#I just...love this Rochefort I really do | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ghoulsister1 · 6 months

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🎃SpookTober 31 Days Prompts🎃:

Day 16: Potions🧪

Rochefort x GN!Reader. AU: Musketeers. Reader is an expert in potion making. Rochefort wants reader to make a love potion for him. A mishap leads to a shocking confession. Fluff. Love potions. SpookTober Prompt: Potions🧪

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☆●~Just A Spoonful Of Love~●☆

Y/N is the royal alchemist for the King and Queen of France. Rochefort is confident you can make him a love potion to give to the Queen to make her fall in love with him. Of course you make it, unaware of it's purpose but after a mishap, Rochefort takes the potion himself accidentally. And who he really loves leaves you speechless.....

You have worked for the King and Queen of France for a while now as their royal alchemist, brewing up potions of all sorts to aid the family and their allies. When the Queen fell ill, you brewed a special broth that made her better within two days. When Treville suffered an injury, you procured a special ointment that could clean up any infection and heal up in the skin, making the skin look unmarked. You were such a dab hand that you gained respect and notoriety in the Royal inner circle and beyond, even helping the people in the slums and Court of Miracles.

So it was no surprise the Comte De Rochefort, Captain of the Red Guard had heard of your many deeds and was intrigued. If you could make all these wonderful potions to help heal and cure, surely you could make a love potion.

Rochefort had an infatuation with the Queen and having returned to France and working closely with the King only fueled it more. But confessing would only end in trouble, so what if she confessed? Yes there would be trouble but Rochefort would sweep her away long before the King could do something. He wouldn't let anything harm his precious Anne.

So with a sly grin, he sauntered into your workplace, startling you and making you nearly drop a new but highly volatile liquid that you were currently hoping to use in a new bomb.

"Good day oh Royal Alchemist!" Announced Rochefort spreading his arms wide. He looked around at the various bubbling concoctions around the room, the smell of herbs and floral scents wafting around the room. You removed your plague doctor mask and looked at Rochefort.

"Captain Rochefort, I welcome you to my workshop but please be more delicate in your approach as I'm handling very volatile liquids here" You Warned, gesturing to the box of vials filled with the stuff. You gently sat the box down on a nearby table. Rochefort had to admit, you were a hard worker, he admired that.

"What can I do for you?" You Asked. Rochefort smiled.

"Well, I've come with a simple request. Your skills are exceptional and many people as far as the slums of Paris have heard of your great deeds. So I have confidence that you'll have no trouble making me a potion" Explained Rochefort, smiling.

You raised your eyebrow at him and smirked proudly.

"You flatter me Rochefort. But what kind of potion do you require?" You Asked.

"What kind can you do?" Asked Rochefort.

"Any" You Replied smirking. Rochefort smiled.

"Even a love potion?" Asked Rochefort, raising his eyebrows at you. You pursed your lips at that suggestion.

"Yes. I can make a simple love potion. I have not had requests like that for a while but yes, it can be done" You Replied smiling.

Rochefort's blue eyes sparkled at your answer and he looked so happy. You haven't seen him this happy before.

"But, I must ask what is the occasion. I shall not make it if there's something malicious behind it" You Warned.

"Oh no, you see there's......a girl in the town my friend admires. I'm doing it for him really. There's a man that has caught her eye and well, my friend really wants her to be his. She adores him in return rest assured but" You Stopped Rochefort with a soft smile.

"I handled a request like that once. Rest assured, I shall make the potion and your friend will be happy with the results" You Smilied.

Rochefort smiled at you.

"Oh thank you Royal Alchemist, you will be rewarded handsomely for this. I promise you!" Thanked Rochefort. You smiled and blushed a little.

"You are most welcome, Comte De Rochefort" You Smilied. With a bow, Rochefort turned and left as you set about making the potion.

"Soon my dear Anne, you'll be mine at last!" Rochefort Thought with a dark smile as he returned to his quarters.

Since it was the season of harvest, the ingredients needed was abundant and luckily you saved ingredients from last summer and spring. You worked tirelessly on the potion, perfecting it so it will be a powerful potion.

After 5 days, the love potion was created. You sent a letter, requesting Comte De Rochefort to come to workshop. Rochefort arrived and he walked inside.

"So, it is done?" Asked Rochefort.

"It is. I apologise for the wait, but I wanted to perfect fully. This is the bottle of the strongest love potion. One drop of this and it will make you realise who you truly love with your heart and soul" You Explained. Rochefort grinned.

"Does it wear off?" Asked Rochefort curiously.

"Oh no, it isn't one of those potions. No, this potion merely helps you. In this case, it will help you realise who you love truly. Great in situations where one person loves two people but must ultimately choose one" You Explained.

Rochefort smirked at that.

"Perfect. I thank you very much Royal Alchemist. I will send your reward today" Smiled Rochefort and he took the potion.

"You are most welcome" You Said with a smile. You both bowed and Rochefort left for the Palace. You smiled and returned to your work, your heart feeling melancholic strangely.

Tea was being served in the Palace and so it was then Rochefort made his move. He was invited for tea with the Queen and Constance. When no one was looking, he poured a drop into the teacup that belonged to the Queen. He smirked as he watched the tea be taken to the room where the Queen and Constance awaited. Rochefort followed, smirking all the way.

"My Queen, my precious Anne. Today we will finally be together" Thought Rochefort with a dark smirk as he entered the room and sat down for tea.

Conversation was bland at best, nothing new to be honest. The Queen was laughing at some joke Constance made and she reached out to grab a teacup.

"Here you are your Majesty" Constance Smiled and offered the Queen a teacup. Rochefort reached out and took his, drank the sweet tea. It was fresh, aromatic and oh so sweet!

Rochefort then began to feel a change wash over him. His heart was so warm and light, it made him try to suppress a chuckle that came from nowhere. His head was spinning from it all.

"What's happening? I feel so....strange! Wait....no....did I take something?" Thought Rochefort and he looked at the Queen's teacup before looking at his own. He drank from the Queen's teacup! He drank the love potion!

He looked at the Queen but strangely, his heart didn't feel like butterflies were inside upon seeing her. In fact, he felt nothing of true love towards the Queen.

"But....I love her! I love the Queen!" Rochefort Thought panicking because no matter how long he gazed at her, thought of her, he felt nothing of passion nor love. Only loving her as any subject loves their Queen. Not true love that he had previously thought.

Rochefort felt almost sick and he despaired.

"You do not truly love her Rochefort, for that was a mere illusion your broken mind had thought up. And she does not love you truly, she only sees you merely as a good friend. You must accept that" Came a sweet voice from within his mind. Was it the love potion making him hear such a voice?

"Who do I truly love then?" Thought Rochefort sadly. He looked upon Constance, but felt nothing either. Who was his heart's true love then if not the Queen?

Suddenly he thought of Y/N, the royal alchemist. He never once called them by their real name, only their title. He thought of their bright and pretty (y/e/c) eyes, their silky (y/h/c) hair and their beautiful smile, all warmth and sunshine. Rochefort's heart raced at the thought of Y/N and felt like butterflies were fluttering about inside.

"Y/N......the royal alchemist?.......it is them I......truly love?" Thought Rochefort. He'd admit that he did admire them very much but he thought his admiration was just that and nothing more. But he could see now, that he was wrong.

Rochefort stood up abruptly, startling Constance and Queen Anne.

"Rochefort! What ever is the matter?!" Asked Queen Anne, holding a hand over her chest to steady her heart.

"What's your problem?" Asked Constance sternly.

"Forgive me for startling you ladies, but I must take my leave now" Answered Rochefort and turned to walk away.

"But....our tea!" Cried Queen Anne.

"I'm sorry your Majesty. Perhaps some other time" Replied Rochefort shortly and he turned away to walk out the door. He needed to see Y/N.

You were finishing up putting the last dried out bits of lavender and herbs when there was a knock upon your door.

"Come in!" You Cried. The door opened to reveal Comte De Rochefort, standing there. You raised your eyebrow at Rochefort, surprised to see him back.

"Good day Rochefort, what brings you here?" You Asked suspiciously. Rochefort stepped forward towards you.

"It's about the love potion you gave me" Stated Rochefort matter-of-factly. You felt nervous. Did the potion not work?

"Did something happen? Did it work?" You Asked nervously. Rochefort stood in front of you, staring down at you intensely.

"Yes. I did work" Rochefort Admitted and you sighed in relief.

"Oh good, I thought you were here because it didn't work" You Confessed nervously.

"It made me realise I was in love with the wrong person" Confessed Rochefort. Your head shot up at him.

"Wait....you? The love potion was for you?!" You Cried.

"No! The love potion was for a woman! A woman I loved! Or at least I thought I loved truly up until now. But something happened and I.....consumed the love potion instead" Admitted Rochefort blushing slightly.

"And now?" You Asked sternly.

"Now i see I love another person. A person I admire very much. A person so hardworking and so brilliantly talented with a sharp mind! And that person.......is you" Added Rochefort sincerely.

Your eyes widened at him and yet you felt your heart race. Rochefort stepped closer to you.

"I know I lied about who the potion was really for and I apologise. But I must know, you must tell me the honest truth Y/N!" Pleaded Rochefort.

"What is it that you want to know?" You Asked softly. Rochefort gazed into your eyes deeply.

"Do you, Y/N truly love me?" Asked Rochefort, his eyes bright and wide as he gazed at you intensely.

"Do you love me truly?" You Asked, voice low and soft. Rochefort held your hand in his.

"I do. I truly do! I love you so much!" Answered Rochefort truthfully. You smiled warmly and cupped his cheek.

"Yes Rochefort. I love you truly. So very much" You Replied truthfully.

Rochefort smiled and you both leaned in, kissing with such passion that you both gripped on to one another and held each other as the kiss deepened.

Rochefort found who his heart truly loved and you found your own true love in the end as well. All thanks to a little mishap and a love potion.

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#comte de rochefort #bbc musketeers #musketeers #the three musketeers #rochefort #spooktober #spooktober 31 days prompts #spooktober prompts #october #october prompts #31 days of halloween #31 days prompts #writing prompts #writing prompt #prompt 16 potion

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judelaws-hairline · 10 months

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10 songs from shuffle vs 5 songs I actually listen to

tagged by @kodachromism! for this, i just shuffled 10 different playlists and chose the first song that popped up

everybody's coming to my house - david byrne: first heard this when i watched the filmed production of "american utopia" on hbomax, but i was also lucky enough to win lottery tickets to go see "american utopia" live and it was amaaaazing

baby - misun: i think i first came across this song in high school?? it's not one of my faves, but it's a good song to listen to from time to time

female of the species - space: i actually first heard this song at a britpop dance night in brooklyn. i was pretty high and i had a lot of fun. i honestly need to go to more dance nights

la gare (guy s'en va) - josé bartel/danielle licari: a track from "the umbrellas of cherbourg", one of my favorite movies by my favorite director. im honestly so happy that i own a copy of this soundtrack on vinyl + found it for $1. now i just need to get "the young girls of rochefort" on vinyl too.

twilight world - swing out sister: i honestly need to listen to more swing out sister because i love this niche in 80s music so much

father and son - yusuf/cat stevens: i honestly got more into cat stevens after watching "harold and maude" for the first time a few years ago and i gotta say, i love his music

made first (never forget - acoustic) - tahiti 80: tahiti80 has the rare distinction of being a band that i found in 8th grade/9th grade and still like listening to. i honestly like the acoustic version better than the regular one though

good song - blur: i had a bit of a blur phase in november/december 2021. what a time

breathless - corinne bailey rae: i feel like this song came up on another music post, but it's still a great song, a great album, a great singer/songwriter

sleazy bed track - the bluetones: first heard this in "scott pilgrim vs the world", a movie that has such a good soundtrack. i listened to it soooo much in high school, especially on my way to school each morning.

5 songs i actually like (just went to my on repeat playlist)

love plus one - haircut 100: this song is just so in tune with my core music taste. i think i first learned about it from a vh1 countdown about 80s songs. honestly, the album the song is on is great too

i don't know - beastie boys/miho hatori: a bossa nova influenced song that feels like the theme song of my mid 20s so far

night and day - everything but the girl: i think this is the song that got me into everything but the girl. i have amplified heart on cassette but i need some of their albums on vinyl

try some buy some - george harrison: i'm slowly going through all of george's albums and at this point i'd say try some buy some is my favorite song by him. which is weird because it doesn't really sound like a george song (it isn't but it is, it was written for ronnie spector by george and produced by phil spector blah blah blah). it honestly sounds like a bowie song, so it makes sense that bowie also loved the song and covered it. i could ramble on about why i like this song tbh, but this is long already

a dream goes on forever - todd rundgren: not much to say, i just love listening to todd

i tag @lifeisverylongwhenyrlonely, @loveistheonlytruth, @cupuasu, @seasonsgreetingscreature and anyone else who wants to do it

#long post

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ccthewriter · 1 year

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CC's New Watch Ranking 2022: #2 - The Young Girls of Rochefort

1967, dir. Jacques Demy

Every year on Letterboxd, I make a list of the 100 best films I’ve seen for the first time. It’s a fun way to compare movies separated in time, genre, and country of origin, and helps me keep track of what I’m watching! This is a series of posts about my Top 10.

This is the pinnacle of cinematic joy. No other film contains such happiness, such leaping mirth, such radiant sunshine. This is a glass of lemonade at the height of spring; this is a giggling kiss given behind a carnival. Every few days I turn to my wife and scream-sing “Nous sommes deux soeurs jumelles! Nées sous le signe des Gémeaux!” and it never fails to make us laugh. You’ll find this year’s ranking contains a lot of serious films, many of which touch on the darker elements of our lives. Les Demoiselles de Rochefort stands in stark contrast as a true comedy in the classical sense, concerned only with love and laughter. It is the best musical ever committed to film.

Young Girls follows a pair of twins looking for love. Their mother runs a cafe in the town square, where a caravan of performers have just arrived to set up a carnival. They dance around this space as they seek romance, their soulmates passing through and barely missing them each time. It’s a wonderful comedy of errors, interspersed with the greatest musical numbers you’ve ever seen.

I want to express my affection for this movie with a high-pitched squeal, because every element is perfect. But I’ll try to isolate what’s working here. The story is simple and classical. The visual language is divine. It begins with a very long shot of the caravan traveling over a bridge to arrive in town. The lingering intro makes viewers feel transported into Rochefort, which becomes less of a real city and more of a fairytale kingdom. The set design and costuming is brilliant, and is displayed with a relatively still camera that will rotate to view its subject, but rarely go dutch or do anything else fancy. The stillness makes the contents of the frame shine.

There’s some Wes Anderson levels of symmetry and color at play here, too. The sisters are coded in yellow and pink, and the entire world is tinted to match them. They pass through the Frenchest, most beautiful locations imaginable. An antique store with rococo furnishing and white marble. Little shops made of wood and glass. Cobblestone alleys lined with bright plaster. Truly, every detail, from top to bottom, is made with cinematic beauty and grace. And the music! It soars, it's jazzy, it's a little funky, it's just the best you could imagine.

I’m finding myself at a loss for words! I don’t know what else to say other than this is good - really, really, really good. No movie embodies the freeing feeling of love better. There’s a production history I don’t know about and couldn’t begin to describe. Catherine Deneuve is incredible, but we’ll spend more time talking about her very soon. If you find yourself sad and looking for something to cheer you up, this film is it. Treat yourself to the freedom of the soul this film can instill. You deserve it. When we think of building a better world, we should focus on making it feel like this one.

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Thank you for reading! If you made it this far why don’t you give me a follow on Letterboxd, where I post reviews and keep obsessive track of all the movies I watch. Feel free to drop a line if you checked this movie out and want to share your thoughts!

#the young girls of rochefort #jacques demy #movies #film #letterboxd #movie list #film list #ranking #cc oc

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symphonyinblues · 1 year

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hi new mutual :) i wanted to leave this message to say how much i love ur blog & am looking forward to getting to know u! just followed u on letterboxd & ur top movies look very intriguing. the red shoes is absolutely stunning & i've been meaning to rewatch it for some time now. i haven't seen the other three, but they're definitely on my radar! anyway, i hope u don't mind the long message & that u're doing well <3

hi!! tysm for this ask, i love your blog as well :)

young girls of rochefort is an amazing musical from the 60s, and the other two are 70s horror (horror comedy? in house's case) if you're into that! when it comes to movies i'm very motivated by cool art direction and surreal plots and i think my favorites really reflect that lol

i've only seen jane eyre off your list, i really want to check out the other ones - persona has literally been on my watchlist for years

looking forward to getting to know you too!

#ask #kneadingwater

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walkwithheroes84 · 2 years

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I’ve been rewatching the BBC’s The Musketeers and I can’t stop thinking about something:

Was Aramis really in love with Anne?

I really loved their storyline (I still do), but as I rewatched the first two series, I just couldn’t help but think that Aramis’ feelings for Anne were more along the lines of respect, pity, and the love a person has for the mother of their child.

As I watched, I noticed that Anne makes the first move when they kiss. I also noted that Aramis was always more worried about their son than anything else.

I realize that, because of many things, the two couldn’t be alone in scenes - but aside from him giving her some longing looks. Plus, outside of 1.9 and their moments in "Emilie", the two never interacted. It does make sense that they wouldn’t be in love - they had a handful of private conversations. When Porthos asks if Aramis loves Anne, Aramis states that he could, not that he does.

I’m not there yet (I’m on 3.4) but there was an alternate take of their kiss in theh series three finale. I’ve seen the screencaps and Aramis and Anne put their foreheads together, he strokes her check, and then he leans in for the kiss first.I wish they would have used that. Firstly, because the kiss looked better and secondly, because it would have shown (at least to me) that they are equal in their feelings.

I could also make the case that Anne wasn’t in love with Aramis. She just saw him as her protector, the father of her child, and someone who treated her with love and care when she was lonely. That she clung to him when she felt alone or scared.

At the end of the day, while I love the hell out of this couple, during this rewatch, I’m yet to be convinced that they are truly in love with one another. It feels more like he wants to save and protect her (while being near his son) and she wants to care for him and be protected by him.

Side note: Does he wear the coss in series three?

Someone feel free to point out scenes, dialogue, etc that prove me wrong. I want someone to prove me wrong.

Edit to add: Remember is 1.9 how Louis was upset that Anne was missing? His: “I don’t know what I should do without her.” and then him wanting to rush to Anne, but it not being the proper thing to do. Yeah, during S2 - when he thought the baby was his - he still always worried about the baby instead of/before Anne.

Conclusion: Anne really was alone the whole time. She had a few friends who loved her. She had Rochefort who was obessed with her.

#the musketeers #queen anne #aramis #anne x aramis #aramis x anne #anne of austria #annamis

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albertserra · 3 years

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hi chris!! I’m sorry if you already got asked this but what are some of your favorite film scores? And if some of your followers want to share theirs as well it would be lovely, im trying to listen to something else other than my 3 old playlists lol. Tysm and you’re my favorite blogger btw I love how passionate you are about the things you like, you made me remember just how fun & cathartic some movies can be <3

<33333333 love u and happy u get something out of whatever the hell im doing on here! im not sure if you mean scores specifically or soundtracks in general (since score usually implies instrumental while soundtrack implies vocals) so ill separate the two

scores (original, mostly instrumental):

joe hisaishi's scores - hana-bi, totoro, sonatine, spirited away, porco rosso, etc etc etc

nicholas britell - moonlight, if beale street could talk

quincy jones - the deadly affair, the italian job, the pawnbroker, in cold blood

angel's egg

it follows

philip glass - koyaanisqatsi, candyman, mishima

mica levi - jackie, under the skin

abel korzeniowski - nocturnal animals, a single man

jonny greenwood - phantom thread, you were never really here, the master, there will be blood

suspiria (both 1977 and 2018!)

michel legrand - umbrellas of cherbourg, young girls of rochefort

the handmaiden

jóhann jóhannsson - mandy, arrival, prisoners

shin godzilla

three colors: blue

the red shoes

phenomena

bernard herrmann - the ghost and mrs muir, vertigo, psycho, really just most of his h*tchcock scores

eduard artemyev - solaris, stalker, etc

imperial dreams (flying lotus!)

your name.

hausu

possession

shirkers

soundtracks (not always entirely original, sometimes vocals):

knight of cups

children of men

the tree of life

phantom of the paradise

paprika

all about lily chou-chou

the shape of water

una mujer fantástica

looking for mr. goodbar

manhunter

the age of innocence

hannibal 2001

in the mood for love

hunt for the wilderpeople

badlands

happy together

battements par minute

sorry to bother you

Nekromantik 1 and 2

#asks #anonymous #wait this got really long KDMSKDMSKDMSKDM and theres still so many i didnt get to or forgot..

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edensrose · 2 years

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I got bored so I decided to rank all of Hannah's boyfies on the husband material scale in relation to what happened in their story with her, lesgo

CARLA TSUKINAMI :

6/10, gives Hannah a lot of crap in the beginning but he really mellows out once realising she's the same woman he loved in her past life. BUT he's a sadist and honestly, a bit on an ass SO I'm not ranking him any higher

THRANDUIL OROPHERION :

5/10. Love you Thrandy but you also give her quite some hell in the beginning. You're amazing though after don't worry <3

SAURON/MAIRON :

1/10 ! F ! YOU GET A FUCKING F AFTER EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE BEGONE ( ily really , you were amazing pre-corruption but DAMNIT MAIRON )

KUROH YATOGAMI :

10/10 hands down, best husband, doesn't give her any shit at all whatsoever, does the cooking, does the cleaning, always super sweet to her, gentleman to the end we love him

YUKARI MISHAKUJI :

3/10 because you come into HER HOME threaten HER HUSBAND, KICK HER CAT AND THEN EXPECT LOVE?? THAT IS E - YOU'RE ON THIN ICE

TOMOE :

7/10 purely because the most you have done to her is literally just make her cry a few times so it's fine, plus you do the cooking and the cleaning so you get one extra point above Carla

HANSUNG YU :

3/10, you know what you did bean boy.

ROCHEFORT :

9/10, you literally risked your life for her despite it completely going against everything that you had known for so long — one of the best take nOTES MAIRON

#— ꒰🌺꒱ 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 & 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐬 ៸៸ hannah ❜‧₊#im not even tagging all these fandoms but yeah #theres that #she has a habit of going for sum of the shitty ones LMAO #if it were up to rishima theyd all get 0 cep for Kuroh #ocs #my ocs

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didsomeonesaydaddydraco · 4 years

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What true love feels like - part 1 | Tom Felton imagine

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for...my very first TOM FELTON imagine. (Just kidding, I was probably the only one waiting lol).

Word count: 2129

Pairing: Tom Felton x reader

Note: This is going to be a mini series. I really hope you’ll like it. Section written in italic is a flashback.

When I was a little kid, I loved going to weddings. God knows how many times I was asked to be a flower girl or a bridesmaid. All the decoration, the music, the spirit of true love mesmerized me, and I usually find myself imagining my own wedding. I had it all planned out by the time I met Him. And when proposed to me after five years of dating, I knew my time had come. Everything looked exactly how I wanted it. The huge mansion was covered in white and blush pink decoration. The sweet scent of the innumerable amount of roses filled the whole place. Family members, friends and their dates were chatting and laughing together. The wedding registrar was already preparing by the arch made out of fairy lights. And the always rainy and chilly London woke up to one of the warmest spring mornings today. Even the weather was on my side.

- How are you feeling sweet girl? – my Mum asked me from the armchair, where she had been sitting on ever since the creator of my wedding dress came to the dressing room to help me put on my huge dress. I looked at myself in the mirror, admiring the perfectly made ball gown with the delicate waist line, hundreds of tulle layers, and sparkling sleeves. It was my dream dress.

- I’m not sure – I confessed to her – Am I supposed to be nervous?

- Nervous? – She looked at me confused – Honey, you might mistake your feeling with excitement. It’s normal for…

- I’m pretty bloody overwhelmed, Mum – I turned to her – Somehow, I feel like I’m going to make a huge mistake if I walk down that aisle.

For the last couple of months, I was too busy with planning the wedding that I totally forgot to take some time and concentrate on myself and on my feelings. I wanted everything to turn out as I imagined it when I was twenty. And everything was just like that. Except me. I woke up today with a knot in my stomach, no appetite and a very bad feeling. All I could think about was that I’m making a mistake.

- What do you mean? – Mum stood up from the chair and walked over to me so she could held my hand as a sign of support – Y/N?

I looked down at our hands, my eyes glued to the silver bracelet with the single white pearl charm hanging on it. I could still remember how his crystal blue eyes sparkled and how warm his gaze was when he gave it to me. We went to Rochefort-en-Terre for a little getaway. We wanted to be somewhere, where they didn’t know him, so we could be alone together. He saw this bracelet at a local family’s jewellery shop and he swore he just couldn’t not buy it. I had never took it off ever since then.

- I just wonder if he is really the one – I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t dare to look up to my Mum’s eyes. They paid everything for our wedding and never complained because of the expenses – I mean, we’re about to make a hopefully lifelong commitment. I just want to make sure I’m not making a mistake here. What if everything goes downhill after the wedding? What if we slowly fall out of love?

- Than you learn to love each other again – She put a finger under my chin, and forced me to look at her – Darling, you’re still young. Of course you have your doubts about a commitment like this. But here’s something to think about: the one that you truly love, will never make you wonder. There’s a difference in the way you love someone. There is the kind that you will fall in love with and this changes with circumstance and time. And then there is the love that you love with your entire being, it never fades, it’s timeless – she kissed my cheek – I’ll go and get your father. It’s almost time.

She left me there with my thoughts. He was such a great and loving person. Passionate about the things he loved. He was always there for everyone if they needed someone. He made me happy. He made me feel loved and respected. He gave me everything he could. And still, I was standing in the middle of the dressing room, questioning myself. I wanted nothing, but marrying my soulmate. I think the sign of a true soulmate isn’t someone you just want to do the super fun stuff with. A real soulmate is the person who makes any ordinary day fun. Some people make all these huge plans to do with their special someone, forget that. Find someone who you can take grocery shopping and still have a blast with. Find someone who makes you look forward to waking up on Monday. I think I had found it.

- Okay okay, listen – he laughed as he dragged me into the supermarket in the middle of the night. I had a very long day and my upcoming exams were stressing me out, but he wanted to help me relax and have a little bit of fun before I pull an all-night study session – Both of us will have exactly 5 minutes to find the best matches to the tasks. When I count to three, we both run to find the products.

- Babe – I whined and tugged on the sleeve of his sweater which I used as a PJ. We were both in our pyjamas, considering that he literally pulled me out of the bed while I was taking notes for my business law class – It’s almost midnight, and I really need to study.

- Shush – he silenced me with sass in his voice. It actually made me smile. He looked so adorable when he was acting like a kid – 5 minutes. 5 tasks.

- Alright, gimme the details – I rolled my eyes and put my hair up in a messy bun.

- First, go and find my favourite candy. Second, find something very random. Third, find something you think I should really try. Fourth, find something in my favourite colour – he led me to spot where we were about the start from.

- And what’s the fifth task? – I looked up at him.

- Find something which reminds you of our love – he kissed me quickly, but before I could kiss him back, he ran away like he was a cannon ball.

- Hey, cheater – I yelled after him, but my laugh gave me away. I loved that man.

I smiled at the memory. He always knew how to cheer me up, when I was down. But he also knew when he had to give me time and space too. I appreciated how he let me moan to him when I had a bad day, or how supportive he was about my dreams and goals. He never failed to be there for me and help me on my journey.

- Are you ready to go? – I jumped a little by the sound of my Dad. I was too deep in my memories and thoughts, I didn’t realize when he came in. He was standing by the door, my bouquet in his hand. He looked worried.

- What’s wrong? – I asked him. This morning he was fine and happy when we were having breakfast. In fact, he was excited about that he can annoy my brother and sister with the fact that their youngest sibling had gotten married first.

- Your mother told me about your unsureness – he smiled at me lightly. I sighed and sat down on the sofa carefully, not to wrinkle my dress. He sat down next to me and took my small hands in his huge ones – Y/N, if you’re constantly having to wonder where you stand with someone, maybe it’s time to stop standing and start walking.

- I don’t know what you’re talking about – I tried to fool him, but he was my father after all. He knew us better than we knew ourselves, so we could never get away with a silly little prank or if we tried to fake sick so we didn’t have to go to school.

- You think I haven’t noticed anything? – Dad laughed a little – June bug, you’ve been quite distant with him lately. He probably thinks that you were just busy with planning the wedding, but I see what I cannot see anymore. And that’s love. You’ve been looking at him like he was just a body, and not someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. And I want you to know, it’s okay – He squeezed my hand – Sometimes your heart needs more time to accept what your mind already knows.

I had to do the right thing. He might had been right about everything, but the whole situation was more complicated than that. That man really loved me. And he was probably already waiting at the altar, nervously looking around, looking at the entrance of the ball room so catch me there. I could see his smile in front of me. I could see him tearing up when my Dad places my hand in his. That man gave me his heart. I helped him pick up the pieces after his first love left him. He trusted me. I couldn’t break him. And Mum was probably right too. I can learn to love him again.

- I need to call him – I said rather to myself and not my Dad. He gave my hand a final squeezed and left me alone in the room. I was glad he didn’t ask me anything. I paced around the room, my dress flying around me while I was manically searching for my mobile. I was chewing on my lips and my heart was beating way too fast. How could I put myself in this situation? How could I do this to him? They were the longest five rings of the call before he finally picked up.

- Y/N? – His voice was surprised. He probably didn’t know why I was calling Him just right before I had to walk down the aisle to marry him – Are you okay?

No, I wasn’t. I forced myself to not to cry, because I didn’t want to ruin my makeup, but I could feel my eyes burning and my throat tightened. I was choking on my withheld sobs. I loved how his voice was smooth, a tiny bit raspy and manly, but playful at the same time. I could have listened to his voice all day long. Just listening how he told me everything about his day or what new projects he has been working on lately.

- I think we were meant to be, but we did it all wrong – I blurted out and collapsed back to the sofa. I let a single tear run down my cheek and drop on top of my pearl charm on my bracelet. I heard how his breathing fastened in the phone, like he was panicking. I was too. I didn’t know what was right or wrong. I desperately needed him by my side to feel his arms around my body, holding my close to himself. Feeling the warmth of his body calming down my shaking frame. I needed him to kiss into my hair and whisper in my ears that he has me and everything is going to fine – I just want to tell you, it takes everything in me not to call you, and I wish I could run to you, and I hope you know that every time I don’t…I almost do. And even though I’m unsure about most things in life, I am certain that I love you and will continue to love you forever.

- Y/N, what happened? – His voice was filled with worry. Knowing him he was already running his fingers through his hair, thinking about if he should come to see me right away or stay exactly where he was – Talk to me! What’s going on?

- I’m so sorry – I whispered into to phone. By this time, I couldn’t hold back my tears. And I didn’t even care anymore – I have to marry him…

- No, no you don’t have to – He was practically yelling. I only heard him yelling once, when he was completely lost in the ocean of feelings, and we were trying to figure out what was going on between us – Y/N, please…

- I love you, Tom – I said as a goodbye and ended the call. And with that, I ended something which I cherished for years. I ended a beautiful love story.

#tom felton #tom felton imagine #tom felton one shot #tom felton fanfic #imagine tom felton #harry potter #draco malfoy #draco imagine #tom felton x reader #wedding #lover tom felton #imagine stories #fanfiction #draco melfon fanfiction

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jazzicology · 3 years

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JAZZPRING!

This will seem topsy-turvy to those of you in the Northern hemisphere - but in New Zealand, Spring is just around the corner. And here at Jazzicology headquarters in Queenstown, we’re busy preparing for our Spring jazz gigs. Putting together a set on a specific theme is a great incentive to search for and learn new material. Here’s our ‘Jazzpring’ setlist with some notes on each. We’ve aimed for a mix of tempos and contrasting jazz styles. In amongst some old standards are some quirky additions: possibly the only song written from the perspective of a frightened tomato (Hang on Little Tomato); and a wonderful number that perfectly sets Shakespeare’s ‘It was a lover and his lass’ to a catchy melody and jazz chords – it deserves to be in everyone’s Spring set list. I was amazed how many jazz songs there are on topics relating to Spring – far too many to include in just one gig!

Joyspring. 1954 composition by Clifford Brown, jazz trumpeter and a key figure in the Hard Bop movement. The lyrics I use are by Jezra Kay. This is a super-fast-paced, up-beat tune. I discovered, rather too late for this gig, that there are also some wonderfully poetic lyrics by Jon Hendricks, a leading jazz lyricist who is responsible for the lyrics for many well-known jazz songs composed as instrumentals. You can read about Hendrick’s lyrics for JoySpring here.

You must believe in Spring. Composed by Michel LeGrand (1964), this song shares some features with his other, better-known compositions (Windmills of Your Mind; What Are You Doing For The Rest of Your Life). The chords and melody strike a reflective and melancholy, yet hopeful, mood. It is a truly beautiful number that I had not previously been aware of. I have been listening to Bill Evans’s instrumental version of it – it just incredible - and this vocal performance by Sarah McKenzie. It was originally called La Chanson de Maxence and was written for the French film ‘Les Demoiselles de Rochefort’. Looking at the original French lyrics, it is clear the English lyrics are not a translation; the song’s theme of Spring is entirely attributable to the authors of the English language lyricists Bergman and Bergman. Indeed, these lyrics are so well crafted that it is difficult to believe the phrase ‘You Must Believe in Spring’ wasn’t originally in Le Grand’s mind when he wrote it! Listening to various vocal recordings over the last few weeks, I discovered some additional lyrics that, as far as I can tell, appear only in a recording by Barbra Streisand. I don’t know who wrote them (possibly Streisand), but they seem apt for a troubled world, so here they are for other singers who may be interested in using them:

When angry voices drown the music of the spheres

And children face a world that’s far beyond their years

Above the darkest skies, The far horizons lie

With all the reasons why you must believe in Spring.

Spring can really hang you up the most. Composer Tommy Wolf (1955), lyrics Fran Landesman. Spring isn’t all rainbows and daffodils – like all fun times of year, for those who are down or lonely it can serve to underline your own misery. The title of the song is a jazz twist on the opening line of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land: "April is the cruellest month". My favourite version of this song is by Carmen McCrae – it’s like a masterclass in jazz vocals. I was surprised how difficult this song was to learn – and was relieved to find an entire blog written about it, claiming that the obscene number of verses and lyrics, and wide vocal range and unusual phrasings are clearly the work of someone who hates singers! Fortunately, I love a challenge.

Blue Skies. Irving Berlin (1926). Blue Skies is probably the best-known and certainly the oldest song in this set. Thelonious Monk wrote a Be-Bop number, ‘Suddenly in Walked Bud’, based on the chord progressions in Blue Skies, as a tribute to his friend, the jazz pianist, Bud Powell. The lyrics are a virtual who’s-who list of jazz greats from that time. Monk’s ‘In Walked Bud’ is an example of a jazz ‘contrafact’: where a new melody is laid over existing chords (in this case, Blue Skies). There are lots of examples of this in Bop from the 1940s, because it was a way for jazz musicians to create new pieces “for performance and recording on which they could immediately improvise, without having to seek permission or pay publisher fees for copyrighted materials (while melodies can be copyrighted, the underlying harmonic structure cannot be)”. Since the lyrics and melody for ‘In Walked Bud’ work perfectly well over the chords for ‘Blue Skies’ (apart from the bridge) I’ll incorporate elements of them into our performance.

It might as well be Spring. Composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein (1945) for the movie State Fair, for which it won an Academy Award for best original song. Many people have recorded this, but I’ve been listening to Ella Fitzerald and this lovely French version by (the aptly Spring-named) Blossom Dearie.

They say its Spring. Composers Bob Haymes and Marty Clark (1950s). With a melody and lyrics that are as light and floaty as a feather, this is a quintessential Spring song about being in love. Blossom Dearie appears to have been the first to record it, in 1957.

Nature Boy/Nardis. Composed by Eden Ahbez (1947). Nature boy is on Jazzicology’s set list – but with a twist! We will perform it using the principal motif from Miles Davis’ Nardis in both the Intro and coda. This was an idea developed by me and UK jazz pianist Sid Thomas, and you can listen to Sid and I performing it here. The ‘back story’ to Nature Boy is pretty interesting in its own right and can be found in a previous Jazzicology blog penned by Sid, ‘The one hit wonders of jazz’.

I love Paris in the Springtime. Cole Porter (1954). A classic recording of this by Ella Fitzgerald. However, I very much like this version, which has a Parisian café feel. This is a relatively simple melody to learn, with the chief challenge for the vocalist being the wide vocal range needed to change register.

Timeless Place. Composed by Jimmy Rowles in the 1970s as an instrumental (‘The Peacocks’) and recorded by him and sax legend Stan Getz in the 1975 album of the same name. The wonderful, reflective lyrics were added much later by UK jazz vocalist, Norma Winstone, and included on her 1993 album Well Kept Secret. This song is technically very challenging for a vocalist: the melody over the ‘bridge’ is a little non-intuitive and sits outside the harmony – it creates a tension which resolves into the main refrain. The word Spring appears nowhere in the song, but I’m going to justify its inclusion here because the lyrics include a beautiful formal garden with flowers and trees.

Double Rainbow. Composed by Brazilian jazz maestro, Antonio Jobim in 1970. This is one of his lesser-known numbers. It perfectly captures a spring garden, after a sudden rain-shower, with rainbows, puddles and a little robin hopping about. Actually, because the song is written in Portugese, the little bird in the song is a chico-chico, so robin is used as the equivalent in the English translation (maybe I should use a bellbird instead?). In Portugese, the title is Chovendo na Roseira (the rain is falling on the roses) and I perform it using first the Portugese and then the English lyrics – both are lovely, and the different languages each lend a slightly different feel to song.

Hang on Little Tomato. Music and lyrics by Patrick Abbey, China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale and released on the Pink Martini album of the same name in 2004. For those who have gotten their tomato seedlings off to an early start, this the song you need to sing to them when they get planted outside. It’s a scary world out there for a little tomato. It’s a seriously cute little song, and a reminder that we all need to keep hanging on to the vine. The song title is apparently a reference to a Hunt's Ketchup ad campaign "Hang On, Little Tomato!" in a 1964 issue of Life magazine. (Is it a coincidence that Pink Martini’s named their own record label Heinz, I wonder?)

Hey Nonny No! Composed by UK jazz composer and pianist Sid Thomas, this up-beat, toe-tappin’ number captures the feel of Spring brilliantly and the melody and chords provide a fabulous setting for Shakespeare’s ‘It was a lover and his lass’ from As you Like it. You’ll be humming this one on the way home.

Seed Leaves. Another Sid Thomas composition, this one setting to music the poem ‘Seed Leaves’ by Poet Laureate and two times Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Wilbur. You can find the poem here. Anyone wishing to request the music for ‘Hey Nonny No’ or ‘Seed Leaves’ can contact Sid Thomas here.

Surrey with the Fringe on top. Rogers and Hammerstein, from Oklahoma (1946). Is it a little bit twee? Maybe, but hey – it is also very sweet. And it was a part of Miles Davis’ repertoire in the 1950s, so there’s no arguing with that!

Up Jumped Spring. Composed by US jazz trumpet player Freddie Hubbard in 1962, and included in his album Backlash. The lyrics were added later by vocalist US jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. This clip of the song being sung live by Audrey Silver is really worth listening to - what a confident, flawless performance.

So, there you have it: an eclectic Spring jazz set involving Shakespeare, tomatoes, rainbows, birds, toads, seedlings, melting snow, new love and a little sprinkling of melancholy. The lyrics in this set contain the words ‘isinglass’ and ‘yggdrasil’ – not words you hear every day – come to our gig on September 5th (assuming Queenstown is out of lockdown by then!) and see if you can spot them!

Other suggestions for Spring songs can be found here:

https://jazz.fm/classic-jazz-songs-about-spring/

https://www.wrti.org/post/10-jazz-tunes-remind-you-its-spring

Nance Wilson

Nance Wilson is one half of Queenstown-based jazz duo, Jazzicology, together with pianist Mark Rendall-Wilson.

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nance-wilson-trio

Facebook: Jazzicology

#jazzmusic #jazz vocals

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lucyreviewcy · 3 years

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The Three Three Musketeers (or Where The F*ck Did All The Stupid Hats Go)

I read The Three Musketeers and then I watched the 1973, 1993 and 2011 adaptations. Which one wins tho?

Adaptation is a fascinating concept, especially of texts which are frequently adapted or parodied. After I rewatched the 2005 Pride and Prejudice I was reminded how weirdly divisive the two dominant adaptations of that book are. A lot of people consider the 2005 to be an inferior betrayal of the 1990s BBC version. I actually prefer the 2005 because I think Matthew McFadyen’s Mr Darcy is a wonderfully complex character. McFadyen imbues Darcy with social awkwardness and anxiety, which Lizzie misinterprets as his pride. To overcome the “Lizzie doesn’t fancy him ‘til she sees his house” debate, director Joe Wright includes a moment where Lizzie glimpses Darcy alone with his sister. He’s comfortable, his body language is completely different, and he’s smiling broadly. That moment really sold me on the entire film because it made Darcy a full character and was a really simple addition that rounded out the story. I still like the 90s version but for me, it’s the 2005 that takes first place. (Although an honourable mention for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because it is an excellent romp.)

Look: adaptation is always a complicated topic. You can’t untangle one adaptation from another, because it’s pretty rare that somebody adapting a classic text like Pride and Prejudice or The Three Musketeers is not already familiar with existing adaptations. The most recent adaptation of any classic text is not simply an adaptation of that text, but the next step in a flow chart that includes all the previous adaptations and the cultural context of the newly created product. These three adaptations of Dumas’ 1844 novel are all texturally and stylistically very different, and two of them diverge significantly from the original text. What I found truly fascinating was what all of them had in common, and what each new era (these were made at around 20 year intervals) decides to add or remove. What do all these movies agree are the essential parts of the story, and what are some adaptations more squeamish about including from Dumas’ original narrative?

Before we dive in, no I have not seen every single adaptation of the story, that would be a dissertation level of research and I do actually have things to do right now (although, I will admit...not many.) I’m looking at these three Hollywood adaptations because they all had star studded casts (for the era they were made in), they’re all English language, and (crucially) they were all easily available on the internet for me to stream.

What are the essential ingredients of a Three Musketeers adaptation?

Firstly, there should be at least three musketeers. Secondly, D’Artagnan (Michael York 1973, Chris O’Donnell 1993, Logan Lerman 2011) should be a young upstart who is introduced part way through a sword fight. He should also have silly hair. He is also consistently introduced to the musketeers in all three films by challenging them each individually to duels at noon, one o’clock and two o’clock.

The films all maintained some elements of the original “Queen’s Diamonds” storyline, and featured the Queen, Milady and Constance. The characterisation of these three varied a lot.

Our villains in each case are invariably the Cardinal, his pal Rochefort (who always has an eyepatch, although this trope is not in the book and is actually attributable to the way Christopher Lee is styled in the 1973 film), and Milady de Winter. Satisfyingly, at least two of the villains usually wear red because they’re bad. Red is for bad.

All three are very swashbuckling in tone, have elements of physical comedy, and two of them include one of the three valet characters Dumas wrote into the original story, Planchet (1973 Roy Kinnear, 2011 James “ugh why” Corden). They also all bear the generic markings of the movies made during the same era, our 70s D’Artagnan feels like a prototype Luke Skywalker. The 90s version features a random martial arts performer. The 2011 version has CGI and James Corden in equal measure (read: far too much of both.)

What are the big differences?

I’m going to divide this category into three main segments: character, story and style. My own three musketeers, the three musketeers of movie making.

Character

D’Artagnan

D’artagnan in the book comes across as a pretty comical figure. He’s nineteen and there’s something satisfying about how similar Dumas’ caricature of a nineteen year old is to a modern character of the same age. He’s overconfident, has a simplistic but concrete set of morals, and falls in love with every woman he sees. If D’Artagnan were a 2021 character, he’d really hate The Last Jedi, is what I’m saying. He’d definitely have a tumblr blog, probably a lot like this one, but perhaps a scooch more earnest. He really loved The Lighthouse but he can’t explain why. Isn’t it nice to know that awkward nineteen year olds have been pretty much the same for the last three hundred years at least?

In all three films he’s kind of irritating, but at least in the 1973 this feels deliberate. This version has a certain “Carry On Musketeering” quality to it and D’Artagnan is your pantomime principal, he’s extremely naïve and he takes himself very seriously. This is the closest D’Artagnan to the book, and the 1973 is, in general, the film which adheres most faithfully to that source material.

The 1993, which is (spoiler alert) my least favourite adaptation, has Chris O’Donnell as the least likeable D’Artagnan I’ve come across. I’ve only seen O’Donnell in one other thing, the Al Pacino movie Scent of a Woman. He’s bearable in that because he’s opposite Al Pacino, and so his wide-eyed innocence makes sense as a contrast to Pacino’s aged hoo-ah cynicism. Rather than being introduced in a practice sword fight with his father, as in the other two films, D’Artagnan is fighting the brother of an ex-lover. This captures the problem with the film in general: this adaptation wants D’Artagnan to be cool. He is not. The comedy of the 1973, and indeed the book, comes from D’Artagnan being deeply uncool, and from his blind idolisation of the deeply flawed Musketeers who actually are cool, but not necessarily heroic, or even good people. Their moral greyness contrasts with D’Artagnan’s defined sense of right and wrong, but he still considers them to be role models and heroes.

2011′s version also suffers from “Cool D’Artagnan” syndrome, with the added annoyance of that most Marvel of tropes: the quip. One of the real issues with this film is that the dialogue has a lot of forced quippery that doesn’t quite land, and the editing slows the pace of the entire film. D’Artagnan’s first interaction with Constance is a bad attempt at wit which Constance points out isn’t very funny. The problem is that Constance has no personality so there’s no real indication that she’s in any position to judge his level of wit. She’s just vague, blonde and there: three characteristics which describe an entire pantheon of badly written female characters throughout the ages. Cool D’Artagnan also means that Constance should be additionally cool, because in the book, Constance is older than, smarter than and over-all more in charge than D’Artagnan.

Female Characters

Let’s go into this with an open mind that understands all these films were made in the sociological context of their decade. The 1973 version would absolutely not be made in the same way now. Constance is a clumsy cartoon character who is forever falling over and accidentally sticking her breasts out. This is not the character from the books, but does at least leave an impression on the viewer one way or another.

In contrast, the 1993 has a Constance so forgettable I literally cannot picture her. I think she holds D’Artagnan’s hand at the end. That’s all I can say on the subject.

The 2011 has Gabriella Wilde in the role, and absolutely wastes her. Anyone who’s seen her in Poldark knows that she can do sharp-tongued beautiful wit-princess with ease. It’s the writing of this film that lets her down, in general, that’s the problem with it. The storyline and design are great, but the actual dialogue lacks the pace and bite that a quip-ridden star vehicle needs. This Constance is given simultaneously more and less to do than the Constance of the original book, who demonstrates at every turn the superiority of her intellect over D’Artagnan, but doesn’t get to pretend to be a Musketeer and whip her hat off to show her flowing golden hair like she does in the 2011.

The best character, for my money, in The Three Musketeers is Milady de Winter. Even Dumas got so obsessed with her that there are full chapters of the book written from pretty much her perspective. In the book, she’s described as a terrifying genius with powers of persuasion so potent that any jailor she speaks to must be instantly replaced. My favourite Milady is absolutely Faye Dunaway from 1973. She’s ferocious and beautiful and ruthless, but potentially looks even better because the portrayals in the other films are so very bad.

The 1993 version has your typical blonde 90s baddie woman (Rebecca De Mornay), she wouldn’t look out of place as a scary girlfriend in an episode of Friends or Frasier. 2011 boasts Milla Jovovich who presents us a much more physical version of the character, even doing an awkwardly shoe-horned anachronistic hall of lasers a la Entrapment except instead of lasers its really thin pieces of glass? The “yeah but it looks cool” attitude to anachronism in this film is what makes it fun, and Jovovich’s Milady isn’t awful, she’s just let down by a plot point that she shares with 1993 Milady. Both these adaptations get really hooked on the fact that Athos used to be married to Milady at one time (conveniently leaving out the less justifiable character point that Athos TRIED TO HANG HER when he found out she had been branded as a thief - doesn’t wash so well with the modern audiences, I think.) Rather than hating/fearing Milady, the two modern adaptations suggest that Athos is still in love with her and pines for her. This detracts from Athos’ character just as much as it detracts from Milady’s. Interestingly, and I don’t know where this came from (if it was in the book I definitely missed it), both films feature a confrontation between the two where Athos points a gun at Milady but she pre-empts him by throwing herself off a cliff (or in the 2011, an air-ship.) I think both these versions were concerned that Milady was an anti-feminist character because she’s so wantonly evil, but I disagree. Equality means it is absolutely possible for Milady to be thoroughly evil and hated by the musketeers just as much as they hate Rochefort and the Cardinal. If you want to sort out the gender issues with this story, round Constance out and give her proper dialogue, don’t make Milady go weak at the knees because of whiny Athos (both Athos characters are exceedingly whiny, 1973 Athos is just...mashed).

The Musketeers

These guys are pretty important to get right in a film called The Three Musketeers. They have to be flawed, funny but kind of cool. Richard Chamberlain is an absolute dish in the 1973 version, capturing all those qualities in one. Is it clear which version is my favourite yet?

Athos is played variously by a totally hammered Oliver Reed (1973), a ginger-bearded Kiefer Sutherland (1993) and a badly bewigged Matthew McFadyen (2011). They all have in common the role of being the most level-headed character, but the focus on the relationship between Athos and Milady in the 93 and 11 editions undermines this a lot. Athos should be cool and aloof, instead of mooning over Milady the entire time. The 2011 gives Athos some painfully “edgy” lines like “I believe in this (points at wine) this (flicks coin) and this (stabs coin with knife.)...” which McFadyen ( once oh so perfect as Mr Darcy) doesn’t quite pull off.

Porthos seems to be the musketeer who is the most different between interpretations. A foppish dandy in the 1973, a pirate (!?!) in the 1993, and then just...large in 2011. I think the mistake made in the 2011 is that large alone does not a personality make. There are hints at Porthos’ characterisation from the book: his dependence on rich women for money and his love of fine clothing, but these are only included as part of his introduction and never crop up again through the rest of the film. Pirate Porthos in 1993 is... you know what, fine, you guys were clearly throwing everything at the wall and seeing what stuck.

Aramis is our dishy Richard Chamberlain in 1973, followed by womanising Charlie Sheen in 1993 and then strikingly suave Luke Evans in 2011. I actually didn’t mind Luke Evans’ interpretation, his dialogue is forgettable but his sleek charm stuck in my head. For some reason, this version has Aramis working as a parking attendant for horses, it worked for me as a fun A Knight’s Tale-esque bit of anachronistic character development. Charlie Sheen has never managed to appear likable or attractive to me and so his role in the 1993 falls flat. In fact, in that edition there’s not much distinction between the musketeers as characters and they’re all just very 90s and American. As anyone who’s read this blog before will expect, I think Keanu Reeves as Aramis would have really upped this film’s game. In fact, Keanu Reeves as Aramis, Brad Pitt as Athos and Will Smith as Porthos could have been the ultimate 90s adaptation, throw in DiCaprio as D’Artagnan and Roger Allam as the Cardinal and I’m fully sold.

The King and Queen

All three films try and do the “Queen’s Diamonds” storyline, but only the 1973 actually includes the Queen’s affair with Buckingham. The queen, played by Geraldine Chaplin, is a tragic romantic figure (she doesn’t have a tonne to do besides being wistful and sighing over Lord Buckingham). The king is played as a frivolous idiot by Jean-Pierre Cassel (voice dubbed by Richard Briers). He doesn’t really think of the queen as a person, more as a possession that he doesn’t want Buckingham to have.

In the 1993 version, Buckingham doesn’t really feature, and it’s the queen’s refusal to get off with the Cardinal that prompts his fury at her. The book does touch on the Cardinal’s desire for the queen, but it’s placed front and centre in 1993. This is definitely the boobsiest version, with quite a lot of corsetry on show and a cardinal who hits on literally all the women. The king is shown as a stroppy teenage boy under the thumb of the cardinal, who just wants to ask the queen to the dance but doesn’t have the nerve. The king is, essentially, a Fall Out Boy lyric.

The 2011 also seems to be really squeamish about the idea of the queen having an extramarital affair. It paints Buckingham (played with excellent wig and aplomb by Orlando Bloom) as a stylish villain, who’s advances the queen has rejected. Like the 1993 version, the King is a feckless youth rendered speechless by the presence of his wife. Both these versions want the King and Queen to be happy together, while the 1973 doesn’t give a fuck.

The Cardinal and his Cronies

The cardinal is kind of universally an evil creepy guy. One of the characters from the 1973 version who actually left the least impression on me, played by Charlton Heston. I think he’s overshadowed in my recollection by cartoonishly evil Christopher Lee as Rochefort. Lee’s Rochefort is dark, mysterious and wonderfully bad, and so influential that all other incarnations’ design is based on him. The 1993 version had truly over the top Michael Wincott as a character I could honestly refer to as Darth Rochefort from the way he’s framed, while 2011 boasts a chronically underused Mads Mikkelsen in the role.

Cardinal-wise, 1993 was my favourite with Tim Curry in all his ecclesiastical splendour. It was disappointing that everything about this film, including the Cardinal’s sexual harassment of every single female character, really didn’t work for me. Tim Curry is a natural choice for this role and gives it his campy all.

2011 has not one but two trendy bond villain actors, with Mikkelsen working alongside Christoph Waltz who was...just kind of fine. I was really excited when he appeared but he didn’t really push the character far enough and left me cold.

Story

The story is where the different adaptations diverge most completely. 1973 follows the plot of the novel, D’Artagnan comes to Paris, befriends the Musketeers and becomes embroiled in a plot by the Cardinal to expose the Queen’s affair with Buckingham through the theft of two diamond studs. D’Artagnan, aided partially by the musketeers, must travel to London to retrieve the set of twelve studs gifted by the King to the Queen, and by the Queen to Buckingham. He does so, the plot is foiled, he’s made into a musketeer! Hurrah, tankards all round.

The 1993 version drops D’Artagnan into the story just as the Cardinal has disbanded the Musketeers. I found the plot of this one really hard to follow and I think at some point D’Artagnan ended up in the Bastille? There was this whole plot point about how Rochefort had killed D’Artagnan’s father. In the original, and in the 1973 version, D’Artagnan’s entire beef with Rochefort is rooted in a joke Rochefort makes about D’Artagnan’s horse. I guess for the producers of this one, a horse insult is not enough motivation for a lifelong grudge. That is really the problem with the entire film, it forgets that the story as told by Dumas is set in a world where men duel over such petty things as “criticising one’s horse”, “blocking one’s journey down a staircase” and “accusing one of having dropped a lady’s handkerchief.” The colour palette and styling are very 90s “fun fun fun”, but the portrayal of the cardinal and the endless angst about D’Artagnan’s father really dampen the mood.

The 2011 version, this is where the shit really hits the fan. We meet our musketeers as they collaborate with Milady to steal the blueprints for a flying ship (it’s like a piratecore zeppelin). Milady betrays them and gives the plans to Buckingham, they all become jaded and unemployed. D’Artagnan arrives on the scene (his American accent explained by the fact that he’s from a different part of France) and befriends the Musketeers. The cardinal tries to frame the queen for infidelity by having Milady steal her diamonds to hide them in Buckingham’s safe at the tower of London. Something something Constance, something something help me D’Artagnan you’re my only hope. MASSIVE AIRSHIP BATTLE. The king and queen have a dance. James Corden cracks wise.

It seems like as time has passed, producers, writers and directors have felt compelled to embellish the story. I think, specifically in the case of the two later versions, this is because they wanted the films to resemble the big successes of the period. Everybody knows no Disney hero can be in possession of both parents, so D’Artagnan is out to avenge his father like Simba or Luke Skywalker. In the 2011 version, the plot is overblown and overcomplicated in what seems like an attempt to replicate the success of both the Sherlock Holmes and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises. Remember the plot of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End? No, me neither.

Style

The style of these films grows increasingly wild along with the plots as time passes. The 1973 features a lot of slapstick comedy, some of which really made me cackle, and some of which was cringeworthily sexist (Constance’s boobs through the window of a litter.) That’s the 70s though! I love The Godfather but Diane Keaton’s character is unbelivably dull and annoying. Star Wars features a pretty good female character but she does end up in that bikini. The 70s seems to be a time of movies that were great except for their occasional headlong dive into misogyny. That doesn’t mean the entire movie is bad, it just means it’s suffering from the consequences of being made in the 70s. There were other consequences of this, I doubt many modern productions could get away with physically injuring so many of it’s cast members. From a glance down the IMDB trivia page, this film yielded a higher casualties to cast ratio than the My Chemical Romance Famous Last Words music video, and that’s a hard figure to top.

The 1993 version is a Disney feature and suffers from having a thin sheen (not Charlie in this instance) of “Disney Original Movie” pasted over every scene. It looks like The Parent Trap might be filming in the adjacent studio a lot of the time. The vibrancy of the colours makes the costumes look unrealistic, while the blandness of the female characters means this movie ends up a bit of a bland bro-fest. Also occasionally the sexual and violent moments really jar with the overall tone making it an uneven watch. One minute it’s Charlie Sheen cracking jokes about trying to get off with someone’s wife, the next minute you see Milady throw herself off a cliff and land on the rocks. Weird choices all round.

The 2011 version, as I’ve already mentioned, was trying to borrow its style from the success of Sherlock Holmes and Pirates of the Caribbean, with a little Ocean’s 11 thrown in. The soundtrack flips between not quite a Hans Zimmer score and not quite that other Hans Zimmer score, and after the success of Stardust it ends with a Take That song (for it to match up to the story it should have been Take That feat. Harry styles imho). Visually, there’s some fantastic travel by mapping going on, there’s far too much CGI (one of my friends pointed out that the canal in Venice seemed to be full of Flubber). Everyone is dressed in black leather, and there are not enough big hats at all. One of the best things about Musketeers films is that they’re an excuse for ridiculous hats, and in a film with a quite frankly insane visual style, I’m surprised the hats didn’t make it through. The cast, unfortunately, really lack chemistry which means the humorous dialogue is either stilted or James Corden, and the editing is just very strange. It’s one of those films that feels about as disjointed as an early morning dream, the one where you dream you’ve woken up, gotten dressed and fed the cat, but you actually are still in bed.

Conclusion

Adaptations focus on different things depending on the context they were created in. The 2005 Pride and Prejudice is deliberately “grittier” than its 1990s predecessor, at a stage when “grit” was everywhere (The Bourne Identity, Spooks, Constantine). The Musketeers adaptations demonstrate exactly the same thing: what people wanted in the 70s was bawdy comedy and slapstick with a likeable idiot hero, the 90s clearly called for... Charlie Sheen and bright colours, and the 2010s just want too much of everything and a soundtrack with lots of banging and crashing. The more modern adaptations simplified the female characters (although the 1973 version definitely is guilty of oversimplifying Constance) while over-complicating the plot. There’s a lot of embellishment going on in the 2011 version that suggests the film wasn’t very sure of itself, it pulls its plot punches while simultaneously blindly flailing its stylistic fists.

The film that works the best for me will always be the 1973 because it’s pretty straight down the line. Musketeers are good, Milady is evil, falling over is funny and the King’s an idiot. The later adaptations seem to be trying to fix problems with the story that the 1973 version just lets fly. The overcorrection of Milady and the under characterisation of Constance is the perfect example of this. If you want your Musketeers adaptation to be more feminist, don’t weaken Milady, strengthen Constance. Sometimes a competent female character is all that we need. A Constance who is like Florence Cassel from Death in Paradise or Ahn Young-yi from Misaeng could really pack a punch.

I adored the energy of the 2011 adaptation, I loved how madcap it was, I loved how it threw historical accuracy to the wind. I thought the king was adorable, and I really enjoyed seeing Orlando Bloom hamming it up as Buckingham. I was genuinely sad that the sequel the ending sets up for never came, because once they got out of the sticky dialogue and into the explosions, the film was great fun. It was a beautiful disaster that never quite came together, but I really enjoyed watching it. I love films that have a sense of wild chaos, some more successful examples are The Devil’s Advocate, Blow Dry and Lego Batman. I think the spirit of going all out on everything can sometimes result in the best cinematic experience, it’s just a shame the script wasn’t really up to muster for 2011 Musketeers.

I’m excited to see what the next big budget Musketeers adaptation brings, even if I’m going to have to wait another ten years to see it. I hope it’s directed by Chad Stahelski, that’d really float my boat (through the sky, like a zeppelin.)

#ThreeMusketeers #Three Musketeers #Adaptation #Movies #Film #The Three Musketeers

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viktor-noctis · 3 years

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Servitude (One-Shot)

I have. No. Excuses.

So, I was watching The Three Musketeers (1973), where Sir Lee plays the sexiest Rochefort to ever grace the screen, and got to enjoy his tender relationship with the Lady de Winter (you see like only a few instances of it, but I enjoy it immensely).

Then, of course, I watched The Four Musketeers (1974) in which their relationship has quite a bit more screen time, and Lee even has a kiss! I love it!

Of course, after this I had to watch The Return of the Musketeers (1989) where it's revealed Rochefort and the Lady de Winter had a bastard daughter named Justine. Now, obviously, she wants revenge on the men who killed her mother, but her overall character was just... quite interesting. Not only that, her getting revenge on the main four musketeers wouldn't feel complete without a bit of eerie, weird revenge on her father, whom she also seems to blame for the death of her mother, which inspired this one-shot...

Warning for... uhm... incest. Nothing explicit (for now), but there's implication.

He should have known when he made the offer. She possessed too much of her mother, too much of the same ruthless cruelty that had seen nobility fall, men more powerful, and far more wealthy than himself. Perhaps it was that, just that, the fact that she could have any and every man that had allowed him to convince himself that she cared for him at all. He, the Comte de Rochefort, the one she returned to, the one she asked for, the one she made room in her bed for, whenever she entertained the Parisian court with her majesty. A woman that could level empires, yes... it made sense, why the Cardinal had always regarded her as a threat, a sharp-fanged serpent he allowed to dine at his table, waiting for the opportune moment to orchestrate her downfall. If only he had been faster, had made himself wiser, he might have avoided their combined plummet. Vengeful, beastly woman... It was her own greed for vindication that had done her in, the crushing spite that not even he was capable of assuaging without the blood of those she coveted. There was only one way she could be satiated, his darling, winter moon, bright and golden as the sun in mid-summer. He, along with half the fools in Europe, burned for her, but it was her own splendor that put everything to the torch, and found him submerged in the tortures of the Bastille. "Father," her voice - that voice - entreated him from the half closed door behind him. Rochefort's jaw clenched, nostrils flaring as he inhaled, his brow set and hung as he glared at the far wall. She had already made her demands known, her great plans... she would kill the King in the morning, with her own hands. He swallowed as he turned, forcing the drink, acrid and burning, to slide down the tight, hot expanse of his throat. "What is -" His hand gripped the door handle, pushing against the oak with his other, only to find himself confronted with the pale, naked back of - "Come, help me with this." Her golden hair was swept away, revealing the ivory expense of her shoulders, down, the smooth lines of her shoulder blades, the subtle curves of her vertebrae. The curls he had held, tangled between his calloused knuckles, coiled on the tips of his fingers, were twisted over one shoulder, a ribbon clinging to a few of the strands. Her dress was half peeled off of her, azure petals to compliment her razor blue orbs, narrowed upon him, still standing in the door. "Well?" Justine's voice splintered the illusion, making his heels hiss over the stone beneath them. Rochefort tore his gaze away, his interest growing keen and enraptured by a rather hideous painting on the far wall, obviously made by some simpleton with a brush. "Justine, forgive me, I thought I heard you call and -" He never bumbled like this. Not in front of the Cardinal, long since deposed, or her mother, not even with a grave to mark her... "And so I did." Rochefort's eye widened, ripped from the travesty of oil and pigment on the wall, back to the cut and curve of that face. Yes, they were so alike, in more ways than one, but he had long ago learned to distinguish the bow of the lips, the rise of a cheek and brow, the tip of the nose... But those differences, at once so apparent to his eye, had been obscured in the firelight, the shadows, and the moon. "Why?" He couldn't restrain his rasp, the touch of shock no doubt present in his risen brows, the slope of his mouth, and the slack of his jaw. "To help me dress, of course." She raised a blonde brow at him, lips pinching into a line, though there was no disguising the fullness that awaited within them. "Surely you're capable of that?" Rochefort's teeth clicked, resounding in his ears. His hand felt... hot, knuckles turned to ice around the handle, which dug, unforgiving and harsh into the crests of his palm. "Do you really believe that proper?" The position of a lover, of a husband, not the aging father he had become. He was no handsome rogue anymore, no devilish creature, and though his sinew had not wavered, his hair had faded into steel and sulfur. And there was always the

matter of -

Cyclops. He swallowed, lingering still by the door, held askew only by his lean frame. No, even if those weren't reason enough, the fact it was his daughter kept him bound to the spot. "And since when have you known me to care for what was proper?" His gaze, having slowly fallen to the floor, snapped to hers... that damned sky, bright and dazzling, promising not a shred of rain. But it was that same blue, that same endless expanse that would swallow a man's conscience, make him feel as if he were falling, slamming through the clouds into the maw of the ethereal blackness. "Or you, yourself cared?" That cutting smile should have been his retreat, the glint of pearls to match those around her neck, shining instead, within her full, rose colored mouth. He should chastise her, for once in her twenty years upon the earth, behaving like a whore in front of her own father, but they both knew he had no right, especially when she, like her mother, would only laugh in his face. He should retort, give into that temptation to tease, if only to remember, for she had placed the agony of sentiment upon him, what it was like to hold her attention, that bright, glorious, scorching woman's affection. He should flee, find refuge within a bottle of port or scotch or even English whiskey, to drown out the sight and sound of her, damned to wonder if she smelled and tasted the same as the hellcat that had birthed her from his own loins. Under her gaze, the weight of her expectation, he came forward, swallowing down the lingering burn of the wine on the back of his tongue. Rochefort watched his hands rise. He knew they were his. That knot of scar above his right knuckle, the puncture in the left palm, the slash of white across the back to his wrist, a series of memories lacerated into his skin of battle and victory and defeat. She had tended a few of them, washed and bandaged them, seen and kissed many others. Sometimes, he convinced himself he had forgotten which was which, but - Such lies never lasted long. "Come now, father, I don't have all night." Whispered, breathy, a mixture of exasperation and... anticipation. Rochefort's fingers twitched, reaching forward just to hear her giggle - "Come now, darling, what are you waiting for?" A playful question, the quick dart of her tongue over her teeth, as if to lessen the sting of her bite. "I'm afraid I simply prefer to do the reverse." His reply was easy, even as his fingers pulled with a gentleness that seemed foreign, encasing her body in silk and satin. "This part is far too tedious." Rochefort noted that the strings were lighter, yet didn't fray, a hidden strength to conceal a dignity that she was said to have lost. The proof lay there, disguised under a sleeve or slip of black cloth, the mark of a traitor in one regard or another. "And far less enjoyable. "Is this chore too boring for you, father?" Rochefort's hands paused, knuckles twined with the fabric, grazing the intricate fold of white lace and blue silk. He inhaled, the realization that he had denied himself breath until that point found in the color that speckled his vision, the scent of jasmine invading his lungs, slamming into the chambers of his heart. His chest tightened, expelling that scent, that damned flower back into the evening air with a low rasp. "You said you would come as my servant." Her voice was still too low, too patient for the vixen she had exposed him to back in Paris. "Did you think I would not make use of your services, father?" Rochefort could see the fingers twitching, the palms wavering, the whole of his hands shaking against her gown. He dare not reach out, breach the remaining gap of inches, the tension of the indecency already so close to breaking. "What would they think, if I did not make you earn your keep?"

Have I not done that already? He had given her what she wanted: the names of the men who judged her mother, finding her guilty, and by extension himself. But his own plight, the brush with death, the fall from grace, his imprisonment and now virtual banishment, meant nothing to her. No, he had to accompany her, act as her accomplice in the killing of four men he wanted nothing more than to be as far from as physically possible. And now, now this. What did she gain from it all? What satisfaction was it all worth? Rochefort remained silent, the shift and hiss of her dress as she turned away from him filling the gloom. He pulled to close the space, hiding the smooth arch of her lower back, all the way up to her shoulders, taking the laces in his still quivering palms. Over, under, drawing them taut till they knotted, the twin loops forming a charming bow at the base of her spine. He stepped back, refusing to open his mouth, and she turned to observe his handiwork. "Marvelous work, father." Still that gentle, tormenting tone, the underlying promise of a woman. "I should like you to help me dress from now on." She stepped around him, pausing only when she reached the door. "And tonight as well, when I change..."

×××

For those of you who are wondering, it was quite common in ye-old days, for men - husbands - to help their wives by knotting their dresses (this is also how some adulterers were discovered) or helping them undress, hence Rochefort's apprehension about the situation. Not to mention, knowing her parents were lovers, this is obviously intruding upon the intimacy they must have shared.

There's a lot of psychological stuff to this, some very twisted mind game madness, but yeah... this was an exercise, one I enjoyed. You can actually watch The Return of the Musketeers of YouTube right now (one of those lovely, random fan uploads). It's not as good as the first two (Rochefort doesn't have a single sword fight and they turned him into something of a coward), but still quite enjoyable.

#Sir Christopher Lee #Comte de Rochefort #The Three Musketeers #The Four Musketeers #The Return of the Musketeers #Milady de Winter #Lady de Winter #I have no excuse #Fanfiction #Fic Rec #Rochefort x Milady de Winter #Rochefort x Justine de Winter #Justine de Winter

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dogboy-willgraham · 3 years

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I love everything about this scene:

"Please take care of my horse, thank you."

Rochefort: Hahaha oh I'm gonna insult this bitch how dare he get mud on my cape.

"A horse? Lol we thought you horse was a cow bitch."

*everyone laughs*

"This bitch really fucking wants me to apologize to his horse? And he got mud on my cape I'm not in the mood you little hater."

"I'll kill you if you don't apologize to my horse motherfucker. *Throws gloves down*."

Everyone at table: Oh shit this kid is going to die

Rochefort: Well well it seems the pipsqueak has some balls. I'm gonna cut them off. I'm gonna kill a bitch.

"I'm gonna do a spinny sword thingy it's gonna be so fucking cool I'm gonna be so fucking cool."

"OH SHIT HE HAS A GUN I DID NOT THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY HE HAD A GUN OH FUCK."

"You should be dead pipsqueak. My sights must be off. Who fucking tends to my pistols?"

Fellow dude: Uh that would be me-

*Throws gun at dude he just punched*

"I won't dirty my blade with peasant blood so I'll just take your eye instead boy."

Lady said no, saves the boy from losing an eye. Day is saved. Amazing scene comes to close.

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talvenhenki · 3 years

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For the fandom ask game: Musketeers, DS9 (I don't know it well but it's fun hearing you talk about it!), and, just for funsies, Star Trek AOS too bc why not :D

Thanks!!

The Musketeers

the first character i ever fell in love with: Aramis, no doubt

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: I used to tolerate Louis but nowadays I'm kinda mehh about him

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Can't say I have a ship like this

my ultimate favorite character™: Aramis and Porthos :^) They're a package deal to me

prettiest character: Queen Anne my love, and Sylvie!! And also Samara, I loved her so much

my most hated character: Rochefort, ew

my OTP: hmmmm Portamis probably

my NOTP: whatever Rochefort thought he had going on with Anne

favorite episode: Ohh noo, probably either s1e3, s1e4, s1e9, the Samara episode (forgot the number and can't be bothered to google), or s2e6

saddest death: Treville, no doubt

favorite season: Season 1 was the funniest because of Richelieu but I feel like season 2 left a bigger impression in me??? I can't decide tbh. Season 3 was okay and I love it for Sylvie's character but it was also,,,so depressing ok

least favorite season: I hate to say season 3 because I do love it!! But it's too depressing for me

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: idk if they love him but I don't really like Louis, he's just so,,,blegh

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Richelieu. He's so evil and I love it

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Constance!! And Lemay

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: Don't really have anything like this tbh

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Porthos/Elodie, Annamis, Athamis, Constanne

DS9

the first character i ever fell in love with: Julian Bashir. That guy was the only reason I ever began to watch the whole series in the first place lol

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: It's harder and harder to like Worf with the whole Alexander stuff and all. I don't hate him but he's kinda becoming annoying. Also I used to like Damar for his comedic value but after the Ziyal deal I just hate him

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: The Enterprise I mean, I don't think I have any??? At least not yet, and I'm totally ignoring whatever the writers have planned with Ezri and Bashir

my ultimate favorite character™: Bashiiiiiiir, also Jadzia!!

prettiest character: Jadzia and Kira!

my most hated character: Dukat, ew!

my OTP: Garashir! I also like the bro-ness between Julian and Jadzia, and Julian and Miles

my NOTP: Kira and Dukat. I am forever grateful for Nana Visitor who had the sense to say no to the intended Kira/Dukat romance

favorite episode: Our Man Bashir is really fun tbh!! Doctor Bashir I Presume is so good too but it makes me seethe with rage 😂😂😂 also In Purgatory's Shadow - By Inferno's Light because wow!!! Such angst potential!! Annnnd of course The Wire and the one with the mental attack on Bashir, and the one with the character who struggled with the gravity issues!! And the one where Jadzia found out about,,,,Joram was it?? The host that they hadn't told her about?? Oh, and the one where Jake and Ben Sisko trip some alarm and it causes the best shenanigans and all the "ATTENTION BAJORAN WORKERS" messages from Dukat lol

saddest death: Ziyal 😭😭😭 She deserved so much better

favorite season: Hmm, 5 has so many of the good angst ones, but I think all of the seasons 2-5 are my faves, I can't choose just one

least favorite season: So far it would be 6 because it's super depressing with the war stuff, but probably will be 7 because I've heard of the horrid writing

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: Quark. I don't hate-hate him but he's on thin ice

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Garak, obviously. He's kinda evil but only because he wants to seem so and we all love him for that

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Ziyal!! And Kira because oh Kira you deserved better

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: I don't have any tbh

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Kiradax, whatever the hell some people write between Keiko, Miles, and Julian (and sometimes Garak too!), and Quodo, about in that order

Star Trek AOS

the first character i ever fell in love with: Chekov!! I saw my first AOS film only a few months before Anton Yelchin passed away and it'll always tear this tiny hole in my heart :")

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: Look I hate 2009 film and Into Darkness Kirk, he's an arse but I love him in Beyond, so ehh?

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Spock/Uhura. They're cute but also. Can they just communicate for fuck's sake???

my ultimate favorite character™: Chekooooov!! And Jaylah

prettiest character: Uhura! And Sulu and Jaylah

my most hated character: whatshisface that awful admiral from Into Darkness, and Khan obviously

my OTP: Sulu and his husband, probably

my NOTP: Kirk and Carol Marcus. She deserved better than him

favorite episode: Beyond! Not an episode but Beyond makes me so happy

saddest death: Pike! 😭😭😭 And Amanda too, why must JJ Abrams hurt me so

favorite season: Beyond

least favorite season: the 2009 film and Into Darkness, just blegh

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: Kirk from the first two films

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: don't have one

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Chekov and Jaylah!

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: I've got none

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Chulu and spirk

#erdariel #Orion replies #so many fandoms lol #nowadays I only watch the aos films for nostalgic value tbh

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29-pieces · 4 years

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Whumptober day 14 - The Musketeers

Day 14: Branding Fandom/setting: The Musketeers (BBC), alternate version of S2E10 Trial and Punishment note: in this version, BBC!Milady has the brand that book!Milady was punished with - in the book, that's what Athos discovered to convince him she really was a criminal. Torture TW

Read on AO3 Read on FF.net

~*~

Aramis tensed as he heard the door creak open behind him. His hands clenched into fists, subtly straining at the long chains securing his wrists to the wall—as though maybe this time they would give out.

They didn't.

"So," Rochefort's sickly smooth voice spoke up from the doorway, followed by multiple pairs of footsteps. "You have been convicted of high treason. You are a traitor, Aramis. And eventually, you will die like one."

"Eventually?" he couldn't help but ask through gritted teeth. Aramis had expected this. Why kill him quickly when Rochefort held all the cards? Aramis had dared to touch, to love, the object of Rochefort's obsession. A swift, merciful death had never been on the table. Slowly, Aramis turned on the spot with his chin raised high.

Rochefort was smiling, watching Aramis with that intense, chilling stare. It unnerved the musketeer, though not as much as the long metal rod in his hands, topped with a broad, flat symbol that glowed fire-white.

Aramis felt his eyes widen despite his intention to not react to whatever tortures were in store for him, and he took an involuntary step back. This seemed to be the cue the other soldiers had been waiting for, the four that had accompanied Rochefort in. They surged in towards him. Fighting back was an instinct driven in too fully for Aramis to resist, throwing a rattling punch to one and a kick to another. Without weapons, chained in place, and outnumbered, Aramis could do no more as they flung him against the wall then dragged him to the ground.

"Hold him there," Rochefort said, calm and content, slowly stepping closer.

"You're nothing but a snake, Rochefort," Aramis snapped, twisting against the hands that held him. The chains at his wrists weren't quite long enough to reach the floor, leaving them crossed over his head when they kicked him flat onto his back. Again, Aramis tried to kick his way back up, but with four guards, it was easy for them to hold him down, one on each limb. One of the soldiers jerked his doublet open, ripping it and Aramis's shirt down off of his shoulder.

"The king will see it in the end!" Aramis bit out, desperately trying to break their hold on him to no avail. His breaths came in fast, panicked gasps as he watched the brand coming closer and closer to his skin. "And the queen?" He laughed harshly, knowing what would hurt his captor the most. "She'll never love you."

Rochefort smiled down at him but there was rage and insanity in his gaze. "Hold him down," he instructed the guards again.

Aramis struggled as the grips on his arms and legs tightened, until he saw Rochefort's smile widen. He was enjoying this, smug bastard, he wanted the show, the helplessness, the useless struggle. Aramis would not give him that. He fell still against the freezing stone floor, looking up at the brand that would mark him a criminal. The musketeer swallowed back defeat. It wouldn't matter... he wouldn't live long enough for anyone else to see it. As well as he was able, Aramis lifted his chin again, meeting Rochefort's amused eyes.

The Comte's smile slid somewhat at the show of defiance. Without a word, he thrust the brand down into the musketeer's skin, searing the mark into Aramis's chest below his collarbone.

Aramis had wanted to remain stoically silent but the scream was ripped from his throat regardless. He thrashed and bucked against his captors, seeing and feeling and smelling the flesh blister and burn. His stomach turned and he thought he would pass out from the pain of it and oh god surely it had to stop soon, but Rochefort didn't remove the brand. He only pushed it more fiercely down, leaning his weight into it until Aramis was blinded by tears and agony and his whole body felt like it was on fire.

After an eternity, the pressure was removed, but the heat remained. Aramis choked on more frantic breaths, looking down at his chest to be met with the sight of the mangled, blistered form of the fleur-de-lis. Not as the proud mark of a musketeer, but as the shameful brand of a traitor.

"Hmm," Rochefort murmured from somewhere above him, and Aramis knew he was being shrewdly studied. "You know... I don't believe the Queen will think much of this look on you."

The men holding him down released his arms and legs but Aramis didn't try to move other than to curl in himself. Even that didn't work, the chains at his hands too short to give him enough leeway. The stench of burned skin filled his nostrils, choking the musketeer until he released a strangled sob. It echoed along with the slamming of the door and the cold promise that Rochefort would be back before too long. Aramis closed his eyes, praying only to be released—one way or another.

.o.O.o.

As it turned out, the way he was released was not by death, but by Milady. Aramis remembered little of the actual escape, beyond his terror at hearing the door open again, the shock at seeing her there instead of Rochefort come to torture him some more. Milady had paused for a moment, eyebrow arching gracefully up at the sight of his burn.

"It seems we're a matched set, then," she said with only the smallest of sneers, no true vitriol in her voice but also no pity.

Aramis only glowered at her, not bothering to protest that they were nothing alike, that unlike him, her crimes had been real. But he said nothing, because was it even true? He had endangered the queen, his brothers, Constance, so much blood on his hands because he had loved a woman he was not permitted to love. Despite how fiercely the fabric of his shirt hurt the fresh burn, he fastened his doublet tightly to hide the mark.

They didn't speak again after that, and Aramis was relieved to finally find himself back among his brothers. Even the normally stoic Athos immediately pulled him closer, a relieved kiss on his cheek speaking to just how close they had all come to losing everything, and still could.

"Come here," Porthos beamed, his own face an open book of delight compared to Athos's measured solemnity.

Aramis smiled wanly and leaned in to his friend but immediately gasped when the hug was too enthusiastic for his abused chest to handle. Porthos froze, then carefully backed up a bit, though he didn't let go of Aramis.

"You're hurt," he seethed. "Aramis? What did he do? What is it?"

"I wouldn't show them, if I were you," Milady spoke up, perching herself smugly on a nearby chair. "Athos might take it into his mind to have you hanged."

Aramis shot a glare in her direction, as did Porthos and d'Artagnan, but Athos turned pale and was immediately at Aramis's side—of course he would now know exactly what had happened.

"Let me see it," he murmured, voice both tremulous and gentle, as he gingerly peeled Aramis's shirt away to reveal the ugly burn. The room fell silent.

Aramis swallowed and looked away. "He..." Trailing off helplessly, Aramis shook his head. What words could be spoken to describe his horror, his shame? "If we make it out of this, don't tell An- the Queen," he whispered. "She would..."

"She would know how brave you are," Constance spoke up, guiding Athos aside so she could stand in front of Aramis instead, looking up at him in that earnest way of hers. "She would be outraged at what was done to you, yes, but she would never see you differently for it, Aramis. None of us could."

"Constance is right," Treville said from his position by the door. Only the slightest tightening of his jaw revealed his own fury. "Rochefort is the traitor, not you, and we'll see to it that everyone knows that."

Aramis closed his eyes, grateful for their support, but painfully cognizant that their opinions of him might not be the ones that determined his fate. "It's a brand," he said hollowly. "This won't- I can't wash it off, I can't- I'll carry it forever. Even if the King were to grant a pardon, the mark will still be there. How can I be a musketeer if-"

"Aramis," Treville cut him off. "As long as I am your captain, you have a place in our regiment. You know that. And anyone who takes my place one day will know the same." His eyes flicked to Athos, who nodded solemnly.

"You will get that pardon," the swordsman intoned. "And your friends will stand by you. You have our word."

"And I'll see Rochefort dead," Porthos spat out, clenching his fist.

"And I'll get your med kit," d'Artagnan offered as he eyed the burned skin. "You'll need to treat that. Wait here, I know where it is."

Aramis swallowed against the lump in his throat as his friends rallied around him. They would be lucky indeed to survive this intact, but he would be luckier still to count these men (and Constance) as his family.

As long as he had that, well... the rest would fall into place.

#whumptober2020 #no.14 #branding #the musketeers #bbc musketeers #fanfiction #aramis whump #rochefort #alternate version #because it's whumpier and i like it that way 😈

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