never far from the clouds

Hollie. Bit blonde. Bit mad. Bit cynical. Bit hopeful. Mostly, confused. An incorrigible dreamer who has been occasionally known to keep playing with the flame even after being burned. Friend. Sister. Daughter. Aunt.

[holliehobbit]

Fake fandom news...

Right. I don’t embroil myself in these things much but since it’s my mate people are accusing of accosting an actor... Sam Heughan was not snatching his hand back from anybody looking at a bracelet. It’s a big inside joke where the con organiser (a good friend of ours) had drawn a black spot on my mate’s hand during the auto session. We were very amused since in pirate lore this is a death warrant. As she and Sam passed afterwards by she stopped to say hello to us and we jokingly told her off for it. Sam got the joke, pretended to look then snatched his hand away because “those are catching.” None of us even noticed he was wearing a bracelet. Not really the first thing you concentrate on when looking at when looking at him.

[kanyuzugu-deactivated20160506]

[teenagenuisance]

shoutout to puberty, that owl got ripped 

[fredrickcarringtonewinglyon]

TARAJI P. HENSON AND “THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER”…

Drama Actress Roundtable With Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis, Jessica Lange, Lizzy Caplan, Ruth Wilson & Maggie Gyllenhaal discussion on race, sexism and aging in Hollywood…  And Taraji P. Henson and Her Makeup Artist Talk Cookie Lyon’s Fierce ‘Empire’ Beauty Regime…

[fakepurvnews-deactivated2015121]

So Sam and Graham get to go to an event in Italy May 2016, but no Cait! Is this show turning into man candy for women, I feel disgusted!

I’m as big a fan of man candy as the next gal (except for the kind that gets stuck in your teeth) but it is disheartening to always see male leads elevated instead of the female leads. Science Fiction (and apparently Hollywood in general) has always had a bit of a sexism problem. Think Princess Leia in the slave costume… So it’s no big surprise to see it continue. 

We need a convention to celebrate the amazing women of Outlander (or any show) and see men pay $30 a pop to lineup to have their picture taken with these awesome ladies. I know who I’d nominate to be our headliner! 

[holliehobbit]

To put this to bed now - the reason Cait isn’t going (YET, this could always change) is that she hasn’t accepted the offer. There are loads of reasons an actor might not be able to sign onto a con. It doesn’t mean that cons aren’t trying to get them there!

[thatbrummielass]

[teamlockwood]

[frompawntoqueen]

[holliehobbit]

A time and  a place

So I don’t Tumblr much these days (too many other time sucks in my life right now lol) but after VanCon and Creation announcing the policy on limiting personal stories at cons, I thought I’d pipe up.

Essentially, they’ve asked that fans refrain from going into detail on their personal stories with the actors of how they/the show have helped them cope with mental health issues. It’s proved triggering for individuals.

All I want to say about this is... I agree with the policy. I would never want to minimise the reasons people want to share these things or make any judgments of them for doing so, but having felt the weight of those emotions myself I know how hard they are to shoulder. To be asked continually to shoulder them by strangers - especially when you may be having a rough time of it yourself - is a lot to ask of anyone.

I completely understand the intent is good and that in a lot of ways it’s an incredible compliment... but per my title I think there’s a time and a place. When you land in front of someone at a panel or an auto queue and offload all that feeling onto them, you are in effect pressurising them to respond positively to you. Not on purpose, but it’s unavoidable in that situation. You’re a fan of their show that they’re promoting and they’re being paid at an event to represent that show. They haven’t had a choice about hearing this from you right now - a stranger, even if a friendly one - and the pressure is on to respond positively. And I think any human being with an ounce of compassion will want to respond positively because they won’t want to hurt your feelings or minimise your struggle... but when you’re struggling yourself sometimes you barely have the bandwidth to deal with your own feelings. Helping somebody else in that moment can leave you overextended and crashing, but you’re stuck in a position where it’s hard to say “no” or “sorry I can’t hear this right now.” You can wind up hurting yourself because you don’t want to hurt them

There’s also the problem of how many other audience members you may be triggering as you speak, even if the actor’s totally fine. Audience members who may be there as an escape and not ready to be unexpectedly confronted with their problem again.

To that end I would encourage people to just have a think about how they approach the actors with their stories. I think the ideas other people have suggested of using Facebook etc or handing them a letter rather than speaking to them in line are great ones. Granted, you won’t get a face to face response from them, but it gives them the opportunity to choose when and how they respond. If they’re having a bad day, they can put that letter aside and come back to it later.

It is so, so important for people to have forums to tell their stories when they feel they need to. And I think it’s a brilliant thing if a show or a book etc helps you cope and assist in your path back to health. But I do think that we all need to be sensitive to who is or isn’t ready to hear about it. Pick your moments, give people the opportunity to back out if they’re having a bad day. Just remember that it’s a two way street and you need to think about them in this interaction as well as what you’ll get out of it.

Though, as a side note... sometimes when I hear those stories the other thing that strikes me is how easily people give away the credit for their recovery to the actor.  Don’t give away so much of the credit. You got you better, darlings. Whatever it was that was your help and your solace, you did the work. You took care of yourself and struggled through the bullshit. Be proud of your work xx

[mooseleys]

[mushybees-blog]

Hello Ian, you don’t know me, I don’t know you, but I’d like to explain something to you.

My wife was raped by a friend of ours (now, obviously, no longer a friend), this has, as you can hopefully imagine, impacted horrendously on both of our lives, and indeed the lives of our children. She finds...

[musketeertexts]

(+44): I don’t want sex or anything I just really need someone to appreciate how shiny my hair is

[musketeertexts]

(+44): Remember that whole “don’t let me drink” thing? We should really start sticking to that.

[shingky]

“Some people, when they have taken too much and have been driven beyond the point of endurance, simply crumple and give up. There are others, though they are not many, who will for some reason always be unconquerable. You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace. They have an indomitable spirit and nothing, neither pain nor torture nor threat of death, will cause them to give up. 

Peter Watson was one of these. And as he fought and scrabbled to prevent himself from falling out of the top of the tree, it came to him suddenly that he was going to win. He looked up and he saw a light shining over the waters of the lake that was of such brilliance and beauty that he was unable to look away. The light was beckoning him, drawing him on, and he dove toward the light and spread his wings. ”

Dahl, Roald. “The Swan," The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More”. New York: Puffin Books, 1988.

[musketeertexts]

(909): The 3 of us think it’s time to start drinking. (1-909): 3? (909): Me, myself and I

[musketeertexts]

(803): That’s a really terrible idea. (734): Awesome I’m gonna do it then, thanks for the input

[holliehobbit]

So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.

Roald Dahl

[loveel-who]

[redscharlach]

In this year’s Olympic Synchronized Judging You Harshly event, the French team are looking pretty much unbeatable…

[holliehobbit]

Bring mates with Aramis you’d expect nothing less

[kynikey]

When their repeated failure to protect King and Queen makes them doubt their prowess as Musketeers, the guys take their first lesson in synchronized dancing to prepare for an alternative career as France’s first boyband. 

[redscharlach]

Now I’m picturing these three standing at the back working on harmonizing their ooo-ooo-ooohs while Athos emotes his way into the first big chorus…