacy of “Vide Cor Meum” continued to grow. In 2007, listeners of the UK’s Classic FM ranked the Hannibal score in the top 100 film soundtracks of all time (likely in large part due to “Vide Cor Meum”), and the piece has appeared in numerous other places, including another Ridley Scott film, Kingdom of Heaven.

“I loved it in that movie,” Cassidy says, “I thought that was an incredible scene. In many respects I even nearly prefer it in that movie than I do Hannibal.” And as the aria endured, so too did the persistent idea of expanding on it… and on Dante.

In 2010, producer Dino De Laurentiis passed away. While Cassidy had lost touch with the De Laurentiis family over the years, they obviously left a mark on each other, with Cassidy’s career rising after “Vide Cor Meum,” and Dino accepting his Irving G. Thalberg award from the Academy in 2001 to an orchestration of the aria—a development Cassidy suspects Dino’s wife had a hand in.

“Martha loves the piece, so I think she probably organized that,” Cassidy says. “When Dino passed away, I went to the funeral and I was going to pay my condolences to Martha, and there were rows and rows of people around her. But she saw me in the back and she said, ‘Hey, Patrick where’s Dino’s opera?!’”

It’s visibly a sweet memory for Cassidy, even as he recalls he didn’t tell Martha at the time he’d already begun work on expanding what was originally just a two-minute composition into an opera, one with a specific subject matter: Dante Alighieri.

Cassidy says, “Maybe two or three years later, I called her into my studio to give her a presentation of what I’d done on the opera and she loved it, and she wanted to be the producer immediately.” He was also able to show why the opera could only ever be about Dante, the medieval writer who similarly electrified the imaginations of Thomas Harris and his most famous fictional character.

“I think Dante was transitioning out of the Middle Ages into the Renaissance,” Cassidy says about the poet. “Especially in La Vita Nuova, the poetry is in the troubadour tradition of the idea of chivalric love. So it’s kind of a foreign idea to us. When we think of love [it’s] not as an idealization, but just a passion in a sense… for him [love] was quite religious, and he often associates Beatrice with the Virgin Mary.” That sense of an almost deification of love—Amor is a godlike character in La Vita Nuova—also gave Cassidy the space to build a story out of Dante’s life, as opposed to just adapting his most famous and macabre work, La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy).

“I realized the mistake would have been to do an opera about La Divinia Comedia where you had the Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradisio,” says Cassidy. “What I did instead was [make] the opening scene in the opera be the first meeting of Beatrice and Dante when they’re both 12 years of age. And then the opera finishes when Dante, at the end of Paradisio, meets Beatrice again in the heavenly paradise, which is the Garden of Eden. So that was the core of the story, it’s a love story of Dante in pursuit of Beatrice.”

It’s a shrewd choice since many forget that at the end of La Vita Nuova, Dante concludes by saying he will write an epic poem unlike any other, and it will be dedicated to Beatrice. Nearly 30 years later, and about 12 months before Dante’s own death in 1321, The Divine Comedy was published with its most famous passages about Dante descending down through the nine circles of Hell. However, it also features Dante ascending to the heavens where he finds Beatrice as his guide to Paradise. When these elements are combined, you have the stuff of opera.

“The second act is Inferno,” Cassidy says, “And at the beginning [of the act], Dante meets Virgil, and Virgil explains that he has been sent by Beatrice to guide him through the underworld.” In the pits of Hell, “Vide Cor Meum” will even have a reprise. While the aria appears much as it did in Hannibal during the first act of Cassidy’s opera, it’s then sung a second time in act two when a siren in the Inferno attempts to seduce Dante, and Beatrice’s angelic voice intercedes.

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It’s an ambitious concept, and one Cassidy has been working toward on and off for six years. The composer’s Dante was supposed to have its world premiere later this year in Verona—in time for the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death in 1321. Unfortunately, like many other plans since 2020, whether Dante meets that anniversary is currently up in the air.

“We were hoping to premiere it in the anniversary year,” Cassidy says, “but I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Fortunately, the Irish composer can stay busy. With Dante finished, Cassidy is already working on his second opera, this one with the added challenge of being in English: King Arthur.

“After writing a whole opera in Italian, [you realize] it’s the best language for music. I mean, you really can’t go wrong because it just sounds so beautiful… writing a new opera in English, it’s more difficult. It’s more difficult to make work.” Although as with Dante, King Arthur provides Cassidy with the chance to explore medieval classics, specifically Sir Thomas Malory’s famed 15th century tellings of the King Arthur legend.

Cassidy also recently released a new recording of “Vide Cor Meum” on Apple Music and Spotify, one of two pieces he now has in “A-List Classical” on Apple after another of his works, “The Proclamation,” gained international attention when it was used by President Joe Biden during his Presidential Inauguration Mass. But Cassidy does remain hopeful that Dante will still have its day this year, in Verona or otherwise.

“I would hope that even if we don’t get a full production that we will get something done on Dante this year, because it is an anniversary,” Cassidy says.

Whenever it does debut, Dante and its most famous aria will have come a long way from their origins in a horror movie. But in a certain sense, one imagines Dr. Lecter would approve.

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The post How the Passion of Hannibal Lecter Inspired a New Opera About Dante appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[june2734]

The True Core of The Man Of Steel (Or “What Superman Means to Me”)

If you ask most people who their favorite superhero is you’ll rarely hear anyone say Superman, and why would you. There’s no depth to him, there’s nothing left to explore or deconstruct about the character outside of why he doesn’t have the biggest god complex in history. Most see him as being a bland, overpowered, uninteresting boy scout who always saves the day. He’s not even my favorite superhero but I do feel that he is a figure that represents and stands for something very important but who most misunderstand, especially in the over-saturated climate of super hero films that we have today. No offense to Zack Snyder but I don’t think he understands what makes the character work either which is why I find his portrayal of the character in is film to be so frustrating. In my favorite Superman stories(All Star Superman, Earth One, Secret Identity, etc) there had always been a great emphasis on certain values that Superman held. They weren’t about how powerful, godlike, misunderstood and burdened he was, they were about Superman being humble and kind to others. Showing how he genuinely cared about the people around him because he knew that everyone need a helping hand from time to time when life got rough. Allow me to show some examples. 

All Star Superman consists of a series of stories that chronicle Superman’s last days after an accident on a rescue mission causes him to develop a condition that makes him more powerful than ever but is also slowly killing him. There is one moment in the comic where Sups is explaining his condition to Lois and he hears someone desperately pleading on their phone with someone on the other end not to take their own life. Without hesitation he explains to Louis that he has to go and races of to save this person, when he gets there he sees a teenage girl standing on the edge of a building crying as she drops the phone she was using to talk to her therapist off the edge before preparing to jump. Rather than easily grabbing her and taking her down by force, he appears behind her and explains that her therapist really was being held up by traffic and hasn’t given up on her, he tells her that she’s stronger than she thinks and embraces her with a hug.  

Another example of this can been seen in an issue of Superman Grounded. Sups comes across a large group of people(police, fire department, ambulance, etc) are all looking up at a woman about to jump from a skyscraper. An officer asks Sups if he can go up there and grab her but Sups says that he’ll talk to her instead, the woman tells Sups not to touch her and Sups promises not to take her down by force. She lets out all of her frustrations on him about her life, her anxieties and her fears at him and at the end she asks him if she can just sit there for a while and rest, Sups agrees. A time lapses happens where we see, in panels, things go from day to night and Superman simply floating there in front of her, not leaving her and not judging her. Eventually she comments on all the people looking up at her and Sups tells her about a friend he lost to suicide a long time ago, he tells her that if she believes that she has no more good days left in her life that he will respect her wishes and let her jump but if she feels that there is at the very least one more happy day in her future than she should take his hand. She stares at his hand for a moments and then jumps into Superman’s arms, with Sups telling her that things will be alright as she cries.

THAT is who Superman is, someone who represents hope, love, and the best of what we can be. Someone who CARES about people who are lonely, scared and in pain. That’s the kind of Superman that I want everyone to see, the one who truly and deeply believes that everyone matters, the one who wants to do everything he can to make their lives a little easier and a litter safer. But with the current climate of superhero movies we have today I’m afraid that a scene like this will never be brought to life on the big screen. Big budget companies seem to see super hero films as a genre in and of themselves that primarily center around action packed blockbuster stories rather than as creations that could be used to explore and deconstruct more mature and complex ideas such as with Logan which was by all accounts a deconstruction of superhero films themselves. Now you might be asking yourself  “If that’s all you had to say then why did you put it in the description of a link to some random composition from the original Superman film?”( You’re probably not asking that but I couldn’t think of a way to transition to this last paragraph smoothly).

The theme song for of the original Richard Donner Superman film from 1978, composed by the legendary John Williams, is considered by many to be the defining theme for the character. Superman at his best, a hero to the world. Hans Zimmer composed a new theme for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in 2013 that, in musical form, chronicled the Supermans rise from humble beginnings to godlike hero. But despite my love for these themes, neither of them encapsulate the core of who Superman is to me. The theme that I feel fully expresses the humble, kind, loving, friendly, good natureded person that he is, what I feel is at the heart of both Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent, is this composition by John Williams known as Theme of Love from the Richard Donner’s original film. In my opinion if this theme doesn’t fit with a certain portrayal or adaptation of Superman than you’re not doing things wrong. This theme has fit with every incarnation of Superman that I’ve seen aside from one, the recent Zack Snyder incarnation, the one that most people who don’t care all that much about Superman or what he represents will see and that’s something that I honestly find very disheartening. In this age of super hero films showing grandiose displays of heroism, I think it’s important to remember that showing small acts of kindness and humility can be just as important and Superman is the perfect paragon to convey this message.

[aniseandspearmint]

@princesssarcastia, here are some of the things I’m reading right now! I took a quick look at your listed fandoms and tried to keep it to those, though I added a few really good ones from others.)

WIP I’m currently reading off the top of my head (various fandoms)

Lightsword by Esama (Star Wars/ff7) Cloud reincarnates as Obi-wan Kenobi. Composed of one word prompt sections. Very well done and I really can’t wait to see where the author goes with it. Gen so far (well, hinted Zack/Aerith?)

Survival is a Talent by Shanastoryteller (Harry Potter) Soulmate AU fic. This kind of AU is one I really enjoy when it’s done well (and so long as the fic isn’t one of those colorblind until you meet your soulmate ones those irritate me so much) and this is done well. It’s Harry/Draco, starting in second year. And the best part? There’s no bashing of either Ron or Hermione. I could have cried in relief when they weren’t distorted out of character. They stay Harry’s besties throughout everything. The issues of Harry and Draco realizing they’re soulmates is handled extremely well. Draco doesn’t just change, nor does Harry. They have to work at being friends, and as of the current chapters there’s only friendship. The endgame pairing is Harry/Draco, but Shanastoryteller has clearly remembered that the boys in question are 12/13 and there is no romance yet. Draco’s very real issues with the knowledge that his father is not a good person (for all that he clearly loves Draco) makes my heart ache for him. Draco loves his father, Lucius loves Draco, but Draco is coming to realize that he doesn’t want anyone to die, not even muggles or muggleborns.

Resident Project by Kryal (Resident Evil/Tatterdemalion Verse) The Tatterdemalion Verse is a sci-fi/horror AU of Bleach and Saiyuki created by Vathara, that I cannot rec enough, even to people who aren’t into either Bleach or Saiyuki. In my opinion, they read fairly well even if you don’t know who all the characters are, since it’s such an extreme AU from the original series’, and the Bleach fics are actually set way pre-series and feature few of the main cast (as they have not been born yet). A quick google of the names will get you general appearance, and you can read from there.

Kryal, author of The Dragon King's Temple, THE best Avatar/Stargate crossover, was apparently chatting with Vathara one day about how well the Resident Evil verse would mix with Tatterdemalion, and this fic was born. I may have screamed a little in joy when I saw the notification in my inbox. And I don’t even know more than the bare bones about Resident Evil. Fic is Gen, no pairings, people are too busy trying not to die for romance.

Friends Across Borders Series by MueraRashaye (Heralds of Valdemar) Dunno if you know this book series or not, but I’ll toss this in too. FAB is on it’s 10th story in the series (long series is long btw, currently over 300k) , and is honestly one of the best Valdemar fanfics I have ever read. The characters are OCs, but fully fleshed out and beautifully rendered. I had absolutely no problem getting into them, and had the odd but hilarious experience of idly wondering what Kir and Anur were up to during the canon book series the last time I read it, only to remember mid thought that the were OCs, not Mercedes Lackey’s characters. Ace and Aro characters!

Triumphant, The Dreamer by Shadowblayze (Harry Potter) This is a lovely OC reincarnated as a Harry Potter character fic. The character is Heather, a twin to Harry. EPIC worldbuilding and amazingly well done characters. No character bashing, but also pulls no punches regarding certain stupid moves made by canon characters. Gen so far.

Find Your Way By Moonlight by Blackkat (Naruto, Vampire AU) I usually don’t really go for AUs that take away the whole magic ninja aspect of Naruto, but damn this is a good story. Totally an exception to my usual preferences! 

It focuses on Hunter Kakashi and Vampire Obito, and there are a whole host of twisty vampire and other supernatural creature politics, and currently there are a lot of people enacting epic plans without checking to see if maybe anyone else is currently enacting their own epic plans, and it’s promising to be a glorious train-wreck of tangled up coup/rescue/assassination attempts. Very much not Gen. Main pairing is Kakashi/Obito, with a ton of crack pairings on the side.

Karmic Balance by Sanjuno (khr/Naruto) Epic reincarnation of kakashi and Obito. They think the mafia is adorable, but ultimately dumb as rocks. The mafia does not see them coming. Epic worldbuilding (there is a theme there. I do love my epic worldbuilding *G*) This story is excellently spun, manages to treat the khr world seriously danger wise, but still retain the humor rainbow colored fire mafioso deserve. Kakashi/Obito main pairing (they’re kinda scarily co-dependant) gen for everyone else so far.

Star-Queen by TheBetterAngelsOfOurNature (Guardians of the Galaxy) Pre-movie AU, what if Meredith Quill had been able to chase after Peter? There’s endgame Meredith/Yondu, but it’s very slow burn. I really love how this author is filling in Meredith’s personality, and fleshing out other characters that the movies never did. There are a whole host of transplanted comic characters, and OCs to fill voids, but they’re very well done. Updates are kinda sporadic now, since the author just moved to an area with no internet and only gets to town once or twice a month, but it’s worth the wait.

Damaged Defenders by Sherza (MCU) Incredibly long and plotty re-imagining of how things would have gone if Thor had noticed Loki’s eyes were the wrong color. Features multiple crossovers with other Marvel works. Canon relationships only, and little focus on those. This is primarily a ‘gather the forces in preparation for a major alien invasion’ fic.

Harnessing Starfire by Sherza (Star trek AOS) A fic that actually lets the Enterprise crew be the BAMF individuals they truly are. AU after the first movie. Spock Prime gets his Kirk back! Takes the characters canon backstories into account, so Jim was on Tarsus. Takes a good analytical look at what it really means for Vulcans that Vulcan was destroyed, and what it means for the Klingons to have had most of their fleet gutted by Nero, and what it means for the Romulans to have had a Romulan do all of these things, time traveling nutjpb or not. Pairing is endgame AOS!Spock/AOS!Jim and TOS!Spock/TOS!Jim. The is Spock/Uhura at the beginning, but they amicably end things. No bashing.

Weirdness is Genetic by Sherza (BtVS/Sentinel/Stargate) This is the rarest of rarities, a GEN sentinel fic. Features a sentinel/guide bond between Xander and Clone!Jack that is handled beautifully. Also a sekret!father fic, wherein Jim Ellison is Xander’s biological father. The three fandoms are meshed well, and there’s not bashing of characters. Fic is totally gen apart from some canon barely there pairings.

Jason Todd: The Not-So-Outlaw by GoAwayOlivia (DCU Batman) A lovely fic that features Jason coming back to Gotham after deciding to take a break from the Outlaws. There’s some excellent exploration of family dynamics in the bat clan, and of what being resurrected with the Lazerus Pit’s really does to someones mind. I really love the developing relationship between the now much saner Jason and his adopted siblings in this, plus GoAwayOlivia’s Alfred is fantastic. Jason does therapy through home renovation, it’s great. Genfic. (*blinks* Huh, and apparently this is complete now? I never got that notification!)

[fragmentedshards]

Keeping Up Appearances, Chapter One

Actors and Actresses, Part One

-

Tsubame’s POV

-

Yoshio Ootori walks in front of me, and two members of The Black Onion Squad are on either side of me, their footsteps in sync with mine. The carpet is so thick we barely make any noise on our way to Music Room Three. With every step, I fight the urge to run in the opposite direction. I’ve felt this urge before, in the few cases when I suffered stage fright; this eleutheromania making my heart beat in my ears and my blood pound through my body. And yet, I have no choice. I have to keep marching forward, keep my head up with a stiff upper lip, for the good of my family. I have to act offstage now, as well as onstage.

There is a strange feeling in the air around us, like Mr. Ootori’s mood is palpable. I can tell that he is acting as well; acting confident. He accepted my father’s idea of arranging this marriage with his youngest son, because he knows my fame will benefit his family, but there is something else within him. Perhaps he truly does care for his son’s happiness, and does not know if I will make him happy, I conjecture. But whatever his thoughts, they are inconsequential to me at this moment. We stand merely steps from the door of Music Room Three. Mr. Ootori, in his practically monotone voice, commands us to “Wait here,” entering the room alone before returning with a young man who can only be his youngest son.

“Kyoya,” the patriarch begins, “meet Tsubame Kinoshita. She has enrolled at Ouran Academy and will be your fiancée until you graduate Ouran, at which time the two of you will become husband and wife.”

I inhale deeply and will myself to look at him. Kyoya Ootori is a tall boy with dark hair and glasses, casually holding a black notebook in his left hand. He stares at his father, clearly shocked, before uttering a robotic “Yes, father,” and bidding him farewell as he and the police escorts leave us behind. We stare at each other, momentarily stunned, until Kyoya seems to recover himself. He smiles cordially and extends his hand to me in a welcoming manner, but I can see through him. Acting.

“Well, Miss Kinoshita,” he says, and his voice reminds me of silk. “I suppose you should follow me and meet the Host Club.”

I nod my head, speechless. What is there for me to say?

Kyoya opens the door to Music Room Three, and a flood of roses and light meets my eyes. A group of male students is sitting together in the center, each one carefully placed so as to show off both height and rank. A tall tan boy, a short blond one, a feminine-looking brunette, and two redheaded twins surround a golden-haired student, who is the only one actually sitting down. “Welcome,” they greet me in their various voices.

The blond boy in the middle, clearly the leader, tilts his head to the side and regards me with a smile. “Kyoya, who is this lovely young lady with you?”

“Yeah, and does she have anything to do - ” one of the two redheads begins, but before he can finish his twin takes the reigns; “With what your father wanted to tell you?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kyoya’s chest rise and fall as he prepares to give the Host Club the news. “Everyone, meet Tsubame Kinoshita.”

“Hey, I know you!” the smallest boy exclaims, appearing suddenly quite close to my face. “You’re famous!”

“Wait a minute,” the brunette puts a finger to her - his? - lips and thinks. “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you in a movie poster or on the cover of a magazine or something.”

The tall blond snaps his fingers. “That’s it! You’re that actress!”

Kyoya smiles coolly. “Tsubame Kinoshita, the famous teen actress. She started her acting career at age nine, and to this day still works primarily onstage rather than onscreen. Still, she has made cameo appearances in various dramas and films, and even starred in one or two. Not just in Japan either; her foreign work expands to South Korea, France, and even the United States. As I understand it, she has recently taken up songwriting. Miss Kinoshita is the only child and heir to the KinoAsobi Entertainment Group, which is why she can easily fit in among Ouran students.”

“Hang on,” the twins interrupt in unison.

“That company just recently went under,” one of them points out, rather tactlessly.

“Yeah,” the other one continues, equally senselessly. “It’s been in all the papers and all over the news.”

I feel my face flush, and I am grateful to the brunette for growling at the twins, “Don’t either of you two have any discretion? I thought being rich would have taught you some manners.” At this remark, I remember hearing about the infamous honor student Haruhi Fujioka, and recognize in an epiphany that the brunette is really a girl.

“Ah, that brings me to my next fact about Miss Kinoshita,” Kyoya resumes, surprisingly tentatively for someone so confident. “As of a few moments ago, she is my fiancée.” Each and every host is speechless, and Kyoya takes advantage of their momentary catatonia to name them for me, one by one. “Miss Kinoshita, meet third-year Tamaki Suoh;” - he indicates the tall blond - “the second-year Hitachiin brothers, Hikaru and Kaoru;” - he gestures at the twins - “second year honor student Haruhi Fujioka” - he waves his hand at the brunette girl - “and former members Takashi Morinozuka and Mitskuni Haninozuka, here for a Host Club Reunion.” - he points out the tall boy with the small blond on his shoulders.

Haruhi recovers first, giving me a welcoming smile and saying “Well, welcome to Ouran Academy, Miss Kinoshita! I hope you’ll be a frequent visitor to the Host Club.”

For the first time today, I speak. “Thank you Haruhi, and you can just call me Tsubame. I’d like to spend some more time with the club, it seems interesting!”

Tamaki stood up, gesticulating flamboyantly as he spoke. “Well, in that case: Haruhi, find a spare girls’ uniform so Tsubame can change clothes! Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, go get some tea and cake! Hikaru, Kaoru, set up a table for all of us to sit together! We have a true star in our midst, we must entertain better than we ever have before!”

I cover my mouth to keep from laughing at his antics. The hosts rush about, completing the orders with lightning speed. Moments later, I sit at a table in a new school uniform, with a cup of darjeeling tea and a slice of strawberry cake in front of me, surrounded by eager faces.

“So tell me Tsubame,” Tamaki leans an elbow on the table and rests his head on his hand, glancing sideways at me flirtatiously. “What is the one production that got away?”

“What’s your favorite part to play, Tsu-chan?” Honey beams, and I almost think I can see pink flowers surrounding his aura.

The twins, tilting their heads back and forth like a metronome, ask me in unison: “Do you think you’ll join the Ouran Drama Club?”

“Ah,” I laugh softly, trying to make sense of the steady influx of questions. “Well, let’s see... I really wanted to play Tsubame Haruna in the television drama The Girl’s Speech, mostly because the character shares my name, but Suzu Hirose got the part instead. I think my favorite role to play is Rosalind from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, but I adore playing Fantine in Les Miserables. I absolutely intend to join the Ouran Drama Club, and frankly” I look at Tamaki with a smile - “I think you should join as well!”

“What?” he exclaims. “Moi?”

“Of course,” I encourage him, happy to for once not be acting in false flattery. “I can tell you have an actor’s heart and just the right spirit to be onstage.”

Tamaki hugs himself and shivers, looking away from everyone, before bringing a hand to his forehead as if preparing to faint. “Do you really think so? I’ve always thought I was composed of the perfect combination of drama and sincerity, and with my amazing beauty and impeccable manners I would be perfect for the stage! And now, with the approval of a real actress, there is no longer any doubt in my mind!”

“I wouldn’t exactly call your manners impeccable, Senpai,” Haruhi grumbles.

“Oh, you can’t fool me, Haruhi,” Tamaki swirls around, winking at Haruhi before locking her in a tight hug. “I know you love me. And as of today - ” he uses a free hand to point at the other hosts - “I decree that all members of the Ouran Host Club will join the Drama Club!”

Kyoya, who has stood behind my chair this entire time, sputters in complete surprise. “Tamaki, hold on a minute,” he finally laughs nervously, holding up one hand. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through all the way? We are all very busy - ”

“Yes, but what the twins neglected to tell Tsubame is that the Ouran Drama Club is close to dissolving altogether because there are not enough members!” Tamaki interrupts, earning grouchy looks from Kyoya and the Hitachiins. “Even though her presence in the club will draw much more publicity, it still needs members. It is our duty as hosts to ensure the happiness and enjoyment of our guests, and what better way to do that than by sharing our talents with the student body onstage as well as in the Host Club?”

“Boss, I think you’re forgetting something,” Hikaru pipes up, bringing Tamaki down out of his theatrical state.

Kaoru continues; “We don’t even know if any of us have enough talent.”

“I know I don’t,” Haruhi mentions, but then I saw her face change to a more pensive expression. “But...” she says, softer. “I guess I would be able to work as a stagehand, or even in a small role.”

“Yes!” Tamaki leaps into the air in excitement, pointing at Haruhi. “That’s the spirit, Haruhi! You truly are a natural host!” Haruhi merely glowers at her senpai.

“I’d like to be in a play, wouldn’t you, Takashi?” Honey smiles happily at Mori, who gives him a grunt of agreement.

“Then it’s settled,” Tamaki stands up to his full height, raising both hands. “Today, we will join the Ouran Drama Club and support Kyoya’s fiancée!”

At this decree, I hear Kyoya groan behind me.

[grumpyandgorgeous]

Today’s the day: it’s Emmy longlist day.

If you have followed me for awhile, you know I always do this; this year I thought I’d link back to my previous write-ups and realized there were eight previous posts for me to link back to. Eight! This is my ninth time doing this. I am just as surprised as you are. Here they all are, if you are interested. And here we go!

We start this year with Voice-Over Performance in animation, and Bojack Horseman breaks in with its first ever nomination, for Kristen Schaal as Sarah Lynn. I would be pleased if she took this--I just like Kristen Schaal--but honestly, this category is an enigma. Some years it seems to be about a celebrity guesting on the Simpsons, sometimes its about a nuanced performance in a long-running animated series, and sometimes it about the breadth instead of the depth by nominating a performance who just does a lot of characters on one show. There's some of all of that this year (if we're counting Kevin Kline's nomination for Bob's Burgers, which we so are). I don't know who will win this.

Likewise, I am not sure of what to root for in Animated Program, as the episode of Archer is just the premiere (which is fine, but not great) and the Bob's Burgers and Simpsons episodes are pretty week. Kind of nice to see Elena of Avalor get a nomination though, right?

I tend to not focus heavily on the casting categories when I haven't seen a majority of the nominees, but the Casting for Limited Series has to go to Big Little Lies, right? Even the children are excellent, just amazing. I'll be offended if this doesn't win. I understand how Fargo could win it... but it shouldn't.

A nice surprise in Choreography--Mandy Moore (not that Mandy Moore) gets nominated twice, but once for Dancing With the Stars, and once for So You Think You Can Dance. I don't think I've seen that before!

Heading back to Big Little Lies, I don't know how much of a chance it has in a lot of the technical categories, but I would be pleased if it saw wins for Cinematography, Contemporary Costumes, Single-Camera Picture Editing... the list goes on. (I think Handmaid's Tale probably has Period/Fantasy Costumes sewn up, ha.) I forget how much I liked the show until I think back on these aspects of it and remember, Oh wait, it was really very good. I would love for this to carry over to Directing too, but I am surprised as how strong The Night Of has come on in the technical categories, not because I doubt its merit, but because it wasn't really the buzziest thing on HBO this year. There must have been some heavy HBO campaigning, because I saw it turn up on a number of critics' lists to expect nominations, but I am still a little surprised.

In lieu of any Queen Sugar nominations, I would be pleased to see Ava DuVernay win a directing award for 13th.

Main Title Design! I was so excited for this and to be honest, the nominees are a little disappointing. The opening for Feud: Bette and Joan was in my mind the frontrunner heading in, and that hasn't changed in the slightest. The problem here is that three of these are the exact same set of titles. I actually quite liked the American Gods theme when I first started watching it, but then I saw the Crown... they're the same title design. So is Stranger Things, but at least it has the benefit of the image that it it focuses on in very tiny amounts on a black background being typography. Honestly, go watch them. These are all the same titles. It's amazing. Westworld's theme is nice, but Bette and Joan's is something special. I hope it wins. (This is possibly the one place I want it to win.)

Did you know Lifetime had mad a movie version of Suite Francaise? I did not either, but it got a nomination for Original Dramatic Score for a limited series or movie.

Original Music and Lyrics is weird. I don't really get the Mickey Mouse short nomination (although you should totally go watch it because there's a real Ren and Stimpy vibe to it which I never would have expected), and I'm not into the Lemonade homage from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, so that leaves us with the songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, SNL, and 13th, all of which I think have a reasonable shot. The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song grows on you as it goes along, but "Last Christmas" and "Letter to the Free" both feel a lot more relevant and political. I could see this one going either way. SNL might win on a wave of SNL wins, but there are a surprising number of technical nominations for 13th that lead me to believe there's some real industry support for the doc and this could win from that. It's an interesting category.

I'm not so good at discussing the intracacies of music, so the Original Main Title Theme Music is a difficult category for me to assess. However, in my opinion anyway, I would rule out the themes to Victoria and The Good Fight right off the bat, and i would through Genius in there too were it not composed by Hans Zimmer, and so for that reason we can't rule it out. Stranger Things I think is the leader here, because it manages to be iconic and retro all at once. The Feud music is also nice, but I am actually very fond of the Westworld music, even if in the key changes it kind of reminds me of the Carnivale theme. (Miss you always, Carnivale.) Still, I think Stranger Things is almost a lock on this one.

Finally, the acting categories.

Lead Actor in a Comedy is basically all the same faces, plus Donald Glover.  It's the only one of these shows I watch, and he is wonderful in it, but I  feel its more likely he'll be taking awards for his work behind the camera. Jeffrey Tambor could take this again, but with Transparent not taking a series nom for the first time, it might be on its way out. Anthony Anderson then? I thought he would have won this already, to be perfectly honest. Who knows how this will go.

Lead Actor in a Drama is equally mystifying. Several of the actors in this category are overdue--Matthew Rhys, Bob Odenkirk--and some shouldn't be here at all--Liev Schreiber, Kevin Spacey, Milo Ventimiglia--and then we have Anthony Hopkins, who is legendary but maybe not for Westworld, and Sterling K. Brown. This Is Us broke a lot of ground this year, so I would not be shocked by Sterling K. Brown winning, but network dramas are always going to have a hard time going up against the prestige nominees on cable. This is one to watch.

Every time I think Sherlock is the worst its ever been, it wins awards in America, so I think Benedict Cumberbatch is a solid choice to win Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Should this go to Ewan McGregor for going all Tatiana Maslany? Probably. But honestly i have no stakes in this race. Just not Cumberbatch.

So both the leads of Grace and Frankie got nominations for Lead Actress in a Comedy, which I think means they will cancel each other out. There are a couple familiar names here (I keep waiting for Tracee Ellis Ross' moment but I fear it's not coming), and a new face in Pamela Adlon, which between that and her TCA achievement lead me to think she's a frontrunner here. But... Allison Janney has moved herself up to Lead from Supporting, and it is very hard to place bets against a prior winner, even if it wasn't for this specifically. So who knows? Here's a fun fact though: if Janney wins this category, she will have Emmys for Supporting Actress in a Drama, Lead Actress in a Drama, Guest Actress in a Drama, Supporting Actress in a Comedy, and Lead Actress in a Comedy. All she'll have left is a Guest Comedy Actress and the Limited Series awards! I don't know if this will be some kind of a record for sheer breadth of acting categories, but it would be fun for someone to find out.

But hey, can we talk about how for yet another year, there's nothing for Catherine O'Hara killing it on Schitt's Creek? Seriously, she is just straight-up nailing it on a weekly basis. David and Alexis are the heart of the show--and a good amount of the humor, yes--but Moira is just an eccentric actress delight. Robbed yet again. And if not Catherine O'Hara, why not her SCTV co-star Andrea Martin, so much fun all decked out in Chico's looks on Great News? She's the best part of the show, and I'd much rather see them here than Grace and Frankie.

Lead Actress in a Drama--I've heard zero buzz for How to Get Away With Murder this year, but she was a previous winner, and there is some recenty history of repeat winners in this category. I thought the Americans was going to win some acting trophies last year, but nothing came of it... and I wouldn't put it past the Television Academy to give an award to a show just as the critics have said it had a weaker season. So who knows, if the episode really sells Keri Russell, or Matthew Rhys back in Lead Actor, I could see it. The same goes for the perennially-nominated Robin Wright. My heart wants to give this to Elisabeth Moss though. This is Hulu's breakthrough year so this could be the winner.

Ooooooooooooof, the category that has been the heaviest now for two straight years. I have seen a LOT of awards prognosticators say this is Jessica Lange's, which shocked me, because I would have absolutely said it is Nicole Kidman's, because she was breathtaking, and Feud was only OK. But the problem here is that Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon could split the Feud vote, and Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon could split the Big Little Lies vote, and then where are we? Felicity Huffman for American Crime, or Carrie Coon for Fargo. I wouldn't mind either of these, necessarily--all the women nominated here are very talented--but this is a Big Little Lies award if there is any justice in this world. And Nicole Kidman, unlike Julia Roberts when she got that Normal Heart nom a few years ago, is not so snobby as to talk down about the Emmys while she's at the damn Emmys, so she's definitely a winner that TV could get behind even though she's primarily a film actress. I mean god, she went to the Stanley Cup playoffs and wore a jersey and everything. SHE'S OF THE PEOPLE NOW. Give this to Nicole, please.

Also, many apologies to Lauren Graham, totally shut out for the Gilmore Girls revival. One day you'll get something, Lorelei.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy is so many repeat nominees and winners, but if Alec Baldwin doesn't win this, it will be an actual honest to goodness upset. Who else has a chance? It doesn't matter if you don't like the Trump impression (which I don't, for the record). It was the buzziest comedy performance of the year. The president got angry about all of it. He's gonna win.

I don't know anything about Supporting Actor in a Drama except that I have been rooting for Jonathan Banks for like, many years now, on two different shows, so I would be very happy to see him win.

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series... I haven't seen The Night Of. I kind of figure it's going to go to The Night Of. But Alexander Skarsgard is very good at being very awful and having two faces? It feels almost cruel to reward him for being a good abusive husband but he's a very good abusive husband. I also enjoyed Alfred Molina's performance in Feud, so who knows where this is going.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think Anna Chlumsky has fallen out of her possible winning window for Veep, so I don't think it is ever going to happen at this point. But there rest of the faces for Supporting Actress in a Comedy are good ones. I think you have to give it to Kate McKinnon for just wearing so many hats this year, but I love Kathryn Hahn in absolutely everything she does, and Leslie Jones feels just as deserving as any cast member of SNL. And while I am not a huge Vanessa Bayer fan, I'd be happy for her to win just for that damn Totino's ad. No bad wins here.

Uzo Aduba hasn't won for Supporting Actress since Orange is the New Black switched to drama, right? I don't know if any women of the Handmaid's Tale are going to break through this one when they don't have quite the role recognition here as the other nominees. Millie Bobby Brown could win, as crazy as that sounds, considering that the cast won the SAG. Chrissy Metz is the name I am seeing from a lot of prognosticators. And Thandie Newton--well, how can you root against Thandie Newton. I'm going to give this to Millie Bobby Brown for now, but I am keeping my eyes on Chrissy Metz.

Regina King has now won the Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for two years running, and I am not about to root against her for a third trophy, even if this year was the least buzzed about season of American Crime, and it was subsequently canceled. She's going to have strong competition--watch out for Laura Dern, I think--but she's had strong competition before. I liked Jackie Hoffman a lot in Feud, but i don't really think either of the Feud roles really hold a candle to the rest of the nominees here. Could be interesting on Emmy night but, once again, I am rooting for Regina King.

There is something a little insulting about the only nominees for a show called Girls being random male guest stars, right? A little bit? No offense to Riz Ahmed or anything. I don't love Girls by any measure, but it's a little weird. I would give this one to Tom Hanks because of David S Pumpkins but hey, who knows how these things work anymore. I certainly don't. Guest Actor in a Comedy--some host of SNL, a guy on Girls, or Hugh Laurie on Veep. I think Dave Chappelle killed his chances when he said to give Trump a chance, but it was a big deal for him to be on SNL, so I wouldn't necessarily discount that. If I had to nominate an SNL host here though, it really should have been Chris Pine. Boy was totally ignored.

I think Carrie Fisher has the sentimental vote for Guest Actress in a Comedy, but Melissa McCarthy honestly was much better as Sean Spicer than Alec Baldwin ever was as Trump. The thing working against her is she submitted her own episode, and it was arguably her weakest appearance.

Honestly, the best thing for the guest categories is Nightcap, the underseen heir to 30 Rock on Pop!, the channel that replaced the TV Guide Channel. Ali Wentworth knows a lot of people and they all seem game to come on and skewer their image in the most embarrassing way possible. There were a number of standouts in season one, but Gwyneth Paltrow as a kleptomaniac who doesn't eat "that goop shit" and who apparently goes around negotiating guys down to handjobs from blowjobs was my personal favorite, but really so many celebs were great. Debra Messing also should be really gunning for a nomination for this for next year with the episode that just aired this week. idk, I'm a fan.

I'm all in for Alexis Bledel for Handmaid's Tale as I frequently hear that she's a person's favorite part, but I don't know if that's likely. Ann Dowd is here after being a nominee in supporting actressi in a limited series, so maybe she has a real shot at one of them. And you can't rule out Barb, because the academy is just as dumb as the rest of America for nominating an extremely minor character who barely appears for an Emmy.

I know Ben Schwartz already has an Emmy that he shares with Dan Harmon for writing that "Recession Oscars" opening theme where Hugh Jackman said he hadn't seen the Reader , but if he can win outright for the Earliest Show, I am fine with that. Same for Lauren Lapkus, easily the highlight of Pete Holmes' Crashing, which is pretty weak overall.

I can't be the only one rooting for Martha and Snoop for reality hosts for their dinner party show, right?

Outstanding Comedy Series: the same old names, plus Atlanta. I'll root for Atlanta or black-ish. Veep had a very weak year and Silicon Valley was dreadful. This category needs some refreshment.

Outstanding Drama Series went the opposite direction: two repeat nominees in Better Call Saul and House of Cards, but five new faces in first season shows The Crown, Handmaid's Tale, Stranger Things, This is Us, and Westworld. Again, the SAG for best cast went to Stranger Things, so I would not be surprised at it coming through here too, even though it is not at all the type of drama the Emmys typically go for. I would think it comes down to Stranger Things or This Is Us, both of which got heavily nominated all over, but especially in acting.

Fargo did better in nominations than I think anyone expected it to, so it can't be entirely ruled out for Outstanding Limited Series. I want this to be for Big Little Lies, but female-centric domestic series don't have a good history here--I think this show was excellent in all facets, but its recognition really came down to the fact it has movie stars in it and a high-profile team behind it. I don't know if that's going to carry over to a win here, even if it absolutely should. The Night Of has done very well in nominations, and the subject matter is far more up the Television Academy's alley. Also, this category tends to be a good one for Ryan Murphy, so a Feud win isn't out of the quetion either. I am hoping level-headedness prevails and we get a Big Little Lies win. But I also know exactly why that won't happen.

Outstanding Television Movie will probably go to Sherlock because it wins at its worst, but I think it's very promising that Black Mirror got nominated here for San Junipero, the one episode everyone loved this year. The lack of nominations overall for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, despite the attachment to Oprah's name, does not bode well for it. The Wizard of Lies has a healthy little group of nominations and this is Weighty Serious Stuff which the voters tend to go for, so that's my dark horse here.

A number of the nominees in Variety Talk had kind of breakthrough moments in the era of Trump. John Oliver won this last year and were it not for all these Trump-reactions, I'd give him an easy repeat. And that could still happen! He could be the new Daily Show. The voters are notoriously lazy--after all, we saw Modern Family get nominated again this year for Best Comedy and it is 2017. If I had to tip it away from him though, I would say this is Stephen Colbert's or Jimmy Kimmel's to lose. Jimmy got nominated elsewhere and made headlines for the stuff with his son; Colbert really turned it around and put Jimmy Fallon out of contention in both nominations and the ratings and that could be rewarded. I'll be interested to see where this goes.

Best Friends Whenever, also known as My Beloved Show About the Gay Teens, was never going to get a kid's programming nomination, but why did Girl Meets World get one for its worst season? Ughhhhhhhhhhhh.

I said several years ago we need a teen category for the MTV shows and Degrassi, and I still believe that. Several years ago they consolidated the informational children's into the scripted kid's stuff and that was a mistake--we should have like three or four kids categories, not one. If I ever get to be on the board, I will be address this, you better believe me. There are children who can vote, I am sure, and I want their opinions.

Very happy Leah Remini's Scientology show got a nomination for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. Good for Leah Remini.

BIG DEAL ALERT: in this year of Chip and Joanna Gaines being EVERYWHERE, will Fixer Upper win the Emmy for Structured Reality? I think they might. This would be huge for HGTV. And yet another puzzle piece in the Gaines world domination plan. I wouldn't necessarily mind that, but I don't want to live in Texas, and I don't want my furniture to have chipped paint on it, so maybe I do mind actually.

I think Born This Way is likely the lock for Unstructured Reality, but I wasn't even aware Gaycation had aired a second season to make it eligible and... I should give it another chance, probably. But why is this getting nominated when States of Undress is also on Viceland and it is fantastic? I know, I should shut up about States of Undress, but it's just so goddamn thoughtful. Even if Hailey Gates doesn't always get it quite right in her ending narration, I think there is something about her that makes the show so much more compelling than Gaycation. I think it goes to more interesting places--not on the map, but just with what it chooses to explore. I'm always enchanted by it, I always learn something. I just want it to have a million seasons forever.

oh my god am I almost finished please

Writing in a Comedy! This is a definite toss-up between "B.A.N." and "Streets on Lock" from Atlanta. I could see "B.A.N." winning just because of the sheer variety of what composes the episode, and because Donald Glover wrote it and the Emmys like to reward the mastermind of the series here. But I think "Streets on Lock" is actually the stronger episode, so Stephen Glover could get a win here. I don't think Silicon Valley or Veep have a shot, and Aziz won last year, and this category (unless you're a 30 Rock who stays around forever) likes to inject fresh blood. So this is an Atlanta win, but the episode has yet to be determined.

(Though if Veep DOES win the comedy writing, it'll have to be for Georgia, which is the most heartbreakingly painful episode of the season, and also the best one.)

I genuinely don't know where Drama Writing is headed. Stranger Things? Let's guess Strangers Things.

I can't believe I'm rooting for David E Kelley but--Big Little Lies for Limited Series writing, please! Please. Charlie Brooker has a nom here for San Junipero again, and that would be a pleasing result as well. And I even like the Oscars episode of Feud, but I think that would be a better win for direction than writing (was it even nominated for direction? I'm not going back to look now). Fargo, again. The Night Of, again. This could be a really good night for The Night Of, I'm thinking.

Seth Meyers gets his first Emmy nomination for Late Night in Variety Series Writing. (Sidenote: Vox wrote a thing about snubs and said he got no noms, which I tweeted them about, and then got a "we'll make it more clear." Which they then changed from "Seth Meyers--HOW DID IT GET ZERO, it needs to be recognized, it's so good, blah blah blah, why hasn't it made a breakthrough" to "SETH MEYERS--ONLY ONE?" which is not making it clearer, it's re-writing it, it changes your original point even when you don't change the text. I know people make mistakes but if you are a tv critic, and it's Emmy nominations day... read the longlist! Please! This is like when, oof what was it, Vanity Fair? I forget. But I think Vanity Fair--no, it was Harpers Bazaar--did an Emmys write-up and totally made up history by saying "oh, remember when Fargo controversially beat True Detective for best miniseries a few years ago" when THEY WEREN'T EVEN IN THE SAME CATEGORY. OK, these aren't the same, but I just get annoyed by things that can be very easily cleared up.) I think this is going to Colbert, Oliver, or SNL though. Probably SNL unless we're just staying in the John Oliver lane, or rewarding Colbert for overcoming Jimmy Fallon. (I realize I talk about Jimmy Fallon like he's a dragon, but I really don't like him.)

Now Variety Special Writing--here's where Samantha Bee has a very good chance with her Not the White House Correspondents Dinner.

And that's it! I did it! Like four hours... but I did it. And we'll be back next year, guys! My tenth edition then! But before that, we'll have Emmy night. :) Thanks for reading!

[unlikelymedia]

The Girl Who Loves the Stars and the Boy Who Loves Star Wars

It was a Saturday afternoon inside a small coffee shop in one corner block of the city where you can find Danny busy tapping away on the keyboard of his laptop as he tries to compose his next short story. The familiar aroma of the coffee beans roasting and brewing lingers in the air as busy customers come and go with their orders. But for Danny, he could care less about the customers coming and going inside the establishment because he was too busy with his writing. The problem is, he has been on a slump and now he keeps typing and re-typing the same paragraph for the past hour or so. He is at his 3rd coffee already and he can feel his heart palpitating already. He wants to stop but the coffee is giving him the opportunity to think.

 “Aaaaargh! Why can’t I come up with a proper paragraph? C’mon Danny! THINK! THINK! THINK!”, he said to himself half aloud or louder than he had thought.

 The couple on the adjacent side stared at him probably thinking that he has lost his mind. Danny looked at them and bowed as a sign of apology for being an idiot. As he surveyed his surroundings, he realized that someone was sitting beside him.

“You do know you looked like an idiot just now?”, the girl said while grinning from ear to ear at him.

 “And you are?”, Danny asked half annoyed.

 “Call me Lauren. I’m a student of the nearby art school over there.”, she replied as she pointed to the direction of her school. “May I know who you are? Are you some kind of writer? Or a vlogger?”, Lauren added.

 “I’m Danny and no. I’m not a writer. I only do this as a hobby. I’m actually a curator. I’m doing this writing because it helps me do something creative other than my work. Plus I love to tell stories.”, said Danny in a monotone voice. He was still a little annoyed.

 “Oh wow, that sounds amazing! So, are you a curator of a museum or something like that?”, Lauren continued her inquiry.

 “I’m more a curator for artists. I primarily handle interpreting the artworks of contemporary artists when they hold an exhibit.”, explained Danny. “How about you? What’s your program?”, Danny added.

 “I’m an advertising major and I’m in my 3rd year actually.”, Lauren responded.

 They exchanged these kinds of conversation. They started getting to know each other to the point that they even talked about the most mundane topics. For both of them, this first encounter was somewhat a blessing in disguise. For Danny, it gave him the opportunity to talk about what he was writing and how frustrated he is on being stuck on the same paragraph. For Lauren, it gave her the time to relax before she heads back to her studies. They talked for a good 3 straight hours, discussing about music, to movies, to how the current situation of the world is going to the dogs. They just felt at ease talking to each other and never once thought just a couple of hours ago, they were total strangers to each other. When Lauren checked her watch, she was shocked how much the time has passed since they started their conversation.

 “SHOOT! Look at the time? I’ll be dead if I don’t get home by 9.”, exclaimed Lauren.

 “I’ll give you a lift home. It would be way faster for you to get home plus I feel guilty since I took up much of your time.”, explained Danny.

 “Is it really okay with you? Won’t that be out of your way? It’s okay really. I don’t want to be a bother to you”, Lauren.

 “I insist, now come on and let’s get your home.”, Danny said as they stood up and head out the door.

 Inside the car, they continued their conversation. And because they were so caught up in their conversation, they forgot to exchange personal info about each. They laughed when they realized this. Danny learned that Lauren was just 20 years old while Lauren learned that Danny was already 32. Lauren complimented Danny because Danny doesn’t look his age. Danny just thanked Lauren and said he hears that quite often and that he has to thank his mom for that. Strange how they have met, they felt very comfortable with each other. Danny has never been this happy and same goes for Lauren. They were about 30 minutes away from Lauren’s house when Lauren remembered about what Danny said in their conversation earlier inside the coffee shop.

 “Hey, I never told you this because I know you are a big Star Wars fan but, I have never seen any Star Wars movies.”, said Lauren while biting her lip. She’s is unsure how Danny, the biggest Star Wars fan she has met, would react.

 “It’s quite alright. There are a lot of people I know who hasn’t seen any Star Wars films. They have their own reasons, what’s yours?”, Danny said not looking away from the road.

 “I wanted to watch it but I haven’t have someone to watch it with me.”, explained Lauren.

 “Hmmm, I see. But didn’t you want to watch it with your boyfriend or ex-boyfriend?”, asked Danny still not looking away from the road.

 Lauren just kept quiet her eyes fixed on the dashboard. Her chain of thought drifting to somewhere else. She only realized she had spaced out when Danny kept calling her name.

 “Lauren, Lauren, Lauren, did I have said something wrong? What happened? You just spaced out on me.”, said Danny

 “I’m really sorry. It’s nothing. I just remembered something and didn’t realized that I was spacing out already.”, explained Lauren, not looking at Danny with both her hands clasped together.

 “If I said something that reminded you of a a bad time or experience, I am really sorry.”, said Danny in a nervous voice.

 They were now at red light. Finally Danny looked at Lauren. She was still looking somewhere else, her clasped hands are now trembling, and is now almost on the verge of crying. Danny can’t do anything at that moment as the traffic light turned green. He drove for about a minute or two before turned at a road side, parked the car and turned the hazard lights on. Danny then turned his full attention towards the now tearing up Lauren.

 “Lauren, tell me what’s wrong.”, Danny with a concerned tone.

 “It’s nothing really. Something must have reminded me of the past. But I’m okay really. Thank you for worrying.”, Lauren half smiling.

 “Are you sure? We can talk it over if you like.”, said Danny, his concern growing by the second.

 “It’s okay really. Once I’m home I’ll be okay, thank you.”, said Lauren now looking at Danny. She gave Danny a light punch on his shoulders along with a smile just to let him know she’s fine.

 So Danny, since he can’t do anything, just continued driving until they arrived at Lauren’s house.

It was just 8:30 pm when they arrived at Lauren’s house. As soon as Danny engaged the handbrake, Lauren invited him inside for something to drink. Danny just nodded, switched the ignition off, and followed Lauren. Just as Lauren was about to open the door, her dad was already there and opened it for her.

 “Dad, I’m sorry I got home so late”, said Lauren kissing her father on the cheek. “This is Danny, he is a friend of mine. He drove me here so as to not make me late.” Lauren continued and at the same time introducing Danny to her father.

 “It’s a pleasure to meet you sir. Daniel Alphonse Edwards III but everyone just calls me Danny or Al.”, said Danny.

 “Edwards? Is Edwards Sr., the newspaper editor, your grandfather, and Edwards Jr., the researcher, your father?”, asked Lauren’s father in a stern voice.

 “Yes sir. Though I don’t always let people recognize me because of my family background. It makes for a much easier lifestyle.”, explained Danny.

 “I see. What do you do? Are you like your grandfather or your father?”, Lauren’s father continuing his interrogation like questioning.

 “Neither sir. I’m a curator as well as a visual artist. I stayed away from my father’s and grandfather’s line of work to avoid criticism from their respective peers.”, answered Danny.

 There were some more question Lauren’s father asked Danny to which Danny answered in return. Lauren just stood there looking at his father and Danny exchange conversations. Until finally, Lauren’s father is satisfied of Danny’s answers. He even asked Danny how he met Lauren to which Danny told Lauren’s father the truth. Danny said it was a kind of weird circumstances but he is glad that he had met Lauren at that time.

 “I see. Well, come in and thank you for bringing my daughter safe and sound. Just call me Joe”, said Lauren’s father now with a welcoming look on his face.  

Danny entered the house and he was sat on the sofa. He and Joe continued their discussion for another 30 minutes until Joe asked Danny if he was dating his daughter. Danny responded that he just met her but would like, with Joe’s permission to get to know Lauren better. Joe understood and granted Danny’s request.

 It was about 10pm when Danny decided that he needs to get home. He said goodbye and thank you to Joe as Danny was led outside the house by Lauren. Danny and Lauren exchanged contact information. Before heading out to his car, Danny asked Lauren again if she was okay.

 “Lauren, are you sure you are fine? If you need to talk about it, we can still talk.”, said Danny.

 “I’m fine. I told you, once I’m home I’ll be fine. I’ll tell you all about it some other time, okay?”, explained Lauren.

 Danny and Lauren bid farewell to each other that night. Danny drove home and texted Lauren that he got home safe and with no issues. They talked on the phone for another 2 hours before calling it a night. Danny never opened up the issue earlier and just decided that he would just let Lauren tell him ion her own time.

 Danny and Lauren dated for 2 months before they decided to go steady. In those 2 months of dating, Danny picked Lauren from her school and her to her house whenever he is free. They would try to go to those must-go-to restaurants they see on social media. They would go to different museum and galleries, and exhibit receptions. Danny would help Lauren out in her school work by giving her pointers and reference materials. At Lauren’s house, Danny would chat with either Lauren’s mother or father. All of these happened in 2 months of dating.

 When Danny and Lauren become a couple, Danny asked Lauren’s parents if Lauren can sometimes stay at his condo on the weekends or when she doesn’t have any school activities. At first Lauren’s parents were hesitant at first but they agreed as long as Danny would not do any funny business. Danny thanked Lauren’s parents for their trust in him. So one Saturday evening, after Lauren got some clothes from her house, Danny drove Lauren to his condo. Upon entering the condo, Lauren was greeted by a clean, and tidy living room. Across from it is the kitchen and dining. Danny’s condo is a loft type with one room downstairs that serves as Danny’s studio. Danny gave Lauren a tour of his place and helped her unpacked stuff when they got into the bedroom. Danny’s bed is a king size bed which made Lauren laugh.

 “You must really feel lonesome by yourself. A king size bed and no one to sleep in it with.”, teased Lauren.

 “That’s why I asked your parents if you can stay here, ha ha ha!”, said Danny with a wide grin on his face.

 Lauren pouted and said, “That’s the only reason you want me here? Because you’re lonely?”

 Danny shook his head while saying, “Well, not really. Even though we have dated for 2 months now. We had wonderful conversation as well as an awesome time together, we never really had our alone time to talk more intimately.”

 Lauren just nodded in agreement as she continued unpacking her clothes.

 After unpacking, they headed downstairs. Lauren sat on the big couch and surveyed the place. She smiled as she saw 8 framed Star Wars posters, one for each of the released movies, a bunch of different lightsabers hanged on the walls, a couple of lamps that resembled the Death Star, and finally, a glass shelf with different Star Wars toys.

 Lauren looked at Danny and said, “You really love your Star Wars huh?”

 Danny looked at Lauren, smiled and said, ”Yep, ever since the 1st grade. My father got me into it. He rented a Betamax of A New Hope and ever since that day, I was hooked into Star Wars. I also became a big science fiction nut as well.”

 Lauren just nodded in silence as she stared again into Danny’s condo unit. She stood up and headed towards Danny’s small studio. Before entering, she looked at Danny who was busy prepping the food to cook. She opened the door to the small studio, the scent of wood, canvas, acrylic paint and linseed oil automatically filled Lauren’s senses. Then suddenly, the lights turned on. Danny made Lauren jump a little.

 Danny was snickering while saying, “A little jumpy are we?”

 “You scared me there you numnut?”, Lauren said but with a sheepish smile on her face.

 “We are the only two here and you’re still jumpy.”, Danny said while holding Lauren’s right hand and pulling her inside the room.

 Danny showed Lauren his latest projects as well as the next exhibit Danny will be curating. Lauren asked about the food and Danny said it was still in the oven and won’t be done in 45 minutes. She asked what they were having but Danny just motioned his finger on his lips, telling it was a secret. As they stepped out of the small studio, Lauren realized that the design behind the big coach is different from the rest of the walls.

 Danny realized where Lauren was staring at and said, “The wallpaper? It’s not actually a wallpaper. They are PC motherboards, super glued and screwed to the wall. They were painted light grey or dirty white before sticking it in. It looks like the surface of the Death Star from this distance actually.”

 Lauren just nodded and walked closer to the motherboard wall. Danny then turned on the music so as to make the place a little livelier then headed back to the kitchen to check the food. Lauren just sat back on the big couch. The Chill Hop music was soothing and relaxing to Lauren’s ears that she fell asleep on the big couch.

 “Lauren! Lauren, honey! Are you okay?”, said Danny with a worried tone in his voice.

 Lauren suddenly sat up on the big couch and was frantic. She was in tears crying. Then she saw Danny’s face and hugged him.

 Still crying, Lauren said, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to to forget you. I was so lonely. I was so afraid. I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry.”

 Danny just hugged Lauren more and said, “I’m here, don’t worry. I won’t leave your side.” Danny already knew that it is not about him but something else. He decided in time, he will asked Lauren about everything that happened before they met.

 After a few minutes of crying, Danny realized that Lauren was sleep walking in this state and was having nightmares. Lauren, finally waking up, wipe her tears and looked at Danny and said, “I did something didn’t I? I said some things didn’t I? I thought the nightmares were gone but it never really went away.”

 “Hey, it’s alright honey. I’m here and I will never leave you.”, said Danny, looking at Lauren with a caring smile.

 “I should have told you earlier. I should have been more open to you.”, Lauren said on the verge of crying again.

 “Oh honey, please don’t cry. It’s alright, you can tell me everything when you are ready, okay?”, said Danny still not removing his arms around Lauren. As Danny held Lauren until she feels safe and at ease. He reassured Lauren that everything will be alright and that he will be there for her. They stood together and Danny led Lauren to the dining table. On the table was mashed potatoes and steak that Danny cooked. Danny also prepared red wine for them to drink.

 As Danny sat Lauren he said, ”I hope you still have your appetite.”

 Lauren smiled, her first smile after calming down, and said, “Of course. I’m really waiting for what you prepared for us. You never seized to amaze me. Thank you.”

 Danny poured wine in the two wine glass that was set on the table, gave one to Lauren and motioned as if giving a toast and said, “To us, to our love, and many more happy memories together.”

 Lauren also made a motion with her hands to toast glasses with Danny and they sip the wine. They ate together in silence only speaking when something catches their attention. They were both enjoying the moment and their silence was a sign of reassurance towards each other.

 After dinner, Danny just placed the dishes in the sink and decided that he will clean it up in the morning. They sat on the big couch, turned on Netflix and just watch Abstract: The Art of Design. After a couple of episodes, Lauren went to the bathroom to take a shower. Danny followed Lauren inside. At first, Lauren was shy of showing her body but then became grew more comfortable with Danny’s reassurance. After getting out the shower, they headed out of the bathroom and into Danny’s bed. They made love until they can’t anymore that night and slept with their minds, bodies, and souls intertwined with each other.

 It was around 9 in the morning when Lauren woke up. Danny was already out of the bed. Lauren got up and wore the robe that Danny gave her as she went downstairs. Lauren found Danny in the kitchen cooking their breakfast.

 “Good morning sleepy-head. Did you sleep well? Breakfast will be done in a minute, okay?”, said Danny concentrated on his cooking.

 Lauren approached Danny from behind and gave Danny a hug from behind, burying her face on Danny’s back. “Thank you for everything. For being kind, for being caring, and for being always there.”, said Lauren.

 Danny smiled, held Lauren’s arms that was around him and said, ”It is you I have to thank. I was living this mundane, repetitive lifestyle before I met you and you changed all of that. You inspired me Lauren.”

 Danny then turned around, looked at Lauren and kissed her on the lips and gave Lauren a warm comforting hug.

 They ate breakfast, showered, and went out. It was already 10pm when they arrived at Lauren’s place. Danny parked the car and they went inside Lauren’s house where her parents were waiting for them to arrive. Danny gave Lauren’s mother a small hug and Lauren’s dad a firm handshake. Danny told Lauren’s parents that they went to a restaurant outside the city since it was all the rave these days. It was a good thing that there weren’t much people Lauren added. By 11 pm, Lauren’s parents left and went to their bedrooms. Lauren then took Danny’s hand and led him to the attic where Lauren always stays to look at the stars.

 “This is my favourite spot in the world. I guess you could say, my comfort zone.”, explained Lauren. “This is where I can do my artworks in peace. Away from the noise and the world.”, Lauren added.

 Danny looked around. The whole room was filled with paintings of stars, constellations, and the universe. But of all the paintings, one painting particularly captured Danny’s attention, It was a painting of a silhouette of a girl and in that silhouette was the universe. The area of the silhouette where the heart of a person should be is the Millennium Falcon. He checked the date and it was a work from 5 years ago.

 “It was my twin brother’s work. We both love art and painting. He loved Star Wars while I love the stars. Sadly he is no longer with us.”, explained Lauren as she walked closer to where Danny was standing. Tears were already forming in her eyes.”

 Lauren then grabbed Danny’s arm and pulled herself closer. “I’m going to tell you what really happened. Why I sometimes space out and why I have my panic attacks from time to time.”, said Lauren now hugging Danny.

 Lauren then told Danny her story.

 It was 5 years ago when it happened. It was Lauren and Lance’s birthday and they went to a Star Wars day convention. Lauren never really liked her twin’s obsession with Star Wars but because he was her brother, she shrugged it off and just go with what Lance likes. The convention when smoothly. Lance told Lauren that as a present, Lauren will finally watch a Star Wars marathon with him just like what Lance always does on their birthdays. Lauren finally agreed to her brother’s plea in the condition that Lance will do all their chores for a whole month. As they exited the convention centre a Lauren was pushed to the ground. It happened so fast that she had no idea that there was a crazy driver running away from the police and that it had drove on to the pedestrian section and on the ramp of the convention centre. When she got up, she realized that the person who pushed her away from harm was Lance who was now lying on the floor motionless. The shocked caused Lauren to be a catatonic state. When their parents arrived to pick them up, paramedics were already there in the scene. Lauren was still unresponsive while Lance was already rushed in the hospital only to be declared dead on arrival. The devastation in their family left Lauren in a catatonic state for six months. It was when she went up the attic, she and her brother’s hiding spot that she realized that Lance’s present for her on their birthday was on there. It was a painting that Lance did. The painting that is now hanging at the centre of the attic surrounded by all of Lauren’s painting of stars and constellations. That was the first time Lauren screamed and cried for losing her of her twin and ever since then, Lauren gets panic attacks whenever she is reminded of her brother.

 After Lauren told Danny everything is when Danny realized how him and Lance have common interests that made Lauren have her panic attacks. Danny held Lauren in her arms, gave her a big comforting hug and just kissed her on the forehead.

 Danny left the Lauren’s place around 1 in the morning. He now understand Lauren more than ever and promised that he will do everything to make her feel safe and at ease all the time.

 It has been a year since Lauren has told Danny her story. Their relationship continued with blessing of their parents. Lauren has met Danny’s parents and siblings. They were at Danny’s parent’s house when Lauren said, “Honey, I still have a confession to make.”

 “What is it?”, asked Danny.

 “Remember the first time we met at the coffee shop? I actually know who you really are before you introduced yourself.”, Lauren explained.

 “What? Wait. How?”, said the confused Danny.

 Lauren took a deep breath and finally explained, “It was a year before Lance died. My parents took us to an opening reception of an artist. You’re whole family was there and as I remembered, it was the first time you curated an exhibition. It was funny because you were all nervous and all introducing the artist. We even have a photo taken together.”

 “But you were fourteen that time and when I met your dad for the first time, why didn’t he recognize me?”, said Danny still confused.

 “Because I told my father not to. I liked you long before we met again in that coffee shop and I don’t him spoiling my confession to you.”, Lauren further explaining now with a playful smile on her face.

 Danny scratching his head still confused said, “But why now? You could have told me before. I’m not angry but I’m confused.”

 “It’s because of Lance. When he heard I liked you, he became jealous thinking you will take away his twin sister.”, said Lauren now showing Danny the photo she was telling aboutl

 In the photo was Danny in the centre, Lauren hugging him on his right and Lance with an angry on his left. The photo was enough to trigger Danny’s memory of that day. He was so tired preparing for the exhibition that he had no idea what really happened after his introductory speech. All he remembered was he was talking to a very enthusiastic girl and her brother. He had forgotten that event because he got drunk and pass out afterward.

 “I remember now. You were that girl that kept asking me questions while your brother was just butting in on every answer I gave.”, said Danny still scratching his head.

 “I know you won’t remember me but I tried to keep track of you and your works but because of the tragedy, I lost you or should I say I have forgotten all about you. I was filled with grief, sadness, and anger that I feel that I will never be happy again. Life was chore for me. But for some reason, my felt my brother on my side every time I want to give up. It was just that fateful chance in that coffee shop that I finally found you. I was still grieving but somehow it made me move on. I guess Lance finally gave his permission for us to be together and for me to let him go.”, Lauren said this while tearing up.

 Danny kissed Lauren on the lips, gave her a hug and said, “I’m happy as long as you are happy.”

 “Thank you Danny.”, sad Lauren now hugging Danny back.

 “Funny how sometimes you just find things. I love you Lauren.”, whispered Danny.

 Funny how sometimes you really just find things. The happiness you thought you’ve lost can just suddenly comeback to you without you realizing it. The Universe is both funny and cruel at the same time. It takes away certain things in us to test ourselves how strong we really are but it will also give back what you’ve lost even if it was in a different form.

[saronai]

Mun Questions

tagged by @aradow

Rules: I deleted them.  There are no rules!

Nicknames: Saronai/Saro (primarily the internet) and Rena/Bean (primarily wow) Star sign: Aquarius

Height: 5′6 Time right now: 5:41pm Last thing you googled: Good lord, I don’t remember?  I google such random things, both for concrete reasons as well as random writing research, multiple times a day...Oh, I think it might have been whether “sunspots” in your vision is always a migraine sign or if a sinus headache could cause them as well.  The answer was:  I have cancer. Fave music artist: Toughy.  Not sure I have a fav and my tastes in music are ALL OVER the board, not even just the American music board either.  All over.  Do bands count?  Some off the top of my head:  Dance Hall Crashers, Lindsey Stirling, Pentatonix, Evanescence, Lady Gaga, Icon for Hire, P!nk, Yoko Kanno (composer). Song stuck in my head: Dragostea din tei (Numa Numa) Last movie I watched: Antman Last tv show I watched: Stargate Atlantis (though my husband plays Perry Mason and Murder She Wrote more frequently and I sometimes partially pay attention to it) What I’m wearing right now: Brown T-shirt and fleece pajama pants meant for dudes (because it has pockets!) When I created this blog: 2015 The kind of stuff I post: WOW RP stuff Do I get asks regularly? Nope Why did I choose my url: I have severe alt-itis to the point that all 50 of my character slots are taken with a few on my son’s account as well.  My nickname is Bean in Warcraft.  A friend of mine use to give each frequently used character a Bean nickname (Bean of Elune, Magic Bean, Mean Bean, etc.).  It is a World of Warcraft blog dealing with all of my characters and wow interests, and thus we arrive at World of Beancraft. Gender: Female Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw every time, every test.  Quirky nerd pride! Pokémon team: Mystic Favorite color:  Very dark green with a blue tint Average hours of sleep: All over this damned sleep map.  I have insomnia and regularly struggle with predictable sleep patterns, ranging anywhere from 0-12 hours Lucky number: I like threes and nine (because it is three threes) Favorite characters: Gonna have to be more specific, I like so SO many characters in so many mediums.  I like roguish heart-of-gold angst trains (a la Duke Crocker on Haven), ditsy/quirky/eccentric/weird nice people (a la Luna Lovegood), adorable puppies (a la @dilpicklez), and brainy/sarcatic types (ranging from your Hermione Grangers to your Darias).  Most of my favourite characters fall in one of those 4 categories. Number of blankets I sleep with:  It varies depending on mood/temperature.  1-2 with the second mostly serving as something soft and lovely to wrap my arms around (gifted quilt I more snuggle than drape)

Tags: Anyone who hasn’t done this one yet and wants to tackle it/do it again.