#you know when people talk about an actor's “most beautiful” film — the one in which they were at their peak loveliness

[filmografie]

Dean Stockwell in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962), dir. Sidney Lumet

#you know when people talk about an actor's “most beautiful” film — the one in which they were at their peak loveliness #always lovely — but this was dean's #so reminiscent of james dean for me in this #dean stockwell #long day's journey into night #sidney lumet #1962 #m* #f: ldjin #p: dean stockwell #d: sidney lumet #m: gif #w23*

[avenitacaliente]

Tenoch Huerta and the racism in Mexico that he wants to be known about: a little bit of "Orgullo Prieto"

Photo taken for EL PAÍS, 09.07.22

For a few weeks Tenoch Huerta has been a trend on different social networks (which makes me proud, certainly. Hollywood finally makes the right people famous 👏) thanks to his portrayal of Namor in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (I already read all your fics, they're amazing by the way).

But today I want to talk about something else, beyond his sexy back, his great performance as Namor and his countless and exotic sexual fetishes: his first book, in which he exposes, without stuttering, racism in Mexico: "Orgullo Prieto".

For those who don't know, Tenoch is an actor who for some time has turned his privileged speaker into a continuous platform against racism in Mexico.

This year, a few months before the premiere of his most recent film, Tenoch gave us this beauty, where, based on reflections, anecdotes, questions, concepts and ideas, he covers this topic, in an attempt to answer the question: of what we talk when we talk about...?

I had the opportunity to read a little of this book, which from the first page captivated me. You may not believe me, but throughout the entire reading I was smiling. Not because Tenoch was telling a story that made me happy or saying something funny, but because every word this man wrote, every word from which I learned something new. It left me floored. As part of Mexican society, reading this book (even if it was only a small part of it) made me realize the impact that racism had and has on my life and those around me. It made me question the origin of every decision I've made in the past and many of them come from the same root: racism, which without realizing it, was instilled in me since I was a child.

Leaving my sentimental speech behind, I would like to share with you small parts of—what I read from—this book, phrases and stories that made me think, get out of my comfort zone and say: "Verga, estamos bien jodidotes".

—

"racism exists in everything: in every governmental, social, private, cultural institution and even in language. If we are part of this society and participate in all of the above, without needing to be violent or actively aggressor , whether we want to realize it or not, we are all racists. You and me too. Why? Because we were trained in it and it conditioned us, and because we ignore it for centuries so as not to speak openly and on a daily basis about the subject."

"It was too tired and painful. (He was talking about his attempt to belong to the whiteness) That attempt to assimilate me, to mix myself, cost me a lot. Little by little I came back to myself, but there is something I still can not recover from: I lost my linguistic identity, and I think forever. I stopped sounding like myself, like I sounded all my life. I stopped sounding like my childhood, like my friends, like my family. Years after having lost or forgotten this part of my identity, I took a voice workshop where the teacher said: "The eyes are the mirror of the soul, but the voice is the mirror of intimacy". I had lost it: I had lost myself. I was adrift for a few years and made a number of stupid things that separated me from my true and original being."

"I remember when, as a child, a teacher asked me if my parents weren't ashamed for giving me a dog's name. She was Mexican, brown like me, and part of the same population group. Without knowing it, with that question, she was denying our roots, our identity. She did it because she surely grew up hearing (also at school, the same from monographs or history books full of Europhile biases) that our ancestors were savages and that Europeans were an "advanced" civilization, just because they were cool, because they were splendid, They came to save us from an almost animal life. We must thank them for our "humanization" or something like that. Was it really like that? Were the Mesoamerican peoples the true savages?"

"I remember one of my girlfriends, brown girl, who always sought shade or avoided sunbathing at all costs because "it burned her face". She didn't say it because she was worried about getting skin cancer, but because she didn't want it to darken. She even told me that it was to avoid stains. She searched for all possible euphemisms to turn around the real reason: not to get "more dark". It is clear to me that she, like others, surely grew up hearing that the ideal way to be beautiful was to aspire to be white and that if you are dark, you have to avoid being even more so. They are aggressions that mark us."

"What happens then with those who deny racism in their country? Being racist is a "bad" thing. So, first: no one comes off as racist because no one wants to be the bad guy. Second: since they do not see themselves in that situation, riding a horse burning crosses, it means that they are not racist. It would be like saying that men who commit gender violence are only those who have reached the point of beating or murdering a woman. Seen like this, if I don't wear the cone, I'm not a racist. Mistake."

—

#tenoch huerta #tenoch x reader #poder prieto #orgullo prieto #justicia social #social justice #mexico #mexican #racisim #clasismo #tenoch huerta namor #king namor #namor smut #namor fanfiction #prince namor #marvel #wakanda forever #black panther #marvel universe #activism #namor x reader #pase 8 hrs escribiendo esto qué

[icallhimjoey]

All Goes South

♥ ♥  Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: Joe is overworked, tired, exhausted and just... he needs a break. Everyone knows it, too. None of it is really exciting to him anymore. Then, he meets you, and something reignites within him.

CW / disclaimer: 18+, language, drinking, rpf, fem!reader, angst, mentions of smut

Author’s note: Here's part 4! There's girlies who have started to figure some shit out and are leaving me beautiful theories in my askbox - I love it. Also, I am sorry.

Wordcount: 4.7k

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

It felt totally dodgy to be waiting by a dirty steel door on the side of the building, one that could only be opened from the inside, and was away from all the hustle and bustle of press and actors and all the crowds of people.

Joe told you to wait for him there.

He'd sneak you in.

"You snuck me out of something, let me sneak you into something," Joe had said.

"Have you got a ticket for me? What if they check?"

Joe laughed, said, "You've never been to a film premier before, have you?"

"Obviously I fucking haven't, Jesus Christ, Joe,"

You didn't know what that meant. Did they not check tickets? Did they only do that at the door? Would Joe wait until the film started to come and get you? You had no clue, but Joe said to wait there and he'd come and get you. Promised you he would.

You checked the time. Any minute now Joe was meant to let you inside.

Realising that you looked a little nervous, you thought perhaps you shouldn't be so jittery and be looking around so much. That made it look like you were being sneaky. Best to act very casual. Just lean against the wall, like you're meant to be there.

Your phone buzzed in your hand. Your heart jumped into your throat when you saw it was from Joe.

"They're doing popcorn. Sweet or salty?"

Of course they fucking do popcorn, this was a cinema, wasn't it?

"Can I be annoying and ask for a mix?"

Joe read your message, but didn't reply.

This was so stupid.

Just when you were about to get antsy enough to consider leaving, there was movement. Metal creaked and with a shove, the door opened roughly, revealing Joe, who'd pushed the door open with his shoulders, holding two striped popcorn boxes.

He looked really good. All dapper. Handsome. Fuck.

His eyes were large and he winced at the loud noise the door made, immediately checking behind him. Then he beckoned you with his head and you slipped into the building, now crossing a barrier, definitely breaking rules, illegally trespassing to see a film you had no right to see.

"Most people have gone inside, we should be good. Walk ahead of me, I'll tell you where to go,"

And so like you were some assistant, someone guiding Joe throughout the building, you walked ahead of him and listened as he whispered, "Up the stairs," "Take a left," "Door on the right," and your heart thumped heavily in your throat as you walked past some people in designer outfits who stood together and talked. Celebrities. No one really paid attention to you though, and behind you, you heard Joe say hi to them. You feared maybe someone would stop him, rope him in for a chat because then what would you do? Would you keep walking? Sort of aimlessly keep wandering?

They didn't stop him. Thank fuck.

Joe lead you up another set of stairs to a little balcony that only held 8 red plush cinema chairs, and it was very clear that it wasn't meant to be used on this occasion. On the other side of the theater you saw a the other balcony was empty too, and it made you relax a little. There was no way people were going to see you up there.

This was exciting. Made you whisper, "Oh my God," a lot, which in turn, made Joe grin impossibly wide.

Joe sat down, and you did too - quickly, because being this close to the banister made you feel a little exposed standing up. There were previews playing for upcoming films you'd never heard of, all very exclusive.

"Sweet and salty," Joe whispered and handed you both the boxes of popcorn.

"What?" You were about to say, this isn't what you meant. But then Joe took the top of one of them and lifted it out of an empty box that you were then still holding. Like he knew exactly what he was doing, he tipped a little from one of the full boxes into the empty one. Joe then waited, and when you didn't do anything, he tapped the full box of popcorn in your other hand.

Oh. Yes, of course. You tipped some of that in, and then Joe again, and then you, until there was 1 box of sweet and salty popcorn, just how you liked it. It was sort of dark, and this had every potential to get messy, but you'd been surprisingly steady-handed given the situation you were in.

It was very apparent that this was weird. You'd met Joe the night before, not even 24 fucking hours ago, and under questionable circumstances as well. And now he'd smuggled you into a place you definitely weren't meant to be, and it was exciting but nervewracking.

Joe tipped whatever was left into a box together and discarded the empty one to the side.

You gave each other a look, one that said, this is mad and so so dumb, and you both had to repress giggles. You were about to watch a film with a bunch of celebrities - none of which you could see, the room was dark, and you were up high on a balcony trying to hide from them, but even just knowing that they were down there was thrilling to you.

But then the film started, and about ten minutes in, your mind was elsewhere. Racing. You were going to be sat next to Joe for about two hours. In the dark. Just the two of you. In silence. All sober.

You couldn't focus on the film at all.

Because you were sat next to Joe. And it was just the two of you and you'd had sex.

Twice.

And now... so, um... now what?

It kind of felt like doom overtook you, and you let it all go south. What if someone was to come up here and catch you? How much trouble would you be in? How much trouble would Joe be in?

You were hyperaware of the man next to you, tried your best to relax, but, it just wasn't going to happen, was it?

About 45 minutes into the film, your leg was bouncing, and you and Joe had just silently stared at the screen. Ate popcorn. Hadn't touched each other once. Which, you know, was fine, because your hands were exceptionally clammy.

You didn't know how to be around Joe. How to act. What to say.

You were strangers to each other.

Complete strangers.

At a particular funny bit in the film, Joe laughed and looked at you, but saw you were sort of... staring into space, not even paying attention to whatever was happening on screen at all. Uncomfortable energy radiated from you as you fidgetted with your fingers, and Joe thought he recognised an anxiety attack, so he reached to squeeze one of your hands.

"Hey, you want to get out of here?" he whispered, his face soft but serious. No playing.

You snapped your head and looked at him, a little panicked and definitely awkward. What was he insinuating?

"Um, no, that's okay, we can stay,"

Joe huffed a breath through his nose, and whispered, "I didn't mean let's get out of here wink wink nudge nudge, I meant, you seem anxious, let's leave, get some fresh air."

You blinked at Joe for a moment, thought things over in your mind and then decided, um, yea, you should probably leave.

"Yea, all right," and you were already up on your feet leaving Joe to feel guilty for not having noticed the state of you sooner.

You walked out the main entrance together, unafraid of getting caught, because you were already on your way out anyway. Outside people were packing up large metal barriers and rolling up the red carpets and even though you were in the middle of the city with questionable air quality; breathing in cold air was nice.

You crossed your arms and hugged them tightly to your body as Joe guided you with a hand that hovered behind your lower back towards a road where you could get a cab. You said something about the film, tried to excuse your nervous demeanor and Joe politely engaged in conversation. Made you feel like it wasn't a big deal, said he wanted to get an early night in anyway.

Whilst you waited for a taxi, you stood close to each other, but didn't touch, and it felt a bit strange. You were doing this whole thing backwards and all of it felt wrong.

"I meant what I said you know," Joe suddenly said.

You looked up at him, confused. You didn't know what he was referencing and it made Joe swallow thickly. You were going to make him say it. Sober.

"I don't think we made any mistakes... you're not–" Joe coughed into his hand and you couldn't help repress a smile as you noticed he seemed a little nervous too. "You're not a mistake."

You laughed, loudly. It was all nerves that bubbled up out of you, and then you scrunched your nose up at him.

"Yea, well... we'll see,"

And it was silly, but you felt a little fragile when Joe then grabbed you by the arm and pulled you into him on the back of your laughter. He enveloped you into a hug and then just kind of... held you, for a moment. Joe held tight arms behind your back, and then, he moved one up to cradle your head and press it against his chest so he could perch his head upon it.

You didn't even really care about the empty cabs whizzing past. Joe was holding you and it was warm and it was nice and you released all tension in a deep sigh and actually, you kind of regretted not having touched him sooner. Not having kissed him sooner. You could've held hands in the cinema, but you hadn't, and now you felt stupid because, you dumb idiot, this was so nice.

When you felt Joe pull back a little, you moved your head to look up at him and you were embarrased as you smiled at each other. Joe was all kindness, his eyes told you he understood, even if you didn't even fully understand yourself.

God, you just... you just really wanted to kiss him.

You only had to move up onto your tippy-toes a little bit for Joe to naturally dip down for a kiss. And fuck, it was so soft. Joe kissed you with so much feeling, you almost wanted to whine into it. You could've been doing exactly this in the dark, in private, up on a balcony but now, instead, you were stood by the side of a busy street and that was the mistake. Because you kind of wanted to grab Joe by his hair, drag him into a taxi with you and kiss him deeper, and harder, and lick his mouth all over until you were all wet and panting.

But you couldn't.

Because you were out on the street.

And you were going home alone.

When you finally broke your kiss, because honestly, it was getting a bit much, Joe looked past you, waved a high arm, and a cab pulled up.

"All right, well, let me know if you need sneaking out of something again," you joked as Joe opened the door for you.

"You sure?" Joe challenged with a smile. "You're gonna be busy then, because I've got a lot coming up,"

And you smiled at each other as you sat down and Joe closed the door for you.

You gave the driver your address and Joe bent over outside your window, pressed a kiss against his fingers and then pressed his hand against the glass. You did the same, and it was all sorts of adorable, until the taxi pulled up and drove off.

Ugh.

Yea, all right. You liked Joe. You liked Joe a lot.

Maybe you should've just gotten drunk again before you'd gone to meet Joe outside that steel door on the side of cinema. Everything would've been easier and maybe would've felt more natural if you'd been drunk together.

It was only seconds later when you received a text message.

From Joe.

"I've got a TV recording on Thursday"

It was quickly followed by another.

"Want me to sneak you in so you can sneak me out?"

Over two weeks passed where Joe snuck you into TV recordings, award shows, film premiers and other industry events.

Two weeks of nerves and anxiety but also fun and actual butterflies.

There was no denying, there were actual butterflies and you were trying your very bestest best to ignore them, but sometimes, Joe would text you and say he was making dinner and you should come over and then you would.

And then you'd have dinner together at Joe's house, and would maybe play footsie under the table, and maybe, if you were lucky, you'd kiss in the kitchen after you'd loaded up the dishwasher together.

You'd not said it in so many words, but it felt like you agreed to take things slow. Slower, at least.

You'd only had sex one more time after that first night, and it was in Joe's shower.

Thinking back to it, it almost felt impossible to explain to yourself how you'd gotten there, and it was easy to pretend it hadn't happened. All of it had just... washed down the drain. Had disappeared. Wasn't really there anymore.

Except obviously, it was very there.

And Joe was very handsy.

Always so very handsy.

You kind of loved it.

Joe took you to all things Joe didn't really want to go to, didn't really want to do at all, but your giddy little face whenever you'd set foot on a set, or in a green room, or got to meet someone you admired was so fun to witness. He just wanted to show you everything. Have you experience everything. Make you see how fun things could be, even if he'd kind of forgotten himself since he'd grown kind of tired of it all.

That was why you also never stayed long. The second Joe felt like he could leave, you'd sneak out together. Sometimes Joe would see you grow anxious past the point of it just being a bouncy leg, and he'd leave before he was allowed to. Most of the time unseen.

He'd gotten used to the habit of turning his phone off just before he'd run off to avoid any and all contact from his team.

You never felt okay about that, always felt a bit guilty. Never wanted Joe to get in actual trouble.

But Joe didn't care. Joe just wanted to make sure that you were okay.

And thanks to him, you always were, but there was always a thought that lingered. What if this time, it wasn't going to be okay? What if this time, it was going to change everything?

You thought everything was going to change when Joe texted you, "Are you busy tonight?" and you looked around your small, dingy flat before answering,

"Other than falling asleep to bad TV and sleeping off this splitting headache, not really"

You'd just finished doing dishes and were quite literally excited to lay down on your sofa and not move for the rest of the evening.

"Sounds lush, come do that here"

Joe hadn't yet been over to your place, and you'd been weird about it that first night, so Joe had never asked to come over again. You were glad; your place was a filthy shoebox compared to Joe's home. A really grimy one, all sorts of drab, with a messy flatmate, because who the fuck could afford a flat in central London as an undergrad?

You sent Joe a pic from your position on the sofa, your legs spread out with your ankles crossed on the coffee table.

"Don't wanna move"

"Text your address again?"

Joe made that sound all kinds of casual. You'd never texted Joe your address before, and him coming over to your place was definitely not what you had planned for. You probably would've hoovered had you known earlier in the day. Now? Not a chance.

Joe'd dropped you off after a photoshoot once, so he vaguely knew whereabouts your lived, but he'd never been over.

You knew you'd hate yourself for it later. Joe had no business being in your dirty little flat. But you didn't reply with a joke, or a sly comment, or even something flirty. You just texted your address, because, actually, you really fucking wanted to snuggle up to Joe, even if that meant Joe was going to see your unhoovered flat, and maybe meet your flatmate.

When Joe entered, it was obvious to him why you needed a proper job. He didn't comment, but you could see him look, which was fine - you'd looked around his place the first time you'd seen it too. Different reasons, of course, but, whatever.

He joined you on the sofa, and tried to make polite conversation. Said he brought gin, because he knew it was your favourite, but you hardly reacted. You weren't joking before when you said you had a headache. And so Joe dropped it. Just sat next to you and was happy he got to be close.

That was all he wanted anyway. To be close.

It didn't take long before you found yourself nodding off, head bobbing, jerking itself back up every time it fell forward. You were fighting off yawns and kept rubbing your face in a weak attempt to stay awake. It was hard work, and your headache started getting worse, but you had a guest over, and it was rude to just fall asleep next to them, so you fought against all insticts until you heard a soft chuckle from Joe.

"You're allowed to sleep, you know? Come, lay down,"

And then he offered you his lap.

So much for taking things slow. Sure, you weren't about to deep throat him, but that was some close penis-to-face interaction you were about to get involved in.

But you were so tired.

And you really liked Joe.

So you moved, and scooted, and your head found Joe's lap. Four arms worked together to cover you with the throw blanket, and before you knew it, Joe's hand was patting your hair, and then a kiss got pressed into it before he sat back up.

His hand remained, and fingers raked, brushed and softly played and all of it made you fully relax. Turned you into putty. Made you melt into Joe's touch. Nothing was going to beat this. Ever.

It only took you a few seconds to drift away. To float. To hover in flight, the wind keeping you stationary. Somehow you felt yourself slipping away from Joe whilst simultatiously moving towards him more.

Joe made small comments about whatever you were watching, but his voice was a faraway thing that melted over you a little. You drifted and floated and hovered until you found yourself in this bubble where it was just warmth, comfortability and tingles from scalp scratches. Your thoughts went fuzzy, and you didn't think about how you always seemed to self-sabotage everything in your life. How you always pushed away whoever was trying to get close. In your bubble it was safe, and Joe was allowed inside, and nothing could hurt you in there, in Joe's hands.

Teetering on the edge of falling asleep, Joe noticed your breathing had become steady and slow, so he pulled his hand away, afraid that his touch would wake you back up. But the second his fingers stopped playing, you stirred, hummed, and then blindly reached behind your head to find it and place it back. It made Joe's chest swell. Made him think things, like he wanted this forever, like he wanted to kiss you. Cuddle you. Inhale you. Be close. Forever be close.

Joe was in trouble.

Trouble had found him in the form of a pretty girl and Joe was absolutely fucking gone for you.

You thought everything was going to change then, but it hadn't. Not at all, actually.

Then, you were convinced everything was going to change when, after a long day at the office, you really wanted to have a long bath. Just sit in a tub for an hour, submerged in hot bubbles that smelled like a Lush store. Except your flat didn't have a tub. Obviously, it didn't. So, you texted Joe.

"Am I allowed to come over and just sit in your bath for an hour?"

Joe read the message fast enough, but didn't reply quite as fast. So you followed up with,

"Nothing weird, just had a long day and want a bath but I don't have one 🥺"

And then Joe texted back, "Hurry up" along with a picture of his bathtub with the taps already running.

Joe pretended to be so normal about having you naked in his bath upstairs, all covered in bubbles, but it was so obvious that he absolutely wasn't normal about it, because he kept walking in with a different excuse each time.

The first time, he brought in a mug of tea and asked if you wanted music on.

The second time, he walked in with a handful of tealights which he placed around, lit, and then turned the big light off.

The third time, he walked in with a screwdriver in his hand, and he looked up at the ceiling. Like he was checking something that needed fixing.

"Joe,"

There wasn't anything that needed fixing.

"Nah, I think... I think it's fine," Joe concluded and he walked out again.

The fourth time, he did an insanely theatrical tip-toe walk over to one of the cabinets that he then started rummaging through.

"Joe, if you want to be in here, just, be in here, but be quiet, I'm trying to relax," you said with your eyes still closed.

Joe didn't need telling twice and immediately stepped closer and sat down next to the tub. When silence returned, you sighed deeply. This was nice. Baths were nice. So relaxing. The second you'd get a real job, you decided you'd start looking for a flat that had one.

You quickly grew uncomfortable, and when you opened one eye to peek, you saw it was because Joe had perched his chin on the ledge and was just, sort of staring at you all dreamily with an impossibly wide grin plastered on his face.

"What you thinking 'bout, Joey?" you closed your eye again and shifted a little to get more comfortable.

"Just," Joe sighed, "Just thinking about what I want,"

You had to fight off a smile.

"Oh yeah? Well... what do you want?"

You opened your eyes a smidge, just enough to see Joe's face, eyes half-lidded, biting both his lips into his mouth. You had an inkling where this was going, but Joe took his sweet time answering, so you raised your eyebrows in question to nudge him on.

He needed to say it.

"You."

Oh my God, he said it.

You thought everything was going to change then, when you grabbed Joe by his collar and pulled him into the bath, fully clothed, because you needed to kiss him. But it hadn't. It changed nothing at all.

And nothing changed when you noticed an impossibly long eyebrow hair, and straddled Joe on the sofa to pluck it. You groomed Joe, brushed his eyebrows up to check if there were more hairs that needed plucking, and Joe loved your focused little face all up close. He didn't love the plucking, but he loved how afterwards you kissed it better and he got to tickle you until you were under him and he got to kiss you on the sofa for a little bit.

And nothing changed when you slept over again, and Joe had woken up before you did and he was so stupidly in love, he could just stare at you for hours. He would trail fingers across your skin, down your arms, around your fingers, down your face and across your lips. Everything about you was so gorgeous, it gave him cute aggression, like he needed to sink his teeth into you.

And then, nothing changed when Joe watched you get ready to go to work after he had stayed over at yours for the first time. You were darting around the flat, from the bathroom to the kitchen, back into the bedroom where you did your make-up on the floor in front of your full length mirror and Joe was in bed still, perched up on an elbow, leaning to the side as he watched you.

"What?" you asked when you noticed he'd been looking at you apply your mascara.

"Where did you even come from?" Joe sighed, and you turned around to look at him a moment.

"The kitchen," you said dryly, and it made Joe laugh because, you had. You had come from the kitchen the first time Joe'd seen you.

Joe would sometimes still skip things. Call in with dumb excuses and his team had given up on asking him any further questions. They were glad he was attending more things than he had in a while, and let him have his moments of wanting to rest. Have nights in. Nights he spent with you.

And it was all good. Joe wasn't in trouble, and neither were you.

But then, everything changed when, on a Wednesday, Joe called you around lunch time and said, "Hey, you busy today?"

"I mean... am I ever?"

You both chuckled a little.

"Let me take you to this amazing cocktail place. You ever been to Savage Garden?"

"Oh, um... I don't know,"

"Their rooftop terrace is called the Pink Gin terrace, you're going to love it."

"Daytime drinking, Joe?" you sounded unsure.

"The view is amazing, it's right by the Tower of London. I'll pick you up in a bit!"

"Oh, but–"

You didn't get to finish your sentence and your face flushed with anxiety. Joe wasn't meant to be out daytime drinking. Joe wasn't meant to suggest you to go to a cocktail bar with you. Joe wasn't supposed to just... throw away his day like that.

But you couldn't come up with a good excuse to text him. Couldn't think of anything to get out of it. Couldn't tell him actually, no, you did have work to do, and maybe you could just... go drinking another time.

You couldn't go for drinks with Joe because Joe couldn't go for drinks with you.

You knew everything was about to change.

Everything changed when Joe picked you up.

Everything changed when you shared a cab.

Everything changed when Joe took up to the 12th floor.

And everything changed when Joe was about to have his first sip of his drink, but then, before he could, he lowered his glass as he looked over your shoulder and his face dropped.

Everything changed right in that moment, and it all changed for the worse.

"I'm so sorry," you started.

What was his fucking manager doing at the Pink Gin Terrace?

"What?"

"Joe, you need to know I never meant– it was all, it happened too fast, and then, you... I'm sorry, you need to know I'm so sorry," you rambled, and because you were pathetic like that, you started welling up.

"Alex?" Joe frowned.

"I had to let him know, you've got– ...it's your own film premier, Joe. You can't skip out on your own film premier... I–"

"Come on, Joe," Alex interupted, and he looked like a teacher who was about to give detention to a student he really liked. Didn't want to, but had to.

Joe moved his eyes from his manager over to you. From stern sort of sad eyes to apologetic guilty even sadder eyes.

"I'm sorry," you said again, wanted that ingrained into his head. Joe had to know you were so very sorry.

You tried to reach a hand, but Joe moved it out of your reach before he got up. He looked confused, but refused to make eyecontact before he started moving towards the exit.

"Thanks for your text," Alex then said to you. "I'll see you back at the office on Monday."

Then Joe snapped his head back to look at you.

Hurt.

It all imploded.

Everything changed.

The whole lot went south.

---

The Taglisted: 

@ghostinthebackofyourhead @dirtyeddietini @jasminearondottir @josephquinned @cancankiki @sidthedollface2 @dylanmunson @munsonsgirl71 @alana4610 @emmamooney @sadbitchfangirl @thatonefan-girl @paola-carter @figmentofquinn @haylaansmi @thewondernanazombie @munsonmunster @kellysimagines @mybffjoe @chaoticgood-munson @sherrylyn628 @bdpst-massacre @05secondsofsexgods @lovelyblueness @adoreyouusugar @nadixq @prozacandnicotine @munsonswhore86 @alwayslindie @thefemininemystiquee @hauntingbastille @eddie-joe-munson @ali-in-w0nderland @pepperstories @phyllosilicate-s @thebellenouvelle @luvrsbian @joesquinns @choke-me-joey @alizztor @thelostmoonofpooosh @did-it-work @capricornrisingsstuff @quinnsbower @frogers @kennedy-brooke @daleyeahson @eddielives1986 @harringtonfan4

(taglist currently full, sorry)

#Joe Quinn #Joseph Quinn #Joe Quinn x You #Joseph Quinn x You #Joe Quinn x Reader #Joseph Quinn x Reader #Joe Quinn Fanfic #Joe Quinn fanfiction #Joseph Quinn Fanfic #Joseph Quinn Fanfiction #rpf #all goes south #icallhimjoey #part 4

[accio-victuuri]

I’m sharing this here cause i have seen it going around with people i follow on Wb and the things they say is so true! I’ve been seeing this movie blogger since Hidden Blade came out and they have always been fair with their evaluation of Yibo. The whole post is on their account 鬽影縫匠 and i’m only putting here ones that directly pertain to WYB. 🤍 I found myself nodding along while reading their thoughts and i know a lot of people who follow me on here will too.

I almost laughed out loud at a blog post about the “Nomination List for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Rooster Award". I chose two representative blog posts to share my views on "Best Supporting Actor" and several candidates:

[ Blog Post One ] Wang Yibo and Li Xuejian appeared in the nominations at the same time. This is the most magical joke in Chinese movies...

This is a highly offensive and targeted blog post, and the meaning between the lines is that "Wang Yibo is not worthy of being on the same list as Li Xuejian" , as for why, I didn’t say it, anyway, it’s just not worthy... Looking at the bright side, this blogger may feel that Wang Yibo is young and has a short acting career, and it’s not enough to compete with a drama actor like Li Xuejian, but he ignored an important question: This is not a PK between Wang Yibo and Mr. Li Xuejian, but Mr. Ye in "Hidden Blade" and Ji Chang in "Fengshen Part 1" competing on the same stage. The two characters, Mr. Ye and Ji Chang, play an important role in their respective works. They have their own lives and personalities. Who can portray the character more closely and whose performance is more convincing? Who plays a more critical role, and whose role is more important. Putting them on the same candidate list is not only not a joke, but also the embodiment of the Golden Rooster Award's spirit of "only recognizing the work and not holding any prejudices." If you still think this nomination is a joke, then examine whether there is a mountain of prejudice in your heart.

[Blog post 2] It seems that in the future, when making movies, you need to bring a lot of traffic, not only to earn box office, but also to be nominated...

This is a view that seems to concern the country and the people, but is actually dirty to the core. This prejudice is more serious than the previous one, and can even be said to have affected the development of Chinese films. This must be cleared up. Let’s not talk about the Golden Rooster Awards, which have professional judges who strictly control the threshold. Let’s talk about “traffic”: When we talk about “traffic”, what exactly are we talking about? It’s nothing more than the huge fan appeal that he brings with him, and the real money that this appeal can turn into. This is an actor’s own attribute, and he can’t get rid of it, because of his background. They are still actors. They cannot call others actors when we need box office to revitalize the Chinese film market. When we are done throwing it away, we call them "traffic" and spit twice. Such moral quality is worrying. Besides, since 10-15, "traffic has harmed movies" After that, most of today's young actors work very hard and fight hard. Those "traffic" who cried when their hands were broken have long been eliminated.

We must look at today's young actors from a developmental perspective. Chinese movies need fresh blood and call for the emergence of young actors. Don’t let public opinion stop the future of Chinese cinema. Taking a step back, today's veteran actors were once handsome men and beauties when they were young, but there was no such thing as "traffic" at that time. Today's young actors may have a higher starting point, but the path that the veteran actors have traveled has led them to leave, and it will be more difficult for them. The pressure they have to face is many times that of the veteran actors back then. Relax, the film industry is a field of survival of the fittest, and those who are not good will eventually be eliminated. Let us take a longer view and see who will be at the top ten years from now.

[About the nomination list] Except for Jinba’s performance (Back to Tibet), which I didn’t have the opportunity to see, I have watched all the other four’s works, and all of them more than twice. I was deeply impressed by each actor’s performance. The supporting actor award is a difficult one to judge in this year's Golden Rooster... Personally, I prefer Mr. Ye played by Wang Yibo and Qin Hui played by Lei Jiayin. Since Mr. Ye is Wang Yibo's first important big screen role, the scenes are sufficient and unexpected. The degree of completion, through his portrayal and interpretation, Mr. Ye is a completely gripping and fresh character

#wang yibo #hidden blade #hidden blade movie #golden rooster awards best supporting actor nominee wang yibo #YES TO ALL THE WORDS WRITTEN. I’m just so happy when i see a post that perfectly describes what i wanna say.

[doll-elvis]

PRISCILLA 2023: the press conference and incoming reviews

today was my day off of work so naturally I stayed up until 5:15 am (pacific standard time thingz) to watch the press conference, and to read some of the incoming reviews for the film 😩

here are the most interesting notes from the press conference (it was extremely brief) and the reviews that I found the most interesting ⬇️

✭ the key moment in the press conference was most definitely Priscilla getting asked a question despite her not being on the panel but in the audience. She was asked how she felt about her life being represented on film and what touched her most about the movie… she gave the best answer of the conference imo

- she became emotional nearly right away and had to take a moment to wipe her tears for which she apologized

- at first she simply said “the ending”, referring to what touched her most about the film. Based on that, and another question, I’m assuming the film ends with Priscilla leaving Elvis

-there were a few questions which shed Elvis in a bad light and so Priscilla referenced one of the journalists and began defending Elvis: she said that her parents had no idea why Elvis was so drawn to her and wanted to be with her, but she states that she was someone that Elvis could completely pour his heart out into (she references the loss of Gladys, his fears, and his frustration with his career)

-As she says it, she was there to listen and to comfort him, she said that is what drew Elvis to her. She states she was mature for her age “older in life but not in numbers”. She also says that in the beginning of the relationship, when she was 14, the relationship was not about sex and that he always respected her

“People think, ‘Oh, it was sex.’ No, it wasn’t. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very soft, very loving, but he also respected the fact I was only 14 years old”

-she talked about how she didn’t know why Elvis had put so much trust into her but she realized it was because she never gave him up. She never told anyone at school she was seeing him etc. etc

-to end her statement she says that Elvis was the love of her life, and that she didn’t leave him because she didn’t love him, she left because she couldn’t handle the lifestyle

some other key notes-

- the very first question by a journalist referenced physical and mental abuse that is shown in the film

-Jacob Elordi seriously surprised me (in the best way) with his very first answer: he was asked about Elvis telling Priscilla “maybe another time, maybe another place” and how he related to that. He first talked about how Priscilla’s book was the main source for him, and how he came to understand the scale of their love (between Elvis and Priscilla) and the power of it. He said it’s “true”, “undying”, and “it’s beautiful”. He finished by saying that Elvis and Priscilla will be tethered for eternity because of their love

(I honestly didn’t expect such an insightful answer from him lmaoo 🤧)

- Sofia talked about how it was really important for this film to only be the from the perspective of Priscilla, and she says that one of the reasons she loves film is because you can experience someone else’s story

- One journalist asked Sofia if she learned anything new about Elvis from talking with Priscilla and she says that Priscilla told her about how when they would go to movies together in Germany, Elvis would always mouth the words to film… that is how badly he wanted to be a serious actor

- Jacob was asked if he drew any inspiration from the 2022 “Elvis” and he said “no.”, and that Sofia helped him tackle his fears in portraying someone as big as Elvis

- When asked about why Jacob was casted as Elvis, Sofia said that she felt that he had the same charisma as Elvis but most importantly he could play the sensitive and vulnerable side to Elvis

There were a few other technical questions about the film’s palette and music but the press conference ended super quickly, it was a bit awkward to watch and the lead actress, Cailee Spaeny, was naturally very nervous 😭

Overall, reviews have been mixed. Some are saying it’s Coppola’s best work. Some are saying it lacks any depth. And many have had not good things to say about Elvis which makes me anxious for what kind of content is shown in the movie

Here are some of the newest reviews for the film, courtesy of letterboxd ⬇️:

“it avoids giving any sort of context to why Elvis was acting the way he was” is the most worrisome line out of all of these to me… elvis is quite possibly the most context needing person ever

it’s a lot to digest at once, what do y’all think about everything?

#I’m feeling so disillusioned at the moment #I feel like Priscilla and Coppola are on two different wavelengths #the way Priscilla talked about Elvis doesn’t not align with the film’s reviews #ahhh I just want to see this movie already #the unknown is killing me #elvis presley #elvisaaronpresley #elvis #elvis history #elvis fans #priscilla movie #priscilla 2023 #priscilla presley #venice film festival #sofia coppola

[ericdeggans]

Why hoping Lily Gladstone won an Oscar does not equal valuing race over talent.

Social media is never a great place to have discussions about race and culture. The real issues at hand are way too nuanced and detailed for outrage factories like X/Twitter and Instagram to handle.

Still, I was disappointed to see so many people – perhaps willfully – missing the point online when discussion rose after the Oscars about Lily Gladstone failing to win best actress honors.

No doubt, a win for Gladstone – who would have been the first Native American woman to earn a major acting Oscar – also would have felt like a serious triumph for champions touting the power of diversity in film.

Feeling the love big time today, especially from Indian Country. Kittō”kuniikaakomimmō”po’waw - seriously, I love you all ❤️ (Better believe when I was leaving the Dolby Theater and walked passed the big Oscar statue I gave that golden booty a little Coup tap - Count: one 😉)

— Lily Gladstone (@lily_gladstone) March 12, 2024

Those of us who clock these things regularly knew that Emma Stone’s turn in Poor Things was most likely to spoil that scenario. Stone offered a showy-yet-accomplished performance as a singular character in an ambitious, creatively weird production. A much-loved past winner delivering a career-best effort, she was just the kind of nominee that Oscar loves to reward. And, as Vulture pointed out, modern Oscar voters seem to enjoy turning against expectations in big moments like this.

But when I expressed those feelings online – that Stone was marvelous and more than earned the award, but the Oscar academy really missed a chance to make history by overlooking Gladstone’s more subtle, quietly powerful turn in a better movie – the knives came out.

The gist of most negative reactions was the implication that I and others lamenting her loss were insisting that ethnicity should trump talent. As if the only or most important reason that an indigenous woman could be nominated for such a lofty award, is by people trying to bring social justice to the Oscars. (I guess Gladstone’s wins as best actress at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, among others, were also nods to diversity?)

As if it couldn’t be possible that perhaps -- just perhaps -- some racial cultural preferences were mixed up in Oscar voters’ attraction to the story of a beautiful, young white woman who has loads of sex while learning to define herself in a male dominated world.

What really disappointed me, however, was reading an analysis which reached all the way back to the 2017 Oscars to imply that one reason Barry Jenkins’ masterpiece Moonlight won best picture honors over La La Land was the pressure to bring social justice to the Oscars.

Talk about missing the point by a mile. What I’m driving at, when I advocate for contenders like Gladstone, Barry Jenkins and Jeffrey Wright, isn’t a finger on the scale to make up for past exclusion.

It’s a plea for Oscar voters to see these performances the way I and so many other people actually see them.

I still remember watching last year’s version of The Color Purple in a screening alongside lots of folks from Black fraternity and sorority organizations. And when the moment arrived where Danielle Brooks’ character intoned about her husband, “I loves Harpo — God knows I do — but I’ll kill him dead before I let him or anybody beat me,” it felt like the whole theater said those words with her. That’s how iconic those lines -- first spoken on film by Oprah Winfrey in the 1985 production – have become for Black America.

That same feeling came after I first saw Cord Jefferson’s brilliant American Fiction, centered on a frustrated, floundering Black writer who creates a stereotypical parody of a Black novel as a dark joke, only to see it become a best seller. I felt as if Jefferson had pulled the same bait-and-switch with his movie that his lead character managed onscreen – using the outrageous premise to draw us all into a more subtle and deliberately powerful story of a Black man struggling to connect with his family after huge losses.

I needed three attempts to get through watching all of Gladstone’s work in Killers of the Flower Moon. Not because the movie was so long I had to “get my mail forwarded to the theater,” like Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked. But because it was so hard for me to watch a film centered on the historic exploitation and murder of Native American people by white men.

It sounds like a simple idea, but it’s worth repeating: evocative moments in films will speak differently to different people.

Sometimes, when I’m pushing for a win in an awards category, or championing a particular project, it’s not because I’m putting a finger on the scale for the sake of equality. It’s because I’m more invested in that story than some others because of who I am. And I’m challenging some people, who might not see their cultural preferences as preferences, to consider exactly why they love one thing over another.

In many ways, it is sad to see great artists pitted against each other in these contests. Comparing the delightful, dangerous absurdity of Poor Things to the gritty, punishing tone in Killers of the Flower Moon feels like a fool’s errand, anyway.

But with so much that comes from an Oscar win – including proof that inclusion brings success, accolades and a great argument for more equity – it is important to understand why some people value some performances.

And part of living in a diverse society means valuing the wide range of opinions and reactions, not shrugging off those that don’t fit your worldview.

#oscars #gladstone #movies #racism #tv #Youtube

[the-other-art-blog]

I don't know if you have seen these comments on social media, but I have noticed a large part of people hate AmyLaurie even if they think of Jo is aro/ace or lesbian. They just hate the ship. When I read the book after the movie, I thought it was very well developed.

I've seen it. I think most of it comes from the idea that Laurie and Amy's marriage is a direct consequence of Jo's rejection. I hear people talk about them in a simplistic and superficial manner. "Laurie loves Jo but she says no, so he goes to her sister," or "Amy married her sister's ex." Cinema Therapy referred to it as Laurie getting over Jo by marrying Amy! This really hurts the relationship because it makes Amy a rebound. I just saw this post (x) that perfectly contrasts the audience vs the actual book. In the book, Laurie has headaches over his feelings. He thinks he has to remain loyal to his "love" for Jo but can't stop thinking about Amy.

And the hate for Amy alone makes people furious because she got a happy ending. Laurie's money might not have been important for the Marches, but it certainly is for some readers/viewers.

And then adaptations have never really made an honest effort to promote the couple. I know the story is not a romance, but a coming-of-age. But the character's growth led them to a place where they can build a healthy relationship.

Neither Florence nor Timothee made one intelligent comment about them. Flo justified the relationship by saying Amy had always loved him, which doesn't really mean anything, and then focused only on Amy's ambitions. And Timothee literally said Laurie lost because he didn't marry Jo and he always talked about JoLaurie 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 (beware for a new wave of those stupid comments during Dune 2 promo). In general, the promo for that movie ignored AmyLaurie. Where were the photoshoots, the interviews?! And the movie itself doesn't care about the love story and makes it all about the economic proposition speech 🙄🙄🙄. If Greta didn't care about the romance, then why did she put so much emphasis on it?

Other adaptations have given them truly beautiful moments, but overall they fall short. The 2017 series made a video about JoFritz, but I don't think Kathryn Newton (Amy) did any press. It does have the best proposal scene, though 🥰🥰🥰🥰. And at the very least, Laurie does not publicly humiliate her and then just kiss her. And it shows that they were friends since they were children.

The 1994 film had the best shot because the actors were a real couple. But there's something about Samantha Mathis' acting that just doesn't work. Plus they added the infamous line "I always wanted to be part of the March family."

Most adaptations sideline that story or completely omit any scene in Europe. So you see Laurie proposing to Jo and in the next scene, he comes back married to Amy. Make it make sense. Because Europe is also the part where Laurie grows up so that also is gone. I keep hearing the 1970 BBC series does a good job, but it is the most difficult to find.

So, part of it is a lack of reading comprehension, plus oversimplification, and unsatisfactory adaptations. It's all part of the problem.

#little women #amy march #laurie laurence #amy x laurie #florence pugh #timothee chalamet #little women 2019 #little women 2017 #little women 1994 #amylaurie #amy and laurie #samantha mathis #kathryn newton

[queer-geordie-nerd]

I talk about Mira a lot, and I’m doing so again 🤷🏻‍♀️

She was a beautiful woman, and a powerful and talented actor and writer, no doubt, but much more importantly, I feel, she was also a woman of vast and deep integrity - she fought against injustice and nationalism/racism all of her life and her principled and public stance against the war and ethnic divisions in Yugoslavia cost her dearly and yet, it was a position she never ever moved away from and believed in profoundly. It is very easy to have principles when they are not being tested, and another thing entirely to stake your very life on those principles.

Even when her stance cost her her home, her career, and her friendships, and the enormous amount of threats against her life forced her to leave her country, she never once backed down from her belief in unity and cooperation.

The anti war essay she wrote and published as she fled is still one of the most powerful pieces of writing I’ve ever read and I am going to post it here in its entirety because it is fierce and amazing:

Letter to my co-citizens

I hereby wish to thank my co-citizens who have joined so unreservedly in this small, marginal, and apparently not particularly significant campaign against me. Although marginal, it will change and mark my whole life. Which is, of course, totally irrelevant in the context of the death, destruction, devastation, and blood-chilling crimes within which our life now goes on.

This is happening, however, to the one and only life I have. It seems that I’ve been chosen for some reason to be the filthy rag everyone uses to wipe the mud off their shoes. I am far too desperate to embark on a series of public polemics in the papers. I do, however, feel that I owe myself and my city at least a few words. Like at the end of some clumsy, painful love story, when you keep wanting, wrongly, to explain something more, even though you know at the bottom of your heart that words are wasted; there is no one left to hear them. It is over.

Listening to my answering machine, to the incredible quantities of indescribably disgusting messages from my co-citizens, I longed to hear at least one message from a friend. Or not even a friend, a mere acquaintance, a colleague. But there was none. Not a single familiar voice, not a single friend. Nevertheless, I am grateful to them, to those noble patriots who kindly promise me a “massacre the Serbian way”; and to those colleagues, friends, and acquaintances who, by remaining silent, are letting me know that I cannot count on them any more.

I am grateful also to all my colleagues in the theatre with whom I played Drzic, Moliere, Turgenev, and Shaw, I am grateful to them for their silence, I am grateful to them for not even trying to understand, let alone attempting to vindicate, my statement concerning my appearance at the BITEF Festival in Belgrade, the statement in which I tried to explain that taking part in that production at that moment was for me a defense of our profession which must not and cannot put itself in the service of any political or national ideas, which must not and cannot be bound by political or national limits because it is simply against its nature, which must, even at the worst of times, establish bridges and ties. In its very essence it is a vocation which knows no boundaries.

I know that all this talk about the cosmopolitanism of art seems inappropriate at a moment like this. I know that it may seem out of place to swear to pacifism, to swear to love and to the brotherhood of all peoples while people are dying, while children are dying, while young men are returning home crippled and mangled forever.

How can I say anything which won’t sound like an ill-fitted nonsense at the moment when, for absolutely unfathomable reasons, Dubrovnik is being threatened, the city where I played my favorite role, Gloria?

But I have no other way of thinking. I cannot accept war as the only solution, I cannot force myself to hate, I cannot believe that weapons, killing, revenge, hatred, that such an accumulation of evil will ever solve anything. Each individual who personally accepts the war is in fact an accessory to the crime; must he not then take a part of the guilt for the war, a part of the responsibility?

In any case, I think, I know and I feel that it is my duty, the duty of our profession, to build bridges. To never give up on cooperation and community. Not the national community. The professional community.

The human community. And even when things are at their very worst, as they are now, we must insist to our last breath on building and sustaining bonds between people. This is how we pledge to the future.

And one day it will come. For my part, until recently I was willing to endure all manner of problems in transportation, communication, and finances to trek the 20 hours across Austria and Hungary between Zagreb and Belgrade. I was willing to use risky, even dangerous modes of travel, just to keep holding my performances in the two warring cities, to appear at precisely 7:30 on stage with my Zagreb or Belgrade colleagues and to alternate Corneille and Turgenev for the sake of professional continuity, for the sake of something that would outlive this war and this hatred which is so foreign to me. Time and time again I was willing to make my life a symbol of a pledge to the future which must be waiting for us, until that day when some ardent patriot finally does slaughter me as so many have promised to do.

I was willing and I would still be willing to undertake all and any efforts, if the hatred hadn’t suddenly overwhelmed me with its horrendous ferocity, hatred welling from the city I was born in. I am appalled by the force and magnitude of that hatred, by its perfect unanimity, by the fact that there was absolutely nobody who could see my gesture as my defense of the integrity of the profession, as my attempt to defend at least one excellent theatre performance. I had no intention of acting further in performances outside the BITEF Festival, as I stated in my letter. BITEF as an international theatre event attended by the English, Russians, French, Belgians, and even one Slovene seemed to me worth participating in, especially because any decision not to participate would have meant betraying a performance I had worked on under the most difficult circumstances during the March 9th Belgrade tanks, daily threats of a military coup, etc., etc.

It is terribly sad when one is forced to justification without having done anything wrong. There is nothing but despair, nausea, and horror.

I no longer have any decisions to make. Others have decided for me.

They have decided I must shut up, give up, vanish; they have abolished my right to do my job the way I feel it should be done, they have abolished my right to come home to my own city, they have abolished my right to return to my theatre and act in my performances. Someone decided that I should be fired from my job. Thank you, Croatian National Theatre; thank you, my colleague Dragan Milivojevic, who signed my dismissal slip. I know that lots of people are losing jobs, that I am just one of many, simply part of a surplus work force. I constantly ask myself whether I have any right, at this moment of communal horror, to make any demands of my own. One thing seems certain: I plan for quite some time (how long?) not to perform on any stage in this crumbling, mangled land. Perhaps they needn’t have hurried so in firing me. Perhaps this would have simply taken care of itself. With more decency. And dignity. Not so crudely. Of course, this is not a moment for tenderness. But won’t someone out there have to be ashamed of this? And will this someone necessarily be me, as my fellow actors try to convince me in their orthodox interviews? Can the horror of war be used as a justification for every single nasty bit of filth we commit against our fellow man? Are we allowed to remain silent in the face of injustice done to a friend or a colleague and justify our silence by the importance of the great bright national objective? I ask my friends in Zagreb, who are now silent, while at the same time they condemn Belgrade for its silence.

It is hard to write without bitterness. I would like to be able to do that, because we should “Love Our Enemy.” I wish we all could. Herein perhaps lies the solution for all of us. But I fear that we are very far from the ways of the Lord. His is the way of love. Not hatred.

To whom am I addressing this letter? Who will read it? Who will even care to read it? Everyone is so caught up by the great cause that small personal fates are not important any more. How many friends do you have to betray to keep from committing the only socially acknowledged betrayal, the betrayal of the nation? How many petty treacheries, how many pathetic little dirty tricks must one do to remain “clean in the eyes of the nation?”

I am sorry, my system of values is different. For me there have always existed, and always will exist, only human beings, individual people, and those human beings (God, how few of them there are !) will always be excepted from generalizations of any kind, regardless of events, however catastrophic. I, unfortunately, shall never be able to “hate all Serbs,” nor even understand what that really means. I shall always, perhaps until the moment the kind threats on the phone are finally carried out, hold my hand out to an anonymous person on the “other side,” a person who is as desperate and lost as I am, who is as sad, bewildered, and frightened. There are such people in this city where I write my letter, the city my love took me to, a feeling it seems almost indecent to mention these days. Nothing can provide an excuse any more, everything that does not directly serve the great objective has been trampled upon and appears despicable, and with it what love, what marriage, what friendship, what theatre performances!

I reject, I refuse to accept such a crippling of myself and my own life. I played those last performances in Belgrade for those anguished people who were not “Serbs”; but human beings, human beings like me, human beings who recoil before this monstrous Grand Guignol farce in which dead heads are flying. It is to these people, both here and there, that I am addressing my words. Perhaps someone will hear me.

The punishment meted me by my city, my only city and my theatre, my only theatre, the only theatre I felt was mine, is a punishment I feel I do not deserve. I was working in the way I have always felt I had to work, believing in people and our vocation which is supposed to bring people together, not tear them apart. I will never “give up my Belgrade friends”; as some of my colleagues have, because I do not feel that these friends have in any way brought about this catastrophe which has afflicted us, just as I will not turn my back on my Zagreb friends, not even those who have turned their backs on me. I will try in every way possible to understand their panic, their fear, their bitterness, even their hatred, but I plead for the same dose of understanding for me, that is, for a story which is different than many others, for a life which has deviated, due to the so-called destiny, from the expected and customary. Why must everything be the same, so frighteningly uniform, leveled, standardized? Haven’t we had enough of that? I know this is the time of uniforms and they are all the same, but I am no soldier and cannot be one. I haven’t got it in me to be a soldier, soldiering just isn’t my calling.

Regardless of whether we will be living in one, or five, or fifty states, let us not forget the people, each individual, regardless of which side of this Wall of ours the person happens to be on. We were born here by accident, we are this or that by accident, so there must be more than that, mustn’t there?

I am sending this letter into a void, into darkness, without an inkling of who will read it and how, or in how many different ways it will be misused or abused. Chances are it will serve as food for the eternally hungry propaganda beast. Perhaps someone with a pure heart will read it after all.

I will be grateful to that someone.

Mira Furlan,

From Belgrade and Zagreb, November 1, 1991.

#mira furlan #anti war #this woman was fucking incredible #babylon 5

[hope-4better]

It’s really sad to hear so many people talking so negatively and hatefully about Neve Campbell returning to Scream. It’s one thing to not agree with her decision it’s another to belittle and insult an insanely talented kind beautiful woman. A woman who carried the Scream Franchise for 25 years(to paraphrase her)

I think the worst part is knowing most if not all of these people saying this crap and using Palestine and Melissa Barrera as their excuse haven’t done a thing to help Palestine and couldn’t tell you anything about Melissa or her upcoming Horror film coming out in April (which I will be seeing).

I heard one person say people with humanity aren’t watching Scream 7 and all I can say to that is. Having humanity means being kind to everyone and not just the people who agree with you.

I can understand why people might not agree with her coming back. What I don’t understand is all the hate. I was angry as hell when she was screwed over in Scream 6 but I still supported and watched the film. I was very disappointed by Melissa’s firing(though I have wondered why she didn’t sue) and I will still be supporting Neve and the other actors writers and director involved in Scream 7.

#scream #neve campbell #movies

[bengiyo]

Hi! I have a few questions I hope you don't mind me asking. Would you say that you like Lovely Writer more than I Feel You Linger In The Air considering the LW is a 9.5 in your book but IFYLITA is only a 9. And even though IFYLITA is only a 9, do you think you would include it within your Queer Cinema for BL Syllabus considering other notable aspects about it

Hello! I don’t mind questions at all.

Ratings are Recommendations for Me

Before we get into why each show got a different score, I think it’s important to explain my ratings system again. I come from the land of media criticism, and the primary question for me is “How easy is this to recommend to people?” I secretly use a five-stars system (5 Great, 1 Terrible) that I simple double for the 10 stars of MDL that basically works as such:

No one should watch this. It is incoherent, poorly made, and offensive.

Only genre fans could appreciate anything happening here, but it’s still offensive and/or poorly made.

Genre fans can appreciate this show, but it has major flaws in execution, narrative, or themes.

Genre fans will love this. Strong execution overall but requires some familiarity to truly appreciate.

Everyone will love this and is a fine entry point for the genre. Excellent execution and strong storytelling.

Bad Buddy is a 9.5 for me because, while it is an excellent project, the episode 12 first half sucks so hard

So why does IFYLITA get a lower score than Lovely Writer?

IFYLITA is a beautiful show with strong performances across the entire cast. However, it is a time travel show in which I don’t exactly know what the point of the time travel is, other than to enable a historical romance and enable the storyteller to play with that setting from the modern perspective. I don’t know why Jom is being dragged around the time stream or why he’s doomed to fall in love with and be torn from Yai repeatedly.

Additionally, this is a slavery romance. I am a Black gay man born and raised in the South. Solomon Northup’s autobiography is required reading, as are other first person accounts of chattel slavery in the US and the way the North surrendered Reconstruction to the South. I also watched Kindred this year after having not read Octavia Butler’s work in a long time. I am not a person who typically enjoys the power dynamics of historical romance, and I really don’t like slavery romances. I was talking with @lurkingshan yesterday about how much I didn’t like Jom and Maey sitting on the floor as Eaeang Phueng says goodbye to her family.

Finally, I think Lovely Writer is more coherent. It’s a single-season story about a potential romance between a BL actor and a BL writer. The show goes on to unpack all of the complexities surrounding these two as they are forced to collaborate and cohabitate during the filming of a show. IFYTLITA muddles its ending, and we have been reliant on spoilers from book readers to make sense of what the hell happened at the end of the episode. I don’t like that. I hate when we’re reliant on commentary from the source media to understand what the hell happened in an adaptation.

So, because of these particular issues, Lovely Writer is slightly easier for me to recommend to people over I Feel You Linger in the Air. Despite how Nonkul and Bright delivered on what may be the most accessible romantic chemistry of the year, and how much I loved the way this show tastefully approached m/m intimacy and sex, the show has some stumbles that I think diminish it slightly. I think episode 11 is incredible. I think Episode 10 is too pat. I think Episode 12 is hedging too much on a potential second season and doesn’t close off season 1 in a way that’s satisfying for me.

These are all bigger or smaller issues than others. I also very, very rarely go back and change my ratings for shows based on modern circumstances. Lovely Writer was special when it released. We don’t get IFYLITA without Lovely Writer. When I finished Lovely Writer, I thought it was one of the best shows of the year and I thought every BL fan needed to watch it. It doesn’t get a 10 because so much of the drama is about BL itself, and so there is some explaining that’s needed for people who aren’t in genre.

So, to be clear:

For me, Lovely Writer is easier to recommend to people than I Feel You Linger in the Air. That’s the .5 difference between them.

I hope that all made sense. Thanks for the question!

#answered #i feel you linger in the air #lovely writer #thai bl #bl series

[twh-news]

‘Loki’ Co-Star Ke Huy Quan on How ‘The Goonies’ Inspired His Character and Tom Hiddleston’s Acting Advice

SPOILER ALERT: This story includes discussion of major plot developments on “Loki,” which is currently streaming on Disney+.

Roughly 20 minutes after the news broke that the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike had concluded, the first email I received from an actor’s publicist was for Ke Huy Quan. That’s how enthusiastic the recent Oscar-winning star of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was to talk about his role on “Loki,” the Marvel Studios series for Disney+ that just wrapped up its second season. When he signs on to our Zoom chat for the interview, his face is beaming. 

“I’ve waited a long time to talk about ‘Loki,’” he says. “Like, talking to you right now gives me a lot of joy.”

Quan plays Ouroboros, or “OB,” the head (and seemingly the sole employee) of the Repairs and Advancement Department of the Time Variance Authority — basically, the one person responsible for keeping the TVA’s machinery running. Quan is the most high profile new addition to the cast, which includes Tom Hiddleston in the title role and Owen Wilson as the TVA operative Mobius, and he was anxious at first about joining such a well-regarded show for its second season.

“They already have this camaraderie going on, this beautiful relationship,” he says. “So coming in, I was a bit intimidated. I didn’t know how I would fit in. From the get go, I felt this warmth, this beautiful acceptance with everybody’s wide open arms. They brought me in, and I felt right at home. It was wonderful.”

Quan rarely stops smiling as he talks about how his performances as a child in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and 1985’s “The Goonies” informed his experience making “Loki,” how Marvel Studios’ films took him back into his childhood — and how Hiddleston guided him through mastering O.B.’s dense technical dialogue.

How has it been for you to not be able to talk about this performance?

When I got the role of Ouroboros, we were in London for four months shooting and I couldn’t tell anybody. I couldn’t tell my family. The only people who knew was my wife, my entertainment attorney — which is my “Goonies” brother — and my agents. We had the most amazing time, and I was so proud of it. I would fantasize about being all over the place with Tom and Owen and my “Loki” family to talk about it.

And then all of a sudden, Hollywood shuts down. It reminded me of when I got the movie of a lifetime, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” I finished that with one day to go, and the entire world shuts down [in the pandemic]. But of course, the strike was very important for our union. I’m very proud of the work that they did. And I’m also super happy now that it’s over and “Loki” gets to have the celebration it deserves.

I want to go way back to “X-Men,” because you worked on the stunt team on that movie after you’d basically stopped acting, and that’s when you first met Kevin Feige.

Ah! He was an associate producer at that time, and I was just an assistant action choreographer. It was right after I graduated from USC Film School. I was really nervous, because I didn’t know if I would have a career behind the camera and I was really grateful when I got the call from Corey Yuen, who was the action director on “X-Men.” When I walked on set, I was just blown away. I met this young man and he had this vast knowledge of this universe, and he was so willing and so passionate to talk to me about it. Because I didn’t know a lot about Marvel. I loved Kevin Feige right away and, of course, many years later, when he became this huge producer at Marvel, I always wanted to work with him, but I didn’t know in what capacity. We would see each other once in a long while. Little did I know that 23 years later, we get to work together. I’m just so thrilled.

Did you develop a better sense of Marvel after you worked on “X-Men”?

Well, I was very focused on being on being the action choreographer. When that movie was over, I went on and did other stuff. It was not until Kevin Feige made the first movie, “Iron Man,” and I went to see it and I was just blown away by how entertaining, how fun, it was. I watched every single [Marvel Studios] movie that came out thereafter and became a huge fan of this universe. I know a little bit about this universe, but I can’t say I’m as knowledgeable as Kevin. But I really enjoy these movies. My family are huge fans.

What made you excited to watch them?

I grew up in an era where you go into movies like “Back to the Future,” “Indiana Jones” — all those fun summer blockbuster movies, those big event movies. Those were my happy memories. Going to watch a Marvel movie reminded me of my childhood. Those movies are meant to be shared with a mass audience, that communal experience in a movie theater with 1,000 people. I just love them.

“Loki” head writer Eric Martin told me that he based Ouroboros on family members of his who were tinkerers. How did you develop a character for yourself? What did you draw off to bring that character to life?

When I first read the script, I instantly fell in love with Ouroboros. You can see who this character is right away — his quirkiness, his humor, his passion for his job jumps right out of the page. In the process of trying to fine tune how I want to play him, something dawned on me. I realized that this character is familiar to me. I think I know who he is. I have to go back 35 years ago, when I play Data on “The Goonies.” 

So many fans have come up to me, and the most asked question was, “Will there be a ‘Goonies 2’? And what is Data doing as an adult?” This character of Ouroboros is kind of my answer to that. I view him as a variant of Data. What’s really interesting is, on my first day, I’m in full hair and makeup and costume. I’m walking to the Ouroboros set. They built this amazing set on the second biggest stage at Pinewood Studios. I look up and I see the name of the stage is “Roger Moore.” Now as we all know, Data loves James Bond. The character 007 inspires him tremendously. So I feel like there’s some cosmic connections to this character and Data. Playing him was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. 

OB has a lot of technical dialogue. How did you master that?

It was hard! Adam, I’m telling you, it was not easy! In the beginning, I kept messing up my lines. My character is responsible for a lot of the exposition. So it would just be pages and pages of dialogue. I didn’t understand, what is the “temporal loom”? What is the “throughput multiplier”? I could barely say it in the beginning. I had to ask [executive producer] Kevin Wright: “You have to show me what it is.” I have to visualize it in my head in order for me to say this dialogue. So he showed me visuals. There was a miniature model of the temporal loom. 

I even asked Tom Hiddleston. In Episode 6, he was just spitting out that dialogue at 100 miles per hour. I was blown away by his performance. I said, “Tom, how do you do that?” It comes so naturally for him. He talked about his method. He showed me how to do it. And of course, you know, I practiced it, and it worked. 

What did he teach you?

Well, I mean, there’s no secret to it. It’s really looking at the dialogue and reading it very, very slowly the first few times, and then as you become more comfortable with it, then you start picking it up. It’s just that repetition, but start very slow. I do the opposite. I jump right in and I’ll practice it as if I will be saying it in camera. But his process is just start very slow and familiarize yourself with every single word. That’s the method that I’ve been using ever since.

After having seen every movie in the MCU, what was the experience of stepping inside one of their projects?

One thing that really surprised me was, when I heard people talk about these movies, they always said, you know, “There’s always a lot of visual effects, a lot of blue screens.” On “Loki,” it was a practical set. Everything was built. The only blue screen that we had was outside the window in the temporal loom chamber. Everything inside was practically built. We could touch it, we could see it, we could step on it. And it was incredible. It also brought me back to the days when we shot “Goonies” and “Indiana Jones.” All those were practical sets as well.

The season ends with Loki becoming the god of stories and in effect sacrificing himself to bring order to the multiverse. What did it feel like to be on the inside of that revelation?

We didn’t get access to Episode 6 until later on. When I read it, I was blown away, because it was not the direction I was expecting. I got so emotional because the character arc of Loki is one of the most beautiful arcs I’ve seen in cinema history. He started 14 years ago as a selfish villain, and to end at the Episode 6 of “Loki” Season 2, how he made this tremendous sacrifice without recognition. Nobody knows he did this, except the team. Nobody on the sacred timeline knows that he’s given up his freedom, he’s given up all these wants and needs, to be on that throne and hold everything together. That is just beautiful. I just love it. I just think it’s so poetic and so beautiful. It’s a perfect ending to a perfect character.

How much of an indication has Marvel given you about OB’s future in the MCU?

I haven’t had any conversations. I love OB. I love playing him. It makes me so happy that the audience is responding to this character. When I first got the call from Kevin Feige and he asked me to come join the MCU family, I asked him, “Is this a one-time thing? Or are we going to be able to see more of him?” Because I loved him on the pages. And he says, “Ke, we always give what the fans want.”

So I hope the fans like OB enough and I want to see him in more MCU movies and television shows. We will find out, but no, I haven’t had any discussions with anybody yet.

#loki #loki series #loki season 2 #Ke Huy Quan #interview #article #Variety

[hooked-on-elvis]

Lynn Kellogg (Marcie, the can-can girl on "Charro!") about Elvis

Interview published on Tiger Beat magazine, July 1969 issue

ELVIS PRESLEY's Hippie Co-Star Thought He Was A Square by Ann Moses

The studio door flew open and out came tall and lovely Lynn Kellogg. Her beautiful golden blonde hair hung down on her shoulders which were covered by an Edwardian style leather coat. Wide wool trousers, a fugal change and huge round sunglasses completed the output.

She looked just as you would imagine the feminine lead in "Hair," the tribal love rock musical, but NOT as you picture the can-can girl and Elvis dramatic movie "Charro!" Just the same, Lynn chose to leave her role in "Hair" on Broadway to star with Elvis in his latest film "Charro!" To be sure, it wasn't Lynn's admiration for Elvis that made her take the part!

---

CHANGED HER MIND

"Not at all!" She will blatantly admit.

"I always felt Elvis was a good singer, but I hated his songs and that hairdo." I was working with Elvis for three weeks in Arizona and one week in Hollywood that changed her mind quick.

Although four weeks isn't much time to get to know someone very well, Lynn says Elvis is such an open and warm person that he's very easy to get to know. And like!

"Once I got to know him, I found he was a very nice gentleman; and a very good actor. I've heard many directors say they would like to use him in a movie as an actor instead of as Elvis Pressley. Working with him and watching him back, I can see what they mean."

---

A NEW ELVIS

In "Charro!" Lynn guarantees the audience will be seeing Elvis the Actor, and Elvis at his finest.

"I think Charro!" is a very good film. I don't like that type of film myself because it's violent and I like to see films that set a good example. For the type of movie it is, it's very good. My new saying is, "Forget about telling it like it is, tell it like it's supposed to be!"

Lynn observed that Elvis was happiest when he was working the hardest.

"He thrives on work. Between shots we fiddled around together and we got into all kinds of harmonizing. His guitarist, Charlie [Hodge], was with him and we all sat around and sang. It was a groove. We all went swimming once at the hotel and that was fun."

---

ELVIS THE MAN

During some of the breaks and filming on the set, Lynn had a chance to learn more about Elvis The Man.

"It may surprise some to know, but Elvis studies Yoga. And he knows all about astrology. I don't know how deeply he goes into it, but he sure knows enough to carry on a lively discussion about it. I think the most important thing about Elvis is not that he knows so much about astrology or whatever, the important thing is he knows where he's at!" "One day I had a short talk with Col. Parker. I said, 'Col. what's the secret to your success?' And he said, 'First, you've got to have a talent.'"

---

TOUR OF EL'S MANSION

When Lynn finished on the film and said goodbye to Elvis he invited her to visit his mansion in Memphis. She was working in Memphis last Christmas, so she dropped by to say hello.

She became excited just recalling the experience. “What was the place like?” I asked.

"Oh! Wow! It's fantastic! He used to show it off to people, really open the door and let them in, but he had to put in new carpets every month, so he quit." "When you first pull up to the gates, the gates had big musical notes on them. Even though it's out in the country, there's traffic going by all the time in a steady stream. The house looks like Tara from 'Gone with the Wind.' Because it was Christmas time, he had blue lights outlining the house and all the way along the driveway."

---

TROPHY ROOM

"When you first go in, off the entryway, there's this one whole entire huge room and the walls are filled with gold records and mementos. Then he has two long rows of drawers, like in a record store, and each one is filled with scrapbooks. Just thousands and thousands of things!"

"I was with some friends and we only stayed about an hour. His wife, Priscilla, was there and some of his friends. We went into the living room and there's a huge double piano--I don't mean two pianos--but two keyboards on one side and it's all in gold leaf!" "His bedroom is really something else! There's a huge bed and on the ceiling he has two television sets. Then there's a button that you push and armrests come down. There's also two radios in the control panel." "He said he wanted to show us his 'closet,' and he just laughed and laughed and he led us into this huge room. That was his 'closet'. It was so wonderful, because he was enjoying all this is much as we were!"

Lynn has kept very busy since filming "Charro!" She has just finished guesting on "The Jonathan Winters Show" and "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour."

Article published by Ann Moses on her Facebook page on August 25, 2021

#elvis presley #the man had nothing to hide #such an open and welcoming person #elvis the king #elvis fans #elvis fandom #elvis #60s elvis #articles #elvis articles #elvis magazines

[kaiijo]

pomefiore + college! au

characters: vil, rook, epel notes: gn! reader, this is in honor of me finally starting book 5 other college aus: heartslabyul

vil schoenheit

vil is a living legend on campus who double majors in business and film! he uses both as a way to hone his already near-perfect craft and to prove to people that his fame was well-deserved and not a product of nepotism. he’s constantly receiving top marks in every class, and he’s one of the few students who never, ever arrives in sweats — always dressed to the tens with a full face of makeup. he’s a surprisingly approachable person though it may not always seem like it, so there’s no real harm in going up and asking for an autograph or something — all you have to do is be nice and polite, and vil has no problem giving back to fans. he’s always striving to do better and be better and everyone honestly wonders if vil ever just sits back and relaxes.

as a member of the school newspaper, you’re tasked with interviewing the vil schoenheit: actor, model, and influencer. you’re more than a little intimidated; vil cuts an imposing figure, seemingly infallible and flawless. drawing on every bit of courage you have, you ask vil after a shared class if he’d be willing to sit for an interview for the paper. you’re a little shocked at his willingness to do so and he actually takes the time with you then and there to fit the interview into his already packed itinerary. the day of the interview rolls around quicker than you expected, and you two sit in an alcove of the library where you can talk. you had looked over the questions your editors had wanted you to ask the night before, more than a little disappointed in the tabloid-like nature of them. you look at them again with vil sitting across from you, and, despite how hard he tries to hid it, you can see a certain weariness in his eyes. you suck in a deep breath and throw the prepared questions out the window, instead spouting off questions that would lead to more of a profile piece — something heartfelt and candid. vil doesn’t mask his surprise and he tells you as much: “it’s been a while since i’ve been asked questions like this.” the interview runs longer than either of you anticipated. luckily neither of you have classes for the rest of the day, though vil does have to get to a photoshoot in ten minutes. before he leaves, he asks for your phone number and if you’d be willing to get something to eat with him sometime.

rook hunt

rook is a criminology major! it’s a natural choice, seeing as he’s always been good at analyzing and observing targets without detection; now, he’ll be able to use his skills for developing action plans for crime prevention! on campus, rook is kind of hard to pin down — always in places where you least expect him to be. one minute you hear he’s in the chem lab and the next he’s on the treadmill in the gym. there is one place that rook is for sure to be at some point in the day, and that’s at the target range where he practices archery since he’s on the college’s team.

to say that rook hunt is quite a character is a gross understatement. you’ve been in most of his classes since you’re majoring in criminology as well, and you still have yet to figure out what makes him tick. you did find out, however, that he is equally interested in finding out how you tick, which manifests in him sitting next to you in the majority of your classes whenever he can and asking you to hang out with either him or him and his friends (meaning vil, for the most part). you’ve rejected the offer over and over but rook is just so insistent that it kind of wore you down to the point that you just agreed so he’d stop bugging you. he takes you to the natural history museum of all places and… you actually have a pretty fun time. rook is surprising knowledgeable about the specimens on display and when he doesn’t know about an exhibit, you have fun learning more about it together. it’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship and maybe, eventually, it will be more.

epel felmier

epel hasn’t officially declared a major yet but he is on track for some kind of agriculture major in order to help his family on the farm back home. he’s also looking into a sculpture minor, or something that he can put his apple-carving talents into. epel is, quite frankly, a force to be reckoned with. while he seems docile and meek, he’s actually pretty sharp and is very determined to succeed. he’s on a bunch of sports team and particularly excels at soccer, to the great shock of many peers. his family sends care packages filled with apple products: pies, candles, ciders, etc. that epel shares with his roommates and the people on his dorm floor.

you’re epel’s childhood friend, growing up just down the street from his family farm. you also receive an individualized care package from grandma felmier! you two are attached at the hip, one hardly ever seen without the other. you go to every single soccer game of epel’s and he attends all of your club events. you’ve always kind of had a crush on epel and he had one on you but neither of you had gotten up the gumption to confess. that’s until one of epel’s soccer teammates begins getting flirty with you. it didn’t make you uncomfortable, per se, but it makes you feel awkward at best. when epel sees it, he’s none too happy, his country accent coming out strong. some of his teammates goad him and needle him — why does he care so much? you’re an attractive person and it’s only natural that people will flirt with you. that’s when the truth comes out — in a hurried rush of defensive words — that epel likes you. he’s as red as the apples they grow on the felmier farm and before epel can apologize to you, you tell him that you like him too and the rest is history.

#twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #rook hunt x reader #epel felmier x reader #pomefiore x reader #college au #.𖥔 ݁ ˖ kaiijo writes

[neon-green-reagent]

Buyer Beware: Cushing Curiosities

I don't normally do this. My aim is to keep things positive in this space, as much as possible. But I need to talk about the new Severin Films box set dedicated to Peter Cushing and basically beg anyone who loves Peter Cushing to not waste their money on this. When I saw they were, after multiple Christopher Lee sets, finally doing one for Cushing, I admit I got too excited and impulsively pre-ordered it. I have regretted it ever since. Okay, that's too strong. It was way too much money and time wasted on something that's about one-third good. One third is not enough, and even then I'm probably being too generous. 

The box art and presentation are beautiful. If that's all that matters to you, then you'll be delighted. The GIANT book that comes with it is also really awesome. It's informative and thorough with a lot of really cool images. I can't deny that they really went above and beyond, turning a booklet into an actual book that is well worth owning. These are a couple of the highest points you're going to experience with this set. Let's dig into the movies. 

Cone of Silence. Jesus, what a waste of fucking time. This thing was a slog. An absolute bore. If you care a whole lot about planes... Fuck, even then, you probably won't be able to sit through this, because it's so old-fashioned and drags its feet. Is this what thrillers used to be? I shudder to think. Cushing's role is small and that of a misguided villain character. He shows up to accuse a pilot of being bad at his job, gets put in his place at the end, and that's really it. I'll go ahead and make a blanket statement now that he's always good, always worth watching, but that doesn't make most of these movies worth sitting through. 

Suspect. Here's a movie that goes around and around, struggling to get to the point, trying to imitate Hitchcock but without any of the style that goes along with that. Just stationary middle shots of people talking. But don't you worry, it's not just boring! Multiple characters make cracks about how women shouldn't be working in science (Cushing's character included, which makes this an utter loser of a movie to watch for his role). The "villain" is a man with a disability who eventually kills himself, and that's treated like a GOOD OUTCOME. Some movies are old. This movie is old-minded, and it brought what was already not very engaging down to a pile of shit for me. And again, a theme you'll notice, Cushing is a side character who isn't given hardly anything to do and little screen time. Oh, and Donald Pleasence shows up and makes this face: O.O

The Man Who Finally Died. So this was at least engaging. Maybe by this point the bar was just VERY low for me, but I actually enjoyed this. It had lots of twists and turns. Despite being pre-giallo, it had a lot of those storytelling conventions, so I found myself, you know... actually watching the movie instead of struggling to stay awake. The rewatch value feels low, because once you've experienced those twists and turns, they won't shock you next time. But at least it wasn't a total wash. AND ONCE MORE CUSHING WAS BARELY IN IT, SO REGARDLESS OF THE QUALITY OF THE FILM IT WASN'T REALLY A CUSHING FILM, WAS IT? 

Sherlock Holmes. Ohhhhh God. This was not good. I managed one and a half episodes before shutting it off. I couldn't believe how shoddy everything about this was. It's a BBC Sherlock Holmes show! What happened!? I mean, I'm still not clear, but after some googling I did find out that Cushing was a fast replacement for another actor who was leaving in a huff. And the reason he left in a huff was because everything about the production truly sucked ass. It shows. And it didn't improve when Cushing came on. Everything was so clearly rushed. You can feel how everyone's just trying to remember their lines and where to stand, because they were given zero time to rehearse and prepare. I thought this would be a highlight of the set, but it's probably one of the worst aspects. At least Cushing is the main character? 

Bloodsuckers. This was great. I can finally say something was GREAT. What a relief. Cushing is still barely in it, but at least it was entertaining. It's your standard, early seventies, vampire romp. With some psychedelic weirdness thrown in toward the beginning and lots of overly sexual shenanigans. In particular, Johnny Sekka gives a great performance, and in a more modern movie, they would have made the character gay as he should have been. Also, Edward Woodward shows up for a single scene and steals the entire movie. Definitely worth watching, regardless of Cushing's ten minutes of screen time. Even though I thought the point was for it to be a CUSHING box set... 

Tender Dracula. Last but actually the best. This is an absolute ride of a movie. I loved it. My problem is this is such a crazy film, with tonal shifts galore and an unsensible plot, that I could actually see people hating it. It's a movie that is not for everyone, not by a long shot. It breaks the fourth wall, plays with stereotypes and tropes, throws out humor that sometimes lands and sometimes doesn't, and leaves your head spinning. Plenty of viewers might find the experience frustrating and not rewarding. I happened to love it and got a lot out of it, but it feels very poor for a movie like this to be probably the best thing about a shoddy box set. That's not exactly promising your customers the best they could get. BUT CUSHING IS THE STAR! Finally! One (arguably) good movie where he's the main attraction. Christ, that took long enough. 

So what do we have after all that? A set of movies that, for the most part, only tangentially involve Cushing, with his name slapped on the side of the box. Trotting out a beloved actor who isn't here to approve of what's being done for a quick buck feels pretty damn gross. Severin has made a multitude of mistakes over the years in how they've conducted their business, but this is by far the worst of them. Even with the compliments I've given this set, do not buy it. It isn't even close to being worth the price point. The fact that I spent as much as I did on this leaves me shamefaced. 

#peter cushing #cushing curiosities

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

now jimin is such an interesting character like he really logs into social media to post about anything but his own face how is he not obsessed with his face? I just know that if I had a face like his I would force every living creature to look at me 24/7, baby is way too humble sometimes I even wonder if he really really knows how stunning his face is cuz wow

It's easier to talk like that from an outsider's perspective. But I think reality is a bit different. Jimin doesn't come across as a narcissist either.

You saying "I would force every living creature to look at me 24/7" made me think of this documentary I saw recently. It's called The Most Beautiful Boy in The World and it's about Bjorn Andresen, the one who played Tadzio in Death in Venice. I wanna talk about that for a bit, I'm using this ask as an excuse.

The boy's grandmother wanted to have a celebrity/actor in the family, so she took Bjorn to the casting call. Luchino Visconti saw him and knew immediately he was the one. They asked him to take off all his clothes, except underwear, so they can take some shots. He was only 15 at the time. Filming went well and then when Death in Venice premiered at Cannes, it turned into madness. I think that's when Visconti called him the most beautiful boy in the world and that label turned into a curse. The boy was thrown into the lion's den, full of people who wanted to be seen next to him, taken to parties and flaunted as this otherwordly creature. Everyone wanted him or to be in his proximity. What was unfortunate was that he had no adult to take care of him. And for an adolescent who hated absolutely everything of that life but who also believed he was supposed to listen to what he was told, it turned into a nightmare.

He became an "object" of fascination because he was considered androgynous and the character he portrayed in the film had an effect on people's perception of him. Tadzio was Beauty and Death all together, this untouchable being. In the documentary it's explained how his visit to Japan and the work he had to do there was considered probably among the first instances of fans getting crazy over an idol. There's footage of that. He also became the inspiration since the 1970s for a lot of manga. So many famous characters are based on his face.

The guy hated it because he was reduced to his beauty. I won't tell you what happens to him later in life, perhaps you'll want to see the documentary, but his story is heartbreaking.

To circle this back to Jimin and his beauty, often time our own perception of us and the perception other people have of us does not align completely. I will assume that Jimin is aware of his beauty, but somehow I doubt he wakes up everyday thinking he needs to be worshipped for his looks. That's the fan's job which is a daily habit at this point. We are obsessed with looks and beauty, whatever that may mean to us. In Jimin's case we talk so much about his appearance and often times I would see the world "otherwordly" used when describing him. It was impossible not to think of Bjorn Andresen. What I hope is that Jimin had such an upbringing and a life that didn't in turn let the adoration get to his head. So far, he seems fine.

#m thoughts #jimin #tadzio #the most beautiful boy in the world

[fictive-fodder]

|| Steven Grant vs. You: I ||

A tiny story where you discover that your sweet, handsome coworker is just as much into Egyptology as you are into ancient Greece- and the playful battle that ensues.

*May become a multi-mini-chapter-moment-thing because it seems more fair for battles to be best of 3 or even 5 than best of 1. Also just a ton of slow burn fluff, which should really be my username at this point cause that’s all I write*

Word Count : Soooo tiny, 1.1k

PART I - PART II - PART III

Tag List

Read this on A03!

“But how can you prefer the ancient Greek world when it was so much more patriarchal?” Steven stammered with a half laugh. He was swinging his croissant around on the other side of the table from you and you couldn’t help but smile as flakes of pastry landed on the table, in his coffee, his lap. “Egyptian women could sue men! They could run businesses and own property and-”

“I’m not saying ancient Greece was better than ancient Egypt!” you assured, laughing. “I just have always been infatuated by the myths. And I don’t know, to me it’s like those Gods were really there, once, you know? These gorgeous, terrifying, giant presences that were all at once infatuated with humanity as they were spiteful. It’s such a different relationship than religious folks have with their deities now. They lived on a mountain that really exists, you could hike up it and speak to them if you wanted. They lived in the depths of the earth, and in the ocean, they were here, you know? Not a heavenly body, but here.” You rested one of your hands on your chest as you said it, impassioned. You thought you caught Steven’s eyes tracing the line of your clavicle, what he could see of it past your shirt, and up your neck, how it met with the curve of your jaw- but no, you quickly corrected your thoughts- this was Steven. He probably wouldn’t have noticed you existed if, weeks ago, he hadn’t overheard you lamenting that ancient Greek history wasn’t as well represented in the gift shop as you would have liked.

The playful argument that had ensued led you to this tradition of a full fledged debate in the employee break room during every lunch break the two of you had together. You had taken to checking the break schedule as soon as you clocked in, your heart always skipping a beat when you realized that it would be a Steven Lunch Day.

It didn’t happen as often as you would have hoped, it seemed like Steven’s manager gave him odd shifts quite often. If a late night was needed, or two, four hour shifts three hours apart, Steven was the one who got them. Since you worked mornings it was always an unexpected treat to see him working.

“You have to admit that that is neat.” you pushed, grinning as Steven set down his crumbled wad of a croissant.

“No!” Steven laughed, “No, no no no…” he ran his fingers through his hair, croissant flakes tangling into his curls. “You get me all wrong- of course ancient Greece is neat.” he conceded, his tone earnest and bright. “It’s beautiful and there is so much to learn about, so much history. I can totally understand why you like it so much-”

“But?” you raised your eyebrows with mock defensiveness.

“No buts!” Steven said a little too loudly. A few of your coworkers glanced over before continuing to do their best to ignore you both for the umpteenth time. You snorted and had to force yourself to take a sip of coffee so you wouldn’t keep laughing. You were sure that you and Steven must have been annoying everyone else with these talks, but you couldn’t help yourself.

Here was this man with a beauty that rivaled silent film actors. A Rudolph Valentino stand-in who also was one of the sweetest people you’d ever met. And he was smart. Your coworkers seemed weary of him for his awkwardness, but you’d take that over how most of the museum’s patrons treated staff.

“But-” Steven said softly, with a playful wince.

“Yes?”

“You have to admit that, as far as intensity in awe… the ancient Egyptians prospered in ways we still can’t replicate or understand. We don’t even know how they accomplished what they have left us behind.”

“That’s true with the Greeks!’ you scoffed, “We still don’t understand how the Hellenic sculptures carved marble that is so delicate and top heavy that still hasn’t crumbled. Even the Romans couldn’t figure it out and just gave all their sculptures thick tree trunks carved beside the sculpture’s legs. And let’s not forget the whole cement with marble veneer thing.”

“Oh, we can’t forget that.” Steven replied wryly, which made your face feel very warm.

“Are you teasing me?” you asked, astounded. You tapped your boot against his under the table.

“No!” Steven said, jumping in his seat. He held both of his hands up and waved them frantically. “No I would never, honestly, it’s just so nice to know someone that likes something as much as I like… well, as much as I like another thing.”

“Until I convert you.” you said, smiling softly.

“Right-” Steven chuckled, his voice broke mid laugh in a way you had come to covet. “That’s not gonna happen though, you know? You know that the whole reason I work here is for Egyptology?”

“I know it is why you came here.” you granted, pushing your feet together so you could resist kicking him again.

“But?” Steven tilted his head, eyes warm.

“No buts!” you mimicked, “But, it might not be the reason you stay?”

“Hey!” he frowned, “But you did but!”

“Okay how about this-” you started, leaning against your side of the table conspiratorially. “Ancient Egypt and Greece were very intertwined, right? We would probably both be very happy if we could just-” you made a sweeping gesture with your hands, Steven’s eyes watched as if fully expecting for something to appear between your fingers. “-be there. Let’s say the Library of Alexandria, for fun’s sake. At least tens of thousands of papyri, Grecian philosophers on Egyptian earth-”

“Grecian dominated Egyptian earth-” Steven mumbled, intrigue shining from his eyes despite himself.

“Macedonian.”

“That’s still Greek!”

“I can’t help that my favorite ancient civilization conquered yours! You guys had a good run!” you teased, popping the last bit of your pastry into your mouth with a satisfied gesture. This awarded you a very flat glare. “I guess history is repeating itself right here and now.”

“Silly.” Steven murmured, “I am not conquered and you have not won me over.”

“Yet.”

He opened his mouth to make another playful retort, but before he could the timer on your phone went off. You pretended to not notice Steven’s shoulders slump downward as you turned off the alarm and stood up.

“Does that alarm mean you’re going?” he asked.

“It means that we are!” you replied, leaning down to wrap your arms around one of his, you pulled him up from his chair. “Last time you forgot to clock back in and I didn’t want you to get in trouble again so I just put a timer on my phone.”

Steven stood still, looking past his shoulder and into your eyes. His expression was calmer, less full of anxiety and enthusiasm. “Thank you-” he said softly.

You gave his arm a last squeeze before he let you pull him out of the break room.

#steven grant #moon knight #steven grant x reader #moon knight x reader #moon knight fan fiction #steven grant x you #steven grant fluff #moon knight imagines #mcu moon knight #non binary #non binary fan fic