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innuendostudios · 1 month

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new video about Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, and how everyone* keeps getting them wrong! this video is sponsored by Nebula, a place where you can watch the original version of this video before I had to tweak it for YouTube's copyright bots. (by clicking that link, you can get an annual subscription for 40% off.) or you can just back me on Patreon, which is also cool and good.

transcript below the cut.

I adore Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy. I flirted with making a video about it ages ago, had a draft of a script, but ultimately decided it wasn’t about anything except “here’s a thing I like, and here are its (I thought) very obvious themes.” So I shelved it. But, in the years since, I have seen multiple video essayists on this here website claim that these movies are about growing up and taking responsibility. (I say “multiple.” It’s not a lot. But it’s more than one! And that’s enough.)

These people are 100% wrong.

Lemme lay it out: the Cornetto Trilogy is not about growing up. It is not about taking responsibility. It is the exact opposite, and that’s not subtext. It is three movies about stunted manchildren thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and each, in the end, is saved - is redeemed - by abandoning his character arc and failing to grow or change. It is a three-part love letter to immaturity.

And I guess I have to set the record straight.

Sometimes making a video about a thing you love is an act of appreciation. And sometimes it’s out of spite.

The Cornetto Trilogy is three movies: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End. All three are written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright; Pegg stars, and Wright directs; all three center on a relationship between Pegg and real-life best friend Nick Frost, which makes each film a reunion of the core team behind Spaced (excepting, but for a small role in Shaun of the Dead, Jessica Hynes). The three films span three genres: zombie apocalypse, buddy cop, alien invasion; each features a Cornetto ice cream cone: strawberry to represent blood, original blue to represent the police, and mint to represent little green men; this is a joking nod to Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Trois Couleur films, Bleu, Blanc, and Rouge, which were based on the colors and themes of the French flag (I don’t care what you say, Emily: #TeamRouge); that nod is funny because Trois Couleur is high-art drama and these are comedies. All three are parodies of, tributes to, and actually surprisingly good executions of their respective genres. And the hook, the gag at the center of all these movies, is that Simon Pegg plays a character wholly unsuited to be starring in this kind of film.

Shaun, the burnout, is the wrong person to survive the zombie apocalypse; by-the-book British bobby Nicholas is the wrong person to lead an American-style bombastic actioner; and alcoholic asshole Gary is the last person to save the world from aliens.

And I think that’s where people get stuck. Because “schlub finds himself protagonist of a genre film” is the elevator pitch for like a dozen Adam Sandler movies. The genre trappings may be as mundane as parenthood or mandated anger management classes, or as high-concept as action movie, whodunnit, or time travel It’s a Wonderful Life if Clarence were Christopher Walken as the angel of death (that… that makes it sound good, it’s not, don’t see Click; leave Frank Capra alone, Adam). But all these movies have the same basic shape: an extraordinary situation forces a guy to confront his shortcomings, which always stem from having never grown up. And you probably haven’t seen all of these movies, but if you’ve seen any, I bet you have assumptions about how the rest end: even though “Adam Sandler acts like a child” is generally the selling point of an Adam Sandler movie, they all end with some lip service toward becoming an adult: hey man, grow up a bit; appreciate your family a little more; square your shoulders; clean your room. This is so standard, it was parodied mercilessly in Funny People.

And this was a formative microgenre for my generation! Whole universe turns itself upside down to teach some shitty dude to, like, do the dishes and pay his wife a compliment now and then - Liar Liar, Bruce and Evan Almighty (all directed by the same guy, by the way). So I don’t blame people of a certain age for seeing the first act of Shaun of the Dead and thinking “I know where this is going.” And when, at the last minute, it swerves and goes someplace else, you could read that as a gag, a final subversion of expectation, still the same basic shape. But no! No! Once is a gag - thrice??? Thrice is a thematic statement!

So lemme make my case. I’ma take you through these movies one by one - we’ll talk about the manchildren and the expectations set by the genre, and then we’ll talk about that last-minute swerve and what it means. And then you’ll tell me I’m right and apologize!

Shaun of the Dead:

Shaun is a man in his twenties. What kind of manchild is he? He’s the slacker.

What is his problem? He needs to sort his life out. Shaun doesn’t know how to take action. He hasn’t advanced since college - he’s been working the kind of job a teen takes over the summer for like a decade, lives with the same best friend, has the same petty fights with his stepdad, goes to the same pub every week with the same group of people. He can’t make a reservation, he can’t manage a calendar, he’s a washup. This makes his girlfriend, Liz, feel stifled, trapped; he is a weight around her ankle, taking her on the same date week after week, keeping her from living her own dreams, having her own adventures. She gives him one last chance to prove he can sort his life out, and he blows it, and she dumps him.

And then: a zombie movie happens.

The genre forces him to confront his shortcomings: to survive, and save his loved ones, he’ll have to take action, make plans, be decisive. This is a common fantasy: when you feel ground down by the mundanity of life, you might imagine, oh, if only a crisis would happen, like a zombie virus outbreak, where my normal-life problems like “am I gonna make rent,” “is my girl gonna take me back,” “is my roommate gonna kick out my stoner buddy who’s crashing on the couch” become meaningless, and it’s immediately clear what’s really important, what matters. Then I’d know exactly what to do. It’s why disaster movies work as escapism: a necromantic plague - or at least the fantasy of one - is sometime preferable to normal life.

Hot Fuzz:

Nicholas is a man in his thirties. What kind of manchild is he? He’s the hall monitor.

What is his problem? He can’t switch off. He is a hypercompetant police officer with a rulebook where his brain should be. He’s so good at being a cop that he’s spotting and unraveling crimes even on his day off. He can’t maintain a relationship, has no friends, all his coworkers hate him because he keeps finishing their work for them, and his stats show up the rest of the force so badly that they scuttle him out to the country.

Now you might be thinking, “Mmm. A fastidious police officer who can’t have fun? How is that a manchild? Sounds pretty grown-up to me. You’re reaching, bud.” Ohhhh ho ho, smartass, do you remember this scene? [bar scene] Yeah! Nicholas Angel has a five-year-old’s notion of law and order. He’s still playing cops and robbers.

And that’s a problem, because then: an action movie happens.

It doesn’t happen all at once: he goes out to the country and finds they do things a bit differently there. They are (ostensibly) less concerned with rules than what than the rules are for: if the purpose of drinking laws is to keep the streets safe and orderly, and letting some people off with a warning or allowing kids drink so long as they do it inside achieves that end, the rule can be bent. That’s a judgment grown-ups can make; I mean, they’re the ones who wrote the rules in the first place. So be lenient with shoplifters, don’t hassle people for speeding; this isn’t the Big City, you can use your better judgment. But Nicholas never got past doing whatever Mom & Dad said; obedience, and trusting whoever’s up the chain, is his entire moral framework. He can’t accept that bending the law could be more righteous than following it.

But also maybe there’s a criminal conspiracy murdering people and writing it off as accidents and the police chief might be in on it. Or maybe Nicholas is so desperate for a big case with no moral ambiguity that he’s seeing things where they aren’t.

The genre forces him to confront his shortcomings: either there’s nothing going on and he needs to chill out about procedure, or the department is corrupt and he’ll have to go rogue like it’s Point Break - and this is how he experiences Point Break. [“paperwork”]

No matter what, he’ll have to bend the rules, which he constitutionally cannot do.

The World’s End:

Gary is a man in his forties. What kind of manchild is he? He’s the delinquent.

What’s his problem? Pfffft. What isn’t his problem? Gary is a manipulative, narcissistic, lying, self-destructive, ignorant, violent, thieving, shit-talking, unapologetic asshole who peaked in high school when being all those things was still kind of badass. The greatest night of his life was the drunken pub crawl after graduation he and his friends didn’t even finish, and he’s been tumbling downhill ever since. He’s spent his life ruining everyone who knows him until there’s no one left to ruin but Gary King. So now it’s time to bully the old gang into going back home with him to relive that night by finishing the pub crawl, because, in his own words, it’s all he’s got. And he and his friends have to confront how home has changed since they left - the bars have gentrified, not everyone recognizes them; the defining, epic deeds of Gary’s youth have been forgotten. You can’t actually go back because that place doesn’t exist anymore.

And then: a sci-fi movie happens.

Turns out the town’s been taken over by aliens, and all the people who couldn’t conform to their new order have been replaced with robots! That’s why no one recognizes them! And that’s why the pubs all look the same: the aliens are homogenizing everything! And it’s clear, if they can’t get Gary and his friends to play ball, they’ll roboticize them as well! The obvious move is to get the hell out of town, but Gary keeps inventing excuses to stay and finish the pub crawl, and they sound pretty sensible because the group’s already five pints in. The genre forces him to confront his shortcomings: sooner or later he’s gonna have to give up on recapturing his youth and do what’s best for him and his friends now, even if it means running back to the city where all his problems live.

So there we have it: the characters cross the threshold into an unfamiliar world where an external conflict cannot be addressed without resolving the tension within. The slacker will have to get his shit sorted, the hall monitor will have to break the rules, and the delinquent will have to do what’s good for him. And, to an extent, all three know this! The movies Wright and Pegg pay homage to exist in these stories - Shaun knows what a zombie is, Danny keeps Nicholas up watching Point Break and Bad Boys II, and Gary and friends know bodysnatcher movies so well they have philosophical debates with the robots about whether “robot” is the PC term.

So, yeah, if you turned the movies off there, I could forgive you for thinking that’s where they’re headed. But you goofballs watched them to the end and then made content about them, what is wrong with you???

What actually happens in the second halves of these movies?

Shaun twigs that he’s in a zombie movie and, at first, tries to play the part - his survival plans are miniature hero’s journeys with him as protagonist, wherein he’ll save the day by neatly confronting all his flaws. He’ll resolve parental conflict by saving his mom from his zombified stepdad, resolve romantic conflict by showing his girl he can come through when it counts, and resolve internal conflict by being a man who saves the day. And all his plans suck! It’s just the same plan he always comes up with! Dragging around the same useless liability of a bestie, collecting the same group of people, and holing up in the same pub! He doesn’t save his mom: his stepdad apologizes, resolving their conflict for him, and then survives in zombie form but Shaun’s mom gets killed; most of the friend group gets killed because the crisis does not actually suspend but in fact amplifies their personal grievances; and he doesn’t save the day, just manages not to die long enough for the military to show up.

But… well, Liz wanted adventure and now she’s had enough for a lifetime, so… she’s down to just be boring with him for a while - sit on the couch, watch TV, hit the pub. Beats running for your life. Tensions with the roommate are gone cuz roommate died, but rent is covered cuz Liz moved in. Zombies don’t get eradicated, just folded into normal life, so Shaun can mindlessly play video games with his bestie forever, and it’s not a problem that bestie doesn’t have an income cuz he doesn’t need food or shelter.

The zombie apocalypse doesn’t make Shaun sort his life out, it changes the world til he doesn’t have to.

When Nicholas discovers that, yes, there is definitely a murderous criminal conspiracy inside the police department, he recognizes the only way to bring about justice is to become what Danny has always wanted and go Dirty Harry on the town. It’s either that or just swallow the crimes. But he does neither. He and Danny go on an epic shooting spree, recreating famous movie scenes, taking out the entire criminal organization against all odds, and spouting badass one-liners… but everyone who helps them is a cop, they don’t actually kill anyone, all perps are formally arrested, and they fill out all the paperwork. I think he even properly signs out the weapons. He never switches off, never breaks a rule, does absolutely everything by the book, only… louder. And this violent showdown saves him from the chill town with lax rules he thought he’d moved to. Now he, with his five-year-old notion of right and wrong, is in charge of the police department.

The buddy cop actioner doesn’t make Nicholas bend the rules, it changes the world til he doesn’t have to.

Gary knows exactly how a movie of this sort is supposed to go and spends the whole movie running from it. Friends and secondary characters keep sharing these poignant moments with him, because they know this story, too: yeah, he’s gonna reject help at first, but sooner or later he’ll hit rock bottom and then someone will get through to him. And, as the night goes on, and the characters get drunker and drunker, and Gary passes up more and more opportunities to abandon the pub crawl and go home, these moments take a tone of desperation. They start to sound more like interventions; like, Gary, we all know you’re going to come to your senses but could you hurry up with it??? How many of your friends need to literally die for you to shape up? Are you gonna get them all killed?

And the answer is: Gary will never shape up! To Gary the Human Dril Tweet, his friends trying to save him, psychiatrists trying to treat him, and aliens trying to assimilate him are all the same thing. He doggedly makes it to the end of the pub crawl and confronts the alien overlord who tells him all the technological advancements of the past few decades - all the efficiency and homogenization that’ve changed the face of his home town - are their doing. The Information Age is an intervention on behalf of Earth, a pan-galactic effort to save humanity from itself. And the reason they’ve been replacing people with robots is some people are too fucked up to go along with it.

And here’s Gary, King of the Fuckups, brashly declaring that fucking up is what makes us human. There is no freedom without the freedom to ruin your life. We are endowed by our creator with the right to be drunken, ornery pieces of shit.

He tells the aliens to piss off and he’s so fucking annoying that they do, and they take the Information Age with them.

Now… I know… ugh… I know a lot of people love this movie, say it’s the best of the three. Some friends who’ve struggled with mental health or just being an adult under late capitalism really identify with Gary, and the valorization of being a mess. I see you, you’re not wrong, I get it, I really do. But can we just… not “but” but “also” can we… can we also admit that this ending is… this is Space Brexit.

Like, literally it’s an alien invasion but symbolically this is Gary rejecting the adult world of rules and authority and doing what’s best for the community and that’s how Brexiters view the EU. And people keep telling him “Gary, this is in your best interest” and Gary says, I don’t want my best interest! I am registered in the anti-Gary’s Face Party and I will cast my vote by cutting my nose! I choose to do what’s bad for me.

And, like a true Brexiter, he chooses for everybody.

Now tell me that’s a movie about growing up. Gary collapses human civilization in its entirety rather than change, and in the world that follows, he thrives… by being an immature, irresponsible bag of garbage.

To Wright and Pegg, growing up is death, and these are movies about being alive. These characters don’t cross the threshold back into the ordinary world with the ultimate boon of character growth; all three stay in the extraordinary world. The zombies remain, the robots remain, Nicholas is offered his London job back and chooses to stay in the country. These are stories about normal life spontaneously turning into a genre film, and they are made with deep love for those genres; why would they end with leaving those genres behind? Because it’s what Adam Sandler would do?

So there you have it. I rest my case.

“Okay Ian. Why does this matter?”

…what was that?

“You’ve made your point: these movies aren’t about growing up or taking responsibility. So what?”

Uhhhh.

“Bring it home for us.”

…

“Why do you care so much?

[breath]

I wrote the first draft of this script when I was around Shaun and Nicholas’ age, and “so what?” is why I shelved it. Now I’m Gary’s age, this video’s been in the back of my brain the whole time, but I got this far and “so what” is where I got stuck, again. This is why the CO-VIDs came out quicker, cuz I let myself end with “so that’s interesting!” and got on with my life. But there’s clearly something sticky here, more than “someone is wrong on the internet.” (Also, to the YouTubers I’m vaguebooking, who said these were movies about growing up - I’m way more annoyed at the folks I’ve argued with on Twitter about this, you just made a better rhetorical device; you do not owe me an apology!) (Also, to the commentariat: I am not extrapolating this from like two data points, this is chronic and recurring and has been bothering me for years.)

There are a few directions I could take this to give it some “cultural weight.” I could put on my social justice hat and talk about how the “crisis of adulthood” doesn’t play as broad comedy unless you look like Adam Sandler or Simon Pegg, or put on my class analysis hat and talk about how signifiers of adulthood are, traditionally, ways of spending and accruing capital which are, today, often inaccessible to people under 40.

And that’s all legit, but here’s the real deal: I’m just mad at Gary. The world changed around Shaun such that he could stay a child. And Nicholas ended up somewhere he could stay a child. If you missed that, you’re wrong, but whatever. But to say that Gary grew up grinds me, because Gary chose this. The whole movie is people telling him to grow up, and he says no! He says it out loud! He says it to the literal end of the world. To walk out of the theater and say “that’s a movie about growing up” is more than a mistake, it’s a refusal. It’s trying to “fix” the movie by fitting it into a more familiar shape, so it doesn’t say what it says, so Gary isn’t who he is, who he chooses to be.

I’m being cheeky when I say this because he’s a fictional character, but saying Gary grew up is enabling.

Gary says there’s no freedom without the freedom to ruin your life, which is the problem with alcoholics and libertarians: it’s not just your life, Gary! You live in a community, a culture, and an ecosystem! Your actions - everybody’s actions - impact other people! That’s just the way the world is! You can’t shit yourself at the bar without other people having to smell it. We’re all fuckin’ connected, man! You don’t want anyone’s will imposed on you; you spend the whole movie imposing your will on everyone else! You say humans don’t wanna be told what to do, and then you decide humanity’s future by yourself with no input or consent from anyone!

People point to Gary ordering water in the last scene instead of beer as evidence that he got sober, like that’s proof that he did grow up in the end, which are you fucking joking??? Getting sober is a shorthand for maturity the way buying a house is, it doesn’t signify anything in and of itself! Gary drank to escape the adult world of rules and responsibilities! So, yeah, under normal circumstances getting sober would mean he’s made peace with that world and is ready to integrate. But that’s not what happened! The thing he was escaping doesn’t exist anymore! He literally destroyed it!! People died! Probably millions! Now he lives a happy life LARPing as Omega Doom - no I don’t expect you to catch that reference! He doesn’t need to drink! He is literally reliving the best day of his life forever. And even if it did mean personal growth, the idea that a person could make what would be, unequivocally, the most selfish decision in human history, and then spend his life celebrating the outcome, oh but if he overcame a personal demon in the process then on balance that’s maturity? That is lightspeed solipsism! Who are you if you think that way? Are you all Adam Sandler???

And none of that makes this a bad ending, or Gary a bad character. I mean, he is the reason The World’s End is my least favorite, and I don’t like the ending, but I don’t think it’s bad that I don’t like the ending. Rather than watch another addict pull his life together or destroy himself, we watch a downward spiral with so much gravity the whole world self-destructs alongside him. And that’s why The World’s End is the most interesting of the three: it is a bold choice, and I think we are free to feel however we want about the conclusion Gary engineered for himself. I don’t think it’s valid to pretend it didn’t happen.

In the context of the trilogy, we see that Shaun’s immaturity is mostly a problem for Shaun: he would be, at worst, a footnote in the lives of the people who love him; “yeah, I liked Shaun a lot, but I couldn’t carry him through life anymore.” Nicholas is the kind of overachiever that is useful if pointed in the right direction; juvenile code of ethics aside, he is, empirically, helping the community (within the entirely fictional framework where that’s a thing police do). If the world hadn’t changed to turn their flaws into strengths, they would still be relatively harmless. Gary is what happens when immaturity isn’t harmless, and shows us how a world built by that immaturity would look.

There is an appeal to Gary King, a wish fulfillment. Letting your id fully off the leash because you no longer care what anybody thinks - it’s why some people drink, and it’s why some people would like to drink with Gary. But if that’s not just your Friday night, not just your twenties, but that’s your life? There is a destination at the end of that road, and it’s Gary doing something truly ugly. And we see that ugly thing the way Gary sees it: as awesome. But then you see the reality: the Monday morning after the Friday night. We went out with Gary and he did something terrible.

And I’m not telling you to hate Gary for it; I’m not saying Gary can’t be forgiven. In fact, seeing it for what it is is the only way Gary could be forgiven, because, if he “grew up and took responsibility,” there’s nothing to forgive.

I think this is the only way the trilogy could have ended. I mean, you make stories about boys who get older and older and don’t grow up, it eventually becomes a problem. There’s only two ways to resolve it: you either end with a guy actually sorting his shit out, or you go for broke and show what happens if he doesn’t. And I think some of us boys saw that and said, “no, noooo, they did grow up! all three of them!” rather than say, “haha! hahaaa! ……………shit.”

#video essay #cornetto trilogy #Youtube

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queenie-avenue · 3 months

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One lump or two lump of sugar?

💌 ⤻ THE BARISTA, AKIMITSU MINORU

—> you're the cream in his coffee.

⤻ reader is gender neutral, poisoning drinks, mentions of death, mentions of fantasising of murder, posessive behaviour, obsessive behaviour, set in the united states, reader is implied to be not japanese but could just be read as cultural differences

notes: I'm on holiday, but I've had this in my drafts for a while so feast! I will be back next week with more content!

💌 ⤻ archives.

You had been coming to neko no ashi for a few months by now. It was a small café on the side of the street where you lived that had grown popular recently thanks to just the vibe of the café, but as well as the cute man manning the counter and making the coffee. You had been coming there since day one, so you were honestly happy for the owner; he deserved the recognition.

The adorable little cat-shaped bell rang as you entered the quaint little café with a smile. "Hi Minoru." You smiled and waved at him. Both of you were on a first name basis, which may have not seemed like a lot, but it was crazy to think about considering Minoru's Japanese origins. Rarely did couples even refer to each other with their first names at times, but that could just be Minoru assimilating to the American culture.

"I'll take a latté. Something simple today." You smiled at him as you checked your phone, waiting for your date to arrive.

Minoru nodded and cashed in your drink, took your money, and went towards the coffee-making machine, your steps subtly following the barista; liking to always see how your coffee is made, from tampering the ground up beans to the way the milk is steeped.

Just as you were in the midst of admiring Minoru's craftsmanship, he spoke up. "You look beautiful today." He smiled as he steeped the milk.

You, of course, blushed. Neko no ashi had gone viral just because of his good looks. They weren't conventional, but they drew people in because of how soft and beautiful he looked. "Thanks, I got a date today."

He twitched, but you didn't notice.

"Really?"

"Yeah, my friends are egging me on to find someone, you know?" You spoke to the barista sheepishly, a bit embarrassed by the fact all your friends were already dating, and you had barely managed to even take a dip in the dating pool. "He seems like a cute guy, though."

"What does he look like?" Minoru responded eerily fast.

"Tall, I guess? With brown hair and blue eyes. He has glasses." You shrugged, you weren't the best at describing people.

"Fun, I hope you have a good first date." He replied, sliding the coffee over to you. As usual, the signature cat was imprinted using the milk. There was even a cute little heart shape beside the cat.

"Looks like the cat is wishing me a happy first date, too." You smiled warmly before walking away towards an empty seat, waiting for your date to show up.

"...yeah." He replied after you left.

✧ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ✧

Your date went okay. It wasn't phenomenal, but he seemed nice so far. Just then, he froze up in place.

"Hey, are you okay?" You asked the guy seated in front of you as he lunged over the seat. He quickly apologised and ran out of the cafe into the street, his face green as he ran towards the nearest place that had a toilet available for him to barf into.

"Oh dear," Minoru commented, wiping his hands as he strolled on by. "I hope he's okay." He commented as Minoru began to clear up his cup of coffee, eyeing you like a hawk as you looked so concerned for him, barely paying any attention to your loving barista.

"If anything, I can accompany you too." He offered as he threw out the evidence.

"Here's a coffee for you. Oh, don't worry, it's for free. Just for you, [y/n]."

#yandere oc #yandere imagines #yandere drabble #yandere blog #yandere male x reader #male yandere x reader #yandere x reader #yandere male #yandere fic #male yandere #yandere #yandere barista

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iwtvfanevents · 1 month

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Rewind the Tape —Episode 1

Art of the episode

During our rewatch, we took note of the art shown and mentioned in the pilot, and we wanted to share. Did we miss any? Do you have any thoughts about how these references could be interpreted? How do you think Armand and Louis go about picking the art for their penthouse in Dubai?

The Fall of the Rebel Angels

Peter Bruegel the Elder, 1562

This painting is featured in the Interview with the Vampire book, and it was important enough to be included in the draft pilot script!

Bruegel the Elder was among the most significant Dutch and Flemish Renaissance artists. He was a painter and print-maker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes.

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion

Francis Bacon, 1944

Bacon was an Irish figurative painter, known for his raw, unsettling imagery and a number of triptychs and diptychs among his work. At a time when being gay was a criminal offense, Bacon was open about his sexuality, and was cast out by his family at 16 for this reason. He destroyed many of his early works, but about 590 still survive. The Tate, where these paintings are displayed, says this about the work: "Francis Bacon titled this work after the figures often featured in Christian paintings witnessing the death of Jesus. But he said the creatures represented the avenging Furies from Greek mythology. The Furies punish those who go against the natural order. In Aeschylus’s tragedy The Eumenides, for example, they pursue a man who has murdered his mother. Bacon first exhibited this painting in April 1945, towards the end of the Second World War. For some, it reflects the horror of the war and the Holocaust in a world lacking guiding principles."

Strawberries and Cream

Raphaelle Peale, 1816

Peale is considered to have been the first professional American painter of still-life. [Identified by @diasdelfuego.]

Outfits inspired by J.C. Leyendecker

Leyendecker was one of the most prominent and commercially successful freelance artists in the U.S. He studied in France, and was a pioneer of the Art Deco illustration. Leyendecker's model, Charles Beach, was also his lover of five decades. You can read costume designer Carol Cutshall's thoughts on these outfits on her Instagram.

Iolanta

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, 1892

The opera Louis and Lestat go to was composed by Tchaikovsky, another gay artist. The play tells a story "in which love prevails, light shines for all, lies are no longer necessary and no one must fear punishment," as put by Susanne Stähr for the Berliner Philharmoniker.

On the Hunt or Captain Percy Williams On A Favorite Irish Hunter

Samuel Sidney, 1881

The unidentified painting on the right might be from the same hunting series, though we couldn't identify the exact one. There's also a taxidermy deer, ram, and piebald deer on the wall. [Identified by @vfevermillion.]

The Artist's Sister, Melanie

Egon Schiele, 1908

Schiele was an Austrian expressionist painter and protege of Gustav Klimt. Many of his portraits (self portraits and of others) were described as grotesque and disturbing. [Identified by @dwreader.]

A Stag at Sharkey's

George Wesley Bellows, 1909

Bellows was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. [Identified by @vfevermillion.]

Mildred-O Hat

Robert Henri, undated (likely 1890s)

Henri was an American painter who studied in Paris, where he learned from the Impressionists and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against American academic art. [Identified by @nicodelenfent, here.]

Starry night

Edvard Munch, 1893

Munch was a Norwegian painter, one of the best known figures of late 19th-century Symbolism and a great influence in German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His work dealt with psychological themes, and he personally struggled with mental illness. [Identified by @vfevermillion.]

If you spot or put a name to any other references, let us know if you'd like us to add them with credit to the post!

Starting tonight, we will be rewatching and discussing Episode 2, ...After the Phantoms of Your Former Self. We hope to see you there!

And, if you're just getting caught up, learn all about our group rewatch here ►

#louis de pointe du lac #daniel molloy #lestat de lioncourt #vampterview #interview with the vampire #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #amc iwtv #iwtv amc #IWTVfanevents #rewind the tape #in throes of increasing wonder #analysis and meta #art of the episode

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vidavalor · 8 months

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Ineffable Divorce... but it's the OFMD S2 teaser

I was joking with a friend earlier that Crowley would go the opposite route of Ed and the result is this bit of un-beta'd, not-quite-fic crack here.

Aziraphale, in Heaven, has just drafted his 568th handwritten-on-cream-stationary-with-a-quill-pen unsent letter to his dearest Anthony and how much he misses him... everything about him. Being around him. Breathing the same air-- if they really needed to breathe, that is. He winces at his awkward phrasing and magics the letter into non-existence with a sigh. He thinks of him often-- constantly. Does Crowley ever think of him? Aziraphale glances around. No one looking, no one around. He pulls up the Earth Observation Device and whispers nervously:

Ah... hello. I need you to show me Crowley. In the present, please.

Filling the screen is not The Bentley or the bookshop or the pub and Aziraphale blinks, not sure what he expected. He sees a crowded hotel ballroom full of people--humans-- Aziraphale has never seen before... all of whom are having a *suspiciously* great time-- time of their lives, really-- at this wedding reception. The D.J. is currently blasting out some Earth, Wind & Fire and on the dance floor is... Crowley. Formal-wear version of his signature look-- tuxedo version of his vest and his glasses on, jacket off. Snake-patterned bow tie open at his neck-- along with his shirt, almost to his snake belt. Champagne flute dangling out of one hand. Getting down with half the bridal party and guests and... Mrs. Sandwich?!... in the center of the dance floor.

They are surrounded by a throng of humans spanning ages and genders-- ranging from a young groomsman that Aziraphale very much *does not* enjoy observing who seems perpetually stuck in a repeated motion of attempting to get closer to Crowley but not quite getting there... to an elderly woman Aziraphale observes is the groom's mother whose hand Crowley occasionally takes to turn her in a careful twirl... to three elementary-school age children trying to teach each other their made-up dance moves. The kids are the ones who manage to get the occasional slight, genuine smile out from around the perpetual smirk of the demon. Aziraphale can tell the difference between the real smiles and the false cheer covering up pain but still this is at least better than he might have thought and he's grateful to Marla (Mrs. Sandwich) for keeping Crowley company in this... whatever he is doing.

"Oh no!" laughs the maid of honor, audible over the very loud, thumping bebop. She is trying to show alarm with her voice but the crisis turns into amusement in her tone because of the certain... spell... that hangs in the air over this wedding.

"We're almost out of champagne!"

"Yeah, alright," Aziraphale observes Crowley mutter as he stretches his fingers out lazily around his champagne flute and flickers them in the direction of the bar before briefly catching Mrs. Sandwich's hand and dramatically spinning and dipping her, both laughing, before they separate again and continue dancing with one another and everyone else around them in turn. Aziraphale recalls this song as "Let's Groove" from when The Bentley used to play it and Crowley's moves somewhat inspired by those of American cinemagraphic actor John Travolta. (He is not completely clueless, he will have you know.)

"This really is completely mad" is what Nina is saying as Aziraphale manages to drag his eyes off of Crowley long enough to notice her and Maggie. They are not under the spell. The slight smile on Nina's face belays that it might be completely mad, but she is having a bit of fun.

"I know," Maggie grins, her eyes lighting up with a little mischief... and a lot of love as she dances with Nina. "Definitely better than my brother's wedding-- I'll say that."

Nina subtly dances them a little more to the right as Aziraphale frowns, observing her looking nervous as an older man with a dark look on his face approaches them.

"N'uh uh! Love is love, Grandpa," Crowley, still dancing, calls over the music from where he has also observed it. He kisses two of his free fingertips and bats them in the air towards his friends. The older man's angry stalking towards Maggie and Nina suddenly slows to a relaxed gait. Aziraphale watches his expression change from bigoted rage to benevolence.

"Not that we can't fight our own battles but he *can* be kinda useful," Nina whispers with a small smile to Maggie.

"A most pleasant evening, isn't it, Ladies?" the older man smiles as he moves past them to lure someone's elderly aunt who had stopped for more to drink back to the dance floor. To her, the old man says with saucy cheer:

"Come on, Marilyn, let's show these kids how you dance to this bebop!"

Aziraphale observes Crowley toss his head back with a laugh, having heard that supernaturally over the music. Aziraphale knows Crowley might have influenced the older man's choice of words just a smidge. The angel hears what Crowley mutters that no one else quite catches:

"Yeah, fuck you, Aziraphale..." Crowley's voice is less sure and his swallow is thick.

Aziraphale's heart aches. He doesn't see anything in front of him for a minute, lost in pain and the image of Crowley, drunk and dancing, losing himself surrounded by the humans they both love.

When he tunes back in, one of the bridesmaids has managed to get in front of Crowley for a dance and as she laughs, full of a joy that Aziraphale cannot tell is genuine or the product of Crowley or champagne-- or Crowley *and* champagne, Aziraphale thinks, envious-- she asks him over the music:

"How do we know you guys again?"

"You tell me!" shouts Crowley, twisting his fingers in a circle in front of him in a way that looks like a dance move but holds her attention to his eyes long enough for the brief temptation to work.

"Cousin Bildad!" she suddenly cries, as if seeing him for the first time and the dance has just begun, even if neither she nor Crowley have stopped.

Crowley says "sure!" brightly and then growls at the ceiling as she turns away from him. The bridesmaid throws her arms around Mrs. Sandwich, exclaiming her delight in seeing her presumed cousin 'Jemimah' again.

"Hi, hon! Yeah, you look so great! That's your color, girl, looking fantastic," gushes Mrs. Sandwich, ever game. When the bridesmaid isn't looking, she mouths at Crowley: "Jemimah?", as if to say, 'what do you think prompted that one?'

Aziraphale realizes this is not the first wedding that Crowley and Mrs. Sandwich have crashed since he has been gone.

"Long story." Crowley shrugs at Marla. "Might be getting a little loose, Mrs. S," he confesses, still sloppy-dancing.

"A little, hun?"

Aziraphale is relieved to see her toss her dry look also towards Nina and Maggie. Maggie looks concerned. Nina looks at her watch. They make their way over, Nina helping herself to a piece of cake to eat while she watches the other two try to wrangle Crowley into leaving.

"Designated human!" Crowley grins in greeting at Maggie, pointing the finger of his perpetually-full-somehow champagne flute at her.

"You are not driving The Bentley. Not happening."

Aziraphale has the feeling it has happened more than once already.

"Crowley--" she starts.

"Cousin Bildad," corrects Mrs. Sandwich, her eyes flicking to the human wedding party. ("*Bildad*?" squints Nina and she and Mrs. Sandwich exchange 'whatever, it's all weird' looks.) Crowley continues to dance in front of Maggie, trying to get her to join him and everyone else. The spell holds with the wedding guests, who all continue to have the time of their lives.

"It might be time to go before you run out of... your... demonic energy? Is that what we decided to call it?" Aziraphale understands that Maggie means that if Crowley gets drunk enough to pass out, the spell over the humans will break and the four of them will be in trouble for crashing the wedding.

Crowley shrugs while dancing. "Aw, five more minutessss, Mom..."

"Crowley," she gives him a look that feels familiar to Aziraphale and he cannot place why until he realizes that it looks similar to one of his own. She smiles a little, giving in, and dances a little with him, causing him to hiss a victory "yesssss" and for Nina to roll her eyes.

"*Fine*," Crowley spits. "Two more songsss," he hiss-slurs.

"You're a soft touch, ang--," Nina inform Maggie, affectionately.

"NINA!", cry Maggie and Mrs. Sandwich at the same time as Crowley points a finger at her.

"Careful, Coffee Woman," Crowley tries to make it sound like a threat but it comes out like a plea.

"One more song," Maggie tells Crowley softly, in her final negotiation, her look tender, if determined.

Crowley's glare can be felt through his sunglasses but he likes Maggie and Aziraphale knows him. He knows that Crowley--no matter how broken-hearted Aziraphale has made him and Aziraphale can barely breathe with pain over the knowledge of how much he has-- is no threat to humans.

A smirk slips across Crowley's face.

"Alright," he hums, still dancing. "You're in charge, Coussssin Margaret. One more."

Aziraphale watches as Crowley takes petty revenge for his fun ending by choosing the last song. He raises his arms up and points both of his index fingers at the sky.

The D.J.'s music flips mid-song, the sudden change unobserved as strange by the D.J. and the other spell-cast humans, as quickly as if someone has set the needle down on the start of a new record. Suddenly, the humans all cheer and laugh and begin the moves of the dance that goes along with the song that Aziraphale vaguely remembers caused quite an unnecessary stir with some particularly stuffy parents a few decades ago....

When I dance, the woman in the song declares. They call me 'Macarena'...

Nina's eyeroll is slow and as pained as her groan but Maggie's smile turns bemused, her gentleness something Aziraphale is happy Crowley has around him, even if the angel shares Nina's pain. This bebop is especially atrocious. Still, she puts in half-effort and lets Maggie drag her into putting down her cake and half-assing the steps while Maggie enthusiastically Macarenas with Mrs. S and Crowley.

Aziraphale will admit that he can see the allure of this particular dance and his blush is entirely about Heaven's defaulting central air conditioning and has nothing to do with Crowley's hips moving like that.

Aziraphale really has to get Michael on fixing the temperature in here. He blinks away his tears and flips off the device to go get right on that...

#ineffable husbands #good omens #ofmd trailer #ofmd #crowley #mrs sandwich #maggie good omens #nina good omens #crowley x aziraphale #aziraphale x crowley

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desertdollranch · 1 year

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When American Girl first announced their partnership with Jeni’s Ice Cream to make some cute playsets and products, I had never heard of Jeni’s. I assumed that it was a brand that was local to the Wisconsin area, where AG’s headquarters are located.

I was so enchanted by these cute things that I wanted to reproduce some of the products for my own dolls, without spending very much. So I dug in a little deeper on reading about Jeni’s. It turns out I was mostly wrong about them. Jeni’s Ice Cream does have shops in large cities across the United States (none in my state), but you can also buy it in pints at Whole Foods Market! I don’t recall AG ever actually mentioning that. Maybe assume that all their customers are upper-class and are familiar already with where to obtain premium and luxury brands?

If you haven’t checked out their full line of product collaborations, go look now. There’s an ice cream truck, an outfit, a waffle cone maker, a cafe table, and some itty bitty bowls of ice cream that are scented. All of it is super cute, but in typical AG fashion, quite expensive.

I swung by Whole Foods the last time I went into the city, and Grace (my little foodie friend) and I gave it a try. There are around a dozen varieties and a few are even dairy free. It was hard to choose which ones to get. Since it’s begun to feel like summer, I picked out Sweet Cream Biscuits & Peach Jam, and Wildberry Lavender. Both remind me of Grace’s collection: sweet, summery, and pastel-colored.

Grace and I agree.... the peach was excellent, but the lavender was outstanding. It does indeed taste as expensive as it is, at around $8 a pint, so it’s not something we’ll have more than once or twice a year.

Grace wasn’t too happy about being told that this won’t be a weekly treat. So she got the idea to make and serve ice cream in her and her family’s pastry shop, La Grande Patisserie!

I was happy to help her out.

For the first step, we tracked down some doll-sized ice cream containers.

I didn’t have to go to Whole Foods Market to find these. They were in my local grocery store. Perfectly small, and proportional to 18 inch dolls! From the left they are Häagen-Dazs chocolate, Häagen-Dazs coffee, and Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough. We got 4 total containers of cookie dough, so that I could try out a half dozen different methods of making the doll ice cream.

After Grace and I emptied the containers over the course of about a week, I used air-dry clay to reproduce the ice cream in a non-perishable form.

Chocolate and coffee are in the middle, while the outer four corners are cookie dough flavor.

Most of the time I shape my objects before I paint them, but in this case I mixed acrylic paint with the clay, using varying amounts of paint. Then while it was still soft, I dragged a small serrated knife across the clay to give it the right texture.

Now to create the scoops.

I found these clear plastic bowls at Dollar Tree. Also perfectly doll-sized.

And here are the scoops! I formed small clay spheres and then roughed up the surface with the same knife. Then I used a toothpick to dot on the chocolate chips.

Grace gave it two spoons up.

These were a practice run. Next, we’re going to figure out how to make Jeni’s ice cream, specifically, and the containers, so we have more colors and flavors to work with. Grace wants to send some of these first drafts to my mom’s dolls, and maybe we’ll even sell the ones that turned out the best.

We also intend to come up with an easy, efficient way to make plastic spoons, and then we’ll come back to this post for part 2!

#grace thomas #girl of the year 2015 #doll food #doll crafts

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sluttyhollow · 8 months

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I don’t write for UA students but Bakugo and me are the same person and we’d be best friends if I was at UA 😂. I was listening to Bakugo by KVMIL and it just had me thinking about Bakugo x black american bestfriend reader (this has been sitting in my drafts forever lol might as well let it go)

No warnings, just two foreign besties with bad attitudes and terrible language (purely platonic)

Katsuki definitely speaks English, he’s a rich kid, and his parents traveled to the states a lot for work and they used to takes him in the summer. He just refuses to speak English because he thinks it sounds stupid.

The back and forth trips are how he ended up meeting you in the first place the summer between first and second grade. Your parents were working on a collaborative design line focusing on mixing Japanese and African American street fashion styles

Neither of you liked each other. He was loud and you thought his red eyes were creepy. He thought you were a loser and hated the noise your hair made when you walked (it was the beads, he thinks they look “cool or whatever” now though) you guys actually ended up fighting, Mitsuki thought it was funny because Katsuki lost (he started it) she bought you ice cream for winning.

After that day you guys came to an agreement to not speak to each other but by day 3 of vacation you were sharing games and sending each other colored screens on your DSIs. You guys did argue everyday of that summer though, and every day of every summer you spent together until middle school when he started staying in Japan to train.

Fast forward to high school and you still text each other. He’s at UA and you’re at a well known hero school in the states. Both of you are loud mouths with quirks worthy of helping saving lives (yours a quirk reversal/theft quirk that allowed you to reverse a persons quirk or utilize their abilities for a certain amount of time, like toga and all for one mixed).

Let’s just say your school has a sports festival similar to UAs that’s also televised and streamed nationally and internationally which prompts Miruko to want you intern abroad with her. Of course you accept and your school works with UA to get you into a transfer program thus starting your 1 year stent at UA. Now for fun’s sake you didn’t tell Katsuki you were coming to UA so imagine his surprise when all the rest of 1A is talking about some American transfer student and he walks into the common room and sees you sitting there.

“What. What the fuck are you doing here you fucking loser” the rest of 1A is shook, they know he’s an ass but they didn’t think he’d just be mean to new student. Just when they get ready to intervene you respond to him with a “you know you’re happy to see me fucker it’s been like 3 years” and the rest of the class is just like wtf is going on here. Y’all of course explain that you knew each other and that you’re besties. Deku being the only one not surprised considering you’d met him once before.

From then on you too go back into your old ways from childhood but with added addition of training. When you’re not busy with Miruko and him with Jeanist y’all go back to the Bakugo house and eat dinner with Mitsuki and Masaru.

You make him apologize to deku (long before canon) when he tells you what happened during middle school and how the first half of the semester had been. You beat his ass and told him to get over himself (he knew you were right).

You and Deku going feral when he gets hurt, LOV attacks and the three of you have to be put on house arrest by Iida cause y’all get too emotional over one another

Forcing him to class 1A gatherings. Neither of you wanna go but Mina saw you two getting ready to disappear after dinner and dragged y’all to movie night

Katsuki likes American food. Spice levels are just a little higher, flavors are a little more intense than typical Japanese food. You can cook a little bit and help him make American style dinners for everybody sometimes

People think you guys are partners cause of how relaxed you two are around each other but he’s like your brother and you would kiss m*neta before Katsuki

Yeah just two foreign besties (your American friends thought you were lying about your best friend living in Japan all through middle school, they didn’t realize you were serious until you moved and FaceTimed them with Katsuki in the camera)

#shwrites #x black reader #drabble #mha fanfiction #bakugo katuski

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horsefigureoftheday · 3 months

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Horse figure of the day: 00s Pony in My Pocket "Yankee"

#00s pony in my pocket #horse figure of the day #american cream draft

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ecoamerica · 22 days

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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moregraceful · 18 days

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Wrote one tender little fic and made SEVERAL whimsical playlists for @theresonly1u

[fic] Synonym | Men's Hockey RPF, Men's Basketball RPF | Teen, 2k | Connor Bedard/Victor Wembanyama

In December, Hawks PR tells Connor that he’s doing an interview with Victor Wembanyama, the first overall draft pick last year for the NBA. on AO3

[fanmix] culture fit for a one night stand | Baseball RPF, Men's Hockey RPF | Teen, 7 songs | Adley Rutschman/Arber Xhekaj

One Night Stand + what if Adley had insane feelings about hooking up with Arber. Mostly alt-rock, with some cringe Christian rock mixed in. on AO3

[fanmix] Grease the light poles, because I'm about to act up | Baseball RPF, Men's Hockey RPF | Teen, 7 songs | Jamie Drysdale/Bryce Harper

Down catastrophic in the South Philadelphia Sports complex. Bryce you are scaring the hoes (Trea Turner). All horny/romantic EDM/house. on AO3

[fanmix] 2 inch inseam and your shaving cream in the trash | Men's Hockey RPF | Teen, 8 songs | Nico Hischier character piece

What if Nico was a bear instead of the crown prince of Swiss hockey. What a world we would be. All NEEDTOBREATHE but none of the religious shit. on AO3

[fanmix] Me and my 1900s man got a relationship | American Football RPF, Men's Hockey RPF | Gen, 9 songs | Brock Purdy/Marc-Édouard Vlasic

He's psychosexually torturing that old man by reminding him of his age. Big band, jazz, and rock from the 1930s-1950s. on AO3

Enjoy!!

#experiencing the whimsy on spotify at 1am last week..lovely #unfortunate birdcage fanfictions #rpf for ts #i need to leave. so many comments. SO many comments

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ponyinmypocket12 · 2 years

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PONY PROFILE #1213

Series 1.2 Ponies (2008-2009)

Name : Senator

Breed : American Cream Draft

Gender : Male

Profile : Senator is a cream-colored draft horse bred in America, where he pulls a horse-drawn fire wagon. He lives at the fire station, and the firemen sleep in the loft above him. When the alarm rings, the firemen slide down the pole, attach his harness to the truck and off they go. Senator saves the town!

Description : Light peach pink body with white around muzzle and fetlocks. White mane and tail. Dark green eyes. Cream hooves.

Number in my collection : 3

Sources of information : Illustration & profile via the In My Pocket website accessed on the Wayback Machine. Photo sourced from Corinthian website.

#pony in my pocket #pony #senator #series 1.2 #pony profile #toy collection #american cream draft

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simurghed · 4 months

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posted this on twt alrdy but here r the animals i see the travellers as

noelle: four-toed hedgehog or blaze ferret

krouse: crab-eating fox

marissa: american cream draft

jess: toco toucan

luke: appenzeller sennenhunde dog

oliver: holland lop bunny

cody: tabby cat

#travellers

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riddles-n-games · 4 months

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Guess what? It's time for a horse headcanon!!! A Hawthorne horse headcanon to be exact. From racehorses to heavy drafts, one thing’s for sure, the Hawthorne estate is not short on equines. As mentioned in the riding headcanon, there is a big stable further out on the property because they would otherwise be shunned by the rest of rich Texan society (yes, it’s totally a necessity as a part of the initiation according to Xander). Tobias Hawthorne had it made the year Skye was born but for Zara’s birthday and though there were annual renovations much like with the House, the next major section was added when Nash was five.

I think it most fitting to start off with the Hawthorne sisters, so let’s get into it. When they were little girls, as with most things, Zara and Skye fought over toys, accessories, clothes, and… ponies. (Yes, yes, I know that Zara was a shy, bookish child to quote Nan but they also fight in TIG over the inheritance so you can’t tell me that didn’t happen as they’re close in age.) Tobias had a grand selection of ponies that were different breeds with various strengths but there was one pony that stood out from the rest and of course, both of them had to have him. His name was Smokey, a Welsh Cob (Section D-heaviest of Welsh Ponies and Cob) dapple gray gelding that was a previous champion driving pony before he was retired. The girls loved him and neither of them wanted to let up; what’s worse is that he came with a sparkly light blue set and it was absolute chaos. Their father, for once, was beside himself so their mother had to jump in and what they would do is take the girls out on rides with him when the other was out, letting both believe that the other one gave up on Smokey when in fact that was not the case at all but it was one of their only working tactics to keep the peace. However, as time went on, Skye eventually was no longer interested in him and decided on another pony until she got interested in another, leaving Zara the winner (also, her parents were both betting on her to win this game of Who Gets the Pony). The two of them had a very close companionship and she used him for show-jumping until he passed due to declining health of an undiscovered disease.

Toby was never really interested in any equestrian events as he preferred simply riding and being in the company of his horses but did participate in driving, sometimes. He was definitely let off the hook more because he was basically the favorite child (I still feel bad Zara having suffered for it in the books even though she loved her adopted brother). On most occasions, he would be found in the stables grooming or taking care of tack after a ride; it was one of his go-to places when he wanted to avoid people. Another thing is that he loved to spend time in the pasture with his favorite horse, Aster, a Quarter Horse cross, during turnout or in a clearing in the woods. It’s noted that after Toby’s disappearance, Aster exhibited signs of depression and would wait at the gate, calling out for his owner. When Nash got older, his grandfather gifted him the horse as his first.

Now, onto the old man himself. Tobias was an American Cream Draft collector and prominent breeder which helped out the breeder’s association since this horse breed is considered to be very rare. In addition, he was quite fond of the Budweiser Clydesdales and acquired a few retired ones to produce his own bloodline that are also sometimes used in the commercials. He’s also had quite a few racehorses participate in the Kentucky Derby, Breeders' Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, Royal Ascot and Grand National, and Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe races. Worldwide, in different types of racing from the regular flat racing to steeplechase, this man was hitting the top from all fronts but he remained most dominant on home turf with horses in the States and Canada ranking highest. The billionaire was truly devoted to the sport and had many experts serving to help him out when he was making choices for the breeds which he wanted to invest in most.

With all this, it leads us to the brothers and how they ended up with some of the horses they own.

Nash:

Texas Dream-A Tennessee Walker mare with an ironic name but everyone calls her Dream. She's a sweetheart but is sassy when she wants to be, however, give her apples and she'll be whinnying after you for days (according to Xander, at least). Her coat is a shiny palomino and she is one of Nash's only fancy horses, serving as his western pleasure horse in alternative to Chili Pepper, his main competing mare.

Chili Pepper-An Appaloosa-Quarter Horse that is his champion rodeo mare and loves the open field, biting at stray calves during roundups. She is a roan leopard color and is easily recognizable as she has a scar running down the length of her girth from an unfortunate run in with a barbed fence when she bucked a little too hard.

Bullet-Very on the nose with his name, this Appendix Quarter is a fast one. A retired racer that participated in the All American Futurity, coming in a close second but winning the Rainbow Futurity and Champion of Champions Stakes. Tobias Hawthorne had partial ownership of his sire and bred his own star mare with him to produce Bullet. He is Nash's secondary choice for roundups and other rodeo-related events, however, they get along best when Nash is looking for a burst of speed or in a race against his brother, Need-For-Speed Jameson. This gelding is certainly living his life a quarter mile at a time as he whizzes past, a chestnut blur by the time you see him.

Buttercup-She is a Belgian-Shire cross that Nash rescued and although an elderly sterile mare, she is a very sweet gentle giant. He has her retired to the pasture but likes to follow Nash around when he is going in to catch a horse and Grayson too because she knows he carries snacks. She has a limp but is still in fairly good shape with a lovely light bay coat and white feathering.

Grayson:

Mirtha-An imported Marwari filly that was part of a successful twin birthing by a sought-after broodmare, a rarity in the horse world given they are usually fatal for the mare. She and her twin were purchased and shipped to the US by Tobias for Grayson and Jameson. She is an intended dressage horse that's still in her early days but Gray loves taking her out for a happy gallop around the paddock. She has a strawberry roan sabino coat but unfortunately for her she loves a roll in the dust or mud (actually, make that great for her, unfortunate for Gray).

Onyx-His Arabian stallion that is black all over and is one of the most reputable Arabians used in Western competitions in Texas. The greatest joy this stallion gets is rounding up calves in the ring and he is a great partner to Nash's mare, Chili Pepper, which is why Nash does prefer his younger brother to come out on the most major roundups even though Gray is not much for it. Onyx has produced some great foals through Chili and Gray's Shagya Arabian mare, Moonlight, which in their own right often make great playmates with each other.

Sadie-She is an American Saddlebred and his favorite horse both for riding and dressage competitions. Gray's had her since he was seven and got her as a birthday present. He was very attached to her when he was a kid especially since she's very gentle and sweet. She is a palomino pinto and foaled recently a little palomino colt who is the most rambunctious of the recent brood.

Dulce-A KWPN (Dutch Warmblood) filly that has potential to become a Grand Prix horse in dressage but Gray is also training her in harness riding. However, given recent complications in the sports he loves, he is taking a pause and trying to reevaluate some of the strategies he sees his trainers use because they aren't all the most ethical for the horses. If there's one thing to be said about Grayson Hawthorne, it's that he takes care of who or what he loves fiercely and that includes his horses especially those he uses for comps. She is a spicy thing and though she can given Gray a hard time, she loves him and is buttered up easily when he sneaks her a carrot before or after training sessions. Ironically enough, she is not a chestnut, despite their reputation but rather a beautiful dark bay that prances around like she owns the place but Gray just lets her think that.

Jameson:

Eeyore-He's an American Cream Draft mule as a result of an accidental pairing of a jenny with an American Cream stallion that was on loan to one of his grandfather's friends for breeding purposes. As can be seen, that went south and the owner of the donkey didn't want her foal so Tobias took it in and had him for ten years before Jameson got attached to him as a child. He's very gentle and though now an elderly mule, he still keeps up just fine on trail rides. He is the iconic cremello type coat of the American Cream but certainly more fuzzy because of his donkey genes.

Rhubarb-A Nokota stallion that is his barrel racer and preferred riding horse. He is a beautiful blue roan with what look like dark speckles. Tobias had selected him for his grandson after he started training for barrel racing comps and the duo had been inseparable ever since they started. He has taken a liking to Avery and always looks for sugar cubes from her when she and Jamie come to the stables for riding.

Soprano-She is the other half of the Marwari twins and unlike her twin, she isn't one for dirt but she sure as heck ain't a stickler for beauty-no, she loves rolling in the grass instead. So if you see a horse with green stains, that's definitely her which is how you can tell her apart from her sister. She's just the way Jameson likes her, a feisty firecracker with a heart of gold and a potential star jumper like her sire.

Corduroy-He is a Knabstrupper gelding with a bay leopard coat and also a former harness horse, now repurposed for show jumping. A lovely quiet horse, an unusual contrast to Jameson's usual likings in terms of dispositions but they get along well. He was also imported from Europe after his grandfather saw his potential and is the most recent addition to Jameson's collection.

Xander:

Meesha-A rescued zorse yearling that’s part Nokota-American Paint due to her dam’s heritage. Despite her zebra stripes, she does have patches of blue roan and white like her mother unlike the typical bayish striped coats of zorses. Though she is too young for riding of any sorts, she is pretty well behaved on trail rides when Xander rides on her mother. She is Xan's favorite of the bunch and he is her person, often galloping for the gate when she sees him or whinnying after him when he leaves.

Magpie-The Nokota-American Paint mare that's Meesha's mother and only really trusts her owner other than maybe Nash. She is very protective of her filly. She has a beautiful blue roan coat, similar to that of Rhubarb but she is distinguishable due to white flecks across her underbelly and legs. Xander loves to take her out on rides and play tag.

Darlo-An American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft colt that is the first of the Hawthorne contributions to the breed. Before his death, Tobias Hawthorne took an interest in the breed after his youngest grandson was doing research on lost histories of American breeds and he bought a few mares to start up another breeding project. Given his success with American Creams, he decided to try this draft breed, too, and Xander got involved, taking over after his passing. Darlo is a spunky lad and with his black blanket coat, he is a stunner when he trots past. Xan hopes for him to be a stud at some point but in the mean time, he is simply growing up under the watchful eye of his dam.

Foopsy-The adorable little Falabella mare that Xander owns and is only one of many from his minis' herd. He absolutely adores her and is his longest-lasting from an abandoned ranch since the others from her original herd unfortunately passed due to neglect and other health-related problems. She proved to be a sturdy and hardy girl, pushing through her own issues as she was nursed back to health and gave Xander a want to help Nash with rescues he brought back. They have grand games of chase around the property but their favorite activity is naps under a tree in the summer (it makes for some of the cutest photos in Grayson's photo albums). She is a light grey leopard coated horse but certainly Xander's loudest mini.

Also, I want to dedicate this headcanon in honor of my friend @hathorneheiress who has been a big help to me in times when I was losing hope on some of my longest standing drafts that I wanted to get out for you guys to enjoy. She is a great inspiration to me, a wonderful writer, and the most lovely enthusiast of a fanfic bestie I could ask for. Please check out her stuff, she has given great alternative fiction to our faves in this fandom and she deserves some more recognition. Thank you all as always! Bye.

#nash westbrook hawthorne #grayson davenport hawthorne #jameson winchester hawthorne #xander blackwood hawthorne #skye hawthorne #zara hawthorne calligaris #toby hawthorne #tobias tattersall hawthorne #hawthorne brothers #hawthorne horses #hawthorne shenanigans #hawthorne headcanons #animal headcanons #the inheritance games animal headcanons #the inheritance games #tig

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