#this is a really good interview lots of quotes from all the cast etc

[awhimproned]

"you don't actually want the thing you think you want", a nandermo retrospective

In this post of mine deep diving into the decision of guillermo staying human, I said I wanted to make a nandermo analysis at one point. I absolutely have no self-control so I immediately started working on it. So, welcome. This is it.

This post will attempt to analyze in depth two implications of the infamous quote from above by Yana Gorskaya:

It’s shipbaiting and we’ve got a storm coming

It’s slowburn and the importance of recognizing toxic dynamics even when enjoying the drama and the potential

The quote comes from this interview question right here:

It can be interpreted in a lot of ways and directions, the most prominent one being “and they were platonic all along. trust us you dont want them together” — it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth because I can see the showrunners dangling a carrot in front of a target audience until the finish line. Especially when one of the directors herself says and proves outright that nandor and guillermo have been framed romantically on purpose just by having the line “will they won’t they relationship” in the interview.

Keep in mind the admittance of will they won’t they directly out of Yana automatically eliminates the argument that the writers were strictly going for platonic friends. There’s no refusal. No going: yea no we dont know. They wrote nandor and guillermo to be romantic.

From there we have two routes we can take:

1) On the direction that they’re not having nandermo be a thing: This makes everything shipbaiting.

At least it’s not queerbaiting, I hear you say, both characters are queer. I’d argue shipbaiting is worse in this situation, because in this frame, it rather looks like the showrunners are using the certain attachment and sentiments of the audience to string people along:

Both of these characters are people of color, one is plus size, both of them queer. If it’s shipbaiting, this kind of alludes to discrimination, I’m afraid. It does not look good on the showrunners/producers’ part (when Taika’s name is attached, too. This man is literally in OFMD. Help)

And you don’t want to be like Jason Rothenberg; beefing with your own fandom, making writing decisons to spite them, kill a lesbian character after exploiting your sapphic audience and be infamous for the worst case of bury your gays, shipbait for seven seasons to hold the largest fandom in the audience to keep your views up, mistreat your POC cast members... etc. God, yeesh.

It’s almost incriminating in that sense, when they stopped floating around the idea of them and made it canon by dropping the “maybe he has feelings for you as well” line in season 3 and while guillermo was disguised as nandor. And have him be bitchy about gail. Everything about s3 told us that guillermo had a thing for nandor.

If nandor and guillermo were intended strictly as just a couple of pals, they could easily shut down the excitement and expectation for the ship, but instead they did those. It was a confirmation more than anything rather than a rebuttal.

But I guess for the shipbaiting case, the “rebuttal” was s4 when Guillermo was in his healing era, Nandor wanted a wife, and they resetted allathat in s3 to practically nothing.

As much as I’m going to use this as an opposition argument in section two, it also is a potential support for shipbaiting case, and that is the repetition of “friends” for nandor&guillermo that started becoming more of a thing in seasons 4&5. Especially s4.

It saw Guillermo outgrowing Nandor for a potential love interest when s3 had the biggest plot twist in their favor ever, it was going somewhere, and then they immediately established not only Guillermo finding a boyfriend in London, but also him having no hard feelings about Nandor wanting to find a wife when we all know how hard he’d taken Gail — and most important of it all, Nandor just wanting a Freddie of his own. It’s really weirdly romantic drama-centric with each of them getting partners & setting up for jealousy, but the writers subvert every trope, and instead do this weird shit with Nandor’s storyline where it’s purely a horror story from Marwa’s POV and he’s a horrible, selfish monster (and I was flabbergasted at the downward spiral his character took) — yet he’s incredibly “generous” to Guillermo because he chose to make his own Freddie rather than take his and let him go in the end, it’s all so very bizarre.

Which makes the shipbait even more outrageous. Because now it’s personal since it has more shipbait moments inbetween that don’t have heterosexual explanations. KEEP IN MIND THEY’RE STILL FRAMED ROMANTICALLY THEY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING AND THE WHOLE THING WITH DEREK IS A WHOLE CHEATING METAPHOR.

The equivalent would be that one scene in Sherlock BBC when irene goes “of course you are [in love with him]” to john and how the show keeps bringing up how other characters think they’re in a relationship and saying it. You never want to be like Sherlock, either. Ugh.

I’ve been in through enough queerbaiting&shipbaiting to know that it could definitely turn out this way, and I’m still half-expecting this to be honest. I’m also a big fan of ofmd and go, but they’re exceptions, not the norm, and as much as wwdits is a wildly revolutionarily queer show, there is enough material for it all to turn out to be nothing.

So, in conclusion: shipbaiting turns out to be worse than it is because it’s on purpose and there’s no salvaging it after the “it was friendship all along ❤️” insistence, there’s receipts and the actors are on board with it. And in a situation like things, there is only one thing to say:

At least we have fanfiction and the actors like the pairing.

2) On the direction that nandermo is a thing: “you don’t know what you’re asking for and you won’t like it if we give it to you right now” dilemma, aka “you don’t actually want the thing you think you want” —

which basically rounds up to yana meaning, if nandor and guillermo were to be a thing right now at this point in their relationship, it would be messy, abusive and toxic [and there are still other plots to explore and directions this pairing could/have to be taken before they become canon.]

“Yeah they are messy, toxic characters, we know what we’re asking for,” I hear you saying. And I say to that, no, you really don’t, and you would end up hating what they did with nandor and guillermo if they became canon before they were true equals. One example of this would be people switching on Olicity (Oliver and Felicity from Green Arrow, wildly popular crackship there was no hope and only the teasing of in the fandom before it became a real thing) after the writers rushed to make them canon and did them very wrong afterwards.

The allure of nandermo is guillermo breaking the status quo and catching nandor slipping by establishing himself as his equal, destroying the power imbalance completely, them standing as individuals with equal power if not guillermo flipping the dynamic upside down and asserting dominance over nandor this time when he was a mere familiar nandor couldn’t care less about before.

This process is still in progress as of season 5 and let me tell you this, them becoming canon during Guillermo’s familiar status would have been downright icky.

This show’s only other canon ship ladja is the most healthy, gomez and morticia-esque thing ever, they’re in love, they’re horny all the time, they are queer, they fuck other people all the time and encourage each other, they’re wildly protective of one another, the man steps up to be a single father of a child he isn’t obligated to look after and he doesnt let it derail his wife’s career or force motherhood onto her, like. Do you really expect they wouldn’t let nandermo cook enough before they are on this level of iconic and healthy before they become a thing?

Nandor wasn’t even able to admit that Guillermo was a friend to him (and to Guillermo’s face) up until season 5. In season 1 he was weirded out by even saying it, in season 4 he could only manage to say “best man” and immediately reverse when the word friend was brought up — “closest companion for 13 years” in the market fight & “i may have killed my friend” muttered to himself before guillermo comes bursting out the door, it’s like he didn’t want to admit out loud that Guillermo became very important to him in a very short amount of time. Half of the pairing consisting of a person who is unable to make it clear and known to the other how important and precious he is just doesn’t sit well in the case they are in a relationship.

And the power imbalance is still there even if you don’t see it or think it’s gone, albeit knocked almost even by “I can kill you if I want to but I don’t” assertiveness from Guillermo.

Because even in season 3 and 4 in instances Guillermo was able to best Nandor in power, he’s still inferior to and is in service of him — because he’s working for something he wants from Nandor, which Nandor of course keeps taking advantage of by treating Guillermo like a subservient familiar (although it keeps getting better as things change more and more) even if in name he’s a bodyguard.

Their relationship is that of employment in name, the nature of it is give-and-take, Guillermo says it himself in s3 Nandor is a boss more than a friend and he would still be have to be “friends” with him because he’s his boss. And let’s be honest, before Nandor really became found family to him and he himself realized that over the seasons, Nandor was a means to an end for Guillermo, he’s “Master”, not “Nandor”.

And from Nandor’s perspective, Guillermo is with him because he wants to be a vampire. Simple as that. It’s what allows Nandor to exploit Guillermo.

Imagine a premature romance happening in these circumstances, it’d be absolutely in abuse territory, you don’t make your significant other do the dirty work for you like that. It’s why boss-employee relationships are most of the times, forbidden in the workplace, because the boss holds some power over the employee and can very much have them do things that they don’t want to do.

Nandor would not be able to see Guillermo as an equal even when there are feelings involved, because I have to remind you, Nandor is a cruel bastard, and it would turn into one of those AITA posts real quick between them when Guillermo is fully in service of Nandor still.

And remember how Nandor treated his “love” Marwa, how fast he dropped her from his life once that “phase” was over, all the things he did to her, she was his significant other — yet he never connected with her, not really, she was just an accessory to him and this was supposed to be “love”; and the other side of the coin, how he keeps self-sabotaging and ignoring his real problem by filling the void with what he thinks is the solution, getting in the way of his own happiness.

This can’t be ideal from Guillermo’s perspective when imagining a relationship with him.

And now, change Guillermo’s gender. Imagine it being a woman who’s going through this. It’s putrid toxic when you think about it like that. And to think “she” would receive Nandor’s respect and equal footing once she became a vampire same as him — uhh... No, please, thank you. It’s less fun and more this is problematic when the tables turn, isn’t it?

Not to mention how open the vampires’ relationships and sex lives are, they are not monogamous. Guillermo is a very repressed and private Catholic, he wouldn’t be able to handle Nandor and Laszlo’s trysts. He has his own journey to go through for him to be also into open relationships because Nandor sure as hell won’t turn monogamous for him, this is wwdits.

Which is why the progress of “work relationship” to “official declaration of friendship” over the course of season 4 & 5 is very important in their dynamic, because it takes things into a more attentive, caring and intimate territory in which both openly care for each other beyond being Master and Familiar. They both grew tremendously as individuals. Guillermo admits he loves Nandor the most, Nandor is finally able to say that Guillermo is his friend and openly do acts of service and somewhat redeem his selfish actions in s4 when he was lashing out making dumb decisions and actively self-sabotaging because he was given the power instead of confronting leftover problems he was repressing from s3.

This solidifies their connection, makes it something undeniable that it affects a vampire who immediately is able to move on from another’s death. You’re shown again and again how they react to death and how insignificant it is to them, yet Nandor is close to tears when he thinks Guillermo is dead, falls to his knees even, and is even more disturbed and outraged when he thinks Laszlo is violating his corpse.

For the first time you see that more than an unhealthy codependency or a symbiotic relationship between a vampire and a slayer bodyguard/familiar, Nandor is emotionally attached to Guillermo.

Like, really attached that he will actually be kind and giving and forgiving — not only did he violate a vampire society taboo to kill a fellow vampire, but also overcame the pride and humiliation because he finally realizes Guillermo is much more important to him and that he actually doesn’t want to kill him when the anger lets up enough for him to see that. (Thank you Patton Oswald for your service)

And we don’t stop there. He accepts him as an equal and invites him to live together in the house, which proves that even when he was a slayer bodyguard Nandor didn’t see him as an equal, and after Guillermo is having problems with the killing side of being a vampire, he doesn’t humiliate or shame Guillermo through this. You‘d think he and the vampires would make fun of him endlessly, but they let Nandor organize this intricate ritual so all of them together can allow Guillermo’s decision to be as authentic and without pressure and shame as possible. You’d think that ritual room was prepared by Guillermo but everything is done by Nandor, so he proves he’s not entirely unable to function as a normal being who can live by himself, he’s just dramatic and likes to be pampered.

If you thought The Roast was an incredibly generous nandermo episode for me to think we collectively hallucinated it like a Goncharov moment, this final episode is downright fanfic. Nandor has never been this nice with Guillermo, EVER.

All of this is done right after Nandor’s official admitting that Guillermo is his friend. This is a crucial step in their relationship for Nandor to consider Guillermo to be more, and Guillermo to question just what they are.

And love can only work where there’s mutual affection and respect for one another. And the writers are gradually working up to achieve that while tackling individual character arcs for nandor and guillermo to get there.

The power imbalance I’m talking about is a thing that exists beyond the powers they hold over the other’s head, it is about what they think of each other as. What Nandor is to Guillermo, and what Guillermo is to Nandor.

They could only become canon without it being toxic is when Nandor can look at Guillermo and think — “This is my friend and not my servant” and when the carrot of vampirism isn’t hanging in front of Guillermo and he’s naturally an actual part of the friend group (so that he wouldn’t be mistreated while he’s Nandor’s partner too.)

And I really don’t think nadja out of nowhere saying “my best friend” about laszlo was a coincidental writing choice.

And we’re nearly there at this point. Mister Nandor nobody can betray me and get away with it the Relentless just let Guillermo get away with it, and not only that, he fixed everything for him. Everything. He didn’t even get jealous that Guillermo had a choice in staying human when he obviously would kill to be human in season 3. He just went “I will fix”. It’s the most selfless thing he did in the entire series and he only got competent and smart when it was Guillermo in question — he wanted to fix the friendship.

And in episode 8, he told Baron Afanas — “whatever Guillermo’s flaws may be [...]”

That suggests Nandor doesn’t see any flaw in Guillermo, and is unaware if they do in fact, exist. He genuinely likes Guillermo, enough to cry and mourn when he thinks him dead, enough to snap at the Baron and defend him until the end, enough to clutch his favorite sweater like a shock blanket. It was this episode that cemented Guillermo as indisposable to Nandor, and the season finale to establish how far Nandor would go and soften himself up (change) if it was for Guillermo’s sake, he’s never been that tender and considerate, ever with Guillermo,

and you could say at that point it could be because they were “equals” as vampires but Nandor knew what he would choose — the focus on his hands when he’s personally dressing guillermo (pride and prejudice hand flex, dont @ me). "don't be nervous we've all been through it" (gentle). "nothing you cannot handle" (encouraging). Making up an intricate ritual so that he wouldn’t feel pressured or stressed or shamed. "you wanna be a human, there's no shame in that". (These vampires clown on EVERYONE) "we're gonna make it happen". "you want me to do it?". "I don't know" "I do". Keeping Guillermo's old or spare glasses in his pocket like it was something he came across while he was destroying Guillermo’s things like some lover scorned and he saved it like it was some keepsake. “I'm sorry, Guillermo. That was the only way for you to figure out what you actually wanted”. The hand on his shoulder to comfort him and the patting. “It was a horrible and hard decision. I think you made the right choice.” (Nandor himself would have killed derek in a heartbeat if it was his decision to return to being a human, but he still spared Guillermo’s feelings because he knows how hard it was for Guillermo. Since when is Nandor considerate about another person’s feelings? Guillermo is special.)

He was so very unexpectedly gentle and he’s never ever been that way and I am still in shock about his honesty and the effort he’s put into helping. This was the biggest gift he could have given Guillermo, not the vampirism, but a way out of it when he didnt want it anymore, a choice. And he wouldnt have done that if he didnt deeply care for Guillermo —

And with that, we’re almost out of the toxicity zone into a yet new dynamic with them, one that isn’t about who’s dominant and who’s submissive, but them finally being able to stand on equal ground, if Guillermo isn’t asking for vampirism from Nandor anymore and isn’t implicitly going back to being his familiar.

If they’re going towards a romantic relationship, this was an important border to cross and a topic finally handled the way it needs to be addressed. The one thing that’s causing a chain of command in their relationship is gone. And anything can happen. Anything.

I don’t believe that line about cleaning up Derek’s body was meant to imply Guillermo was back to being a familiar for Nandor and that we are back to square one. His phrasing was extremely polite — “Now if you wouldn’t mind cleaning up Derek’s corpse before sunrise that would be great”. That’s not an order. Derek is Guillermo’s mess, so he has to handle it himself, it’s like saying “I’ve done all this and I even killed him for you, and the rest is yours to deal with,” — it’s like saying “I cooked, you do the dishes”, and Nandor is giving him space to deal with his decision, hell, he didn’t even tell Guillermo to clean everything else like he normally would, now that would suggest back to the status quo.

Season 5 was fucking HUGE for nandermo and all of guillermo’s dynamics with everyone. It still feels like a fever dream to be honest. They really went and got rid of what was clogging up the progress of their relationship. They’re just. Happening naturally. It’s a slowburn if it’s meant to happen eventually and the writers are being really careful with doing things in the right way for it to not become toxic.

You just gotta have some faith in the team and wait for it.

In conclusion: Yes fucked up relationships are fun. until it’s canon and people are making discourse on the internet about how abusive it really is when it could have been handled better. The ross and rachel-ification of nandermo is the last thing we need.

There’s definitely things I’ve missed because im purely making this post on mobile and it’s not as coherent as I’d like it to be, if I have, please don’t hesitate to tell me.

#nandermo #guillermo de la cruz #nandor the relentless #wwdits meta #wwdits #what we do in the shadows #wwdits s5 #wwdits spoilers #wwdits season 5

[nalyra-dreaming]

Thank-you for sharing that old interview! It was very interesting…

This quote by Bailey:

“I think what’s wonderful though, is that there’s really no protagonist or antagonist. It changes through every scene in every episode, because these characters are so specific and complex, and Rolin Jones, the writer of the show, did an incredible job of explaining in depth why we do what we do. There’s a reason why we kill the people that we do, why we hurt each other. And because of that, the viewer kind of feels bad for the person hurting the other, but then also feels bad for the person being hurt.”

It’s funny how different the cast thinks of the show and characters compared to the fans because I don’t know how many viewers would have that opinion with how people talk about Claudia, Louis and and lestat in the final episode. Do you think the writers intended for it to be more ambiguous than it turned out on screen?

Glad you liked! I also found it very interesting!

Mhhhh. I'm not sure they think so different of it. Or, at least than some fans think of it. Some other fans of course... ^^

So... They think "different" of it than what we were shown.

Which brings us back to the "tale" - and the fact, that they did different versions, and then the director? producer? decided what would be put in (like here, wrt the broadcasting):

There were a lot of micro-rewrites that were happening as the scripts were coming out, and I knew this was the plot twist from quite early on because I needed to know when Lestat knew. We did multiple options, and usually they put in that I did know.

"They" obviously know the story they want to tell. They have spoken about it. They know Memory is a Monster, and that there was "tinkering". Etc. The writers, directors and producers decide how they tell it. I'm not going to go into all the interviews referring to the tale being a tale and being influenced now (I only answered an ask with a few links yesterday^^), so just wrt to the final episode...

I do think that it actually shows a lot of the things Bailey was referring to there.

The hurt in the balcony scene, the weaponizing of the "my love". The usage of "idiot" as a weapon, thrown and hurled back. The betrayal through Antoinette not being dead. The desperation and wanting that love and being unable to get it. The need to be free, and to utilize anything to reach it. Who they are killing at their feast.

*shrugs*

For me that came across :)

But then I come from the books, and I... have a different view on the characters as show-only viewers obviously do, because I know what is to come still. The show does its own thing... but then again not really, it's all "there", they reach all the important bits, and nothing we know of season 2 yet indicates anything different to me here... and it is always good to remember that we have "only" seen a very specific tale right now^^, told for a purpose. A purpose we do not know yet.

The tale will shift in (the end of) season 2 - and the show will shift with it.

So no, I actually don't think they see them that differently... just that the "show view" (to call it such) is a rather restricted one right now.

If the writers intended it to be more ambiguous? Maybe.

But then AMC had to tone down Rolin's initial script re Lestat iirc, so who knows just how many of those "micro-rewrites" pertain to which direction, character-wise. We know these writers don't pull their punches, right *laughs*

#Anonymous #asks #ask nalyra #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #micro rewrites #different #ambiguous

[docholligay]

“We are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful what we pretend to be”

Hello! This is about up to Episode 3 of Yellowjackets, and ONLY episode 3 of Yellowjackets. I have not seen beyond the third episode, at all, and know NOTHING about this show. Please do not spoil it for me.  Things that are spoilery in nature, for me, include: saying things like  “Just wait!!” confirming or denying anything I put forward, outside information about the cast interviews or creator statements, leading questions like “Do you think “blank moment” means anything?” etc. Remember  that Y’ALL HAVE SEEN THE SHOW AND I HAVE NOT. This informs the way you  talk about things relating to the show. Just be really careful is all  I’m asking. Also: If there is LITERALLY any stance I  could take on this show or character that would make you upset, please  just fucking block the tag

If you WOULD like to discuss the show and my takes on it, the Discord is right here! I don’t go there, so it’s a great place to get every emotion out.

Please thank @sailorsunspot and @moonlight-frittata for backing this odd way of doing a liveblog, and remember my tip jar is always open

I have never read the Vonnegut novel that quote above is from. I confess to keeping a bit of distance from Vonnegut through absolutely no fault of his own, but because his fans tend to be incredibly insufferable and some of his lines make great tattoos and insta posts for people who read one book a year. If that sounds judgmental, congratulations, you’ve passed the tone portion of the reading comprehension test.

Anyway, I don’t think you need to know the context for the first quote, because on the one hand, it’s what we would call in the literary world: foreshadowing. My immediate reaction was “Oh, he’s the sort of dude who wants you to know he reads Vonnegut” although in full fairness most of those dudes immediately after say, ‘that’s Kurt Vonnegut” so I might be unfair there. But he fits a lot of the profile: he’s young, he considers himself charming, he’s outre and considers himself an individual, all that. And that’s not wrong, maybe. This scene is doing a lot of things at once, it can definitely juggle that.

BUT.

What this is, is the show:

A) Putting a red flag in front of Adam. I have thought Adam was a liar and maybe doing the same shit as the reporter for awhile now, but this confirms it. he’s pretending. This whole thing with Shauna is manufactured and is abotu something that has nothing to do with Shauna, and how the fuck is Shauna going to react when she realizes that this person she’s throwing herself at to make herself feel alive again, this person she’s throwing herself at because she’s tired of fucking the corpse of her love and hatred for her best friend through her husband, who, if he isn’t Jeff the old boyfriend I will eat my fucking hat, this person she feels SOME KINSHIP with, is playing her.

This whole episode is about playing, I think that’s why it’s called The Dollhouse. Playing at adulthood, playing at love, playing at marriage, and also, Adam is playing at seduction.

B) Offering up a thesis statement for the show. All of these girls are actively hiding and pretending to be the thing they are (except, actually, Misty, who has no gift for such things. More on her in her own post, the little scamp. I hate her so much and she’s the greatest character of all time).

Shauna is playacting at being a stay at home mom because she thinks that’s safe, but she’s someone who fucking ate a girl and also participated in the murder of at least one. She is, to go back to an earlier post, a wolf full on masquerading as a RABBIT, because she’s living jackie’s life as a source of atonement.

Taissa is a good upright clean liberal with a nice family, on paper. She’s pretending to be that, and not the cunning and dangerous wolf she is with a child who is either literally or figuratively haunted by the specter of Tai’s grandmother, which I think might be some kind of statement about tai’s interaction with mortality and knowing, but I want to see more show before I come down anywhere on that. Anyhow.

Nat is pretending to be clean when even at her fucking best she was just a dry drunk. “I’m not high, if it matters.” But you’re still arrested. She’s pretending to be a tough girl, when she’s the girl to whom I would most easily affix “pathetic and wet” She’s a fucking sandcastle of a human being, and I actually do not think adult Nat will survive the show though i don’t know the means by which i think that’ll happen the call could easily come from inside the house but I don’t know the narrative place being set well enough to know if that’ll serve it.

ANYHOW. In pretending to be these things, do they risk becoming them? Or is the risk in that, at a very formative time in their lives, they pretended to be a pack of wolves? And so they became it. It seems as if it cannot be unmade.

And Shauna replies with another Vonnegut quote, from a novel i HAVE read: “And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.”

So Slaughterhouse-Five is about war, and trauma, and particularly the effects of war and trauma on children. I’m really really collapsing the book in on itself, which is a good book, a great book, even if it is one of those books someone reads when they’re fucking seventeen and thinks that’s pretty much it--HOLD ON YES THAT IS THE POINT TOO.

Shauna is smart, but is she just, seventeen smart? Is this response just another of the ways in which Shauna is trapped in the moment of the crash? In the aftermath? Amazing.

Anyway, that quote is early on in the book and for me, though, I last read it probably a decade ago, comes to tie together the notion of time, and how time is like standing in a field of wildflowers, and you could never gather them all, and if you did, it would never be like seeing that field, and that is part of the beauty of human existence, is we can only keep so much of each moment. The present is all around us, and beyond us, and so little of it can stay.

Now, I don’t know if the writers/shauna are seeing it the same way, but her response is doing two things: On a chracter level it’s establishing relationship between her and Adam. She feels CLOSENESS with him, being so equally affected by the same author to offer up a quote in reply. Two, it does, in some way, reply to his quote. If I were going to smack at that pitch, I would say it’s saying, “Don’t pretend to be fine with things, or you’ll become fine with them.” “My present is a fucking marianas trench of complication and even I am not sure what is me anymore.”

And then Adam asks a question I fucking LOVE about confirming a suspicion: “And once you do, will it make you happier?” I think about this a lot. DO people want the truth? I don’t think they do this has not been my observation of human nature. That’s not even a criticism, I don’t even always want the truth, sometimes I would prefer a half-truth or concealment or even a full on lie. I am a very big fan of being honest with ourselves, of being candid. Don’t seek answers you don’t want.

And she says no. And he says ‘You’re beautiful when you’re honest”

And I’m trapped between thinking that Shauna is never honest, not even now, and thinking that Shauna doesn’t even know what it means to be honest, because she is still emotionally processing something that happened to her so long ago that it’s a memory suitable for commemorative coins. Both come to the same end, but they FEEL different to me.

#Doc watches Yellowjackets #Yellowjackets S1 E3 #I'm skipping around a bit but I wanted to finish this one if nothing else before I go #boy I hope you wanted uhhhhh all this

[oopshisaygoodnight]

"do you have thoughts on the film drama" you so naively asked.

here is my manifesto, which is more of a timeline:

booksmart was my favorite movie in 2019, and when dont worry darling was announced, i was stoked O had a cool sounding project and got a great cast together. everything i knew filtered in from film twitter. harry replaced shia, which was exciting news

O made a series of posts praising the cast & crew, and this is what she said about harry:

inset the instagram

very cool! perhaps a little too pat-on-the-back for a man doing the bare minimum, but harry's name means something to fans and in the business. (you can track a bit of a huge boost in numbers of likes and comments on instagram after DWD and harry stuff).

at this point they were about a month and half into the so-called “romance”. they were photographed holding hands in january 2021 at harry’s managers wedding. DWD filming had wrapped in december but they were doing reshoots through february. a little bold for a director and her actor to be at the wedding date stage of the relationship after, at a minimum of knowing each other, 3 months. whatever. stranger things. hot people find a way of getting together. shrug.

she was also quoted around december 2020 in a “directors on directors” interview that she has a “no assholes policy” on set, and first implies/states that shia was perhaps an asshole that she fired intentionally. this will bite her in the ass apprxomiately two and a half years into repeating this version of the story.

summer 2021, we get pictures of them being cute in LA, kissing on a yacht in italy, and it’s all a lil scandy but whatever, she’s a grownup who is in the midst of a custody battle with jason sudeikis over their two kids and ostensibly working on edits for DWD and getting the ball rolling on her third projects. whatever- i’m supportive! 

september 2021 i got to see harry on his second show of love on tour, which made me questions the depths of the fangirling i could be capable under the right circumstances. afterwards i was fed a lot of harry concert reels and even jealous because she wasnt at my show, but she was at a ton of harry's concerts across america. she was always bopping in the crowd, interacting with a few fans.

somewhere in 2021: first rumor of conflict on set gets some traction. a tiktok alleges that the person was a PA and witnessed florence being very frustrated with olivia and taking over directing her own scenes. truly just mindless gossip, but a seed is planted. did florence and olivia maybe not get along on the set of DWD?

december 2021, olivia is the vogue cover. first DWD teaser, first drop that itll be out september 2022. some key quotes "the feminist mystique on acid"

"The 1950s get this rap as a very controlled, conservative era, when in fact it was incredibly debaucherous. My grandparents on my mother’s side loved to party"

"I kept saying, ‘Why isn’t there any good sex in film anymore?"

"realize how rarely they see female hunger, and specifically this type of female pleasure"

"The celebrity press has been particularly harsh on Wilde, professing to be scandalized that a woman in her 30s should dare to find love with a man 10 years younger. “It’s obviously really tempting to correct a false narrative,” Wilde says, with rueful composure, when I ask if she’d like to address the furor. “But I think what you realize is that when you’re really happy, it doesn’t matter what strangers think about you. All that matters to you is what’s real, and what you love, and who you love.”"

around the end of 2021 we get her vogue cover story, and the start of this narrative she is pushing about female-led stories, about making good sex scenes, about female pleasure, etc etc. DWD is an erotic thriller- sweet, we could use more of that in cinema.

[coachlasso]

At a TV studio in West London in late April, Jason Sudeikis is gamely attempting to re-create the iconic 1972 Cosmopolitan magazine centerfold shot of Burt Reynolds for EW's photographer. Like Reynolds, Sudeikis is sporting a mustache, which he has grown to portray the titular role of an American football coach-turned-British Premier League soccer team manager on the beloved Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso. But that's where the similarities end. While Reynolds was lying naked on a bearskin rug, Sudeikis is stretched atop a wooden bench in Lasso's locker-room set. The Saturday Night Live veteran is also fully clothed. The revealing part happens when a stylist asks Sudeikis if he wants to see the shots the photographer has taken. It is an opportunity 99 people out of 100 in this situation would take. Not Sudeikis. "No, I trust you. Read the sign," says the star, 45, pointing to a piece of paper his character placed on the wall of the locker room in the very first episode of the show. A piece of paper that simply yet profoundly reads BELIEVE. (x)

#*hannah waddingham voice* JASON. SUDEIKIS. #what a day it's been #this is a really good interview lots of quotes from all the cast etc #but omg i can't believe they asked him about olivia yikes #ted lasso #jason sudeikis #i'm so happy they've started the s2 press tour i've been so starved #also #READ THE SIGN

[shining-magically]

so I’ve wondered this since the trailer came out years and years ago and Chloe defended the movie - was the red shoes teaser written by the same team that made the movie? were they forced to market it like that, was that based on an earlier draft, etc?? not sure if you know but you seem like the leading expert!

Sorry, this is gonna be an absolute novel because you know I’m an animation fan and the history and production of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is SO interesting and insane. Like, Tangled levels of insane. Thanks for calling me an expert, no one else was gonna do it so I just kind of took up the helm lol.

Here’s the low-down... The timeline of the movie’s production is an absolute mess and kind of an extremely wild ride. It was in production for ten years, went through a lot of different crew members, and went through at least two other major versions of the story before landing on the final version.

Since there’s not a ton of info on the movie’s production, a lot of this is pieced together from different interviews and context clues, and also a lot of what I’ve read and what I am quoting has been translated from Korean, sometimes pretty roughly. But yeah.

Here’s the story of why the Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs teasers and poster were so, so bad and fatshame-y and the actual movie was so, so good and body-positive. (With pictures and production artwork!)

(This is a beast of a post so I’m putting it under a cut.)

All right, so. After its conception originally as a short story by the South Korean studio Locus Creative in 2009-2010-ish, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was being worked on and was set to come out in Summer 2017, as evidenced by this poster at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, featuring a different logo and very different character designs for most of the dwarfs.

In early-mid 2016, the first teaser (in which we see Snow White undress and then two dwarfs recoil in horror at her fatness when she takes her magic shoes off) was released, after the film had kind of been slowly chugging along for 6 or so years. (I am having such trouble pinpointing when the second teaser was released (in which one of the dwarfs basically attacks Snow while she is sleeping to steal her shoes), but I believe it was around the same time.) The teasers didn’t get that much traction because this was a small film from a small indie studio in South Korea.

None of the final actors had been cast yet. At this point in the production, the story was different, one of the many versions that the movie went through. As in the final movie, the dwarfs were actually cursed knights/princes and Snow White switched back and forth between two body types due to her magic shoes, but in this version, the dwarfs needed to steal the shoes from her in order to break their curse (rather than needing “a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world” like in the final movie).

The weird thing is, I believe they had JUST changed the movie’s story when the teaser came out. I’m almost positive it was released more as a proof of concept than as an actual trailer for the movie. They had just recently combined two separate characters (seen above), a typical pretty, skinny princess character (Snow White) and a cute chubby girl character (’Bonnie’), into one single character that switches back and forth between the two appearances when she wears the magic shoes (also they had just dropped literally half of the movie taking place in the real world, with a magic mirror portal, it was a whole thing). 

They didn’t have the details of this aspect of the new story hammered out yet, and the first pass at presenting Snow’s magically changing body type, was, yeah, not good and super offensive. This was a really inexperienced indie studio making their first film on a low budget, so even the animation and voice acting wasn’t great. I think they just wanted to get SOMETHING out there because it had been 6 years and they wanted to have something to show for it.

But here’s the thing. Despite how the teasers make it seem, this was always supposed to be a movie about body positivity, letting go of appearance-based prejudices, and loving yourself and others for who you are and for who they are, which we see in the final film.

I like to think of our film as a kindhearted one. Our intentions are nice.

- Director Sung-ho Hong

It’s important to keep in mind that this movie was made in South Korea by a 99% Korean crew, and, as I understand it anyway, in Korean culture, ‘fatshaming’ is not really a thing that is seen as overtly offensive. Also, children’s media there seems to have more adult things in it than in the US, which probably accounts for the more risque parts of the teasers. That said, I really believe that at this point in the timeline, the movie was on-track to be bad (or at least not very good) when it was released, and it would have ended up bad IF a few key players hadn’t signed on (which I’ll get to in a moment).

Interestingly, the movie’s producer, Sujin Hwang, said in a 2017 interview:

“[Both teasers] were solely produced to induce curiosity. They’re completely irrelevant to the actual story.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

I think what she was trying to convey was that neither one is a scene in the actual movie, because while the teasers didn’t reflect the revamped story as it existed in summer 2017 (the time of the interview), they DID reflect the earlier version of the story where the dwarfs wanted her shoes, which is what the story was at the time they were made.

Now that we’re in post-teaser 2016, HERE’S where things start to turn around. After the teasers were released, my guy Disney veteran and native Korean Jin Kim joined the project. He and Red Shoes director Sung-ho Hong had been buddies for about eight years and Sung-ho had been trying to get Jin to come to Seoul and work with him at Locus for a long time, and he finally succeeded.

Jin and his twenty years of Disney experience as an animator and senior designer on films like Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana, had a HUGE HUGE HUGE influence on the movie. He redesigned almost all the characters, oversaw all the visual development from the moment he signed on, and heavily (HEAVILY) supervised the animation, literally going frame-by-frame through preliminary animations and drawing over them, teaching the inexperienced animators at Locus everything he knew. (Literally almost everyone except him either only had TV experience or had no professional experience because they just gotten out of school.)

From an outsider’s perspective, it really seems as though Jin joining the project (and his gargantuan effort) made the quality SKYROCKET. Not just in character design and animation, but also in things like effects animation, story, etc. After he joined, Locus really started pushing HARD to make a good, high-quality movie, and his influence and experience from being a prominent figure at Disney was absolutely key. The studio also began to really study Disney films and other well-made animated films from other studios to really try and pinpoint what the DNA of a good animated movie really is.

I don’t have any solid evidence, but I’m pretty sure that Tony Bancroft (an animator and the co-director of Mulan) then joined the project because he’s good friends with Jin Kim. He is only credited as the voice director (the movie was recorded in English and the characters were animated to the English dialogue), but I am SURE that he probably also had a pretty big influence on the movie, because like... How could he not? I really really think there was more to his role than his title would have you believe, even though there’s almost no info out there about it.

So now the movie goes through a gigantic metamorphosis. Character designs, visual development, and animation quality are all rapidly improving, the story is tightening, and the themes of the movie (which, again, were always the same and intended to be positive) are being presented in a more sincere way. The movie is becoming the sweet, self-love-encouraging and body-positive movie that was eventually released.

I’m putting a gif from the credits of the final movie here. As we move into 2017, when the giant eruption of backlash occurred, please keep in mind that the story was finalized at this point and that THIS was the movie people were so mad about:

Chloe Grace Moretz accepted the role of Snow White immediately after she read the script and she recorded her lines (I think) in early-ish 2017. Her co-star Sam Claflin also immediately accepted the role of the romantic interest, Merlin, after reading the script and recorded his lines in (I believe) July 2017.

In the summer of 2017, the story and script were more or less the same as in the final movie. Promotional images from that time show that most of dwarfs had been completely redesigned by this point and didn’t have their teaser designs anymore.

They also released a few screenshots that look exactly like the final film. The movie was advertised as coming out in ‘2018′ at this point. Here’s a promo image from 2017 that is MUCH more tactfully worded than the infamous Cannes poster:

So now we’re in summer 2017. The Cannes Film Festival. The movie’s script and story have been basically nailed down, animation is underway, and the Korean film company Finecut is beginning to market and sell the movie to worldwide audiences. They are planning on showing some footage to potential buyers at the festival, and they make a poster to advertise the film there.

Unfortunately, it’s THIS POSTER:

Now here’s where there are some unknowns. By this point, the movie is basically in its final form, which is an adorable, body-positive story about loving people for who they are, loving yourself for who YOU are, and that provides commentary on society’s standards of beauty and how they affect how people are treated/viewed. So why this poster??? All I can really tell is that someone (I think Finecut) really, REALLY messed up and either horribly mistranslated the tagline, or didn’t do enough research to know that this kind of thing is REALLY NOT OKAY in western culture.

The above picture is shared and the internet backlash begins, fueled by tweets from prominent body-positivity activists like Tess Holliday. Even Chloe Grace Moretz speaks out against it, because she of all people KNOWS that that’s not what the movie is about. The internet then finds the old teasers from before the movie was revamped and it makes things worse. Producer Sujin Hwang profusely apologizes and says that that is NOT the message of the movie. Locus pulls the advertising campaign, and takes down the two old teasers.

“Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

Voice director Tony Bancroft also tried to explain the situation:

“The truth is the film has a body-positive message as its core theme–it’s the opposite of what reports are saying. The problem is one poorly translated movie poster that has been taken dramatically out of context.” 

- Voice Director Tony Bancroft

And then... There was nothing for a while. The movie didn’t come out in 2018 and was delayed. From what I can tell, I DON’T believe this delay was related to the Cannes backlash. I think it was mostly due to Locus’s limited budget and resources, because as we know, animation is difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and easy to do badly but hard to do well. Also, probably with Jin Kim and Tony Bancroft’s influence, they REALLY wanted to make sure to do a good job with the animation because they now had a great story and they really wanted the movie to be a quality, worldwide hit that would kind of put South Korean feature animation on the map. Just take a look at how nice the final animation was:

The movie was released in South Korea on July 25th, 2019. Unfortunately, the damage was done in the English-speaking markets and it was not released to an English-speaking audience until June 22, 2020, when it was released digitally in the UK. At the time of this post, there is no set US release date, but the distribution rights were recently bought by Lionsgate and the MPAA gave the film an official PG rating.

So who’s to blame? There’s no good answer. You could blame Locus for making those old teasers. You could blame Finecut for the competely tonedeaf Cannes poster. You could even blame cancel culture for raging against the movie based on one poster and two old teaser trailers without researching what the movie was actually about.

All I know is, it’s a damn shame.

#mooncactus #red shoes and the seven dwarfs #red shoes and the 7 dwarfs #animation #animation production #animation history #red shoes movie #redshoes #jin kim #tony bancroft

[juneviews]

I wonder if ohmnannon has become so popular because they also seem to have a genuine friendship like offgun? (I mean they also obviously became popular because of how good bad buddy was and their amazing chemistry in it) I haven’t actually watched much bts of ohmnannon, but what I have seen doesn’t seem as forced as a lot of other bl pairings. Maybe because they’re friends, and also went into it not expecting it to become a stable ship. I’m curious if that may change because of how big bad buddy has gotten? I think a season 2 has is a very real possibility, though I’d love for it to focus on inkpa instead.

Would you mind linking the interview of the director who said most bl pairs don’t even like each other? Lmao sounds interesting. I remember watching one interview with someone in the industry and he said something like “I don’t work for gmm but I’ve seen offgun, and what you see on camera is exactly how they act irl. Sitting in each other’s laps, calling off Papii, etc.” And it made me so happy. Because until I saw that I swear I was like “wow they really play up the skinship, but why does it look so real?” And then I found out cause that’s just them ahaha. Kinda reminds me of I think Tul (but maybe Max) saying they don’t really do fanservice, “we’re just crazy like this.” And offgun really do be wildin sometimes.

well ohmnanon were best friends before bad buddy so it's different from offgun who grew closer with time, here they were already close before they got casted together. personally (and don't kill me for this bc I've been a genuine fan of both of them for very long), I actually feel like the fanservice is forced. like, before bad buddy they never hugged or kissed as much, but now it feels like every ig story or post is super fanservice-y & frankly it makes me uncomfortable. they don't have to try so hard bc we all know they've been friends for a long time & genuinely care for each other, their friendship & on-screen chemistry is enough to make them a good ship imo. here's the tweet from the bl director of 2 moons 2 & call it what you want, if you click through the tweet he quoted you can see more of his opinions on the bl industry & it's very enlightening. "OFFGUN DO BE WILDIN SOMETIMES" LMAO YUPPPPP, THEY SURE DO! and absolutely, so many people have said that offgun are exactly the same off camera that they are on-screen, it's so precious of them & shows how real their bond is! <3

xxx

#answers

[miyacchis]

Notes from a Con Man - Musical Great Pretender Stage Report Act 1

This is a bit extremely rambly, but I want to give some description of the distinguishing features of the staged version of Great Pretender as compared to the anime, although my plan is not to give a complete recap of the plot, as I’m sure anyone who is choosing to read this has watched the anime - or so I assume, but you know you do you. I try to control myself and keep it just to what is relevant, but I’m also a wordy bitch and that will never change, so, reader beware, I guess.

 The stage is set up with three levels (the stage level, the second floor, and the third floor where the band is). Both the stage level and second floor have a couple of rooms that can be pulled out or opened, and backgrounds are projected onto the set to create different settings. With the exception of the opening theme, which is taken from the anime, all of the music is live, and there’s very good interplay between the band and the performers, and I don’t know if I’d ever been to another show that felt so vibrant/alive/idk?

First, the biggest change made for the sake of clear storytelling on the stage is the addition of a framing device: the plot is conveyed to the audience through Edamura’s (Miyata Toshiya) narration as he tells his story to a prosecutor after the events of LA Connection. The play opens where LA Connection ends with Edamura being questioned at a police station, where it’s clear that he has been attempting for hours to convince detectives to believe the team-confidence-wild-and-wacky-adventures ™  explanation as to how he came to be in possession of a bag stuffed with foreign currency. Detectives are fed up with him and ready to go berniewiththesteelchair.jpeg on his ass. Enter Kitaoji (Kato Ryo), an elite prosecutor who seems to be on track to become attorney general, although it is unclear to those at the police station why he would take interest in Edamura’s case. 

Edamura is initially reluctant to open up to Kitaoji (Kato Ryo), certain that he won’t be believed, but after Kitaoji quotes from Shakunetsu (side note: I had no idea that in English Shakunetsu was turned into Die Hot which is an absolutely incredible pun and I really commend the translator), Edamura thinks Kitaoji might be just the person to believe him and help him to make amends to all those he had harmed through his life of fraud. Kitaoji encourages Edamura to start at the beginning and goes to eat a piece of candy, prompting Edamura to question, “What would you do if this simple piece of candy was sold for $5 million?” at which point he begins telling his story, transporting us first to a club in Hollywood where we are introduced to the plot with Sakura Magic and, more importantly, Laurent (Miya Rurika, goddess, dressed devastatingly in green), who is identified in quick succession as a French trader, an arrogant Don Juan, and the “bastard who got me into this mess.” 

Edamura bumbles through Laurent’s plot to build hype and clinch a deal with Cassano (Otani Ryosuke) by having Abby (Yamamoto Chihiro) “test” the “drug,” while giving small asides to Kitaoji to explain the main players and reveal to him that this is all a con job, but when Edamura is called to sign the contract to supply Cassano with the drug for $5 million, he flips out, pulls Salazar’s (Mikami Ichiro) gun, and flees the club, without the excuse of believing that he had taken drugs as he did in the anime. It is also not at this point that Edamura makes the connection between Laurent and Kudo and realizes that he’s been set up (Miyata!Edamura is overall a bit less perceptive than Kobayashi!Edamura, as we shall see, although I think this was a function of simplifying aspects of the characters’ interactions for the sake of clarity for the stage). 

Kitaoji pops in and out of the story from this point, donning different costumes (an unhoused person, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Razzie from the Shakunetsu series, etc.) to illustrate different aspects of the main characters’ conversations, and he serves as a way to get into Edamame’s head, allowing him to express what he is thinking and feeling as events in the story play out. It is in the metanarrative that we get some of these more comedic scenes, as well as additional insight into Edamura’s character as he grapples with his own identity as a scam artist and the son of a child trafficker.

After escaping Cassano’s henchmen outside the club, Edamura rejoins Kitaoji to ask if he’s following the story so far, which of course he is not (lol), so Edamura dives into how he met Laurent and came to be in LA. From here we flashback three days, joining Edamura and Kudo (Fukumoto Shinichi) in Asakusa as they spy Laurent as a potential mark. Edamura pulls the wallet-switch trick, and this scene generally follows the anime, although parts, such as the scenes showing Edamura selling water filters and Edamura and Kudo being raided by what seems to be the police, have been cut. After realizing that Laurent pickpocketed him and saw through his grift, Edamura quickly follows and catches him as he is about to depart in a cab to the airport. Just a moment to talk about this cab because it was such a cute, clever idea; it was really just a little push car driven by one of the supporting cast, and it can be disconnected in the middle, so as the driver pulls off, the back seat can be left behind, allowing the audience to watch Laurent and Edamura’s conversation as they are taken to the airport. 

Similarly to the anime, the successive scenes are nominally delivered in English, so Edamura switches to a dialect of Japanese to represent his accented English, which I mention only because Miyata discussed Edamura’s code switching with Kobayashi (Edamura’s Japanese voice actor) in an interview in vol. 51 of Stage Square and how he was concerned that he might confuse Standard Japanese and the dialect during scenes where he has to go back and forth quickly. Kobayashi reassured him that as he got into the character of Edamura Miyata would naturally fall into dialect whenever speaking to Laurent and Abby, and I’m very biased, buuuttttt throughout the run of the show, Miyata performed this beautifully, and as someone who for several years lived in the Tohoku region, the dialect of which Edamura’s accent reminded me of, his accent made me really nostalgic. 

Anywayyyyyy

After Laurent and Edamura bet on the outcome of Laurent’s upcoming “business negotiations” and it’s agreed that they will travel to LA together, the opening theme plays, the main cast is introduced, with Edamura running up and down the set to give a sense of action, the title in massive letters is lowered onto the stage, and we rejoin the main plot with Edamura trying to elude Cassano’s gang on the streets of LA by hiding behind the title. The supporting cast gives us some great background color as like random people in LA, like we’ve got some girls with Starbucks cups, some people breakdancing while simultaneously mugging a Dodgers fan, a skateboarder shouting “STREET”...for some reason. Perfect encapsulation of America *chef’s kiss*

Laurent finds Edamura and tells him to come home because he’s a good boy (😳), and Edamura is then introduced to Abby who, just as in the anime, kicks and knocks him out, after which they collect him and take him to an upscale hotel where Cynthia/Paula Dickens (Senna Ayase) is performing as a jazz singer. Laurent greets her briefly, but we don’t properly get introduced to her character until a later, very frustrating scene, but I’m not going to get started on that yet (it’s not her that’s frustrating, but it’s how they chose to have her and Edamura meet, but anyway we’ll get there). She sings “Summertime,” and it’s a lovely performance; all of her acting choices are very clearly informed by her experience in Takarazuka - she has these really dynamic, almost over-the-top movements and she uses that to her advantage to be one of the more comedic actors - and it’s really entertaining to watch.

Laurent orders them drinks; Edamura has something pink in a little martini glass, and he splutters when he tries to take a sip because he can’t handle his alcohol, which makes Laurent laugh, giving a lot of credence to Laurent’s statement soon after that he derives a lot of pleasure out of toying with naive boys like Edamura who pretend to be tougher than they really are. There’s also some funny adlib with Abby at this point where she gets brought different plates of food like fake fruit on one day and a tower of donuts on another. Laurent explains who Cassano is and the plan to defraud him and gives Edamura a notebook with a fabricated recipe for Sakura Magic, so the notebook is not part of what Edamura prepares himself when he goes later to get himself captured by Cassano to negotiate with him. Edamura has a couple of outbursts accusing Laurent and Abby of putting on airs, pretending to be carrying out justice, repeatedly interrupting the band who give him dirty looks and Shi-won, dressed as one of the saxophonists, loudly blows the saxophone back at him, and this prompts Laurent to be like nah we’re getting too much attention here let’s continue this back at the hotel. 

The hotel scene is fairly similar to the anime, but once Edamura is left alone, we get the first instance of him thinking about his family as he reflect on what Laurent had to say about how people don’t always believe the truth that is in front of them as they would rather believe whatever is most convenient. He flashes back to his family going home together after his father finished a case (the hotel room is on the second floor with his mom and dad entering on the stage level; the younger version of Edamura is done in voice over), and of course they seem like a happy family, although it’s interesting that what his dad has to say about ethics was cut from the script. The scene focuses more on Edamura idolizing his father as a great lawyer.

Okay, so we’ve finally come to the scene I absolutely hated and did not think was necessary, after Edamura leaves the hotel room. He is approached by three unhoused persons, one of whom he at first thinks is Kitaoji coming to interrupt the narrative again, but he soon realizes that they are “real homeless.” It was really just a disgusting, cruel stereotype; one of them is playing with a rat they found, another is acting like a junkie, and the ringleader is trying to get money off of him because they haven’t eaten in three days and then they steal his little Toyotomi Hideyoshi figurine and play keepaway with it and don’t stop until Cynthia/Paula Dickens (at this point she’s Paula tho so I’m going to refer to her that way) enters and is like knock it off. So that’s how they meet. Cool. They could easily have come up with something else and they just didn’t.

But, anyway, since he got his figurine back, he explains to Paula that his hobby is collecting capsule toys, and during his explanation, a gacha machine is projected up on the stage, out of which comes Kitaoji dressed as Toyotomi, followed by a bunch of other figures from Japanese history. This part always got a pretty good laugh out of the audience, and I think it was a pretty cute way to stage it. Paula insists they go to dinner together, so she can hear more about Toyotomi, and the capsule toy figurines all follow to a diner (serving “breadfast” 24hrs lol) where Shi-won is dressed as someone named Ricardo. The figurines all start to get drunk, while “Ricardo” fixes Edamura and Paula some tacos; meanwhile Edamura explains that Toyotomi began as a simple peasant, but because of his hard work and study, he was able to climb all the way to the top and unite all of Japan as a powerful lord. 

Edamura asks why she decided to help him before and he despairs that he must seem like a beaten dog, but she explains that while she might seem confident, she faces tremendous anxiety getting on stage every day, particularly as she wants to make it big as a performer but can’t expect to get the attention of a label just because she can sing a bit. (In the background, Francis Xavier is completely sloshed and ends up drinking with Ricardo) Edamura suggests that she take inspiration from Toyotomi as someone who was able to trick even his enemies into working with him and represent herself as someone more important than she is to get music producers onto her side. She seems fired up by this proposal, and she says that she’ll follow the example of Toyotomi, “Japan’s best confidence man,” which gives Edamura his own motivation to get back to trying to win the bet with Laurent. He asks Paula to wish him good luck and runs off, and we get the first dance scene with Edamura and a number of samurai as he builds up to confronting Cassano. The scene ends with him running into a video shop, presumably to rent Cassano’s movies.

Laurent and Abby are called to Cassano’s mansion - they argue if Edamura is capable of pulling off a job like this, although Laurent insists that he has a natural talent - but they are certain that he must be dead when they hear from Salazar that Edamura was taken into their custody at the airport trying to run. However, Edamura bursts onto the scene, dressed in a new Hawaiian shirt, and at this point, Miyata looks as though he has been in a swimming pool, but it’s just sweat lmao. Cassano informs them that he’s made a new deal with Edamura for $10 million, and when they ask how, we get a flashback showing how he got onto Cassano’s good side by praising Shakunetsu with Kitaoji, as Razzie, acting out scenes from the Shakunetsu movies on the second floor of the stage. Whenever Cassano hugs Edamura in these scenes, it was really funny because his jacket would get just absolutely covered in Miyata’s sweat just ugh gross lol 

Cassano’s accountant joins them and they play out the whole bit about confirming Edamura’s credentials as a pharmaceutical scientist, at which point Edamura finally realizes that Kudo is working with Laurent, when he calls Kudo to thank him for deceiving Cassano’s attorneys. After Cassano has confirmed Edamura’s identity, he takes the crew to his factory and insists that Edamura make Sakura Magic for them right there and then so that they can be sure to properly replicate his recipe. She does this the whole play, but particularly during this scene, you can really see how well Miya Rurika portrays Laurent as always calm and and in control before Edamura but as quietly losing his shit whenever he feels like they’ve been backed into a corner, and we also get some very cute like Laurent clearly being exasperated with Edamura but the two of them starting to be able to play off one another as they convince Cassano that the factory isn’t up to snuff for making Sakura Magic. 

They have to clear out because they hear someone coming, but Cassano promises that he will build a new laboratory for Edamura and entrusts his care to Salazar. The police bust in after everyone has left; Anderson does the absolute most to show off to everyone that he’s properly securing the scene, but he’s clearly relieved that Cassano slipped through their fingers once again oh my how does this keep happening oh well better luck next time. We get a proper introduction to Paula and Shi-won as members of the FBI who have come to investigate Laurent and his organization (Paula has changed into this beautifully tailored brown tweed pantsuit and she pulls it off so well), and Paula threatens to expose Anderson’s connections to Cassano if he doesn’t follow her lead.

After the scene in the factory, we return to the present in the interrogation room with Kitaoji and Edamura. Detectives bring Kitaoji additional files on Edamura, asking if the prosecutor has heard of the attorney Ozaki. They inform him that Edamura is Ozaki’s son, and Kitaoji is a bit shocked; he leaves, saying that he will review the files. The detectives collect the money before exiting the room, but not without getting in a dig at Edamura, telling him that he clearly takes after his father. Edamura is stricken by this statement, and the act ends with Edamura battling with this internal conflict. 

I don’t think anyone would want to read all of this, but if you have, thank you so much. I hope some of it at least was interesting or informative. I’m going to end there for now, as I’ve already gone on for too long, and I’ll finish writing up the second act in another post.

#it's too long i'm sorry lmao #i have not edited this so sorry as well if there are mistakes #great pretender

[felassan]

The rest of this post (quotes from the article) is under a cut due to length. [source]

(There are discussions of colonialism under the cut / in the article.)

After speaking to various devs who worked on MEA I’ve learned quite a bit about what happened here. First of all, there were several more species designed for this galaxy. One writer lists having proposed “five or six” new alien types, while another states that the ones BioWare opted for in the end were specifically chosen for being in “cosplay-safe” territory. Another dev mentions that an entire system was constructed just to facilitate communication between species who were indigenous to Andromeda and those who had arrived from the Milky Way. The “species who were indigenous to Andromeda” part is important, given that there were also different ideas for how to handle first contact - making the Pathfinder a violent colonist who shoots first and asks questions later wasn’t something that was set in stone from the get-go.

“I think it was a project that couldn't have possibly lived up to expectations,” Neil Pollner tells me. Pollner was a senior writer on Mass Effect 3 before going on to write parts of Andromeda. “Not just the high bar of the original trilogy, but the logical expectations anyone would have of Mass Effect going to a whole new galaxy. Because the scope of [the first] Mass Effect was so incredibly massive, there was an inherent promise that you'd be getting a massive new experience with a ton of new things in [what was supposed to be the first] Mass Effect Andromeda - new species, new lore, an entire new galaxy at your fingertips, etc.

“But we were only given the budget for two new species, plus the Remnant. Not to mention that we couldn't even include all the Milky Way species. And we weren't going to be able to let you travel throughout the galaxy. This meant that we had to develop the story around some pretty glaring inorganic limitations. So, not only did you get something that felt (and was) much smaller than what you got before, almost everyone playing the game probably had something that they really liked about Mass Effect that just wasn't there.”

Pollner goes on to explain something I mentioned above - that there’s an inherent disconnect between making your character an explorer in a game where the vast majority of gameplay involves killing. “Ryder the explorer should have a challenging and dynamic first contact experience,” he explains. “Instead, you're almost immediately killing kett. So, some very basic pillars just weren't lining up.”

When I ask about the fact that several species had apparently been cut from the game - something I had already learned in previous interviews - Pollner assures me that I had “no idea” of what was dropped in the early days of Andromeda. He also lamented the iconic narrative and branching complexity of earlier BioWare games, stating that he wishes the team had been able to maintain the same level of variation, options, and consequences as the revered RPGs the studio was known for.

“The other BioWare Montreal writers and I were dreaming up and developing things for Andromeda months ahead of Edmonton officially starting the project - i.e. before the budget and scope had been decided/communicated,” Pollner says. “We just knew that we were going to Andromeda, with almost nothing else established, including even when in the timeline it would happen. And we set out to brainstorm and grow ideas that could organically serve that general premise. “That first contact expectation I mentioned? We'd developed ideas for how the player would navigate that. We were working on a process for the Milky Way species to learn how to even communicate with the new alien species. We were developing several additional species for the new galaxy, as well as several different storylines for why the expedition had been undertaken. Most of that pre-development work ended up not being used.”

“I proposed five or six new alien species when Andromeda was in its infancy, and I still think they had a ton of potential,” Hepler says. “[Ex-BioWare writer] Jo Berry came up with a few, too, they were awesome.

“However, I'm pretty sure those ideas are still property of BioWare, so even though I'm 100% certain they won't be used, I can't talk about them without getting some kind of permission.”

Given that Pollner had his own ideas for new species, and that Hepler had “five or six” on top of a “few” more from Berry, it’s reasonable to conclude that concepting was done for up to ten additional species that never made it into Andromeda.

“I remember some early concepts that were pretty out there,” Dorian Kieken tells me. Kieken was a design director at BioWare Montreal for Mass Effect 2 and 3 before being promoted to franchise design director at the beginning of Andromeda’s development. “One of the strengths of the original Mass Effect trilogy is that you can actually cosplay most of the alien characters - except the Hanar, although I wouldn't underestimate the creativity of some cosplayers. The intention in Mass Effect Andromeda was to introduce new races that would still be in the realm of cosplay, which is probably why more crazy concepts were abandoned.”

I was surprised that this was even a consideration, so I followed up. Kieken assures me that after Andromeda’s two new races had been decided on, their evolution of their design gradually went into more “cosplay-safe territory,” with the team consciously steering away from “jellyfish” types of aliens. “In the early development of the game, we explored a lot of new species. I'm not sure why we settled on the specific number that were in the final game, but my guess would be a mix of production reasons and having a reasonable amount of races to deal with knowing we were already bringing quite a few from the Milky Way as well.”

As Pollner mentioned earlier, the team only had the budget for two new species plus the Remnant. On top of that, they weren’t able to bring all of the Milky Way species, which corroborates Kieken’s recollection of why so many species were cut.

Given the context of these conversations - species being cut from Andromeda, first contact being muddled with militance, and even cosplay potential governing alien design - I also ask why, in the devs’ eyes, Andromeda was poorly received in relation to the original trilogy.

“I think it’s more story-related than setting-related,” Kieken says. “Andromeda has strong core gameplay that improved a lot over the trilogy, but the story didn't feel as strong. I didn't connect with the new character cast as much as I did with the original trilogy.

“It's also not a fair comparison as the trilogy is three games, so you have a lot more exposition and time to bond with the characters. That being said, I seem to recall a stronger rollercoaster of emotions in the original trilogy, which I think led to more memorable moments. From the tension of almost blowing up Wrex with your shotgun or gathering everyone on a suicide run, to the lightness of listening to Mordin sing ‘I'm the very model of a scientist Salarian’ or shooting cans with Garrus in the Presidium.”

Pollner also explains why Andromeda was perceived so differently from the original trilogy, citing differences in the amount of time the team were given to make the game, but also noting that the core issue was more systemic in nature.

“I think the thesis statement for why is that the Mass Effect trilogy was an incredibly demanding endeavor,” Pollner says. “The checks that were written for it, the complexity of the experience was insanely massive. The team worked their asses off non-stop for so many years, on back-to-back-to-back games. The prospect of doing the same thing again was not only exhausting to imagine, but totally impractical. Some of the ‘lessons’ learned from the original trilogy are ones that are important for game development but result in the player experience being less. When you're talking about triple-A development, the original trilogy is actually the anomaly, not Andromeda.

“Because I moved on from BioWare after my work on Andromeda was complete, I have no idea what, if any, future plans there might be. At the time of my departure, there were none.”

It’s worth noting that Pollner is clear about Andromeda being better than a lot of people give it credit for. While some of the concerns people had have now been verified by people who worked on the project - that there could have been more species and that the core premise of Ryder the explorer becoming Ryder the killer is inherently flawed - the team still worked hard on delivering an ambitious game within the constraints of what they were given.

“I find the game to actually be pretty darn fun, and once the technical flaws were ironed out, and the initial reactive disappointment faded, the game does stand on its own,” Pollner says. “There's some really good stuff in there.”

[source]

#bioware #mass effect #mass effect: andromeda #video games #colonialism cw #next mass effect #long post #longpost

[mercy-burning]

Feel free to ignore this if you’re tired of hearing about it or whatever else, but I haven’t really said anything about what’s happened in the past day or two, and before I post any more of my fics, I wanted to talk a little bit about what I’m feeling in regards to the whole thing.

When I join a fandom (for a TV show or movie, or anything that somehow involves celebrities/hollywood/etc.), it’s rare that I ever end up stanning more than the TV show or movie and its characters themselves. All that to say, I’ve never been and/or stayed in the Criminal Minds fandom for any of its cast members. However, I have watched gag reels and interviews, and I’ve followed them all on social media, so it’s fair to say that at the very least I’ve enjoyed getting to know the cast of the show on a thin level.

I think Taylor Swift said it best in her ‘reputation’ album prologue. “We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us.”

I think about that quote a lot, and at the moment it’s helping me come to my own conclusions, and therefore also my statement with this whole situation, which is this:

Whether or not these allegations are true, at the end of the day—for me, personally—I am not a Matthew fan, I am a Criminal Minds/Spencer Reid fan. And it’s always been that way, even with every fandom I’ve ever been in; As I’ve said before, I’m not the type of person who will stan the celebrity more than or in equal measure to their work. If these allegations are true then that’s really shitty, and if they aren’t then that’s good. Either way, the fact of the matter is that I don't know Matthew, I don't know the girl who's made this allegation, and until anything viable is stated or proved on their end, I'm choosing to stay away from it entirely.

I am still a fan of Criminal Minds, and of Spencer Reid, and because of that, I am continuing to write and read the fanfiction that I've been consuming and creating within this fandom for almost a year now.

I hope all of this has made a decent amount of sense to you all. Thank you for reading, and I hope you've all had a great end of your weekend ❤

—Mercy🔥

#mgg discourse #if i should add any more tags/TWs to this please let me know! #mercy blabs

[perfectlymarilynmonroe]

Hey babe, I had a q about your last photo caption. The bit about Marilyn refusing to be a kept woman is somewhat misleading to me- didn't she live with Johnny Hyde for a time, and didn't his influence grant her favorable notice during casting for films like The Asphalt Jungle? Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I don't think their relationship was precisely sexual even if he clearly doted on her for a time. Obvi she got further on her own merit, but I do think that's an oft unexplored moment in her life that was definitely instrumental because of her choice to link up with him. Just wondering about your thoughts on this! Love the blog <3

Hi! Thank you for your sweet comments about my blog :) Sorry for the delay in response, but I wanted to give a thorough response to this. I’ve actually received a couple of comments on Instagram lately regarding this, and I don’t mind addressing this confusion.

*Disclaimer to everyone reading: This is based on the research I have done and is to address a number of issues. This isn’t to glorify Marilyn or deny any flaws or imperfections, but to state the facts. I’m publicly sharing this so I can later refer back to it. It’s a longer response to answer any follow-up questions I may get but, of course, you can still ask any you may have. ♡♡

--

It can be deceiving, but I think the bigger concern is what she took for what she got, rather than vise versa. If she was looking to be a gold-digging, role-stealing actress, she would have married Hyde the minute he asked her to. She would have inherited his millions and could have bought her way through Hollywood. For a young woman with hardly anything, she chose herself and said no. 

Just before she met him, she was getting help from John Carroll and Lucille Ryman, so when she said, Johnny was the first to believe in her, that isn’t entirely true. Due to her lack of a father-figure as a child I think that when she saw the belief in her from a man like Johnny, at a reputable agency, who was willing to do anything for her, she latched on to it.

Hyde’s co-workers at William Morris later reported being furious with him because he slowly began to abandon his other clients and focused only on helping her. In the case of The Asphalt Jungle, since you asked, it was actually the help of both Hyde and Lucille Ryman that she was given an audition. However, director John Huston later said she didn’t get the “role because of Hyde...she got it because she was damn good.”

In my personal opinion, based on the facts, whether did not sleep with Johnny - some historians even refuse to believe they were ever sexually involved - it was never for roles, auditions, etc. As I mentioned, if it were, she would have married him, taken his money, and used that to her advantage. She actually stopped seeing him - both  personally and professionally - by Fall 1949 because she was so sick and tired of being called, “Mrs. Johnny Hyde” by him and hearing from colleges that he was calling her his wife. 

When it came to being a “kept” woman, she was referring to the large number of “casting directors” or studio execs, etc, who faked an upcoming film to lure her into their office and attempt to seduce her, or held their hand on her thigh while she auditioned, almost forced her, etc... and each time she managed to walk out. 

She wrote an article entitled, “The Wolves I’ve Know” that was published in a number of places like Motion Picture in 1953, The New York Daily News, and more. When she met with Ben Hecht for her autobiography interviews, she also spoke of them and it was published in a London newspaper in August 1954, and in Australian magazines in 1955.

He did leave his family and move into a bigger place and invited her to live there, but she never officially moved in. She did spend quite a bit of her time there, but by early Spring she was living on her own and was very low on rent. This is why she posed nude on red velvet in May 1949. She admitted to thinking of asking men she knew for money to help her, but felt she wouldn’t have been able to forgive herself, and it made her sick to even think of it.

For everyone reading this, remember, she was twenty-three. She was still a very young girl and had grown up with little guidance in her life. She was abused, and was in and out of so many school and homes, she was never taught how to do things. She figured it out on her own, and of course, like anyone in that situation, maybe didn’t always make the best decisions or have the best thoughts.

--

I know this answer was very long, but I felt I needed to address a number of points because things are rarely black and white - especially for Marilyn Monroe, who is the subject of much scrutiny, then and now - and there are many things to consider in regards to a sensitive subject like this! 

I hope I’m not missing anything, but I hope it answers your question! xo

--

Below is a list of various quotes said by Marilyn that I hope everyone will find helpful :)

From “The Wolves I’ve Known” published in The New York Times:

The first real wolf I encountered should have been ashamed of himself because he was trying to take advantage of a mere kid. That’s all I was and I wasn’t suspicious of him at all when he stopped his car at a corner and started to talk to me.

He looked at me all over and then came up with that famous line: “You ought to be in pictures.” That was the first time I’d ever heard it, so it didn’t sound corny to me.

He told me he had an office at the Goldwyn studio and said why didn’t I come and see him and he would get me a screen test. It sounded pretty good to me because I was crazy to get into the movies.

I was modeling at that time and I asked the people who ran the agency where I got my jobs what they thought of his offer. The manager called the studio but never was able to get in touch with my would-be benefactor. However, the wolf called the agency and I made an appointment to go to his office on Saturday afternoon.

I didn’t know then that the producers and other movie officials don’t make Saturday afternoon appointments. I found that out later. I also found out that he didn’t really have any connection with the Goldwyn studio but had borrowed a friend’s office.

He was fat and jovial and, of course, drove a Cadillac. He gave me a script to read and told me how to pose while reading it. All the poses had to be reclining, although the words I was reading didn’t seem to call for that position.

--

Of course, there are other ways a girl could survive until another studio came along. A starlet could take on a lover, usually a well-heeled married man who could pay her bills, or she could become the mistress to an old man and through his connections help advance her career. Believe me, there were and still are many starstruck girls that do get by that way. But for myself, respect is one of life’s greatest treasures. I mean, what does it all add up to if you don’t have that? If there [is] only one thing in my life I [am] proud of, it’s that I’ve never been a kept woman.  

And believe me, it wasn’t because there weren’t opportunities to become one. I think I had as many problems as the next starlet keeping the Hollywood wolves from my door. These wolves just could not understand me. They would tell me, “But Marilyn, you’re not playing the game the way you should. Be smart. You’ll never get anywhere in this business acting the way you do.” My answer to them would be, “The only acting I’ll do is for the motion picture camera.” I was determined, no one was going to use me or my body—even if he could help my career. I’ve never gone out with a man I didn’t want to. No one, not even the studio, could force me to date someone.

You can’t sleep your way into being a star. It takes much, much more. But it helps. A lot of actresses got their first chance that way. Most of the men are such horrors, they deserve all they can get out of them!

The one thing I hate more than anything else is being used. I’ve always worked hard for the sake of someday becoming a talented actress. I knew I would make it someday if I only kept at it and worked hard without lowering my principles and pride in myself.

#ask #Johnny Hyde

[elixir448]

Do you really think they going to get rid of brio?

Sorry! Took me a minute to get to this! If it’s okay with you, I’ll answer your second question here as well:

Do you think brio fans might well forget about beth be rio being a couple because sound like bill krebs and Jenna bans is ending brio?

My straightforward answer is no, I very much doubt that the writers are going to do away with Beth and Rio as a romantic relationship on the show. I never got ending Beth and Rio vibes off of any of their recent interviews, or actually from any of the spoilers we have received so far.

For those who are interested, Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs have done a few pre-season 4 interviews:

https://tvline.com/2021/03/05/good-girls-season-4-preview-beth-rio-spoilers-interview/

https://www.distractify.com/p/who-dies-good-girls-season-4

https://ew.com/tv/good-girls-season-4-love-triangle-beth-rio/

Specifically, the interview in the EW link above has a quote from Bans:

“And it leaves Beth with a much more clear understanding of who this person is just as a human, which I think both equally softens her to him and also gives her clarity that this is someone you can't really be with romantically long-term. But it makes it all really messy and juicy. There's a lot of sexiness in there too. What's even more fun is that is happens pretty early in the season — I don't think people will have to wait very long.”

I think I’m getting sick of hearing myself say this but interviews definitely need to be taken with a grain of salt. Prior to season 2 airing, Manny said that Beth and Rio were unlikely to ever cross the line and then they banged in 2x04 so...

If we take the above quote at face value, it doesn’t change my opinion at all. To me, Beth and Rio don’t necessarily have to be in a defined relationship. In fact, I’ve never considered that a possibility for these two messes. I could absolutely see them being crime partners or bosses operating within the same region, crossing paths and banging each other but not anyone else haha.

I guess your reaction to that quote is dependent upon what you consider the term couple to mean, in the context of a TV series and for this particular pairing. If, to you, that means Beth and Rio in an established relationship, you may be disappointed. But if you broaden the definition and include unlabelled relationships, partnerships, a mutual understanding, longing with the occasional lapse of judgement and falling into bed together, etc, that might be what we get.

As I said above, I think it’s extremely unlikely that the showrunners will ever scrap Beth and Rio from the show’s storylines. There are a few reasons why.

• Other interviews that the showrunners have done repeatedly make reference to the fact that Beth and Rio are not done and that they love playing with their dynamic.

Bans: Yeah. At the same time, he’s obviously one of our favorite parts of the show. We love the Beth-Rio relationship, the push and pull. And we were going some really, really sort of interesting juicy ways with that, in the last five [episodes]. So, regardless of what happens, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.

(https://www.tvinsider.com/933107/good-girls-season-3-finale-season-4-rio-beth-annie-ruby/)

Bans: They've been at each other's throats for 11 episodes. The last five were really going to take us in a new direction. We were going to, and still will in the opening of season 4, throw them into putting that adversarial weaponry aside and having to begrudgingly work together in a way that they haven't before. That chemistry is not something that can be snuffed out, so it brings up all of that good stuff, them working in such close proximity. That's something we're really looking forward to jumping into in season 4 and something we're sad we didn't get to show the fans in season 3, but it's all still coming. You don't go from having the hottest sex of your life to wanting someone dead without conflicted feelings.

(https://ew.com/tv/good-girls-season-3-finale-season-4/)

• While they were filming season 1, Jenna Bans actually thought it would be fun for one of the girls to sleep with Rio and thought Annie would make sense!

Beth and Rio’s relationship was a direct result of Christina and Manny’s explosive on-screen chemistry and, when they realised what they were seeing on screen, the showrunners actually leaned into it and altered the season 1 ending prior to the show being aired. In other words, Beth and Rio were an unexpected surprise but were absolutely not a product of the fandom wanting them. Their relationship exists solely because of the actors and the showrunners cashing in on the goldmine before any audience saw their chemistry. So, it wasn’t fandom pressure that forced the showrunners to make these two an on-screen back and forth relationship; they were already cultivating this relationship and rewrote season 1 to factor this in. This has been stated in interviews and at one of the Good Girls panels that Bans, Krebs and the cast did.

•  Bans makes it pretty clear that whatever happens in season 4 is going to make Beth and Rio’s relationship “juicy and messy”, with a bunch of “sexiness” (isn’t that what it was lol?). She even says that it happens relatively early in the season.

At the end of the day, I have no idea what’s going to happen. We can speculate all we want but I’m sure we’ll all still be shocked by what unfolds when the season airs. I do think we have a lot to look forward to and, personally, I’m just going to enjoy the season and have fun being part of the fandom! ❤️

#gg seaosn 4 #beth x rio #brio #gg analysis #nbc good girls

[per-the-jellicle-magician]

Hello! I see you are very knowledgeable about Cats Warsaw and I would love to know if you have any information about the costume design. The choices made are very interesting and honestly I don't understand it but would love to know more about why they look the way they do!

Yes, I actually do know some stuff. Most of it is from the interview with the costume designer Dorota Kołodyńska, from Cats Warsaw book, with some of my own observations. So thank you for the question and let’s get started cuz it’s gonna be long

The very short answer as to why Cats Warsaw costumes look like they do is: ‘cuz London said so and the fashion world was what it was

The long answer is under the cut ‘cuz it got very long, and it has some pics

The long answer: despite it being a non-replica, and first full non-replica at that, all the creative decisions had to get a green light form Webber/Mackintosh/The really useful theatre company/whoever else in London. The main rule they gave was that it can't be similar to the og show, like at all. This is also why it takes place in the backyard of an abandoned film studio instead of a junkyard. And that “no similar things” rule combined with a different setting and a “desire to make Cats more ours” resulted in such a different look.

Here, for example are first projects for Jennyanydots and Tugger’s costumes

And here is the first project for Demeter (top) and I believe the final one for Grizabella (bottom)

The main inspiration for the costumes (and make up too) was actually what was then happening in the fashion world. That’s why there are so many different textures (feathers, pieces of fur, mesh tops etc), the asymmetry in where those pieces are located and the neon colours on some costumes. Wigs were made after the costumes were complete, and they were supposed to be “modern and timeless”.

The main inspiration for make-up (which was the last to be designed, after the costumes and most of the wigs were complete) was the then recent Dior show, prepared by Sergiusz Osmański who was make up designer for Cats Warsaw. There of course were other inspirations too, for example the inspiration for Macavity and his shiny pants evolved from Mad Max, through the Matrix, to anime. Also, I believe the actors had some input too, at least a tiny bit, since for example Misto’s famous facial hair was, and still is, his first actor’s day-to-day look.

Surprisingly (or not) choreography was also a major influence. Since there is a lot of modern dance mixed in, most leotards have wide legs, instead of fitted ones, as apparently is custom in modern dance. And since the characters are grouped into two camps: the singers and the dancers, there was more room for creativity. And by that I mean, the dancers’ costumes are usually much simpler out of necessity, while the singers, since they don’t have to move as much, could have much more elaborate costumes.

For example, Carbucketty and Alonzo’s costumes are very similar, but since Alonzo is a dancer and an acrobat he just gets a usual simple top-pants combo with some shoulder fur, while Carbucketty who is a singer wears overalls instead.

Carbucketty (left) and Alonzo (right), not the best quality, but it’s the best picture I have rn

Another example: Mistoffelees got top-pants combo with a vest to which his tail is fixed, while Skimble (who doesn’t really dance) wears a suit jacket and puffy pants with calf-high boots.

I’ll be using this picture of Misto till I die, you can pretty easily see all the parts of his costume (except for wig and make up). And this is the brown Skimble I’ll also be mentioning later, you can see his costume has much more details (like the watch chain and the watch) than Misto’s

There are some divisions between the characters, and it reflects in their costumes. As usual, some cats have owners and collars and are more put together, while others are strays and thus a little bit messier. Some are pure breads, some are not. Another divide was determined by gender, with toms being generally more on the brownish-greyish side with bigger shoulders (lots of fur there) and queens generally being slimmer and more colourful. This rule was mostly for the dancers’ costumes, but wasn’t that strictly enforced.

Another interesting thing, was that there was an intention for a yet another divide, this time between Munkustrap and Tugger. As in, they tried to make it clear that, and I quote: “brave Munkustrap is the leader of the wild, predatory, grey cats, and the Rum Tum Tugger, a type of youthful idol - the leader of young, cheerful, playful and colourful cats.” The designer saying that the clan is divided very strictly into those two groups, and from what I can see, yeah they somewhat succeeded in achieving that, but again, I think it ended up being less strict of a rule.

As for the pattens on the costumes, each cat has a unique patten designed by Mrs. Kołodyńska with some help from her graphic designer friend, which was then printed on fabric and pieced together.

Here is how some of the patterns looked like up close

Similarly, each cat has a unique wig and make up. And (and this is really important) if they play the same character, each actor has their own version of the costume. Sometimes those changes in costumes are tiny, for example the only changes between three Misto costumes that I can see are slightly different amounts of white in the pattern and the wigs (first Misto has this messy one that kinda makes it look like he has ears, while the other two have much neater, kinda curly wigs, with one of them having small curly ponytail added).

Since I don’t have any good enough pics of different Mistos, and it’s too late for me to look for any, here are both Tuggers instead, and as you can see the main differences are the patten on the top and the wigs

On the other side there is Skimble who in one version is more orange (here) and in the other more brown (the one earlier).

But the most differences has definitely Munkustrap with quite a different look for each of his four actors (and they differ in patterns, colour, wigs, make up and how see-through are the mesh tops). This is awesome, and it’s one of the things that really helped me determine the cast in the recording.

Here are make-up projects for one of the male kittens (left) and for one of the Munkustraps (right)

Here is another Munkustrap getting ready (you can see the differences in make up)

And here is the third one who is mix of the two others (his wig is also kinda a mix). And that’s just make up and wigs

And here I will end this general overview of Cats Warsaw costumes and why they look like that, mostly ‘cuz there isn’t that much more info on that topic. I plan on doing some more thorough break down of the costumes, possibly with each character getting their own post, but that’s for the, hopefully near, future.

If you got all the way to here, then I can’t thank you enough for reading it all, and I really hope that you like it, and again thank you so much for asking this, I’m always happy to talk about Cats Warsaw

If you (or anyone else reading this) would like to be tagged in the future in the costume breakdown posts, then please let me know, I’ll be happy to do it

#cats warsaw #cats the musical #cats warsaw costumes #munkustrap #alonzo cats #carbucketty #mistoffelees #rum tum tugger #cats the musical costumes #cats non replica

[ladyonfire28]

So I wanted to translate some short moments of that long debate/ q&a that Céline and Adèle did back in October in France, which is one of my favorite. 

But it’s super long and the moderator talked about topics that are beyond my own comprehension sometimes so I don’t have the strength and capacity to translate everything he said lmao. And also, some stuff they talked about are things we already know because they’ve been asked a lot in other interviews. But here are some interesting/ funny moments. 

So first funny moment. At 1:21 the mod started saying he would give with some key words for Céline and she can react to them and give her opinion on those words etc. And he said he would ask more traditional questions to Adèle. 

But then Céline said : « no but she’s super good with key words too, look !  *turns to Adèle* : ‘bamboo ‘ » and then Adèle replies « Kung Fu Panda » . (1:30-1:41)

Adèle also talked about meeting Noémie for the first time  (21:10 - 22:10 ) :

« Noémie came to audition, the first time with Céline only, but I was there for the second round of casting to give the lines to the different people who were auditioning.  And I think that we meet someone better when we play with them than when they have to talk about themselves. I mean to me I feel like it’s a very relevant way to do it.”

“For the choice of Noémie, Céline had all my trust obviously but also Noémie had all my passion too. She radiates a mystery, and it’s a bit of a basic word but she doesn’t let herself be grasped easily (in the way she’s quite elusive I believe ?). And this unfathomable and dangerous thing that she hides was very exciting, as a partner. »

After Adèle explained how she constructed her character in 3 different steps etc., Céline added that she didn’t know that back then : «  the first time she opened her mouth, not the first day of shooting but more like the 3rd because the two first days we shot silent scenes, but anyway the first time she started to speak I was like ‘alright, she has a plan. She has a plan, she has an idea. And that idea is of obviously the right one, because it’s so strong/great *laughter*  the idea I mean. (The audience laughs here because in French idea is a feminine word so literally she said « she’s so strong » referring to the idea but it sounded like she said this about Adèle aha). Adèle is also great but I don’t need to even say it. I understood what she was doing and how it interacted with my ideas. And what was written was very very joyful. And I trusted that immediately. » (24:30-25:15)

Céline hating on Jean Jacques Rousseau : « We hate Rousseau, Rousseau is a misogynist.  If I could changed Héloïse name I would (he wrote a book called « The New Héloïse »). Rousseau fucked us. I’m team Voltaire. Rousseau said the woman had an essentialist form. He had a huge problem with sex. He had this kind of fetichism that fucked us during our whole life. When we talk about « Les Lumières » (that’s what we call French philosophers  of the second half of the 18th century), we have to sort it out my friends. Diderot is great, Diderot was a feminist. We can’t be a philosopher if we’re not a feminist, even less today ». (29:30-30:10)

Other funny moment : Céline also talked about the anachronism and how she disagrees with the critics who say she played with anachronism the way Sofia Coppola did with that converse shoes in Marie Antoinette and starts a joke : « it’s a movie I love by the way, I’m not trying to have a rivalry with Sofia Coppola.... When we could. And it’s because we can that we don’t do it because it’s so great to be together on this scene *turns to Adèle* Good evening Sofia (and Adèle immediately plays the game and says good evening too lmao). (34:40-35:07)

Also another pretty epic moment to me because Adèle is so cute and funny. So around 36:00 the moderator starts to talk about some very theoretical stuff with the link between art and love in this film and stuff.  And he asks her how did she and Céline talked about how art has the capacity to prolong the feeling of love (I’m not sure I understood the question so whatever). And you can see Adèle’s confused and nervous face around 36:30 like « oh shit how am I gonna respond to that »

And from 36:50 to 39:05 Adèle is on a roll speaking about philosophical shit with Spinoza and all for 3 minutes straight and got everyone lost lmao. And then says : « sorry it’s not clear. This is what I wanted to say but well I’ve never been asked this question before so it’s just the draft. It’ll get better after in other debates. » (39:10-39:28)

then during the q&a a woman asks Céline if there’s a reason for the figure 28 : « There was a reason, that I cut. No I didn’t cut the scene, I actually didn’t shoot it. It was their age. She would say « 28 » « why 28? » « it’s my age » and the other would say « me too ». But I thought it was already a lot and I had other things to say about that 28 so I gave you some air and let you breathe. » (40:40-41:00).

Then she also said they took the decision together to delete those lines and not shoot that scene, and it’s because they decided that, that Adèle knew how to really give that « 28 » line, how to put that secret in that scene. And this is why this scene is so radiant and it’s the first take that is in the film. It’s because they decided not to explain that idea that it worked so well. (41:40-42:16)

From 43:18 to 44:40 : Céline explains how she was inspired by Elisabeth Virgée Le Brun since she was a star at her time and she’s the only one who wrote her mémoires. She quoted some parts of it in the movie. When Marianne says she used to draw in the corner of her books, that came from Vigée Le Brun biography. When she describes how to paint Héloïse’s ear, it’s also a text from Elisabeth. And she also helped with the protocol : how long it takes to paint a face, what’s the platform etc. she explained it all.

From 47:50 to 50:30 she also talked about the veils, how did this idea come from and how it was hard to make them work. So she had that idea of the kiss where the two women would take off their veils to kiss and it would be a form of consent. But she also had another problem: she didn’t want the women to wear hats. But historians told her that women couldn’t go out bear head and that’s why they wore hats. But Céline really didn’t want that. So she kind of took those two ideas so the veils could also be in their hair and they wouldn’t need a hat. But she had to fight for her idea with the costume designer too to make it work. And she said she bought those veils at Pimkie, spring/summer collection (which is a young women clothing shop pretty cheap lmao).

53:06 to 53:23 : Céline reveals what she wanted to mean when she wrote « fugere non possum » which was for her « they don’t know how to fly » but then she said she was mad at google translate for not doing it right, but that was the risk when you don’t pay people lmao.

#guys i had to finish this in a rush #because i'm meeting with my friends #so i had NO time to read myself and check my spelling and stuff #so i'm very sorry about that #please tell my if there are huge mistakes so i can correct later #if you have any other parts of the video that you want me to translate #i may be able to do that but again i can't translate the whole thing #and i'm not gonna try to explain to you everything they said because it's already so hard for me to understand them sometimes aha #but you can always try to ask #i'll try to help if i can #portrait of a lady on fire #portrait de la jeune fille en feu #céline sciamma #celine sciamma #adèle haenel #adele haenel #noémie merlant #noemie merlant #sometimes i translate things

[morningsound15]

i seem to remember you giving some podcast recs that i wanted to check out, but for some reason i can't find them on your blog anymore. am i mistaken? if not, do you think you could repeat them?

omg hi! sorry tumblr was NOT showing me any asks i’m really sorry idk when you sent this but yes! i love this question i love podcasts, and i think i’ve rec’d a few individual episodes? but i’ve definitely not made a whole post so i’m so down for this

idk what sorts of podcasts you listen to but i basically divide my podcasts into shit i listen to for education (leftist podcasts, news podcasts, etc,) and shit i listen to to keep myself sane (pop culture/movie/music podcasts, gay podcasts, tv recap podcasts of shows i used to watch) so i’m gonna give you a lot! basically my whole podcast queue list lol

i’ll link you to their online pages (if they have some! either youtube or a digital library) but most of them are on spotify i believe, a lot of these podcasts also have patreons and i personally listen to all of them through apple podcasts\

(under the cut because it’s LONG hope this helps!)

shit for education:

in a clump right off the top:

-- Revolutionary Left Radio - #1 essential listening for people interested in socialism, leftism, communism, marxism-leninism, etc. current events analyzed with leftist theory, great interviews, honest perspectives from organizers.

-- Red Menace - featuring the host of Rev Left, a podcast that mainly deep dives into leftist theory and texts (specifically marxist-leninist theory, but also mao, fanon, stalin, etc.) if you are new to theory and have trouble tackling difficult texts, this is the podcast for you

-- Guerrilla History - from the host of Rev Left, a podcast that looks at revolutionary uprisings from the perspective of those on the ground, using the past to help make sense of the present

and then some others:

-- 5-4 - "A podcast where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court decisions that have made this country –by a wide margin– the worst country in the world" all about the us supreme court and the decisions that keep us strangled. great legal analysis highly recommend for people who care about the courts

-- Bad Faith - featuring former bernie sanders press secretary briahna joy gray and chapo trap house host (i know guys i know) virgil texas, this is a more accessible introduction to thinking outside of the american political binary. for people who liked bernie and need to figure out where to go next, this podcast might be helpful, or it just might feed your petty soul

-- Citations Needed - if you only listen to one american news podcast, let it be this one. with a focus on american news and how our news industry manipulates us into supporting imperialism and mass death

-- Death Panel - on pop culture and politics, particularly focusing on the healthcare industry in america and why it’s designed to kill all of us.

-- Decolonized Buffalo (youtube) - with a focus on decolonial theory and current events

-- IT’S GOING DOWN - with a focus on revolutionary anarchist, anti-fascist, anti-capitalist grassroots revolts and social movements across north america.

-- Millennials Are Killing Capitalism - i really recommend everyone follow the host of this podcast josh briond (@ jos.hau on insta and @ queersocialism on twitter) because they have been fundamental to my personal journey into leftist literature, their podcast is incredible and their pop culture takes are always fire. interviews, theory, essential takes on the news.

-- Moderate Rebels (podcast / youtube) - if you want to learn about international news/foreign policy from an anti-imperialist source, Moderate Rebels is the best recommendation i can give you. greyzone reporters Max Bluementhal and Ben Norton host a weekly news podcast that is essential listening if you want to understand what it is to live in the core of the world’s imperialist center

-- Radical Reflections - for an international perspective on revolutionary history, from a comrade based in scotland

-- The Black Sublime Podcast - for a black, queer perspective on pop culture, politics, oppression, and liberation

-- The East is a Podcast - for a perspective on leftist theory, history, and revolutionary movements centering people from the (quote unquote) ‘east’. recent episodes cover such topics as (including but not limited to) china, india, paul robeson, war, decolonization, palestine, iran, tunisia, and strongly centering muslim writers, thinkers and scientists

-- The Minyan - jewish comrades! (specifically marxist-leninist)

-- The Red Nation Podcast -- indigenous comrades (mostly in north america - USA/Canada). essential listening for anyone living in emperial/colonial powerhouses in north america. The Red Nation also has great educational resources

-- Useful Idiots - standard news podcast from people much smarter than me who hate the political establishment almost as much as i do. they have some really good interview episodes

-- Working Class History - some really cool episodes on important events in working class history! great episode on The Exotic Dancer’s Union aka the first stripper co-op in america

shit for sanity/fun:

-- Bad Romance Podcast - comedians jourdain searles and bronwyn isaac watch terrible romantic comedies and then tell you all about them

-- Buffering the Vampire Slayer - THE buffy rewatch podcast! they’re deep into season 6 at this point, but features great (gay!) content, buffy analysis, excellent guests, interviews with the original cast, and an original song every episode based on that episode. this podcast brings me only joy

-- Girls on Porn - a porn review podcast featuring only ethically-made porn, tackling kink, fetishization, racism in the porn industry, and so much more

-- GLEEwind - don’t judge me lol i like recap podcasts and this one has the right amount of fun with the right amount of will schuester hate

-- How Did This Get Made? - funny people (and great actors) Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas watch truly awful movies and then talk all about it

-- Keep It! - for everything in music, tv and celebrity culture featuring Ira Madison III, Louis Virtel, and Aida Osman. great interviews, always makes me laugh

-- Las Culturistas - bowen yang and matt rogers’ weekly culture podcast, also featuring great interviews and a lot of survivor talk

-- Popcast - i don’t like the NYT but i do sometimes like their music podcast, they review new shit, big shit, and all the shit you might be hearing about from the music world

-- Still Processing - again, do not like the NYT but DO like what jenna wortham and wesley morris have to say about what’s happening in the world

-- The Big Picture - another movie podcast! this one features great interviews with actors and directors, as well as takes on popular movies that i generally agree with (although way too much love for marvel movies for me)

-- Why Won’t You Date Me? - nicole beyer’s hilarious podcast where she talks to other comedians about their dating woes. surprisingly heart-felt, always hilarious

#anonymous #asks #communist on main #podcasts #recommendation #podcast recommendations #recs #reference #long post

[bisluthq]

Taylor said she's binge watching The Office (as am I, as we do...) And I'm at the end where they're interviewing the cast. And we all know Taylor stans cliche iconic sitcom couples and references them to help tell her story, so I feel like she's probably pulling a Pam and Jim, and Pams final quotes feel very *things Taylor is currently stanning...*

Listen, um... I was scared, you know? I loved what I had, and I didn't want to risk it. And I think that maybe I did doubt him a little too. Which was wrong because he's shown me time and again. But when the documentary started airing, people on the street told me that I had this fairy-tale romance. But there were a lot of times last year where it did not feel like a fairy tale. But then it got deeper, and it got stronger and now it's better than a fairy tale. It's like a long book that you never want to end. And you're fine with that because you just never, ever wanna leave it.

...

I didn't watch the whole documentary. After a few episodes, it was too painful. I kept wanting to scream at Pam. It took me so long to do so many important things. It's just hard to accept that I spent so many years being less happy than I could have been. Jim was 5 feet from my desk and it took me four years to get to him. It'd be great if people saw this documentary and learned from my mistakes. Not that I'm a tragic person. I'm really happy now. But... it would just... just make my heart soar if someone out there saw this and she said to herself "be strong, trust yourself, love yourself. Conquer your fears. Just go after what you want and act fast, because life just isn't that long."

Do you think Taylor and Joe see themselves as Jim and Pam? lmao

Do you think they've been friends longer than we've known? I mean Taylor lies about how long Kaylor had known each other before VS. Or she just meant she didn't trust him or the PRelationship kept her from opening up to him. Maybe they knew each other through that English crew (Marcus, Carrie, etc)?

Also Taylor coming for her dad? I could write a whole ass post on that and how it's impacted her self-image and relationships to this day. But I'll wait.

Sorry for the wall. I'm pretty stoned rn ngl lmao

Lmao dude I was drunk the first time I read it and then I reread it and now I’m drunk again and I am still... a bit lost. But drunk me gets stoned you so fair.

It’s good.

Your analysis is valid ❤️🌈✊🏼