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swashbucklery · 3 years

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Textile Nerd Book Recs

Because @zaritarazi and I were chatting about it and I thought maybe the rest of you nerds would be interested in this too!

Context: when I’m not doing my IRL Grownup Job or fandom I’m a huge textile nerd, I do tons of fiber arts but mainly knitting/spinning/adjacent wool processing as well as garment sewing and quilting. (I’d also like to be a weaver but the pandemic keeps getting in the way of that, alas.) I don’t do textile work professionally and I will not sell my art/mend your jeans/knit your uncle’s cousin a sweater but I have been doing this as a craft practice for many years and know a lot of things. I’m also a Huge Fucking Nerd and love reading about textiles on the side.

These recs are not skill-based or how-to books; these are Interesting Nonfiction Reads if you want to geek out about textiles. but not if you want to skillbuild per se. They can be an excellent compliment to skillbuilding work, as understanding context and history can often enrich your skilled knowledge and practice.

Books I’ve Read

Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool by Clara Parkes: Sort of about sheep but kind of really about the complexities of wool processing from sheep to yarn and the ways that outsourcing of textile processing have affected the ability to make and use American-made wool. Parkes does a really lovely job of getting to know local small-batch producers, explaining the steps of wool processing from start to end in a super accessible way, and explaining both the value of and challenges to creating local wool for the garment-production and handknitting consumer.

Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth Cline: So this book is from 2012, and it feels dated now but this is like. The book that launched a thousand other books about fast fashion so it’s worth reading. It’s a very good deep dive into the questions: how can this shirt cost $2? and should this shirt cost $2? and goes through the granular and broader factors that lead to the $2 t-shirt and why it’s damaging both from an ethical and ecological perspective. If you’re Extremely Online you’ve probably absorbed a lot of the takes from this book via the internet but it’s a thorough and cogent overview and a great jumping-off point to start thinking more about fashion sustainability and how complex a thing it is to tackle.

How To Be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman: Only tangentially about textiles but also very much about textiles, Ruth Goodman specializes in history of domestic life which often means that things like underpants and how laundry got done are much more important than you think. She’s a truly stellar historical fiction writer and if you’re into historical costuming at all this is a great place to dive into.

Books I’m Currently Reading

A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield: Ok I’m about halfway into this so far and if you have any interest at all in textile dyeing and fashion history is this the book for you. An absolutely riveting history of cochineal, which is an insect-derived red pigment traditionally from Central and South America. It goes through traditional plant-based dyeing as an industry, and does a beautiful job of contextualizing why red dye was so important, and how this dyestuff shaped the colonial history of Spain and the rest of Europe, it’s wild.

Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather: A Scandalous History of Birds, Hats, & Votes by Tessa Boase: This is again sort of fashion-adjacent but I’m about a third of the way in and it’s great. Ostensibly a history of politically active women in turn-of-the-century London, and it parallels Emmeline Pankhurst’s journey with Etta Lemon, a prominent socially conservative activist who was equally instrumental historically - her work was in setting up the idea of bird conservation. This is related to fashion because this was during the peak of the whole-dead-stuffed-birds-in-hats craze, and the little history of millinery tidbits as they relate to feathers are truly fascinating.

#someday all of the weird niche interests i have will be very useful #and i will be unstoppable #until then #have some textile facts #fibre arts are the best arts #books i like books

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all-might-can-smash-me · 4 years

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Exhibits

Toshinori Yagi / All Might x Reader

Summary: you run into a man at the hero exhibit on display at the museum you work at. You soon find out his name to be Toshinori Yagi and you two hit it off and eventually get married and what not...but little did you know that Toshinori Yagi had quite the secret.

Masterlist

The sounds of conversation fluttered softly through the whole exhibit. Children excitedly rushed from each case to the other, excitedly pointing to the mannequins that held their iconic poses with the most iconic hero costumes plastered on them or hardcore fans to geek out over seeing the details up close. Though the eye catcher of your little exhibit was the All Might display. Every costume from each age was displayed, lights illuminating each color and fiber beautiful for those small children or for anyone to get a closer look to the most iconic hero of all time in Japan. People would also stand in shock next to the cutout of the symbol of peace and gawk at the height difference between themselves and All Might. Thankfully, spare costumes were even provided in order for the visitors to touch and feel, so people were also letting their fingers graze over the fabric.

The exhibit was your pride and joy. Seeing all those visitors enjoying themselves and devouring and digesting every fact, detail, and color was amazing to observe as you walked about, name tag pinned proudly to your smart outfit as your heels clicked against the freshly waxed and polished floors of the museum.

“Sorry, but please, no touching the class cases and please stand behind the line we have on the floor right here.” You said sweetly to a few kids who had their faces pressed up against one of the class that protected one of the costumes. The kids, embarrassed, backed up with sad moans. “But....if you go around the corner over there...you can touch every age of All Might’s costumes...” you said, the kids giving their excited ‘thanks!’ As they hurriedly off to where you instructed them to go. You couldn’t help but giggle as you watched them disappear around the corner, you beginning to turn around, but let out a gasp as you found yourself almost running into someone. “I am so sorry!” You quickly gushed out as your hands automatically went to the other’s arms, balancing yourself before taking a step back.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stop so close behind you.” The other man mumbled out as he held a hand up in reassurance, a small blush upon his cheeks, but he quickly cleared his throat before motioning a hand to the costume that sat off to the side. “So...um...Gran Torino, huh?” He said a bit awkwardly, but you only giggled as you turned to look to the costume on display.

“Yes, I had to track him down in order to ask to borrow it, but he happily obliged when I did meet him. It adds a nice touch, I feel we focus on what happens in our own years instead and not admire the hero’s that were prevalent in the years before us.” You commented, soon casting a glance to him, casting him a little grin with a shrug of your shoulders.

“Really? Tell me, who are your favorite heroes then.” The gaunt man before you asked, you taking in a breath before letting a sigh, a finger brought of your to you chin in though. Though you finally brought your hand back down from your face, prepared to answer.

“Well, All Might since he played such a huge role in everyone’s lives in Japan, including me.” You said with a little laugh, your tone so matter of fact. “His face and name is the one I found myself looking for in the media and news, but of course there’s Endeavor and Best Jeanist.” You listed off. Though the man before you nodded his head, but then moved to face you, giving a small bow.

“I’m Toshinori Yagi...” He introduced himself, which when you began to introduce yourself, he shook his head, motioning to your name tag. “Don’t worry, I got your name...” he said jokingly, causing a small giggle to erupt from you as you shyly looked down to your feet until back at him. “Well, can you give me a little tour of this exhibit?” He asked, you nodding your head before leading him through the different displays, jokingly and dramatically motioning to each one which gained a laugh from him as you went on. Though as the time went on, more and more people began to file out for the end of the day, the museum beginning to near its closing. That left you and him along before the All Might costumes that were on display in order for viewers to touch them. You couldn’t help but lean forward and allow your fingers to run over the fabric, a soft smile upon your face.

“Now this...this is what I’m most proud of.” You spoke out with a grin to him over your shoulder. “Imagine being able to touch something that makes the symbol of peace the symbol of peace.” You said as you looked back to the costume, admiration upon your face as you look to the display, arms crossed. “Plus cosplayers and designers who come to look for inspiration can get a better look at the materials and I know being able to touch it helps them quite a lot.” You said with a shrug of your shoulders, watching Toshinori reach out to give a small touch to the costume before retracting his hand. He was just about to say something, but the announcement that the museum was now closing interrupted him.

“I have to go...” he mumbled out as he listened to the announcement echoed around his head as he looked to you. He had to admit, he was disappointed that the time with you and talking with you was cut mercilessly.

“I’ll see you around, I’ll be here everyday for the next couple of weeks before everything is packed up and sent back to their original owners.” You said, a hopeful look glinting in your eye as you looked to him, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Definitely...”

And he was being truthful as he said that since the next day he was back again, matching suit jacket to his yellow, pinned striped suit draped over his arm as he made his way through the exhibit again, blue eyes staring up to those poses with wonder. Though you were excitedly walking up to him, a hand rested upon his arm.

“Hey!” You said, hand tucking away pesky hairs that had fallen from the pins you had in your hair, a grin upon your face. That became a routine between the two of you. Meet up, walk about and discuss different things. It was nice, but one day that announcement had become enough for Toshinori.

“Want to go grab something to drink? Or eat?” He asked, you quickly nodding your head.

“Yes! Yes, just...wait for me outside, I just have to go grab my things.” You said before rushing off, leaving him to smile away to the clomps of your heels. So with that he waited outside, suit jacket now upon his body as he shoved his hands into the depths of his pocket, waiting and waiting...until finally those familiars clicks reached his ears.

“Alright! I’m ready!” You happily chirped as you adjusted your purse on your shoulder, a grin on your lips as you linked your arm with his, letting him lead your down the sidewalks painted orange by the setting sun. The two of you decided on a small little rotation sushi joint, the two of your tucked away by the conveyor belt, cardigan and suit jackets tossed off to the side as the two of you laughed and giggled to something the other said.

“No! Honestly! This guy stomps into my exhibit and wanted to square up with me over the costumes being ‘fakes’ or whatever and that he knew it because of his years studying it in a ‘hero encyclopedia’ you snorted out as you took a sip from your drink, Toshinori laughing across from you, grabbing the plate that contained the sushi he had ordered from the little kiosk at the table.

“What got you into the museum life though? Not really a popular career path...not that it’s a bad thing.” He quickly elaborated as he continued to eat, looking to you to await your answer.

“I love museums...and my quirk played a role...” you said as you scrolled through the options on the menu absent mindedly, casting a side glance to him. “My quirk allows me to be really....um...perceptive with colors and lighting. I can see colors better than any human, animal, organism, you name it. So with that, I can really maneuver things in order to get the best view of it and obtain great lighting too to achieve it. That’s why my exhibits are always such a hit, especially when it comes to showing off clothing. Historical and traditional garments, movie costumes, heroes, a lot.” You explained, finally deciding on something from the menu before clicking the option, now facing him again. “What about you?”

“Me?” He said with a raised brow, clicking his chopsticks in his hands as he thought it over, arm lent forward and onto the table. “Just some lousy pawn for an agency..” he said with a little laugh. “I’m quirkless...so not really a lot of options in the playing field, so paperwork upon paperwork it is” He said with a shrug of his shoulders as he leant his cheek onto his leant up fist, watching you grab the sushi you had ordered.

“Well quirkless or not, I still like you, even if I don’t like the fact that you called yourself lousy.” You said with a grin as you grabbed ahold of your chopsticks. “Besides, once you really think about it, I just see a lot of color, that’s it, so really I could be considered quirkless too.” You said with a laugh as you began to eat again, Toshinori finishing up and now leant back into the booth, arms crossed over his chest. “I never had a chance at heroic work and whatnot.” You said after you swallowed the food in your mouth.

“Did you want to become a hero?” He asked, you scrunching up your face in thought before giving a firm nod of your head.

“Well yeah, who doesn’t as a child? I was certainly no different, but as I got older, I realized that with my quirk, I wasn’t going anywhere. So I enrolled in UA’s general studies...” you said, the two sushi roles left on your plate forgotten as you leaned back to relax too with your full and content stomach.

“Wait....you said you liked me.” Toshinori said with a small, little smirk upon his lips as he leaned forward on the table again.

“Well, yeah. What’s the point of me not being up front about it when I literally spent the past two weeks talking with you at the museum and excepting your offer to go out to eat.” You said with a shrug of your shoulders, now sipping from your drink, the condensation rolling off and dripping it’s little droplets of water onto the table. “Anyways, I went to college and studied art history and the fine arts.” You said as your drink was now set back down and forgotten off to the side, passing a napkin to clean up the water that had dripped off of your class and onto the table. Though a waiter had interrupted what he was about to say, Toshinori paying for the bill before getting up and slipping his suit jacket back on, helping you up from the booth and handing you your purse before walking out of the restaurant with you, your arm wrapped around his as the two of your now waited at the bus stop. On the bus you let your head rest upon his shoulder, a comfortable silence now resting upon both of you, even when you were now stepping up to your apartment door, the lights of cars dancing upon the horizon past the railings that lead down the walkway to each apartment. “Would you maybe...like to come in for a bit?” You asked as you pulled out your apartment keys with a jingle, a soft nod of his head answering you as his fingers hooked onto yours.

He didn’t leave until that morning, leaving his number and a note that he had work. Toshinori at your house had become a normal occurrence. To the point where now you had a little section of your closet just for him, extra pairs of suits hanging away in their protective bags and along with casual clothing, night clothes tucked away with your own in a drawer. It brought a smile to your face to walk in and see them, not being able to help but shove your nose into the fabric to get the wonderful serotonin the smell of the remnants of his cologne would give you. The best sleep of your life happened too in his arms and evenings were spent cuddled away on your couch watching movies or him working on paper work as you would cook dinner. It was a nice, domestic routine the two of you had formed and enjoyed immensely. It carried on for a few years until finally he popped the question, officially moved in, and got married. One day though, you were cuddled up into his side, watching some random stuff on the television when it was interrupted by a news segment show casing All Might. Honestly, it was pretty normal, so you kind of just decided to deal with the interview that was playing on screen.

“How do you think he manages all that? Interviews, teaching at UA, and then also with being a hero.” You said with a laugh as the interviewer tried to crack a joke and point out the mysterious wedding band that was on All Might’s finger that drove the world insane with how the mystery woman was. “AND be married.” You added, moving to wrap the blankets around you and Toshinori, the other only letting out a chuckle as he helped you.

“Why you say that?” He asked, arms resting back onto you after the blankets were to you and his liking, now looking down to you, pressing a kiss onto your forehead.

“Come on, he’s always jumping around fighting crime plus dealing with students at UA, his wife has got to be pissed that he’s away all the time, like she probably doesn’t want to do all the dishes or laundry by herself anymore.” You joked as you looked up to him before looking back to the tv, but something was up with Toshinori after that interview ended. He was...antsy, kept moving around. “Hey, so you need to walk around? You keep moving.” You spoke up as you looked up to him again.

“Hm? Oh, sorry.” He muttered out, now back to staring off to the tv, but something made you feel like he was only day dreaming, but you only shrugged your shoulders. “Actually....I have something to tell you...” he muttered out, you moving to sit up, looking to him now.

“Toshinori...you don’t have to feel bad.....I know you washed something red with the towels and that’s why they are pink....” you said, busting out with a little snort, gaining a little huff and a roll of Toshinori’s eyes as he watched you laugh.

“No, that’s not what I was going to say, but ok I did that, but no...” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m...I’m All Might...” he finally spoke out, you looking at him blankly before laughing.

“Oh har har Toshinori...nice joke, that’s a new one, I don’t think I’ve heard it in our last, what, six years of marraige?” You asked teasingly as you grabbed the tv remote to begin channel surfing again, but your husband had already took the remote. “Hey...!” you said with a pout, your husband now standing before you.

“I can prove it!” He declared, you raising your eyebrows up at him. “Remember the exhibit? How we met?” He questioned, you only giving a nod of your head, leaning back into the couch, hands pulling the discard blanket back onto your lap. “You wrote to my angency asking for the one and only support item that I used to direct air whenever I would use my force to manipulate it, but I didn’t send it.” He spoke out, you only rolling your eyes.

“You’re really good sweetheart, but any intermediate fan who studied his ages knows that one.” You said as you pointed a finger at him, he only looking at you in disbelief as you went to grab for the remote, but he only moved it away. That’s when a hiss sounded out and...smoke? It was like your husband was being inflated before you....

“I am here!” Came out that iconic voice, All Might, well your husband, stood before you, baggy night shirt and shorts now tight against the bulging physique of All Might.

“What the fuck!” You shouted, now grabbing one of the pillows on the couch to throw it at All Might, now crawling off the couch and running across the room and into the kitchen. “Ah!” You screamed again once you saw All Might begin to run after you, now proceeding in a constant cycle of chasing around the kitchen table.

“Stop running! I’m not going to hurt you! I’m your husband!” He shouted, you and him now twitching from side to side, trying to see which way the other would run from their side of the table.

“Six years! I slept in a bed next to you, cooked with you AND for you, made love to you, and have been married to you for six years! You tell me this after six years!?” You shouted at him from your place, hands gripping onto the chairs before you, but once again you and him were running, now he was where you were and you were where he was.

“When was I ever suppose to bring it up?! I didn’t want to endanger you! And I didn’t want you to think of me differently!” He spoke out, head almost hitting the hanging lights above the table as he leaned forward, hands pressed on top of the table. “Stop running!”

“Stop chasing me! You know I hate people running after me because I just run on instinct!” You cried out as you were once again running away, All Might now jumping over the table and following after you.

“Ow!” He yelled out as he bumped his head on the door way of the your shared bedroom, stumbling back a bit as his head went to the little gash on his head, you finally stopping your running.

“Are you ok?!” You gasped out, you now standing before him, trying to reach your hands up, but it was in vain. He was extremely taller than you. “Let me clean it up, Toshinori.” You spoke out as you grabbed onto his free hand, leading him into the bathroom, throwing the lid to the toilet down which he instantly sat on as he watched you pull out the first aid, already cleaning the gash on his forehead.

“I’m sorry...” he soon muttered out as you motioned for him to hold a small piece of gauze down so you could anchor it down with medical tape. “I wanted to tell you, but I was scared that you would feel differently or whatever, you know? I let myself think the worse would happen.” He spoke out, you sighing as you hopped up onto the counter space in between the two sinks of the master bedroom’s bathroom, legs swinging gently as you looked to your husband before you. It was strange to see All Might, the Symbol of Peace, and attach the title ‘Husband’ to him in your head.

“Hm...so that’s why All Might mysteriously had a wedding ring.” You finally spoke out as you used your foot to nudge at his hand with the ring, he only laughing and grabbing ahold of your foot to set it upon his knee, hands beginning to absentmindedly run at your leg. Though the man before you looked completely different from what your husband had usually looked like, his habits and actions were all the same, except that voice...that was gonna need some getting use to.

“Yeah...I didn’t want to take the ring off...” he said as he scratched the back of his neck with a little blush upon his face. “I still wanted to show off that I myself was happily married, so I just didn’t take it off, but it was hard to not just blab about you.” He said sheepishly, you blushing a little bit, hopping down from the counter, stepping up from him, though you brought your fist down to his arm. “Ow- I mean that totally didn’t hurt but what was that for?!” He asked as he brought a hand up to rub the spot you punched.

“That’s what you get for lying to me!” You said before tossing your arms around his neck. “But my husband is All freaking Might! That’s kind of cool...” you spoke out with a giggle as you pulled back from the hug.

“Yes...but also I got one more thing...”

“Oh no...what now” you said with a sigh, fear on your face.

“I want my students to meet you! And the teachers!” He gushed out as he held onto your hands.

“You want me to meet your students and coworkers? That’s an obvious yes”

“Oh hell yes!”

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sanchoyoscribbles · 3 years

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Yu-gi-oh! SR! (short for sidereal)

I’ve been talking about wanting to make a ygo fan series for a while on my main and I finally did 🤟 here’s the protagonist and her rival! I’m putting their profiles and the info about the series under the cut because it’s kinda long, even tho I tried to stick to just the basics 💀

⏳ Yunori Aokawa ⏳

⏳Age 22

⏳Deck theme: Wind attributes, lots of winged beasts. Her ace is ‘grand meridian quaver’, an angelic looking monster with a scythe and eight wings. (At some point I’ll come back and design these girls ace monsters for real…)

⏳ Our protagonist! She’s wanted to be a horologist forever and is deeply interested in history; in the future she’s from, a horologist isn’t just someone who studies time, but is someone who directly can observe set points on the timelines.

⏳They do this at a company called ChronoCorp (which is lowkey kinda shady…Yunori doesn’t work there long enough to notice…there’s 20 miles of contracts and NDAs, and you have to pass several hard tests to even be considered to be a new hire, so needless to say, Yunori studied Very Hard) it’s basically just people assigned historical events that were poorly documented to go and transcribe what actually happened, using tech that lets them watch it on hologram screens and pause it (basically a fancy TV…) they aren’t supposed to be able to interact with the events in any way and time travel is not a (publicly) known thing…

⏳On her first week on the job she finds a mysterious ring on her desk with a note with her name on it and assumes it’s a company gift, and while observing, she gets so into watching the duel she leans forward to the screen…and falls in! the ring seems to give her this ability and to have a lot of mystery around it, including it’s origin, and it has a recharge time, so once she’s in a certain time, she’s stuck for a while (not to mention, at the start she has no idea how it works or how to control it…) it’s called the sidereal ring! Yes this is a time travel plot. It’s very self indulgent of me.

⏳I’m not including stuff from arc v, vrains or sevens because I haven’t watched them, so they’re non canon here I guess for now? The series is a 200-300 yrs after zexal!

⏳ Yunori is a very cautious, nervous girl at the start of her adventure, determined she shouldn’t be interfering with history. She’s genre savvy and is convinced she’ll mess up the timeline if she does anything major, but over the course of the series becomes more confident and realizes she’s meant to be at the places she arrives at. She’s a huge history nerd and geeks out over famous duelists also despite having stage fright herself, she loves to see other people duel and loves to duel herself!

🎃Majo Kuromiya 🎃

🎃Age 24

🎃Deck theme: Halloween! Her ace card is a jack-o-lantern dragon called ‘boosilisk the hallowyvern’

🎃The rival character! She started entering duel tournaments in middle school to help her family because they were impoverished at the time, and by high school she was touring on professional duel circuits and had serious money. She very carefully developed and maintained her persona of being a spooky queen who puts on a show of being creepy while dueling, though she does earnestly love creepy cute things!

🎃She used her winnings to start her own company, Hallowed-Evolution. It’s the largest duel monsters costume and cosplay retailer! She’s pretty calculating because she’s been managing the company since she turned 18 to further support her family and handles a lot of PR herself. Although she threw herself into it so wholeheartedly that she never had time to make friends, which her family worries about. She’s so used to putting her persona up that it’s hard for her to make friends because she’s always got her mask up.

🎃Her and Yunori meet because Yunori lands in her time (sometime between 5Ds and zexal?) first, and because she owns her costume company and works with fabrics, she’s like What Is Your Outfit Made of. That’s not a fabric ive seen!!! (It’s Future Fabric™️) and Yunori is miserable at lying. Majo then let’s her stay at her estate trying to pry out details about the future (honestly, her first motives are to get details about the future to try and use that to grow her company…)

🎃 Yunori is a kind of awkward girl thought of as a history otaku back home so she didn’t have friends, and Majo doesn’t have any friends either, so they make a fun duo of Weird Girls and eventually grow together as people and have a full group of friends by the end. But at the start they’re both the same kind of too-focused on work types and learn to relax together 😌

🎃They butt heads a lot because Majo believes if Yunori is here, it means she was meant to be and shouldn’t be so afraid to mess up the timelines. (Majo is right, and smug about it later) Majo is also fascinated by superstitions and the occult and will casually say super morbid things which freaks Yunori out. Also, Majo is desperate to duel Yunori and beat her, because if she can beat someone who has the advantage of future cards and has studied duels as much as Yunori has, she’s convinced that’s the best victory that could be had. She also wants it to be a big showy match, but Yunori is like NO I HAVE TO STAY A SECRET IM NOT EVEN BORN IN THIS TIME YET!!! (They duel several times and yes, eventually on a big stage! Majo helps Yunori get over her stage-fright!)

🎃Majo also supplies Yunori with time-accurate outfits to help her blend in even though she doesn’t think Yunori actually needs to, and comes with her for pretty much all the adventures (Yunori accidentally brings her at first and while Majo is kind of excited to be involved, she’s more worried about her family and who will run her company, but when she gets back she realizes she doesn’t have to do everything alone because her family was reliably running it in her absence!) Her family includes her mother, her grandfather and two younger brothers (one 14 and one 10) and her mother was the one helping run the company for the most part.

If u read all of that thank you 🥺💗 I’m going to try and come back to these girls and develop more of a Plot and some VILLAINS and stuff, along with their ace monster designs…:3c I just thought it’d be fun to have a series that could go from filling in gaps of plot between the already established series, and being historical dramas the next ‘episode’ pfft. Also since vampires were established As Canon in GX I want to include them somehow. Scream Queen Majo VS A Real Vampire. I just wanted to add that 😌

#yugioh oc #ygo oc #ygo ocs #ygo #ygo sr!#oc #ocs #original #Majo Kuromiya #yunori aokawa

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nobodysuspectsthebutterfly · 3 years

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Hello! If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on watching House of the Dragon? I'm personally unsure about it. I was cautiously optimistic about it since D&D are not involved, but the recent casting news have been ugh disappointing imo. What do you think?

Hey anon! Sorry to say I kind of mind you asking because my inbox is still closed (to everyone except my secret Santas, which is why the ask page is accessible at all), but then I realized it’s possible if you’re on the mobile app only, you haven’t seen said note in my askbox, or my FAQ, or anything of the sort. And with older metas of mine being reblogged recently, it’s possible you may be confused. (I hope you’re on mobile only and not just ignoring my requests.) So I wanted to inform you of that... but also, y’know, I kind of wanted to make a post about the HotD cast anyway? And this ask is as good a prompt as any... so, you’re lucky, but please don’t push your luck. ;)

So, straight up: I currently have no plans to watch House of the Dragon. HBO is not getting any of my goddamn money, I don’t trust like that. And hunting down illegal livestreaming sites is a pain in the ass and I regret ever doing it for GoT, as well as regretting getting drunk every weekend enough to dampen my senses to ever tolerate that show. Yeah it’s different showrunners and writers, I know. It’s still (mostly) the same executives at HBO and even if the pervert producer is gone (or is he?), you know they still just want to sell sex and violence and dragons to an audience that thinks fantasy is for geeks.

Also, considering that Fire & Blood’s story of Dance of the Dragons has very little actual narrative or dialogue, and the historical record is deliberately untrustworthy, that gives them pretty much full rein to do whatever they like with the story and characterization and words without even being slightly obliged to GRRM at all. Furthermore, since the story is wholly political with virtually none of the magical side of ASOIAF (excepting dragons), and honestly does not have much in the way of themes or depth that main ASOIAF or even D&E has, I think it will be very hard for an adaptation to show even those brief sparks of quality that used to make me wistful GoT couldn’t be that good all the time and eventually just made me frustrated and depressed. Note I do like the history and characters of the Dance despite myself, despite its many many many textual issues, but I don’t need to see an adaptation, I have a very visual imagination. I don’t watch a lot of television to begin with, I don’t see why I should start again with this.

However, I’m not going to avoid spoilers or discussion, and I’ll probably follow the show the tumblr way, through gifsets and video clips and people bitching on their blogs etc. If, somehow, by some miracle of good screenwriting and acting, the show manages to transcend its source material, I’m sure I will be informed. And then, if and only if then, I may try watching. (Without, of course, giving HBO any of my goddamn money.) We shall see.

(Though I certainly don’t know why anyone in Targ standom would ever watch a Dance adaptation considering almost every Targaryen and everyone else in the story is terrible except Helaena and the kids, and considering how the story ends, unless y’all are gluttons for punishment? (I do not comprehend hatewatching, sorry.) It’ll probably be fun at first to see the adventures of those “precious silver douchebags” (to borrow a friend’s tag), but eventually rocks fall, everyone dies, including the girlboss you know you’ll hope the story will be changed enough that she succeeds. Just letting you know now, she won’t.)

That said. I’ve been following the casting news and I think the hate/fear/wild screaming is entirely overblown. Yeah, I know, but wait, just listen. On Friday I officially welcomed @naomimakesart to the “favorite character is now played by an actor who looks nothing like most fanart and is mostly known for wildly different roles” club. I still remember that day in September 2009 when my brother texted me “yarp”... and that right there is the thing. Yeah. Rory McCann looks very little like most pre-GoT Sandor fanart... but many fans grew to love him anyway. (There are some who never did, of course. And yeah the character went off the rails by the end, but truly, who didn’t. Having seen his audition, having spoken to him and heard him wistfully talk about book scenes he loved, I’m convinced if Rory had only been given Sandor’s actual scenes and such, he would’ve killed it. Sigh. Deep, deep sigh.)

And Rory isn’t the only one. Neither of the actors for Jaime and Cersei were considered “beautiful” enough at first. I recall very clearly people bitching about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (about his nose particularly?) because they had wanted Tarzan-era Travis Fimmel to be Jaime. (Seeing people bitch because current-Fimmel isn’t playing Daemon made me laugh out loud for both BEYONCE?! meme -type “why would you ever cast him omg he doesn’t fit my headcanon Daemon at all”, and amazing amounts of fandom flashbacks.) Lena Headey was “too square-jawed”, “too mean-looking” (since at the beginning you should never be able to guess she’s evil), “too dark-complected”, “too mannish”, not at all attractive enough. (Tricia Helfer was the most common “but I wanted” for Cersei, btw.) And of course “they don’t remotely look like twins, ugh!” Note, there’s receipts for all of this, none of it is made up. (Unfortunately.) Those two actors are just the ones whose casting wank I recall most clearly, particularly because oh how the turn tables.

Also. You know, there’s a post with Matt Smith and Mark Simonetti’s TWOIAF Daemon going around with shrieks of horror... and I’m finding it maddening in a “am I crazy? am I the crazy one???” way, because Matt looks like the painting. Their features are not that dissimilar.

Same deepset eyes. Same cheekbones of doom. Same thin lips. Same protruding chin. Same high forehead. Same invsible eyebrows ffs. Matt has a squarer jaw, and a longer more rectangular face, and a wider nose, but considering that Daemon’s features are not described in the text, and this is the only official ASOIAF artwork that shows Daemon’s face straight on, I can for sure see why he was probably shortlisted to begin with. And that’s not even getting into to his role in The Crown, which I’ve heard is very well played with politics and palace intrigue... and if you doubt Smith can play seductive/roguish and/or evil (depending on how you LARP as a Westeros historian), or look good with long hair... well. I do not want to watch the movie, but this trailer is disturbingly enlightening.

And as for Rhaenyra... y’all know this show is starting at the beginning of the story, right? When she’s a teenager? Not a voluptuous MILF? Yeah, Emma D’Arcy doesn’t look like a Magali Villeneueve painting (though who does, good lord), but you know who she does look remarkably like? Harry Lloyd.

Same jawline. Same nose. Same thin lips. Same sharp cheekbones. Notably, same kind of sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes as Matt Smith. HBO evidently has a concept of a “Targaryen look” that’s a little bit quirkier than supermodel-Greek statue-gods on earth, yeah, fine. But it’s consistent, and they look like family, and that-- that is good casting.

And yeah, in a few months to a year or so, you’ll see them in costume and wigs and makeup, you’ll see them in motion and speaking lines, and go Oh. That’s different. Never mind. And while people will make fanart of the show depictions of the characters and those will probalby get popular, they’ll also keep doing fanart of their pre-show headcanons, and those too will be popular. (God knows when I draw or visualize book!Sandor, Rory does not come to mind, lol.) Either way, there’s no reason to panic. We’ll live.

(Though will we live well? Got to wait on the writing and showrunning for that, alas.)

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Unforgotten: the Clues in the Titles and Why Every Detail Matters

https://ift.tt/3b8wdBf

Warning: contains spoilers for Unforgotten series 1-3

“You’d be surprised,” says Peter Anderson, creative director of the studio behind the title sequences for hit ITV crime drama Unforgotten. “You can show something really on-the-nose, and people won’t get it until they’ve been told. We fret and worry about giving too much away but the clue is only triggered when you know the context.”

Each 40-second title sequence for Unforgotten is a curated collection of purpose-filmed scenes designed to go where the drama can’t – namely, inside the characters’ heads. Every series starts with the discovery of a long-buried body, then introduces viewers to a guest cast of characters whose connections to each other, and to the historical murder, gradually unfold. It takes six episodes to solve the mystery, but right from the start, the abstracted and symbolic images created for the title sequence already hold all the answers.

“Some of the images are big clues,” explains Anderson. “With the current series titles, there were some things that were taken out and then went back in, that are incredibly poignant, really incredibly amazing clues, I can only be ambiguous about it at this stage.”

Our new titles, full of little teasers and clues. Made by the brilliant @PAndersonStudio #OneDayMore #Unforgotten 4 https://t.co/rE5XAo5lx6

— Chris Lang (@ChrisLangWriter) February 21, 2021

How the series four title sequence relates to the new story, airing on Mondays at 9pm, is currently anybody’s guess. The meaning behind its images – a smashed car window, an allotment, a discarded fountain pen, to pick just three – will only become apparent after the finale. “You should have a relationship with the title sequence that grows as the drama grows,” says Anderson. Look back the title sequences for previous Unforgotten series and that’s exactly so – they’re transformed by hindsight.

Take the series two montage, which opens with a shot of a pub table and three empty drinking glasses. Atmospherically, it’s a lonely image, but hardly ominous. In the finale, the scene is revealed to be a turning point in the investigation as the place where the murder suspects gather and the truth is finally told. It’s a terrible truth about three lives irreparably damaged by childhood sexual abuse, and provides the answer to another title sequence mystery. The dreadful significance of a previously unexplained shot of an empty yellow tent is made clear in a heart-rending monologue from Mark Bonnar, who plays lawyer Colin. The abuse Colin suffered as a child began aged nine, on a camping trip. Each week, viewers have been shown the tent from his memory – a formative moment that haunts the titles in the same way it haunts the character.

“That’s one of those occasions where the titles are showing you something awful and poignant, a game-changer,” says Anderson. “In a way, the tent is the scene that forms the whole story of the drama, but it’s in the titles. It’s not a flashback, it’s been allowed to be in this other place, this place that says to you, ‘Before you watch this drama every week, think about some of these things’.”

Not every image is necessarily a clue. “Some of them are setting the scene, some of them are memories that form the characters, some of them are about placing the different time zones that you’re in.” Unforgotten is a time-travelling series, says Anderson. “The titles are showing us that we will be in memory.”

All four series titles share the visual metaphor of unsettled dust motes floating from scene to scene. “It’s talking about how, the moment Cassie and Sunny (the show’s detective leads played by Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar) come knocking on your door with news or an accusation, it unearths a whole series of events, whether you’re innocent or guilty. The dust, your past, is unsettled. That thread follows through all the title sequences, it’s about the everyday becoming disrupted and changed.”

Clues and reminiscences are purposely blended in the Unforgotten titles. Some memories may be more important than others, but nothing is frivolous, says Anderson. In the series two sequence, even a glimpsed pan of peas boiling on a stove feeds into the working class roots of a now wealthy, knighted business tsar. “Even the peas have a job to do because they’re taking you back inside the head of a character.”

“One that pops to mind is a car crash scene from the series one titles. It’s the moment that one of our characters was in the crash that put him in his wheelchair. That’s not something shown in the drama, but that’s a moment that formed that character, a lot of his traits come out of this awful thing that happened.”

Unforgotten series 3 writer: “we live in uncompassionate times”

By Louisa Mellor

Books

Why Unforgotten fans should read Reservoir 13

By Louisa Mellor

Title scenes are a different type of narrative that hark back to the silent movie era, Anderson explains. “It’s about subtly extending the storytelling, extending the characters through their memories, taking you to a place that formed them that the drama doesn’t have the time to show. It might be referred to in dialogue, but we can actually make it in the titles.”

They can make it, but not wanting to give the game away, they also have to obscure it. “Something that seems abstract often is laced with meaning,” he says, citing a tiny snippet in the series three credits where we see a close-up of a deer’s eye. The deer turns out to be a plot point, as the animal hit by an underage driver whose father suspects him of having killed the victim. In the same sequence, a poetic scene shows grass and flowing water. “To the viewer that will just be abstract and atmospheric, but actually, that’s the moment when the river broke its banks and carried away the body.”

The Unforgotten titles incorporate the settings used in the show, but – until this series because of last year’s Covid-19 restrictions on set visits – were always purpose-filmed by Anderson’s studio and not compiled from existing footage. They’d pop in to a set while the production was on lunch and get the coverage they needed, borrowing key props and costumes. That’s how a necktie worn by a character revealed to have a sadomasochistic fetish is glimpsed binding the hands of a young woman (a Peter Anderson Studios intern, being useful on her first day) in the series two sequence. A suitcase used to contain and dispose of a murder victim is spotted sitting innocently at the bottom of a wardrobe. “We have access to all the costumes, the props, the poignant clues from the drama itself. The detail that’s in there comes direct from the drama.”

Each Unforgotten title sequence begins life as around 100 short scenes written by Anderson after reading all six of that series’ scripts. It’s unusual to be granted such breadth of access in TV drama, which is part of what makes the title work on Unforgotten so special. The entire Mainstreet Pictures team, from creator and writer Chris Lang to the producers and directors, collaborate on whittling down the list of scenes until they say everything they need to, without giving anything away.

This kind of devotion from a production company to a TV title sequence is rare in the UK, says Anderson. He’s experienced it precious few times in his career: with Neil Gaiman creating the stunning 2D animated titles for Good Omens, with Steven Moffat and the producers of BBC One’s Sherlock and Doctor Who – for which his studio made the series seven titles starring Matt Smith – and here, on Unforgotten.

Lang tells Den of Geek that he’s never worked on a series with such a symbiosis between the titles and the drama. “We meet at late script stage, when the characters are fully formed, and then we decide together which echoes, teases and clues we want to put in to the opening sequence.” Lang describes the titles for each series as a mini drama of their own, easing the audience into the world of the show. In dramatic and storytelling terms, he says, the titles do a lot of heavy lifting.

“Chris will say ‘Can we add this scene? Because this is why that character was formed’, explains Anderson. “I can’t extend a character’s story in the way that the writer can. He knows implicitly how he’s formed his characters, he knows their past. He knows which memories are important”. It’s about understanding the detail of every bit of storytelling, “that even a half-second snippet really matters.”

One character-forming scene that’s only a half-second snippet in the series three titles shows a young child being hugged by a woman. The costume, backdrop and lighting suggest the 1960s, putting us in the realm of memory. In that half-second, Anderson confirms, we’re inside the mind of Dr Tim Finch, an extremely damaged man played by Alex Jennings. “It’s just meant to be a flicker of time showing an overbearing mother that formed part of his character. If you look at the detail of that shot, what’s important is the fact that he’s being smothered and the smothering therefore has a psychological effect on him growing up.”

Another key memory scene – a child’s-eye perspective of a woman peeling potatoes at a sink, which relates to the moment a character told her mother she was being abused by her father – was coincidentally filmed in the same location: Anderson’s kitchen at home. “I have a 1950s house with a genuine 50s kitchen with a genuine 80s wall with a genuine 70s floor, so as a location, it’s utterly fantastic for time travel,” he laughs, angling his laptop camera down to show a tiled floor fans will recognise from several of the Unforgotten title sequences.

In the US, Anderson explains, TV titles are highly paid for, but in Britain it remains a lo-fi business. When his studio created the fast-paced title sequence for high-profile Sky One drama Lucky Man, for instance, instead of closing the roads and wiring up a street with cables to film the fast-paced street scenes, they did it using an actor from Starlight Express roller skating through London wearing a GoPro.

Series two’s yellow tent scene was filmed using vintage camping equipment pitched in the park next to Anderson’s home. “That was me and a cinematographer on the side of a hill. We set it up meticulously with an oil lamp from the period. We wanted the light to be perfect, so for just that one scene we probably spent between three and four hours shooting.”

A television drama often won’t have the time to be so indulgent with its photography, he says. For the series three titles, his studio shot Bristol Bridge in the early hours of the morning, starting off in the dark and the snow, waiting until the light was just so. Production arranged the official permissions, the hotel, everything so that Anderson’s team could film just two scenes of no more than a few seconds each. It’s proof, he says, of how much everybody involved cares and how every detail matters – something well worth remembering the next time your finger hovers over that ‘Skip Intro’ button.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Unforgotten series 4 continues on Mondays at 9pm on ITV1.

The post Unforgotten: the Clues in the Titles and Why Every Detail Matters appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/303o3nf

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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slippingbetweenthestars · 4 years

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The Unquiet Dead: Gwyneth’s angels and agency

Inspired by @silvermarmoset, I’ve decided to catalogue the details I love in Doctor Who, little shots, props, costumes, and conversations etc. that I geek out over.

Gwyneth from “The Unquiet Dead” is probably my favorite historical character of all time (may have to revise this after re-watching Demons of the Punjab and S12).

I really really hate “Look how barbaric the past was!” episodes. I also really hate “The past was egalitarian! It’s only you who interpret it the wrong way!” episodes (though not quite as much). Most historical episodes rub me this way. Between that and “famous” being conflated with “influential/important,” I usually dislike historical episodes centered on real people. (generic victoria bothers me less).

If studying history has taught me anything, it’s that the past is an alien place. Go back more than four generations and people have mightily different worldviews and mores. Modern concepts just don’t exist in the same way. Even time is structured differently. (That’s not to excuse historical behavior--I agree as much as the next person that slavery and sexism are wrong and continue to affect our world today precisely because they were accepted in the past.)

I’m a lot more fascinated by how people justify their worldview. I’d rather know how ��lily feet’ came into being in China and what allowed such a constricting beauty standard exist for so long than I am in condemning the society that created it and its practitioners. I’d rather watch how people interacted with the power structures around them than focus on how much worse that structure is than the one we have today, since we’ve clearly got a lot still to do. (This seems a function of privilege, as I do not have to work to dismantle this historical idea from affecting my daily life and worldview). Still, I tend to be a historian more than an activist, though the two roles can easily go hand in hand.

Here’s a fancy term I learned from reading an IR sociology paper: “tempocentrism.” Tempocentrism is the tendency to assume that the past can be understood through models that apply to the present, implying a false sense of cultural continuity across time.* So for example, we can take the modern concept of a “nation” and apply it to any group of territories in history and understand their reactions, even if they don’t share the same concept of nation, or land-holding, or territory, or boundaries, or authority. This can lead to interpretations that really don’t match historical reality. (I.e, consider the model popular in East Asia for so long, with countries paying tribute to China, and see if that jives with our modern concept of a nation).

So how does this apply to Doctor Who?

Enter Gwyneth.

I love this conversation. So. Much.

For background, Rose starts the conversation by trying to help Gwyneth with the washing up, and Gwyneth refuses to let her help on account of the posh vibes Rose is giving off. Rose sympathizes (but thinks she empathizes) with Gwyneth being stuck in a dead-end, low paying job, and thinks Gwyneth is being exploited, so she asks her about how much she’s paid.

Here’s the thing: Gwyneth is actually just grateful to have a job with a kind employer when she could be a lot worse off, so when answers, she misinterprets Rose’s silence to mean her miniscule-by-modern-standards wage is actually shock at such a generous wage. Rose interprets Gwyneth’s situation with the standard modern “pity the poor, underserved people of the past. We have it way better” lens.

Gwyneth’s not having it, because by her standards, her life is perfectly normal. She doesn’t see herself as someone to be pitied, nor does she see herself as ignorant or prudish anymore than Rose does when she protests letting the Gelth use human corpses for bodies.

Rose, like Gwyneth, is a person of her time and would likely respond very similarly to someone from the future acting like that--Jackie raised her to be someone who doesn’t let herself be pitied, but doesn’t let anyone short-change her value, regardless of education or class background. We may laugh at Jackie’s “compensation” spiel in “Rose,” but that’s Jackie’s approach to life: Everyone’s going to try and shortchange you, and no one’s going to wait for you, so don’t let them pity you and force them to give you what you deserve.

This rhythm continues, as Gwyneth builds on similarities, and Rose follows her lead but goes too far.

GWYNETH: Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own. ROSE: I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys. GWYNETH: Well, I don't know much about that, miss. ROSE: Come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same. GWYNETH: I don't think so, miss. ROSE: Gwyneth, you can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone. GWYNETH: I suppose. There is one lad. The butcher’s boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him. ROSE: I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum. GWYNETH: Well, I have never heard the like. ROSE: Ask him out. Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start. GWYNETH: I swear it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing.

This whole conversation is so push-pull. They get closer, realize their experiences are quite similar, but then either Rose or Gwyneth says something that reveals the gulf separating their life experiences. They come back together, and then apart. Rose is projecting her notion of “what should be” on the past, and Gwyneth assumes Rose shares similar values. They really do have so much in common, but the ways they conceptualize their experiences are so different that they get in the way of communication.

On the one hand, the human experience is pretty similar. We don’t tend to like “what’s good for us” or lectures. We get crushes on people (when maybe we shouldn’t). We skive off boring stuff. On the other hand, our standards for what’s normal are totally different.

They continue in the same vein, with both characters validating their worldview and history as legitimate. Rose asserts that her more liberal values with boys are perfectly fine, and Gwyneth brings up the concept of faith and an afterlife:

ROSE: Maybe I am [a wild thing]. Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed. GWYNETH: Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve. ROSE: Oh, I'm sorry. GWYNETH: Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss.

I really love how this is handled. The question of an afterlife is mostly left up to the viewer, but it’s pretty clear that Gwyneth has different thoughts than Rose or the Doctor. Rose doesn’t hold Gwyneth’s assurance of the afterlife and keeps her mouth shut in a “I’m not going to break it to her” sort of way. (The Doctor sure doesn’t see things the same way, but he doesn’t seem too keen on trying to change other people’s beliefs and lets them interpret things how they will.) This isn’t challenged by the characters, but I can’t help but feeling the somewhat telepathic Gwyneth knows and pities them for their lack of belief, since she’s gotten so much reassurance from her own faith.

This whole conversation stands as a contrast to Raffalo the plumber from End of the World, where Raffalo’s trappings (space plumber, blue skin, on a satellite watching the earth burn, literally needs permission to speak) are different enough that Rose doesn’t “times haven’t changed that much.” She looks to translate an experience rather than assuming they speak the same language of experience.

This conversation is representative of the whole episode, where characters with wildly different worldviews are coming together and clashing brilliantly. Charles Dickens doesn’t believe in the supernatural, Mr. Sneed doesn’t really care one way or the other, except for the fact that reanimated corpses are ruining his career, Rose and her modern expectations, Gwyneth’s faith and long-suffering (“Mister Sneed, for shame. How many more times? It's ungodly...I know it's not my place, and please, forgive me for talking out of turn, sir. But this is getting beyond, now. Something terrible is happening in this house, and we've got to get help. ), and of course, the Doctor’s the most alien of us all.

This whole episode is driven by these little clashes of belief, and I love it so much. Rose is trying to do stand up for someone, and she’s trying to empathize, but her own worldview gets in the way of how she interprets things. (I frickin’ love the fact that Rose has a worldview and that it’s flawed. Sometimes that gets lost on some characters in later eras...). That all boils down to this scene, which sets up the ending:

ROSE: I don't care. They're not using her. GWYNETH: Don't I get a say, miss? ROSE: Look, you don't understand what's going on. GWYNETH: You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid. ROSE: That's not fair. GWYNETH: It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do? DOCTOR: You don't have to do anything. GWYNETH: They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me.

Here is where Gwyneth basically tells us that she knows everyone’s got a different opinion and may not value her own. However, whether or not the Gelth are angels sent by her mother, she is perfectly capable of making her own decision. As the audience, we’re inclined to see her faith in these angels as wrong and a little bit superstitious, and yet her decision is hers to make and we don’t side with Rose, even though we’re probably thinking the same thing as her. (For the sake of time, I won’t analyze the triangle argument between Rose, the Doctor, and Gwyneth here, but it’s one of my very favorite bits of dialogue of Doctor Who). Who is right matters less here than allowing people to make their choices and doing what they can to save those who can’t help themselves.

As things progress, it turns out the Doctor is wrong in his analysis that the Gelth are harmless, and Rose’s objection is actually the best option overall, but for the wrong reasons (possessed corpses squick her out). The Doctor is perhaps even in the wrong for not trying to disabuse Gwyneth of the notion that the Gelth are angels when he was trying to get her to help them. She rather conveniently agreed with his plan since she believed the Gelth were angels.

Ultimately, Gwyneth’s agency is reaffirmed. Her choice to die was her choice, and her choice alone. She wasn't hoodwinked, or deceived, or even a blind follower. Her sacrifice is treated reverently.

And you know what else? I love the ambiguity of the ending.

ROSE: She didn't make it. DOCTOR: I'm sorry. She closed the rift. DICKENS: At such a cost. The poor child. DOCTOR: I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes. ROSE: What do you mean? DOCTOR: I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch. ROSE: But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that? DICKENS: There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor. ROSE: She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know.

For all of Rose’s disbelief and the Doctor’s indifference, who’s to say Gwyneth’s angels aren’t there?

As for Charles Dickens? Meh. He’s relatively inoffensive and stays in the background, except when he’s playing the straight man to the Doctor’s goofiness, which is as much as I can hope for when famous figures pop into Doctor Who. At least he’s kinda having a life crisis and ends up the better for it.

*John M. Hobson, “What’s at stake in ‘bringing historical sociology back intointernational relations’? Transcending ‘chronofetishism’ and ‘tempocentrism’ ininternational relations.” In (eds.) S. Hobden and John M. Hobson, Historical Sociology in International Relations. (Cambridge, 2002)

#9th doctor #rose tyler #doctor who #dw meta #dw gwyneth #the unquiet dead #ninth doctor #detail catalogue #RTD era #rtd who #dw series 1

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goldenavenger02 · 4 years

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What you should watch while staying at home part 2! AKA the Disney+ list based off the U.S selection.

Disney+

Lab Rats (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: A scrawny 14-year-old, having discovered his inventor stepdad has three bionic, super-powered teens living cloistered in a secret lab beneath their home, brings them out into the world.

Seasons: all four seasons and the spin-off are on Disney+, except for part 2 of Lab Rats vs. Mighty Med because that is a Mighty Med episode and Mighty Med is not on Disney+ at the time of this post.

Why you should watch it: Lab Rats was the reason I started writing fanfiction (if you're brave and like first person fics, my profile on fanfiction.net under the name Brentinator is full of cringe worthy fics) and it's probably the reason that I like action/adventure so much. It's super funny, it's very dramatic and it has good messages about family and teamwork.

Kickin' It (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: A once-in-a-generation young karate fighter named Jack joins the Wasabi warriors.

Seasons: 1-4 on Disney+

Why you should watch it: it's a comedy about teenagers in a karate dojo. Yeah, it's Disney so it is cringy, but it makes for some good laughs. Leo Howard is a little cutie, there's an episode with Billy Unger (Lab Rats) and Kelli Berglund (Lab Rats). There's some whump in a bit of it, and Jason Earles (Miley's brother in Hannah Montana) is the sensei. It's great.

Austin and Ally (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: Following the lives of Austin, an aspiring confident musician, Ally, a quiet talented songwriter and their two friends.

Seasons: 1-4 on Disney+, part two of the New Year's special is season 2, episode six of Jessie.

Why should you watch it: this was the first Disney Channel show I watched. Ross Lynch was my first celebrity crush, the first soundtrack was my first CD, and Trish gave me some representation as a plus sized woman/teen. It's pretty cringe, but the songs are all amazing and some of jokes are knee slappers.

Good Luck Charlie (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: The Duncan family are adjusting to the surprise birth of their fourth child, Charlie. When parents Amy and Bob return to work they put their latest addition in the care of her three older siblings.

Seasons: all seasons and the movie in between seasons 2 and 3 on Disney+, the second part of the Christmas episode in season 4 is in season 3 of Jessie.

Why should watch it: it's just a good comedy about a family with a lot of kids.

Brave (movie)

Rating: PG

Summary: Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

Why should you watch it: this movie holds a very special place in my heart. I watched this movie with my grandpa the Christmas before he died, and it's a memory I hold very close. It's also the best Disney princess with red hair, fight me. And my Merdia Halloween costume where I carried around my dad's bow and arrows can't be beat.

Chicken Little (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: After ruining his reputation with the town, a courageous chicken must come to the rescue of his fellow citizens when aliens start an invasion.

Why should you watch it: a lot of people say this is Disney's worst animated movie. But this is a very nostalgic movie for me, and some of the jokes can't be beat. Also, aliens.

Bad Hair Day (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: A buddy comedy about a high school tech-whiz whose prom day abruptly shifts into a wild ride across town, thanks to a down-on-her-luck cop and a jewel thief.

Why should you watch it: it's Ally from Austin and Ally and the mom from Good Luck Charlie trying to protect a missing necklace, and the two of them grow a motner-daughter type relationship during it.

Descendants 2 (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay try to adjust to life in Auradon, but Mal becomes overwhelmed with pressure and returns to her roots.

Why should you watch it: I love the Descendants franchise, but the second movie has the best songs, the best acting and the best villains. I'm obsessed with China Anne McClain and she's a great villain. But watch the first movie. After all, it has Dove Cameron, Booboo Stewart, Sofia Carson and the late Cameron Boyce with some of their best acting being displayed.

High School Musical 2 (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: School's out for summer and the East High Wildcats are ready to make it the time of their lives after landing jobs in a wealthy country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family.

Why you should watch it: I'm not a huge HSM fan, but I love Sharpay and Ryan, and I love the movie that's on their turf. It also has my favorite HSM song in it, which is Bet On It. Probably watch the first movie first though.

Geek Charming (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: To win a school popularity contest, a high school diva permits a film club classmate to record her popular life, but the film starts documenting her decline instead.

Why you should watch it: this is possibly my favorite DCOM, and Sarah Hyland is so good at her job, it's insane. It's overshadowed by what happened between the leads afterwards, however.

How to Build a Better Boy (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: Teenage tech whizzes unwittingly use military software to program a robotic boyfriend.

Why you should watch it: probably why I like it so much is because it has China Anne McClain and Kelli Berglund, and it's a cool concept. Also has Noah Centerpiece if you like him as well.

Teen Beach Movie (movie)

Rating: not rated

Summary: Two surfing lovers, whose doomed relationship is nearing to a close, find themselves swept into a a dimension traversing wave that sends them into a beach movie musical in the 60's.

Why you should watch it: it's not a great plot, but the acting is pretty good and the songs are so amazing. Also, Ross Lynch. Not a huge fan of the sequel, but you should still check it out if you like the first one.

The Emperor's New Groove (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his ex-administrator Yzma, and must now regain his throne with the help of Pacha, the gentle llama herder.

Why should you watch it: this is the movie I grew up on. I knew all the quotes, I knew all the jokes, and one time I barged into my sister's youth group shouting "boom bam, baby!" It's so good and so funny.

Finding Nemo (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.

Why should you watch it: my other childhood movie. Also knew the quotes, and the jokes, and I spoke whale in church when I was very young. There may also be a Finding Nemo Irondad AU from me in the future.

Holes (movie)

Rating: PG

Summary: A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.

Why should you watch it: to this day this is the most accurate book to movie adaptation I've ever seen. Also, Madame Zeroni.

Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: Mickey, Donald and Goofy are the French three Musketeers.

Why you should watch it: well, it's what the summary says. The Mickey Mouse gang as the musketeers. And it has la pit in it. "No, not la pit!"

Pocahontas (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.

Why should you watch it: is it historically accurate, no. But does it have one of the sweetest romances in the history of Disney, I would like to think so. And Pocahontas is just one of my favorite Disney princesses, even if she's not technically a princess.

Tangled

Rating: PG

Summary: The magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.

Why should you watch it: a carefree princess, a attractive and hilarious thief and the cutest little chameleon ever! The animation is gorgeous, the songs are amazing and Mother Gothel is such a good villain.

Pooh's Heffalump Movie (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: A Heffalump is heard trumpeting in the hundred acre woods. Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet are scared and rush to Rabbit's house for advice. Roo joins them and they all agree that Heffalumps are nearby after finding a huge footprint. They decide to set out on an expedition to catch the Heffalump. Roo is not allowed to come along because he is too little.

Why should you watch it: I watched a lot of Winnie the Pooh movies when I was little, because Winnie the Pooh is my mom's favorite Disney franchise, but this one is my favorite. It's so soft, and it has a good lesson that even if you're different, that doesn't mean you're evil or scary.

Read it and Weep (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: A shy and retiring high school student develops a peculiar alter ego that changes her life forever.

Why should you watch it: it's about a writer in high school! This is one of my favorite Disney movies ever, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Sky High (movie)

Rating: PG

Summary: Set in an era where superheroes are commonly known and accepted, young William Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream, tries to find a balance between being a normal teenager and an extraordinary being.

Why should you watch it: clearly, I like movies and shows about superheroes (I mean, I write for Marvel). This movie is about William, who hasn't gotten his powers yet, and has been lying to his parents that he has before he goes to superhero high school. The ending is weird, but I love this movie.

Tagging some people so it gets spread around: @marvelous-writer @clover-roseee @canary-warrior @blondsak @breanadaveport-mendel @seek-rest @willelbyers

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meeedeee · 5 years

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Copying and pasting

“Greetings, fellow fannish Elder,

I’d like to invite you to participate in an anthology of collected essays and interviews exploring the co-creative aspects of women in fandom, in their own voices, during the latter half of the twentieth century.

This anthology, Geek Elders Speak: In Our Own Voices (with the subtitle, Women Co-creators and Their Undeniable Place in Fannish History), will be published by Forest Path Books, LLC., an independent press.

My name is Jenni Hennig. I’m a published author (most recently The Books of the Wode, a historical fantasy series), and I administer Forest Path Books. Some of you might remember me from Star Trek, Star Wars, Man From UNCLE, and Robin of Sherwood fandoms, where I wrote fanfic, was an artist, filker, award-winning costumer, and publisher of zines such as Far Realms and Against the Wind.

I have a vital and personal interest in this anthology. I remember our history: Fanzines cranked on mimeo, or typed with carbons and passed out by hand at cons. Art and “illos” hand-drawn and hand-screened. Costumes hand-sewn, constructed with fabric, wire, and bondo, with odds and ends like shaving cream can tops or shiny Leggs® packaging. Filks taped at cons on handheld recorders. Music videos made in the oh-so-lengthy process allowed with Beta and VHS. All of us laid claim to our creative power, over the years and in our own terms.

I was there, too.

We have so many stories to tell. And that’s why I’m reaching to you.

You’re probably wondering how the anthology’s title came about. I’m all over giving credit where it’s due, so kindly let me give you a wee bit of background for this project. The idea was sparked at a Seattle convention called Geek Girl Con, where in 2014 a panel called “Geek Elders Speak” proved one of the most popular events at the con.

(See this article: https://geekgirlcon.com/?s=geek+elders&post_type=post )

Four women who had been active with media fanzines in the 1970s and 1980s were speakers; I was an incognito ‘Elder’ in the audience, listening to comments made by both women and men. The younger fans were visibly astounded by the stories they heard—especially the geek girls who’d never heard about the crucial role of women in creating and defining media fandom. Hungry for a history they’d never imagined to exist, they embraced the panel with pure joy. And the older women in the audience? Well, one was in tears, believing her local Starbase fan group would be—and was—forgotten.

The Elder panellists could have answered questions for the rest of the day!

Fast forward a couple of years, and my own repeated attendance of conventions where a great majority of younger fans haven’t the slightest clue about the history of their own fandoms, much less the women’s shoulders upon which they stand.

It’s time, ladies, that we told our story. Not as some at-arms-length and rarefied curiosity of academia, not as seen through the often-clouded lens of those who weren’t there, but IN OUR OWN VOICES. We need to be heard: all our work, all our experiences. We need to be more than yet another lost or wiped-clean anecdote of women’s history.

And, with the recent announcement that a fanfiction archive has been nominated for a Hugo Award, it’s timely.

Many of us have already been silenced by time and illness. Many of us are grappling with the hard realities of twilight. Our voices are dwindling. We aren’t getting any younger, my friends, and that makes it all the more imperative: we need to record these things now.

To this end, Geek Elders Speak: In Our Own Voices is on the Forest Path Books publishing schedule, with a prospective release in the last quarter of 2020. Contributors will receive standard pro anthology pay rates and contracts. We are planning worldwide distribution in paper, e-book, and audio, with suitable advertising and promotion. As the first contributors come on board, we will be registering and promoting a Kickstarter to help with publication costs.

But we can’t do any of this without YOU. Your singular voice, your personal story, your experiences both good and bad… in short, your creative participation in a phenomenon that meant and continues to mean so much to all of us. These are truly the most vital aspects to make this anthology the success I know it can be.

Please consider contributing, either with an essay or via interview. Check out te attached suggestions. Feel free to share this letter with your fellow female Elders. Pitch us your own, unique story. We would love to hear your voice!

All the best,

Jeanine ‘Jenni’ Hennig (J Tullos Hennig) Forest Path Books Jeanine Tullos Hennig P.O. Box 847 ~ Stanwood, WA 98292 [email protected]

#fandom history #women in fandom #dwcrosspost

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wakasa-wifey · 2 years

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OMG I AM SO SORRY 😭😭😭 I’ve been so busy writing this Jean Kirstein one shot (royalty au btw) that I forgot 🥺 I assigned you an emoji already though hehe 😄😄

Hey you got to sleep for 10 hours goodness that’s so cool 😍 and omg I love Eid, many of my friends are Muslims and the person who cooks for us is also a Muslim so the food I get to eat for iftaar is amazing 🥰 also, omg I believe the color would look great on youu!!

Wait MALAY?! Omg! Omg! Okay, so, I’ve been to Penang and I love the place. I’m sad that I couldn’t see the traditional dances but I’m sure that when I do get to go again, to Penang AND to KL, it would be wonderful 💕💕 also sign me up for slow dances hehe

If I’ll be honest, I can relate to you haha. Bollywood dance steps are usually hard to pick up, and I still find it hard sometimes but it should get better with practice and whenever you do get a chance to dance again, imma cheer for you from here 💛💛 and omg thank you so much it means a lot 😭😭

K3G I can’t imagine the number of times I’ve watched K3G, I even remember watching it on my birthday with my last roommate before I came back home. Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s so beautiful and you’re talking about 3 idiots hehe

IT'S FINEEEE!!! Being able to be in your element and write it away is a sacred thing bcs ik how bad it is to have writer's block we all do, so I'm happy that you don't have that! AND YEAYYYY I LOVE THE EMOJI <33 THANK YOU!! and i made up my mind, I'm gonna call you my sweetheart bcs you're so soft spoken i need to create a protection team soon.

YESSSSS sleeping is my hobby really hshshs and iftar food is always the best, especially after a full day of going out searching for Eid's clothes.

YES YES I'M MALAY! AND PENANG?!?! I LIVE NEAR PENANG HEHEHEHE. i agree with you! Penang is such a good place to visit if you know the place for historical sightings but otherwise it's much more known for the beaches. BUT IF YOU'RE HISTORY FREAK LIKE ME, i suggest going to Melaka, there's many historical sites you can visit and places where they perform traditional dances! But if you're planning on going to KL soon, do tell me so I can bring you around! I'm going back to university this May and it's near KL so ehe. KL is more of a city than historical site but there's a notorious traditional dance academy which usually holds a performance for selected dates and open to public! Or i can just bring you to my university, we have Performing Art course and they usually holds performances too!

I will teach you 'tarian zapin' the dance usually need partner to dance with!

my days to dance ended couple years ago hshdhd i can't excessively dance since i have this rod on my spine (i have scoliosis, it wasn't bad when i was small until i accidentally crack my spine falling half a feet during royal scout ascension camping) so i mostly just enjoy ppl dancing and turn my interest into makeup instead! i may not be performing on stage nowadays, but i do lotta backstage works with costumes and makeup!

Yesss!!! K3G is iconic we can't take that word away. Bajrangi Bhaijaan is so beautifully written, they're pressing on the minorities and historical war, which i absolutely geeked out at. I just love them really. YES YES 3 IDIOTS OH GODDDD how could I forgot the title. I love that movie sm! My mom and sis prefers bollywood movie with dances while I much more prefer those that have intricate story details but 3 idiots is too iconic to not love <33

#[you ask? sei answers!]#[mailbox📨:shyna❤️]#sei's sweetheart: shyna #sorry for late reply hshshs was having iftar earlier

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thatgirlonstage · 6 years

Text

R x J e1: If They Did Not Meet

You may have seen my post a few days earlier freaking out about watching the first episode of this anime. I’m so damn excited to see what it throws at me that I’ve decided to do an entire review series on it as I watch. I will most likely continue to do an informal initial reactions post, and then post a more coherent and thought-out review for each episode. Idk if anyone will care but I will have too much to talk about, so this way at least it’ll be confined to two posts lol. This one is probably going to be a bit longer than most of the others? But who knows.

All that said, let’s dive in.

[Initial reactions post]

For convenience and clarity, when I need to refer to the original Shakespearean version of a character, I will write their name as S!Character. For example, S!Cordelia refers to Cordelia as she appears in King Lear.

I am already in love with the general aesthetic of this anime. The setting is beautifully out-of-time, “Neo-Verona” implying we are in a futuristic setting, but it is also clearly a fantastical one. The swords, the winged horses, the aristocratic hierarchy: all of it places us firmly in someplace mythical and anachronistic. The architecture and backgrounds all add to this, with the elegant arches contrasted by crumbling bridges. I don’t know enough about historical clothes to properly comment on their outfits, but they absolutely take advantage of the opportunity to indulge in complicated and eye-catching costumes. Odin’s outfit looks like red Zorro and stands out wildly both against the plainer commoner clothes and the elegant outfits of the court. It’s a brilliant choice and gets you instantly excited to see her swashbuckling and jumping off of rooftops.

So far, the setup seems to me to be a mash-up of Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It. The Romeo and Juliet elements are fairly obvious: the Capulet/Montague feud and the star-crossed lovers. There’s no Shakespeare play that quite begins with the slaughter of a noble family like this, AYLI or Tempest are as close as you get and both of those only involve the former rulers being exiled. Even though AYLI is a pastoral and far less violent, I see a LOT of similarities between the two plots.

So far, Juliet’s storyline mirrors S!Rosalind’s far more than it does S!Juliet’s. They both must flee from a rival ruler accompanied by a female friend (although they make Cordelia’s status match S!Juliet’s Nurse, rather than S!Celia), both of them pretend to be a boy for their own safety, and both of them meet their lovers both as a man and as a woman. There’s also a certain similarity between the S!Duke Senior’s men hiding out in the Forest of Arden and the surviving Capulet loyalists hiding with Juliet in a theatre. (This is probably stretching it, but she IS hiding with the anime version of Shakespeare, whose real life mother was Mary Arden – so they’re hiding, as it were, in the house of Arden.)

I was surprised by Benvolio’s initial characterization as an aloof noble, but I’m very interested to see how they deal with his and Mercutio’s characters outside the context of the feud. Romeo seems somewhat true to form, entering the scene lamenting violence in the streets, but he decides to take a much more active role in trying to do the right thing (and, to his credit, Benvolio joins him). I can’t think of any couple in Shakespeare that meets the way they do, with one saving the other’s life, but I don’t mind in the least. There’s a delectable blend of pulling from the plays and also creating their own story, which I both enjoy and respect.

I adore the role reversal with Juliet coming to the party. Hermione is clearly playing the role of S!Paris, not S!Romeo’s love interest Rosaline. Hermione is a politically advantageous but (to Romeo) uninteresting partner. Romeo is already demonstrating himself a conscientious noble (something that was totally irrelevant in the original play) and with Odin’s vigilante activity on behalf of the common folk I can’t wait to see how that plays out.

Extras below the cut!

Things I’m curious about:

The Montagues have clearly made themselves the rulers of Neo-Verona, so what does that mean for Escalus? They mentioned him at the beginning so clearly he exists.

Does Paris?

What about Mercutio? In the original play, he wasn’t technically a Montague, but rather a kinsman of the Prince, so is that still true?

Will we get an appearance from Tybalt, perhaps as an unexpected and long-lost survivor of the Capulet family, returned to wreak his revenge?

How is Juliet going to take the news of her heritage?

In general, do the names of the characters not from R & J indicate anything about who they are? I could see it going either way, either they just used random names because they sounded cool, or they wanted the characters to reflect their Shakespearean counterparts

For example, I wonder if Hermione, faced with Romeo’s indifference, will seek company elsewhere and be accused of cheating.

I want to know more about this little crew of Capulet loyalists. Who are they, exactly? Who is Antonio? One of their kids?

How did they convince William’s family to take them in? Do they know exactly who they’re hiding?

Shakespeare Geek-Out Corner:

Odin is the only non-Shakespeare name we’ve heard so far

Assuming the names bear at least passing relevance to their original characters, WHICH ANTONIO IS ANTONIO?

They live with Shakespeare and I can’t get over the hilarious brilliance of that. He wrote Otello, the opera adaptation of Othello. That’s absurd. I love it.

There’s a lot of fun mythology stuff in Shakespeare but very few plays where magic is real (Midsummer and Tempest are the only ones where magic is largely significant to the plot; there’s some dark magic stuff in the Henry VI plays and occasionally a god will pop up to bless a wedding or whatever but that’s basically it). But I ADORE the pegasi, their designs are AMAZING and I can’t wait to see what else this world has to offer in that vein.

I’m waiting for “gallop apace, you fiery footed steeds” because Phaeton’s horses were traditionally portrayed with wings and that’s the only mention of winged horses in Shakespeare I can think of offhand

#romeo & juliet #romeo x juliet #r x j anime #shakespeare

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s4banf-blog · 5 years

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Geek Culture, Part 2

As with any culture, there will always be problems. In the geek culture, one of these main problems is sexism. Typically, it is assumed that geeks will refer to the straight white male. Sometimes, the culture doesn’t acknowledge that there is women who also fit into this ‘category’. Roli Varma states that “scholars have yet to critically examine the impact of geek culture on the under-representation of women in CS/CE in relation to the ethnicity/race and class”. Varma writes her paper in direct reference to the under-representation of women especially minorities in geek culture, she then goes onto to investigate this and why we need more representation within the culture. When women emerged from the all male dominated culture, it created internalised misogyny. This then created memes to try and stereotype the female geeks, which were often seen as “fake geek girls”. These memes often depicted young women wearing heavy makeup with gigantic over the top ‘nerdy’ glasses. However, this isn’t anything new. Women have often been marginalised within the community. Often in comic books, they have been ‘refrigerated’. Frank Miller the author of The Dark Knight Returns and Renin states that ‘refrigerated women’ is “a trope wherein female characters are killed (or raped, or suffer some other form of violence) solely to further a male character’s story or development”. These agendas have slowly been tackled with such characters such as Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman that continue to challenge this male dominated world. Some women however, are completely oblivious to the ongoing misogyny. An example of this is Allie Townsend. Her article written in 2011, “There’s a New Geek Girl Site in Town. I May Already Hate It” claims that the “internet culture has evolved way past the gender divide”. Throughout her article, Townsend puts down women-centric geek sites and blogs. She implies that because she’s never personally experienced any sexism in geek culture, it simply does not exist. This invalidates the experiences of real life women who have been harassed at conventions for their costumes or aggressively pestered by men when walking into a comic shop. However, when you have men and women in the community and industry who turn their heads away from new female fans, you are shutting out new fans.

People self-identify as geeks because they have been put down, excluded, and hurt by other people due to a certain interest in "uncool" things like comic books, or board games, or computer programming. More and more millennials are embracing being a geek, whilst previous generations saw the label as being something to be embarrassed about. Millennials are slowly starting to shape mainstream culture, they have changed the idea of what it means to be a geek - thus encouraging more and more people to embrace themselves to the term. Some of those who self-identify as geeks look back nostalgically on the time when their status felt rebellious, says Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd: The Story of My People. Being geek means that you have permission to like what you like no matter what it is. In 2012/3, a new trend came about of wearing t-shirts that simply said “GEEK” and “NERD” across the chest. Topshop brought out the designs. By springtime they were unavoidable, seen on the chests of schoolkids, ravers and posh kids alike. Literally worn by everyone apart from those named on these t-shirts. As all things fade, so did this fashion statement. If you wore one of these t-shirts before it became cool, then you would’ve been ridiculed. Another example of the ‘wrong’ type of people associating themselves with being a ‘geek’ is Kim Kardashian revealing that she watches anime. People were absolutely furious about this, how can a popular famous reality star enjoy something only ‘geeky’ people enjoy? There is an implication that Kim is a ‘fake geek girl’ who can’t name so many anime series’ that she watches is an example of something that’s been happening for years, as self-declared keepers of a community struggle to come to terms with its growing popularity. Why shouldn’t Kim like anime? She grew up with it. Sailor Moon hit American screens in 1995. She’s a globetrotter deeply interested in world cultural trends. It would be surprising if she didn’t know what it was. Just because people don’t like her as a person - is no excuse to assume that she’s ignorant that anime exists entirely. Her spouse, Kanye West has also declared his love for anime, tweeting that Akira was one of his favourite films. Fans of a cultural product assume that other fans are like them; that they share the same ideas, opinions and presumably, background.

Slowly consumerism is becoming filled with superheroes and fantasy, which create a lot of revenue. For example take the company Marvel and their sadly deceased owner Stan Lee before he died, he was worth a whopping $50million alone - (not including Sony and Disney). Marvel’s Black Panther became the highest grossing film for the Marvel Universe.. To date, the franchise has made over $14.7billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing franchise ever. It’s currently $6bn ahead of Star Wars. According to statistics, four of the top 10 highest grossing films of 2017 are comic book adaptations. In 2017, consumers in America spent $14.6billion on video games, hardware and related. The first San Diego Comic Con in 1970 featured 145 attendees. Last year, that number exceeded 130k. Geek culture is a cultural phenomenon.

Pop-culture portrayals of “geek culture” aren’t entirely accurate according to some. Shows like The Big Bang Theory and Silicon Valley may get right overwhelmed by tone-deafness to the culture they are supposedly giving to us, the people. What our core culture perceives to be geek culture is just a set of marketable trends. Actor Will Wheaton from Star Trek: Next Generation says in his memoir ‘Just a Geek’ that “Becoming mainstream is the wrong word; the mainstream is catching up”. Knowing obscure facts about favourite subjects has also lost its flavour. The number of Star Wars characters or the name of a constellation is all on Wikipedia now.

Nowadays people are starting to associate the alt-right with ‘geek’ culture, especially with what is going on with our modern day lives. There is no direct parallel between the alt-right and geek culture. Simply, an invasion. Recently, there was much debate surrounding horror author HP Lovecraft becoming the figure of the World Fantasy Award due to his well documented racism. His passionate fans - most of who have never experienced racism - asked why such historical oppression even mattered anymore. The movement is an online community whose values are almost identical from the far-right racism and sexism of the National Front and the Klu Klux Klan. It began as an attack on individuals, on a supposed lack of integrity in gaming journalism, which was then exploited by alt-right ‘activists’ using misinformation to start a huge fire of hatred online against women and minorities in gaming. This outrage helped to build their ever growing army of white, (mostly) male supporters. The fury of alt-right ‘activists’ helped push a minority of young male geeks to them. But far more members of the geek community went against the racist ignorance of the alt-right, and have stood against them.

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ragsandmuffins · 7 years

Text

Musical Theatre Themed Ask

Okay, I’m gonna answer... all of these! (Because I have a paper to write and zero motivation. And also: musicals.)

Oh, and by the way, I’m going to assume that every “Broadway” is a “Broadway/West End” because Tumblr is a free platform.

1. What was the first musical you saw?

Mary Poppins, West End, 2006 (not 100% sure about the year)

2. What musical got you really into theatre?

Les Misérables - saw the film, started stalking the actors, you know how it goes.

3. Who was your first Broadway crush?

Aaron Tveit (he’s the main one) and Samantha Barks - like I said, stalking the Les Mis actors...

4. Name three of your current Broadway crushes.

Um... still Aaron Tveit? Plus Rob Houchen (Les Mis London) and Cleve September (In the Heights London and soon Hamilton London) - Also, I get “talent crushes” not physical attraction crushes.

5. Name four of your dream roles.

Only 4? Natalie Goodman, Enjolras, Maureen Johnson, and HERCULES MULLIGAN!!

(I can’t sing, act, or dance, nor am I a man, so...)

6. Favourite off-broadway show:

Heathers and The Last Five Years

7. Favourite cast recording.

Gotta be Hamilton, it’s just such a well-produced album. Bonus points for including nearly the entire show.

8. 2013 Tony opening number or 2016 Tony opening number?

2012? The Book of Mormon thing is just pure gold!

9. Favourite show currently on Broadway.

Broadway: I guess Hamilton - There are way too few that I actually know.

West End: Les Misérables forever!

10. A musical that closed and you’re still bitter about. Rant a bit.

In the Heights London! Though I can’t really complain, they extended their initially run several times and now they’ve cast my amazing Sonny as Laurens/Philip, so... But it was just so good!!

11. Best stage to screen adaptation?

Les Misérables. Controversial, I know, but I usually kind of hate movie musicals. With this one they did something new and different and I think it works. The Last Five Years is pretty good too, though it lost a lot in the adaptation (couldn’t be avoided).

12. Worst stage to screen adaptation?

Rent. I’m sorry, I love the show, I love the cast, but it all feels so staged and wrong and meh. Also, they cut Goodbye Love and left in fucking Santa Fé which adds exactly nothing to the plot!!

13. Favourite #ham4ham?

Gotta be the Schuyler Georges, but there have been so many great ones...

14. A musical you would love to see produced by Deaf West?

Oh, tricky... Maybe Next to Normal? That has a lot to do with people holding things in and failing to see each others’ struggles.

15. If you could revive any musical, which one would it be and who would you cast in it?

Not exactly a revival, but bring Next to Normal to the West End already! That show’s got a sodding Pulitzer. And London’s only a 2 hour flight away from where I live, not a transatlantic one, so I might actually be able to go see it.

Oh, and give Spring Awakening another chance, West End. Maybe adapt some American Sign Language into British Sign Language and...?

Also, maybe revive Rent, Broadway? (And cast Aaron Tveit as Roger... please?)

16. If you could go to a concert at the 54 below, who’s would it be?

That list would be waaaaaayyy too long...

17. Do you watch broadway.com vlogs? Which one is your favourite?

I’ve seen a few, but I don’t really watch them on a regular basis, so no favourites...

18. Make a Broadway related confession.

I really, really hate South Pacific. It was part of our American drama syllabus, as an example of a musical. Quite apart from the fact that I think it’s a godawful, sort of racist and sexist show (it’s from the 40s, go figure), it displays LITERALLY EVERY cliché about musicals!

19. What do musicals mean to you?

Hard to say... Apart from hours and hours of ALL the emotions, some awesome internet buddies (looking at you, @frei-und-schwerelos), I’ve got generally more interested in and knowledgable about theatre, which is a great asset when you study English. Musicals have also introduced me to a wide range of music I wouldn’t normally listen to and so many talented people I wouldn’t have known about otherwise...

20. Express some love for understudies and swings!

Okay here goes: I went to see the West End production of Memphis because of Killian Donnelly and then he unexpectedly wasn’t on that night - bummer. But then Jon Robyns just knocked it out of the part (and I only ever listened to Avenue Q and Spamalot because I watched clips of him when he was in those shows).

My first Thénardier was Adam Pearce and his version of “It was me wot told you so...” is the funniest one I’ve ever heard (he kind of went “No? Sorry, fair enough.”).

The second time I saw the show Adam Bayjou was Valjean and his Bring Him Home was one of the best I’ve ever heard (effortless high notes).

Also, Charlotte Kennedy was Cosette that time (she’s principal Cosette now) and her performance was so incredibly sweet! (She also brought some brunette power into the sea of blond that were Marius and Éponine.)

And Jordan Lee Davies was Bamatabois both times and he was great!

Oh, and my Christine from Phantom was the wonderful Lisa-Anne Wood.

21. Best Disney musical:

Mary Poppins - My first ever musical, fond memories, I still wear the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious shirt my dad bought me (11 years ago... didn’t fit then, fits now).

22. Which Disney movie should be made into a musical?

Uh, I don’t know. Tangled’s funny...

23. Which musical fandom has the funniest memes?

Hamilton and Les Mis. I mean, the Les Mis/Mean Girls crossovers alone...

24. Name a character from a musical you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

Well, the test sorted me into Hufflepuff (great house), but I know that I am a Ravenclaw (and, as we know, the hat listens to you). Okay, Ravenclaw... maybe Melchior from Spring Awakening?

25. Name a Broadway star you would sort into your Hogwarts house.

Ugh, that’s even harder! Sorry, no clue.

26. Best on stage chemistry?

Hmm from what I’ve seen live, Rob Houchen and Carrie Hope Fletcher were pretty darn amazing together.

From what I haven’t seen live, Jennifer Damiano and Adam Chanler-Berat, and Justin Johnston and Michael McElroy seemed fantastic.

27. A Broadway duo you love.

I’m gonna say Jonathan Groff and Lin-Manuel Miranda, but I’m not sure I understand the question...

28. What book, tv show, movie, biography, video game, etc. should be turned into a musical?

Umm... I don’t know. Supernatural sort of is a musical... A Lord of the Rings musical in the style of A Very Potter Musical might be fun. The Fellowship of the Sing? I’ll show myself out.

29. If you could make a jukebox musical, what artist or genre would you pick?

I doubt many people know her but: Vienna Teng. For three reasons (aside from me liking her songs): 1. Her songs tell stories. 2. She often writes from the perspective of “characters.” 3. Her songs are actual poetry!

30. Favourite role played by _________________?

I don’t get it. What am I supposed to put here?

31. What musical has made you cry the most?

I don’t actually cry often at musicals (internally I do), but It’s Quiet Uptown from Hamilton got me bad the first time. And I once listened to Next to Normal when I was already feeling like shit - bad idea! (Don’t listen to There’s a World when you kind of want there to not be a world, kids...)

32. What musical has made you laugh the most?

Probably Avenue Q and Something Rotten

33. Current showtune stuck in you head:

Well, you just put Hard to Be the Bard in my head!

34. A musical that has left you thinking about life for a long time or deeply inspired you.

Les Misérables... I haven’t spent a single week without thinking about that show (or, indeed, the book) since early 2013.

Next to Normal also gave me a lot to think about.

I keep discovering new little bits of genius in Hamilton lyrics. Also, I’m writing a paper on the early US for the second time in under a year and characters from Hamilton (otherwise know as historical figures) keep popping up. Seriously, I’m writing about the Whiskey Rebellion and every time I read Hamilton’s name my brain goes PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES!

I’ve also thought quite a bit about Heathers and The Last Five Years, because both of them have had productions where they genderbended (genderbent?) a main character, which made me think about how it changes the story and why.

35. If you could perform any ensemble number , which one would you pick?

“If you could...” Are you implying that I don’t?! Come on, any theatre geek who claims never to have done a solo rendition of One Day More is definitely lying! Oh, and I rapped myself all the way through One Shot the other day and made only one mistake - one that Lin’s made before, so I’m proud!

36. Name a musical you didn’t like at first but ended up loving.

I don’t think that’s really happened... There have been shows where I thought “What in the holy hell is this?!” and ended up loving it. I mean, what in the holy hell is Avenue Q?!

37. What are some costumes you’d love to try on?

Give me that red vest! Also, let me play Enjolras! Yes, I know I’m a woman and can only hit that low “foooorm” when I’ve got a really bad cold, but fuck all that!

I’d also really like to try on Elphaba’s Act II dress, because it’s epic!

38. Favourite dance break.

Hmmm... I don’t really have one? The one in Cool and the ballet in Somewhere where they sort of replay what’s happened are pretty amazing (both West Side Story).

39. Favourite Starkid musical:

A Very Potter Musical is the only one I know... Sorry...

40. What’s a musical more people should know about?

Well, where I live, most people have heard of Cats, Phantom, and Mamma Mia and that’s about it.

But in general, I’ve never met anyone who’s even heard of Assassins (although many people who have met me have now heard everything about Assassins - I’m that kind of person).

41. What are some lines from musicals you really like?

Okay, this is gonna take a while...

"Can you remind me of what it was like at the top of the world?” (In the Heights)

“Oh, my friends, my friends, don’t ask me what your sacrifice was for.” (Les Misérables - internal Niagara Falls!)

“Here, put some hail into the chief.” (Assassins)

“But the sky’s gonna hurt when it falls. So you’d better start building some walls.” (Heathers)

“I’m not mad that you got mad when I got mad when you said I should go drop dead!” (Tick, Tick... Boom!)

“My God, in God we trust, but we never really know what God discussed.” (Hamilton)

“What doesn’t kill me doesn’t kill me.” (Next to Normal)

And just for fun: “Honest living, honest living, honest living, honest living,...” (Rent)

42. Name a Tony performance you rewatch and rewatch.

In the Heights, Next to Normal, Hamilton, and Spring Awakening (both versions).

#well that was fun #i'm procrastinating #theatre geek #musicals #just musical things #musical theatre

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The Many Saints of Newark’s Billy Magnussen On How He Found His Paulie Walnuts

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It’s hard to walk in an old gangster’s shoes, even if they are patent leather, but it helps if you have the OG’s custom tailored, classic wide collar mustard-yellow coat. Front-buttoned, with wool blend material, soft inner viscose lining, long sleeves, and open hem cuffs, it is stylish and smart, though not blood resistant. Billy Magnussen is too young for gray wingtips in his hair, but he’s just the right age to flip from one mob player to another. In The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel to David Chase’s influential TV series The Sopranos, Magnussen plays a young Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri, a fan favorite played almost inimitably by Tony Sirico.

Sirico was a real mobster before he went into acting, even did a semester in prison. He brought a street-wise authenticity into the role, which is now lodged in Sopranos fans’ consciousness like a bullet in the back of the head. Magnussen’s Paulie has an extremely memorable introduction in the film, but it’s not in the skull, and it’s messier than a .22. Let’s just say, you should wear denim coveralls when rotating tires.

Paulie Gualtieri, along with Silvio Dante (John Magaro), are part of Dickie Moltisanti’s (Alessandro Nivola) crew in The Many Saints of Newark. The younger versions of series regulars don’t get a lot of screen time in the film. Big Pussy (Samson Moeakiola) is only really there to show us how he got his name. Directed by Alan Taylor, the movie hits some of the historic moments referenced in the series. It doesn’t tackle Dickie’s feud with Jilly Ruffalo. While an eye gouging scene could have been fun, Paulie’s assist in the new film earn him his gangster film button.

In a sit down with Den of Geek, Magnussen, who is also featured in Cary Fukunaga’s James Bond film, No Time to Die, talked about keeping it real, while playing it tough.

Den of Geek: Are you prepared for any of the inevitable blow-back from the fans regardless of how they respond?

Billy Magnussen: No, I did my job. I do my thing. People are going to respond the way they respond. I have no control over that. But I had a wonderful time making this film. And I feel very blessed to be a part of the legacy of Sopranos. It’s huge. And I am just truly honored.

How daunting is it to nab a character that was so enmeshed in the consciousness of a generation of TV viewers?

Well, when you say it like that, it’s a different story. You know what? When I got the job, I had never watched The Sopranos, because I couldn’t afford HBO growing up. And especially in college, I could not afford HBO. So, I never got to watch it. But going into that, once it really became an opportunity in front of me, I dove deep, deep, deep into it. And I personally also fell in love with what Tony [Sirico] did with Paulie Walnuts. It was actually an exciting opportunity for me, to be like, “Ooh, he did that. Let’s see what I can do,” and then play in there, because it’s fun. We’re playing and having a good time.

When you’re prepping for a character that yours will grow into, do you study the subject, or the source?

Both. Definitely. That’s a really great question. I think it’s important. There’s a difference between playing a real person and trying to bring that to life. And then you just study that person. But there is Tony, and then there is Paulie Walnuts. And I think they’re very closely interchangeable. I was trying to find moments of Tony in Paulie Walnuts. That’s the thing. I want to know what he was thinking as he was creating the character and going deeper and deeper into his story.

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So yeah, it was just a lot of time, taking as much information in, finding mannerisms, building the character, the physical and everything, the cadence of the voice. Yeah. It was just a lot of work. And then you try to get to a point where you don’t have to think about it anymore, and you just kind of do it.

I know that Tony Sirico, he based a lot of his mannerisms on James Cagney. Did you watch a lot of Cagney for this?

I did not know that actually. Thank you for telling me. I did not know that he did that. I never came across that anywhere.

“What do you hear? What do you say?” is from Angels with Dirty Faces.

That’s awesome. No, I did not know that. Thank you for sharing that. Honestly, I was just following his rhythm, just trying to find that spirit, that essence he was bringing into it. And also living in the show, the film as present as possible, with those given the circumstances of the character,

Did you ever get the blood out of the yellow coat?

I don’t know. We got to ask the wardrobe people. I didn’t get to keep it, sadly, but it was a smooth, smooth outfit. I mean, we had one of the best costume designers on this, because everyone … When you have set production or production design like that, you get to just live in these worlds. And it gives you a weird grounding and a sense of freedom as you move through it.

What does wardrobe bring to a role?

I think it brings a lot. It’s – what is this person waking up in the morning and putting on it? What is that attitude? As you put your armor on, to say the least, what is that? And how do I move through the world? And Paulie Walnuts was a confident [character], he wasn’t afraid to be dull, wasn’t afraid to be bright and just out there. So it was fun.

Not afraid to put nail polish on.

Exactly. Right. Is that silly or what?

You’re from Woodhaven, Queens, which used to be pretty big in the mob, did you run into wise guys? I know you moved out early.

It’s funny. My dad has a lot of stories. He really grew up there and with Gotti and all that stuff. He was asked to once be a delivery man for him and stuff. He turned down the job. And it was there, it existed. But again, you just didn’t get in their business. You just don’t need to be in their business and stay away from it. That’s what I was raised to follow. It’s not your business. If they want you to work for them, don’t. Just don’t get in business with them. Those were the rules.

Did you get any pointers from David Chase?

Of course, of course. David Chase is the commander-in-chief of this process. So again, he made a beautiful, beautiful show, The Sopranos. You’re kind of moving through it and waiting for the thumbs up. Or if you don’t get the thumbs up, you still have to keep working. So, it was awesome to have him there to orchestrate the whole piece and make it what it is. And we’re following his lead, so that’s a great feeling. Because I respect the man drastically.

Do you see the characters that he writes in him? Is there a Paulie Walnuts in David Chase?

I have to say yes, because all these characters came from his mind. I don’t think he lived his life that way, but they all came from him. So they are aspects of David Chase, I would say, as any artist, as any writer probably would be. I think, yeah, of course these characters live inside David.

What’s Alan Taylor’s like to work with?

I think he had a hard hill to climb up and a monstrous, monstrous thing to overcome. And I think he is a gentleman.

David Chase told Deadline there might be another film in the formative years of Tony Soprano. Was there any talk of that on the set? Would you do it?

Considering I’m contractually obligated to do it, I don’t think I really have a choice. But I haven’t heard anything. So, I can’t really speak on anything.

When you auditioned, did you have to get the Paulie laugh?

I actually auditioned for a different role originally for the piece. And then I was approached after my audition, would I be interested in playing Paulie Walnuts? And then doing a deep dive on Paulie Walnuts, I was like, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Are you a gangster movie fan?

Of course. Who isn’t? It’s high stakes. It’s all about family, community. Yeah, of course. Love them.

Which are the ones that you go back to? And which were the ones that you see in Many Saints of Newark?

I don’t know. I think The Sopranos it’s its own kind of jam. One of the most brilliant pilots ever created was putting a gangster in a therapy session and really getting into the mindset of this character. So, I think it stands alone, and that’s why The Sopranos is its own little journey. I don’t think you can compare The Godfather to Goodfellas. I don’t think you can. Or do you feel that way?

I compare them all the time. That’s my job. When you’re clicking into moments from the series, do you ever feel it gets too self-referential, or you’re winking at the audience?

No, I think the group of actors were never winking. I think we were just trying to do the justice of what was on the page and what the story was. And as all the great actors that were in it, you show up every day and just play and try to make it honest and real. I don’t think so.

Where do you see gangster movies going? Do you think The Irishman changed the gangster film?

No, I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was a really good take on aging gangsters. It’s kind of a beautiful film in that sense. Especially, we know De Niro and Pacino, their lineage with gangster films and stuff like that and that whole Mafiosa [movie tradition]. I think it was a beautiful nod and a goodnight almost to it. I thought it was very, very wonderful.

You are also in the new Bond film.

I play a CIA operative that works with Felix.

Like The Sopranos, there’s a whole history behind Bond Films. Tony Soprano says he comes in late in the mob game. How does it feel to come into a franchise after all that groundwork has been set in people’s minds?

I look at it as a job and an opportunity more than anything. I don’t know. I hope people enjoy what I get into and what I do with it. That kind of thought mentality, I think it’s a waste of time or my energy, as I’m moving into a production and figuring out the character and trying to do all my work. There’s just so much work I have to focus on rather than all the outside stuff going on. So again, it’s more now having these meetings, that it’s like, I feel the weight of all of it. But in the moment while doing them, you’re just like, “Wow, I’m doing this. I’m a part of this. And I hope I show up and bring my full self to it.”

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The Many Saints of Newark will be released in theaters on October 1, and will be available on HBO Max for 31 days from the theatrical release.

The post The Many Saints of Newark’s Billy Magnussen On How He Found His Paulie Walnuts appeared first on Den of Geek.

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