#also my love for george knightley grows by the day

[findusinaweek]

Top 10 movies

Tagged by @aeide​ like....29 days ago. Cool. A lot of stuff happened lately and also I had to think about this and remake the list at least 7 (now 9) times. So. This is probably not true but it has old favorites and current bias and I’ve put far too much thought into this. Under cut because of gifs causing loading/flashing. Uhhhhh. I feel weird about tagging this, since it’s been so long. I can’t remember who has done it and who hasn’t. Gonna tag folks who I don’t remember seeing. If you’ve done it, or you don’t want to, that’s cool! Sorry I took forever with it. @blue-mono​, @cataliinaa​, @whereforartthoumisthios​, @fikali​, anyone else who wants?

1) The Hours

It has music by Philip Glass! Meryl Streep plays a queer woman and that was important to me as a teenager. It’s very sad but it is always there for me when I feel bleak. It’s just a part of my psyche and I can’t really explain it at this point.

2)  Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers (Extended Version)

Every Thursday for about 8 years the closest group of cousins and I would watch a movie while we had our piano lessons and most of those years we just watched LOTR 2 and 3 extended versions. Every Thursday. For about 8 years. 2/4 people (including me) are most likely autistic, yes. 2/4 (not including me) can play the piano. We are very annoying about LOTR. Anyways, look! It’s Haldir! The first man I loved to die of a weapon through the head. Yeah. I love that guy. Also, this film has great french horn!

3) Pride and Prejudice (2005)

I cannot express how much I love this movie. I cannot explain all the things about it I love. I cannot. Music is by Dario Marianelli (I can play to the second page of the score to “Living Sculptures of Pemberly” on piano. It only took 5 years), Directed by Joe Wright, Kiera Knightley stars as Elizabeth Bennett. I adore the dresses, the hair, the casting, the music, the fact that Simon Wood’s hair continued growing red after filming, the statues in Pemberly, the tiling on the floors in Pemberly, the way Mary plays the piano, Georgiana, Darcy’s sideburns, the HAND FLEX, the weird pig scene, The flower Tom Hollander holds, the nod to Henry Purcell, ect. 4) Anna Karenina (2012)

Dario, Joe, Kiera, and a train walk into a movie. Do not get me started.

5) The Parent Trap (1998)

I saw this as a kid and made my mom watch it with me over and over and over again. She didn’t mind. She thinks she’s like Chessy, but she’s not. She doesn’t cook, for one. And she doesn’t wear a denim shirt. I do though. We still quote this to each other. Formative.

6) A Place Promised in Our Early Days

An earlier Makoto Shinkai movie. The plot is confusing and boring if I’m honest. The background animations are breathtaking. If you like anime but also like  realism in art, I’d highly recommend any Makoto Shinkai movie for visuals.

7) The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Do you ever just want to eat a sandwich and listen to old italian music and watch your enemy best friend and lover drown? No? huh. Amazing soundtrack! Spy drama! COSTUMING. It makes me laugh! Henry Cavill! Solo/Kuryakin/Teller should be canon. I was pretty upset about the whole Armie Hammer thing, tbh, because I really wanted a sequel to this. But I’m ok with that not happening.

8) Fly Away Home

The first media I wallowed in. Would rewind to the scene with Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “10,000′s miles” and sit way too close to the screen. When we got it on dvd my life changed. I could just press the button!? I didn’t care about the geese, really. I cared about the deep grief this kid was having. Someone probably should have questioned why I was watching it on repeat and gotten me into therapy a lot earlier. All in all, it’s a pretty movie.

9) A Single Man

I love this movie but I gotta admit I skip around watching it. It’s so depressing, I can’t watch it all at the same time. I like the music a lot, good cello. I love watching Colin Firth be miserable. I like crying with George. I don’t give a shit about Charley (except for her house and dress. Sorry Julianne Moore.) I hate Kenny. I want to live in George’s house. I want to live there. It is the J.W. Schaffer House. It’s a modernist house built in 1949 by John Lautner. I want to lick touch that woodwork. UGH. The glass. UGH. I love it. UGH. It’s such an impractical house. UGH. It’s so dumb. UGh. I want to go lay down on the floor, surrounded by books, in that house. uGH.

10) Underworld

What a dumb movie. Somewhere in my mom’s house is a Windows XP with a folder of photos of Selene that I thought were really cool, for some reason that I couldn’t figure out. That computer also has viruses from badly pirating the movie in 2008. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen and probably the first R rated movie I snuck. On this list because of the family computer destruction. And the ‘armor’, if you can call it that.

#top 10 movies #tag game #sorry I took 5 million years with this one #I love gifs so much

[dalmatianplantationsensation]

CHARACTER SHEET: Roger Jonathan Radcliffe

As I hide behind these books I read  / while scribbling my poetry / like art could save a wretch like me / with some ideal ideology / that no one can hope to achieve. / And I am never real; it is just a sketch of me. -- Waste of Paint, Bright Eyes

It takes strength to be gentle and kind. --I Know It’s Over, The Smiths

STATS:

Birthday: 11 October 1991

Hogwarts House (Primary): Ravenclaw (modelling a blend of Hufflepuff and Slytherin)

Hogwarts House (Secondary): Ravenclaw

Myers-Briggs: ISFP

Enneagram: Type 5

Height:  5’11

BACKGROUND OVERVIEW:

Mother: Harriet Martha Hunter Radcliffe

Father: William Jonathan Radcliffe (deceased)

Mother’s Occupation: manager at a fabric store

Father’s Occupation: musician

Family Finances: lower class

Birth Order: only child

Other Close Family: Gran on his dad’s side; he has two male cousins on that side who are pretty Patts-esque lol; didn’t really talk to his mum’s side all that much till about a couple of years ago

Best Friend: Paul Patts

Other Friends: from home: Lucy, Finn, Ed; from here: Anita, Perdita, Berlioz, Stan, Brad, Belle?

Enemies: none, really—Lou?

Pets: 32 Dalmatians lol (he had a Dalmatian named George when he was growing up)

Home Life During Childhood: eh so it was happy till he was about ten, then his father started drinking more than usual and doing bad drugs and there were a lot of fights and broken furniture and all that and Roger blames himself

Town or City Name(s): London, England—East End, near Shoreditch

What Did Her Bedroom Look Like: sloping wall with green-striped wallpaper, lots of books jammed into a little shelf, a little wobbly desk with a single desk lamp, kept a bunch of knick-knacks on his desk, lots of sheet music

Any Sports or Clubs: probably in school band or orchestra, also did theatre

Favorite Toy or Game: He had a stuffed dog that he went to bed with every night till he was like 13 or something and it wasn’t “cool” anymore and one of the bigger kids teased him about it so he stuffed it in the bin, but his mum rescued it and it’s on the shelf above his childhood bed

Schooling: finished secondary

Favorite Subject: Music, of course, and English

Popular or Loner: had his own group of friends, was never really a true loner, also helped that his best mate was like the most popular bloke in school

Important Experiences or Events: Dad died when he was 15, he found the body in the bathroom

Health Problems: prone to addiction, undiagnosed depression probably, also near-sighted if that counts lol (he wears contacts most of the time)

Culture: English

Religion and beliefs: his mum’s family goes to church pretty regularly and he’s, like, the type of guy who wishes he could believe in God but isn’t sure—even so, does Christmas, Easter, that whole thing, and when he’s feeling particularly vulnerable, he will pray

PERSONALITY:

Bad Habits: nervous talker, easily addicted to substances, smokes, drinks too much when he’s in a depressive spell

Good Habits: loyal, dedicated to his craft when he is in a steady spell, very good with kids and animals

Best Characteristic: dedicated—to the people close to him, to his craft, to his passions, he won’t quit on you

Worst Characteristic: low self-worth—he doesn’t think much of himself at all and it’s a big hindrance to, like, his life

Worst Memory: finding his dad’s dead body ha ha ha

Best Memory: when Powell approached him and introduced himself and said he had talent

Proud of: his musical ability

Embarrassed by: uh his like,,,everything—his looks, his background, his finances, his grades

Driving Style: he’s very average, speeds a little but remembers his turn signals

Strong Points: kind, artistic, passionate, intelligent, goofy

Temperament: melancholic

Attitude: can be broody

Weakness: tbh he’s like really sensitive if you doubt the one thing he is proud of (musical ability); also fuck with Paul/Anita/his mom (and Perdita by extension), he will get upset

Fears: not living up to his artistic potential, turning into his father

Phobias: turning into his father highkey

Secrets: sometimes he’s happy? His dad died bc it really put his mum out of a lot of misery…

Regrets: getting good at music, because that’s what ultimately drove his dad down the drain

Feels Vulnerable When: talking about himself in general lol, he likes talking to other people and does genuinely want to know more about them but he hates it when it’s about him

Pet Peeves: snobby rich people—he can deal with regular rich people who aren’t snobs and think that his social class is his own fault, kale (really does not like kale)

Conflicts: desire to follow his artistic dreams vs how freakin’ hard it is to do, as well as not wanting to like totally leave his mum in the dust

Motivation: to be a true, genuine artist and hoping success will follow

Short Term Goals and Hopes: get some sort of record deal—either as a musician or a composer

Long Term Goals and Hopes: gosh—make a decent living as a composer, trying not to be a sell-out, but also still getting his time in the limelight

Sexuality: bisexual, if we’re talking Kinsey-scale it’s like a 2.5 (prefers women, but still likes men)

Exercise Routine: gets most of his exercise from working tbh

Day or Night Person — Night.

Introvert or Extrovert — Introvert.

Optimist or Pessimist — Pessimist  

LIKES AND STYLES:

Music: jazz, of course! He grew up listening to the greats and has a fondness for Charlie Parker. Errol Garner is another favorite. Other than that he listens to a lot of classic rock—London’s a great city for classic rock, eh? Got the Stones and the Beatles and the Who—real great place, music’s everywhere, didya know that lots of the classic rock bands were influenced by jazz? Roger can show you where they played. Also really into the Smiths. And indie stuff. Fan of the occasional really good musical. Just doesn’t really like pop is all (ok except for some songs....)

Books: classics, he’s partial to the 1920s era—Hemingway (yes, I know), Fitzgerald, Stein, and all that good stuff. Also a fan of Virginia Woolf. Also a huge Jane Austen fan, he won’t admit that right away but it’s easy to pry out of him.

Magazines: tbh not many,,,he keeps up with music stuff online

Foods: good pub food—he likes a good steak pie with loads of green peas and mashed potatoes on the side. Also a good English breakfast (his favorite part’s the sausage).

Drinks: tea—black, the English Breakfast blend. Likes a good beer as well, or a shot of whiskey.

Animals: Dogs. No, but seriously, he’s always been fond of them and will take care to point them out on the street to whoever he is with.

Sports: He plays football but sucks at it haha, but he follows Paul’s team!

Social Issues: LGBTQ+ rights, he’s like really against gentrification, having lived it firsthand

Favorite Saying: “Life is like jazz; it’s a lot better when you improvise.”

Color: Grey. He likes how varied it is. It reminds him of home and of silver and the sky and the Thames and a lot of things he likes.

Clothing: he’s like very particular about how he dresses, tries not to wear shorts and t-shirts, he likes to keep it dressy casual, like hipster style (wow, roger)

Jewelry: he has a nice watch his dad passed down to him and a ring his granddad gave him when he graduated

Games: played pokemon when he was younger, will take a turn on those first-person shooters when he’s with friends, likes the Legend of Zelda

Websites: Instagram, tumblr, has his own like wordpress or something with music reviews, posts some piano covers on youtube (not terribly many)

TV Shows: Fools and Horses, other british sitcoms which i am too lazy to research r now but he’s a sitcom sorta bloke when he does watch tv

Movies: he likes weird horror movies, big zombie fan; secretly really adores Love, Actually, but says his favourite movie is Ray (which is a great movie, he just likes Love, Actually more....); prefers the BBC Pride and Prejudice over the Kiera Knightley one and is passionate about that

Greatest Want: to be a true artist™

Greatest Need: to overcome his bad self-esteem and love himself

CURRENTLY:

Home: lives in the Dalmatian Plantation farmhouse, on the top floor in an attic bedroom

Household furnishings: lots of sheet music, he keeps his closet pretty neat, but the rest is quite messy. Always has a stack of books on his bedside drawer. There’s usually an empty mug of tea because he’s too lazy to bring it downstairs lol. Bed is usually not made.

Favorite Possession: probably a book from either Paul or Anita (or both)

Most Cherished Possession:  the piano in his house in London, which belonged to his dad and his dad’s dad; also the watch his dad left him

Married Before: Nope.

Significant Other Before: Finn, Sarah (those are the only significant ones)

Children: n/a

Relationship with Family: very close with his mum, they stuck together when it got really bad on his homelife end; she’s always been supportive of him; his mum’s family used to not speak to them much, but recently have been reaching out; dad’s family talks to them more

Car: n/a

Career: dog care-taker, record shop clerk, musician/composer

Dream Career: composer/jazz musician [music teacher, but he doesn’t know that yet]

Dream Life: ok so honestly—Roger’s destined to become a teacher. He’s great with kids and in the end, he will (hopefully) realize that his passion for music is meant to be passed down to others. Sure, he’s gonna still write the occasional almost-famous tune and play in ensembles and venues, but he’s gonna be truly happy as a teacher.

Love Life: uh—kinda dating Anita? What is? Going? On?

Hobbies : playing music, reading, walking the dogs lol, likes playing football sometimes (sucks at it), acting

Guilty Pleasure : will, on occasion, like a pop song; rom-coms

Sports or Clubs: n/a

Talents or Skills : great musician—plays piano excellently, trumpet pretty well, and can manage a bit on saxophone and guitar; has a good singing voice too (baritone)! Decent driver (can drive manual wow that’s impressive to me tbh); good with kids and animals (also impressive to me lmao)

Intelligence Level : artistically inclined—he was bad at science/math classes, but good at music, literature, and history. He’s not dumb by any means, but his strengths aren’t really in a technical area. He’s knowledgeable and interested in learning about things, but don’t ask him to solve some intricate mathematical proof

Finances: manages alright on his own (he basically doesn’t have to pay rent, so he’s doing p good; sends money back home too)

#roger gets two quotes bc he's special #and im in love with him #character sheet #about #hc #stuff

[edge-hill-university]

World Book Day: My Favourite Character

Whether you donned round glasses and a makeshift school gown during fancy dress sessions, and knew the rules of quidditch backwards*, or preferred the heart-tugging tales of an abandoned Dickensian waif**, most people have a character from a book they like to identify with.  Perhaps you prefer to indulge your darker side, seeing something attractive in the likes of Harry Flashman^ and Mrs Coulter^^.  Whatever your predilection, World Book Day celebrates the stories that feed our imaginations and characters that litter our reading lives.

To mark World Book Day we asked a handful of our brightest academic bookworms about some of their favourite fictional characters. We have creations from across the literary spectrum, from Jane Austen’s independent thinkers to Roald Dahl’s colourful cavalcade of heroes and villains.

(Above) Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet in that film adaptation.

I've always had a soft spot for Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Always proper but never a slave to convention, she walks in the rain and mud to visit her sick sister attracting the opprobrium of the snooty woman who will be her sister in law. And I won't hear a word said against Joe Wright’s 2005 film adaptation.

Dr Kerri Andrews, Senior Lecturer in English Literature

Purely for nostalgic reasons, Mog from the Meg and Mog books. I remember the reading sessions in school and with extra help at home from my mum as I was not a natural reader. Claire Blennerhassett Lecturer in Applied Health and Social Care

Dorothea Brooke (George Eliot, Middlemarch): Dorothea is a good person; she can also be a little prudish. She makes a disastrous marriage to the egotistical tyrant Mr Casaubon, who makes her a thankless skivvy to his monumentally boring Key to All Mythologies. It’s Dorothea’s courage and determination to have a life of her own which allows the reader to forgive the revolting Casaubon and see the humanity in him; his death scene is surprisingly moving. No character ever deserved a new life and a happy ending as richly as Dorothea.

Yossarian (Joseph Heller, Catch 22): ‘“But, Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way?” “Then,” said Yossarian, “I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?”’

Yossarian (above, as played by Alan Arkin, sans clothing) sees the absurdity of war with pitiless logic and reasonableness. The only hero for mad times. Professor Michael Bradshaw Head of Department of English, History & Creative Writing

I like clever bossy girls in literature.  Alice in Wonderland, obviously, but I’m picking Emma, the heroine of Jane Austen’s novel.  She’s clever, but not as smart as she thinks she is ­- sometimes wilfully blind, sometimes unable to see what’s right in front of her eyes.  I especially like the way Jane Austen writes about embarrassment.   There are so many novels about passion, desire, ambition and so forth, but the deep shame Emma feels because of something she said, unthinkingly -   it might be a fleeting emotion, but it’s one of the most powerful. Ailsa Cox Professor of Short Fiction

My favourite book character is Parker, an amoral career criminal written by Donald E. Westlake [under the pseudonym Richard Stark] in many books, beginning with The Hunter. True face – multiple film versions (Mel Gibson, Jason Statham) but all rubbish! Dr Charles Knight Associate Director, Business School

My favourite fictional character is Jane Eyre from the novel of the same name by Charlotte Bronte: some of my students complain that she's whiny, but I admire Jane's highly articulate rage and barely repressed violence, her sometimes scathing wit, combined with her Romantic longing. Dr Andrew McInnes Senior Lecturer in English Literature

My favourite book character is Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple (played by the indomitable Margaret Rutherford above) – the original independent lady! Proof that age is just a number, solving crimes with her keen intellect and living life to the full, attending swanky events/holidays but equally as happy to sit, knit and read in her beautiful garden! Julie Nolan Learning Spaces Manager

My favourite character is Nora out of A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen – a play not a novel! She is one of the first female characters in theatre whose actions still resonate today with women; even though we no longer live under those social and legal constraints, the situation she finds herself in -she tries to do something good, but illegal at the time (borrowing money to allow her gravely ill husband to travel abroad to get better) and then not only gets blackmailed for it but also loses the support of the very husband she committed the crime for – I think still packs an emotional punch today. There’s debate around whether she is a feminist character or not, but her action in leaving her family to essentially ‘find herself’ as a human being is so strong, and so modern, that for me she ranks up there as one of the first fictional feminist icons.

Dr Kim Wiltshire Programme Leader, BA Creative Writing

I was a huge fan of Roald Dahl growing up. I think it was the adventures and the mischief, with a healthy dose of the grotesque, which appealed to me most. I couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to concoct an amazing potion like George (although you’ll be pleased to hear that my grandma didn’t have to endure such an experiment and is now almost 101), I was equally appalled and fascinated by Mr Twit and his beard, and who wouldn’t want to explore the world’s most amazing chocolate factory? My favourite character, though, has always been the cunning, clever and witty Mr Fox from, of course, The Fantastic Mr Fox. His battle with the monstrous, greedy farmers brings together a community of animals in what is, ultimately, a simple story about the benefits of working as a team.  Mr Fox, however, is far from ordinary, and it’s difficult not to admire a character who is so self-assured. As he declares: “I think I have this thing where everybody has to think I’m the greatest. And if they aren’t completely knocked out and dazzled and slightly intimidated by me, I don’t feel good about myself.” Dr Andrea Wright Senior Lecturer in Film Studies

Of course, every day is book day at Edge Hill University. In fact we love them so much we’re building a whole new library.

* Harry Potter, of course, by JK Rowling. ** Oliver Twist (or possibly any number of other Dickens protagonists) ^ Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes (and then his own book series, written by George MacDonald Fraser) ^^ His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman 

Images Pride and Prejudice, Working Title Films (2005) Meg and Mog, Jan Pienkowski  Catch-22, Filmways/Paramount Pictures (1970) Miss Marple films, MGM, (1961-65)

A Doll’s House, Young Vic Production (2013) Fantastic Mr Fox, Quentin Blake

#subject english #subject creativewriting