I Was Genuinely Sad That Mr. Penn Got Killed Off (again), But At Least His Demise Facilitated This Great

I actually did call it, but only because I recognized him from his more recent role as dashing international art thief Pierre Despereaux in Psych, which is a pretty solid intermediate phase between Westley and Mayor Jerkface. 

I was just as surprised as you to learn that Despereaux was Westley, as I recall, back when I was first googling him. Like I think I thought he looked familiar but I couldn’t place him. (Then I ended up writing more than half of the Psych Wiki page on Despereaux but that’s another story.) 

But it was hilarious because my mom, who has also seen Psych and Princess Bride, totally thought I was wrong. I looked at the mayor and I was like “hey, that’s Despereaux” and she was like “Nah, I sort of see the resemblance but that isn’t him”. Then I looked it up and it was; it’s bloody Cary Elwes. I’m very proud of my facial recognition skills, which are frequently lacking but in this case were spot on. 

Although, to be fair, I also kept getting the mayor and the newspaper guy mixed up, to the point where I briefly thought that the mayor also ran the newspaper, and when I learned they were separate I had no idea which one was Heather’s dad, so I guess that’s 1 win and 1 loss for my facial recognition skills after all.

(Also Pierre Despereaux is the #1 best side character in Psych and if you love Westley, I highly recommend you watch Despereaux’s episodes on Psych. The first one is called Extradition: British Columbia and it’s great and you should watch it...)

WAIT

ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS GUY

IS ACTUALLY THIS GUY???!!

WHO WAS GONNA TELL ME????!!

Olaf, Bertrand, Poison Darts

Before Olaf ever officially met Bertrand, he had heard stories about him.  Bertrand’s chaperone thought he was an amazing, model apprentice. But that chaperone also ranked last out of all 52 VFD chaperones. Who coincidentally was also Olaf’s nemesis Snicket’s chaperone, and that was where things got interesting.

Someone who Lemony Snicket was unfavorably compared to? Olaf hadn’t even met this guy, but he decided that he’s going to like him.

When they finally met for the first time, Olaf discovered that Bertrand was quite unlike the usual VFD theater teens he encountered. Bertrand wasn’t much a literature guy, nor was he invested in poetry or theater. He didn’t quote classics in everyday life (not even wrongly or sarcastically or anything) like the rest of them.  (Perhaps that was how he got assigned to lowest ranking chaperone, Olaf thought.)

Despite his differences with the theater teens of VFD, they all turned out to like Bertrand a lot.  He was pleasant and easygoing and because of his interests were different from them, they didn’t feel the need to compete with him.  But the best thing was, he was great at building sets and props – everything the theater people needed on stage – and every fancy, overly dramatic equipment they probably didn’t need off-stage but he was nice enough to make for them anyway.  (One day, the working wings of a dragonfly costume might turn out surprisingly useful for an actress, but that was another story.)

And Olaf liked him too, just like all of them. Bertrand was the only person who wouldn’t tear his Al Funcoot plays apart, and as much as it was fun bickering with Beatrice or R about the literary references in his plays, it was great to have someone who he could spend time with that didn’t care about all those and would be glad to help make the props for the play.  (Although he did have to fight the other theater majors for his time – as if Beatrice’s bat-styled hot air balloon or Esme’s martini glass dress was more important than his demands.)

And perhaps that was why Bertrand’s part in his parents’ murder came as the most surprising of them all.  After being friends – if he could call them that – with Beatrice for so many years since their childhood, he’d known, grudgingly that she was capable of a lot of things. Mostly in the name of drama, but sometimes for things more sinister too. He’d seen her darker sides that sometimes he wondered if Snicket realized. And Kit – she followed VFD’s orders in a way nobody else could, she planned coldblooded schemes in the name of necessary evil better than anyone else. (It probably said something about their relationship that he wasn’t that surprised when his girlfriend played a part in his parents’ murder.)  But Olaf never expected it from Bertrand.

Bertrand, who got along with everyone, who was always helpful, who didn’t argue much but not in a Jerome kind of way.

He’d long known ago he shouldn’t trust actors, but perhaps the biggest lesson was to not trust the polite and practical engineers either.

In retrospect, maybe he should have known. After all, Bertrand was the one with the craftiest hands out of them all. And if he could make theater props for them, who knew what else he was able to make?

A handy little device for aiming poison darts, as it turned out.

I just remembered that I submitted things to this page years ago, long before I had a tumblr, and a couple of them got published. Now that I do have a tumblr I thought I might as well share a thing to which I contributed :) 

I should note that I did write this one back before I saw the 50th anniversary special, though that was still not quite aaaall the epic Time War drama I was hoping for. Also, someone in the notes has pointed out that the Big Finish audios go more into it, and I have really been wanting to get into those more for a while. I should put them on my Christmas list. 

Actually, now I’d say it’s not specifically that I want more about the Time War anymore. I just want more Gallifrey in general. Like, I know the Doctor left because he found it stuffy and boring and whatnot (or because he was afraid, according to 12, but I imagine it was some combination thereof), but I want more backstory on his childhood and his school days, and more emotional drama with his family (who are apparently no longer disapparated from existence, so he should have to deal with them) and old friends (especially the Master, but other ones, too). There’s just so much emotional tension for the Doctor to deal with on Gallifrey! 

I should really go back to those Doctor’s childhood fics I was writing. I even came up with my own longform version of the Doctor’s original Gallifreyan name--his real one, not his school nickname. Remind me to tell you about it some time; I was starting to write it here but then I realized this post was long enough and my naming of the Doctor is going to take a whole long post of its own to explain. 

Kitties and Christmas lights <3 Adorable and shiny! And also very pretty. 

That awkward moment when Batman is an interruption in the legal procedures of crime solving...

TBH from what I’ve seen on Gotham I get the sense that the GCPD doesn’t actually care all that much about the chain of evidence and whatnot, but maybe Gordon’s working on turning things around. 

Gotham City Forensic Files (x)

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ve been working on a longer Valentine’s post of my own for a few days now (a sort of retrospective of my ships through the years via my favorite fanvideos) but it’s late and I need to go to bed, so it’s going to have to come out a little late. So, I thought I’d just reblog something cute and Valentine’s-y while it’s still Valentine’s. Well, it’s technically early morning the day after, but you know, close enough. Anyways, luckily I stumbled across these super cute pink heart-bedecked Nygmobblepot gifs <3

Gay Panic/Heart Eyes.

Our production of Matilda opens tomorrow!! It’s been a while since I made a proper Opening Night Eve tumblr reblog, but then again, it’s been a while (like... 2 years) since I had an opening night! Actually, I realized the other day, it’s the longest I’ve gone not being involved in a play since I first got into a play in college, which sort of makes sense (given, you know, the whole pandemic) but also doesn’t make sense (because I still cannot begin to grasp the ceaseless flow of time). 

I loved this movie so much as a kid so it’s exciting to be a part of it in musical form :) It really is pretty touching with some lovely songs. It’s been quite a while since I saw the movie, so I’m having trouble remembering whether some things are different or whether I’m just forgetting them--for example, was the Russian mafia involved in the movie at all? I don’t recall them being there, but I’m playing Russian Henchman 2 in the musical! I also don’t recall the acrobat/escapologist story but those are some of the prettiest scenes in the play I think. Anyways, it’s a fun show to be in; here’s hoping we break lots of limbs tomorrow! (Which I suppose is all in a day’s work as a mafia henchman, haha ;) ) 

‎ Sometimes Matilda longed for a friend, like the kind, courageous people in her books. It occurred to her that such talking dragons and princesses with hair long enough to climb… such people might only exist in story books. But she was about to discover she had a strength… a strength she wasn’t even aware of.

MATILDA (1996) dir. Danny DeVito

Oh I have a youtube notification wonder what it could be--

Oh My Chemical Romance -- they -- um -- oh -- new music. New music happened.

Um... It's good... It's really good... I'm...

*Explodes*

And I think I’ll close out my pre-finale blast with this sweet one of Os and Ed holding Barbara’s baby. They’re going to be the best babysitters! Hehe :) 

Also I really like this art style. There are so many great Nygmobblepot artists!