Empire Podcast Ghosts: series 2, Part 2
(Ben Willbond, Martha Howe-Douglas, Laurence Rickard & host Chris Hewitt talking about Mary and Kitty in Redding Weddy)
Larry: They're sort of- The fact that Kitty is so happy and naive and Mary is such a kind of insane wildcard, that if you give them a task and the only people they have to keep them on track are each other there is no way it's getting done.
And so there's a lovely like-so you know-The Captain is so, you know, finally employing the sort of military regime where he gives everyone a task and he just gives the worst two people the job of recording absolute categorical facts.
[Mari walks up to a memorial under a tree, clearly made by lostfield residents]
M: Hey sarah... Happy birthday! I know you can't fucking hear me but I'm here! kinda funny I'm talking to a damn rock. You're not even dead and i know that, i wanted to say me and a friend are gonna help you ok?
[Mari begins crying holding their left forearm.]
M: Um but there is a chance someone might die... I'm hoping the friend... His name is edgar btw um, I hope he has a plan-
[A noise is heard from the forest, as mari turns around]
Sarah: MARI HELP
M: Sarah?
[Mari begins trying to follow the voice, running as the voice continues.]
Sarah: MARI HELP
M: WHERE ARE YOU?
Sarah: MARI HELP
M: I CAN'T FIND YOU!
Sarah?: MARI HELP
[Mari is knocked out by a mysterious figure as they take off a jacket showing their face as they slow clap.]
Mai: Mari Help
[Mai begins dragging mari away as she continues speaking.]
ANDOR: Ahem. I have heard that the greatest persuasion is nothing more than telling the truth, so I speak in the voice given me by my mother, Freya. I make no grand overtones or guttural whispers for dramatic effect.
(MARKET VENDOR: More flavours! Come and drink away your sorrows!)
ANDOR: I am only Andor. My voice trembles.
(MARKET VENDOR: More flavours! Come and drink away your sorrows!)
ANDOR: I have come to ask my father a question. Will you listen? Father, I know you're listening too.
LIEUTENANT AL: Prince Andor!
ANDOR: Haven't you noticed? Do these wings look like the product of some frivolous magic? Whom do you suppose the statue at the bridge represents? Not Mianite. I am an acolyte of the wounded goddess; I always have been. We worship Ianite.
LIEUTENANT AL: I have found evidence of a rebellion against Mianite! And I will have to arrest you, Prince, for leading this rebellion!
[With each syllable from Andor's lips grows a surrounding gust of wind, which halts the Lieutenant's advance, despite his best efforts to subdue the awakening acolyte.]
KING HELGRIND, now named APOSTLE HELGRIND: ANDOR!!!
ANDOR: While you have governed this port city and allocated its resources to the glorification of your "one true god," I-
APOSTLE HELGRIND, interrupting: You no longer have a place in this town! During my time away, the truth of the one true god has only become clearer.
ANDOR, speaking louder: I have been chiseling Ianite's likeness into your stones and penning her mantras into your paper. Her teachings have been with me all these years, guiding me towards a day of peace and unity-
LIEUTENANT AL: You will never…!
ANDOR, now shouting: -while you have winced at the thought of our hope and stooped over the corpses of the lost.
APOSTLE HELGRIND: Lieutenant, seize Andor and take him to our Lord.
ANDOR: If you had but journeyed with me! I am at the threshold. Soon, Ianite will rise! And my mother and sister's spirits will rise with her.
APOSTLE HELGRIND: Lieutenant!
LIEUTENANT AL: I- AM- TRYING!
ANDOR: I hear your voice, father. I hear your anger.
APOSTLE HELGRIND: ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE.
ANDOR: Do what you will with me. But first, know this. If your god is just and blameless, with flawless integrity, then fear not. Your battle is already won. But if there is the smallest fracture in Mianite's armor… then the crevice will widen. The shell will corrode. And Mianite's sins and yours will seep through. All the false glory you have built will be wiped in preparation for this world's restoration and rebirth. I do not know why you begrudge Ianite, for our family's death, nor why you hide your wounds, father. But I do know that healing is available to you. It is the greatest gift anyone can receive, greater than a shield, greater than a sword.
LIEUTENANT AL: Andor!
ANDOR: Greater than your perfect, made-up world. If it is your wish, see this to its end. Do everything in your power to create the world you so crave. I cannot stay your hand. I raise no sword. I wear no armor. I have only this boomerang, given by a true friend. You could stop this. We could go to the docks, and throw it, just like old times with Mom. We could. I invite you.
[ANDOR collapses from exhaustion. The protecting wind subsides, and he is immediately seized by LIEUTENANT AL.]
sam and brennan’s greatest weaknesses (respectively)
(transcript under the cut)
[transcript:
Clip 1:
Elaine: It’s possible this is my new favorite bird!
Sam: I agree. Before, my favorite birds were... [pauses]
Elaine: What?
Sam: Fuck me.
Elaine: [Laughs]
Sam: Um, bluejay. A robin. A cardinal. A flamingo... [pauses] Dinosaurs were technically birds. A pterodactyl—
Brennan: Sorry, dinosaurs were technically birds?!
Sam: I was just listening to an NPR story about this, Brennan.
Brennan: I believe that you mean birds were technically dinosaurs. Not all dinosaurs, were birds!
Elaine: He has a point.
Sam: Oh god in heaven, I don’t know if I know five more birds.
Clip 2:
Carolyn: Woody Harrelson has the vibe of someone who should have been cancelled years ago, but remains one of the rare celebrities loved by both sides of the political aisle, like Dolly Parton, The Rock, and... Kid Rock.
Brennan: That’s the opposite of these five celebrities that both the left and the right hate... Honestly, just like a list of five celebrities would be enough to really... [sigh] oh god, who’s famous? Um...
Sam: Who’s famous?
Carolyn: [Laughs]
Sam: This is like me with the birds.
Brennan: Oh, god, let’s switch. Let Sam name five famous people and I’ll name five birds. I’ll name a hundred birds!
Neil Gaiman and Rob Wilkins at the British Library event The Worlds of Terry Pratchett: Neil Gaiman and Rob Wilkins 21.11.2023
Neil: The weirdest bit, the one moment that I remember as being the strangest, most quintessentially writing Good Omens together moment was when we had to copy edit it. And we copy edited it in the basement of Victor Gollancz, which at that point was in 14 Henrietta Street. And the basement was a basement. There were chairs down there, no tables or anything. So we're sitting in these card chairs in this... my recollection is it did have a carpet. And the carpet was kind of damp. You know, beneath that carpet there was sort of strange puddles of... publishing. And Terry and I just sat there and we were both copy editing away. And then there was a point where Terry looked up and chuckled like anything. I said, 'What are you chuckling about?' He said, 'That joke you put in.' I said, 'Which one?' Because, you know, you want to hear which one. He read it out and I said, 'I didn't write that one'. He said, 'Well, I didn't write it'. And at that point you could tell from our eyes both of us had come to the conclusion that perhaps the manuscript was generating itself. And neither of us was prepared to say this out loud for fear of being thought a bit odd.
[Image description: A series of posts from Jason Lefkowitz @[email protected] dated Dec 08, 2022, 04:33, reading:
It's good that our finest minds have focused on automating writing and making art, two things human beings do simply because it brings them joy.
Meanwhile tens of thousands of people risk their lives every day breaking down ships, a task that nobody is in a particular hurry to automate because those lives are considered cheap https://www.dw.com/en/shipbreaking-recycling-a-ship-is-always-dangerous/a-18155491
(Headline: 'Recycling a ship is always dangerous.' on Deutsche Welle)
A world where computers write and make art while human beings break their backs cleaning up toxic messes is the exact opposite of the world I thought I was signing up for when I got into programming
Here’s a little explainer post I made for my instagram. Thought I’d post it here too! 🐾
It does a disservice to all listed communities to have them be misconstrued and misunderstood to the degree that they often are. Hopefully this post helps some folks understand the differences and nuances a bit better! ^^
Neil Gaiman and Rob Wilkins at the British Library event The Worlds of Terry Pratchett: Neil Gaiman and Rob Wilkins 21.11.2023
Neil about Good Omens Season 3: I need to clarify something, because the word has gone out that it's been greenlit. And what has actually been greenlit at this point is me writing the scripts. I have been commissioned to write the scripts. We are still waiting on tenterhooky tenterhooks for... I've been told we are only a couple of virtual clicks away, but those clicks have not yet been clicked. So when they are, the world will know.