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Jun. 27th, 2012 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impulsereaderLater, down the pub, Greg sipped at his whisky worshipfully and regarded his friend with an amused eye. “Now what the bloody hell was all that about?”
John laughed. “What, you mean when we all took a beating from a packing crate or the bit where we all three of us acted out Shakespeare in the living room?”
“Well, what I’d really like you to explain is why Sherlock broke into what I assume is an aria during the Shakespeare, but I’ll settle for an explanation for the acting and why you’re so keen on it. Is this a secret hobby of yours?”
“No, god no. I’m just keen not to look a complete and utter arse, and where acting is concerned Sherlock is the best bloody tutor you could ask for.”
“But what theatre cast you as Benedick? This isn’t the sort of thing that happens by accident, you know. You’d have to audition for starters.”
“Greg, you wouldn’t bloody believe me if I told you.”
Greg leaned back and challenged, “Try me.”
So John took a deep breath and told him. He told him about the sprawling house in the country and dressing for dinner; he told him about Grandmother, who was so very tiny but could move men with the power of her will alone; he told him about how Peter could get a wild deer to eat out of his hand, and how Richard was useful in a crisis, and how Not Anthea was both a lot of fun and a lot of trouble to be around; he told him about the painter and the composer who were quite cosy in their vine-covered cottage and happily sniped at each other as they created beautiful things all day long; he told him about how Sherlock had magically tutored children into understanding how a bird’s wings work and how Mycroft was training up the next generation to rule the world. After a few more drinks he told him about Sherlock’s parents, and Greg’s eyes both lightened in understanding and gained a hard glint that was a twin to the one in his own; he told him that Sherlock and Mycroft had once agreed on something and that they’d had a puppy named Plutarch; and then he invited him to spend his Christmas with the Holmeses.
John laughed. “What, you mean when we all took a beating from a packing crate or the bit where we all three of us acted out Shakespeare in the living room?”
“Well, what I’d really like you to explain is why Sherlock broke into what I assume is an aria during the Shakespeare, but I’ll settle for an explanation for the acting and why you’re so keen on it. Is this a secret hobby of yours?”
“No, god no. I’m just keen not to look a complete and utter arse, and where acting is concerned Sherlock is the best bloody tutor you could ask for.”
“But what theatre cast you as Benedick? This isn’t the sort of thing that happens by accident, you know. You’d have to audition for starters.”
“Greg, you wouldn’t bloody believe me if I told you.”
Greg leaned back and challenged, “Try me.”
So John took a deep breath and told him. He told him about the sprawling house in the country and dressing for dinner; he told him about Grandmother, who was so very tiny but could move men with the power of her will alone; he told him about how Peter could get a wild deer to eat out of his hand, and how Richard was useful in a crisis, and how Not Anthea was both a lot of fun and a lot of trouble to be around; he told him about the painter and the composer who were quite cosy in their vine-covered cottage and happily sniped at each other as they created beautiful things all day long; he told him about how Sherlock had magically tutored children into understanding how a bird’s wings work and how Mycroft was training up the next generation to rule the world. After a few more drinks he told him about Sherlock’s parents, and Greg’s eyes both lightened in understanding and gained a hard glint that was a twin to the one in his own; he told him that Sherlock and Mycroft had once agreed on something and that they’d had a puppy named Plutarch; and then he invited him to spend his Christmas with the Holmeses.
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Date: 2012-06-27 01:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-27 04:49 pm (UTC)“Come on,” John urged, “there have to be a few good memories knocking about this place. You did spend Christmases here after all. Get any good presents? A puppy, maybe?”
“Plutarch,” he responded automatically.
John grinned. “Of course you named the puppy Plutarch, you mad genius.”
Sherlock sniffed. “It was a condition that Mycroft and I agreed upon the name. It narrowed the choices considerably.”
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Date: 2012-06-28 09:13 am (UTC)In an aside, I've just seen the oft-mentioned Maurice, in which Rupert Graves is exceedingly pretty. The film's fairly slow-paced and appears a bit awkward at times. I've read that they had a very tight shooting schedule and not much time for rehearsal, so that might explain some of it. I like that it had a happy ending though. So many queer films inthe 80s seemed to be so angsty and had miserable endings.
This is all by the by, of course. Can't wait to read more of the Much Adoings. :)
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Date: 2012-06-28 11:54 pm (UTC)One of the things that really hit me in the new Tinker Tailor was poor Peter/Benedict having - like - the worst possible day - ever - seriously ever - no character has ever had this bad a day, even if it actually ended up killing him.
And I love that the early scene we get with Benedict and Colin is all about them ogling the new secretary. We can treat this sort of thing as amusing - everyone who is anyone is hiding the fact that he's gay - ha, ha! But they really had to / have to hide it. And that is so monumentally bleak and sad.
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Date: 2012-06-29 10:50 am (UTC)I like it that there are more shows now with gay characters and their storylines aren't about their gayness. There are just more diverse characters in stories, including gay characters. There was an Australian sitcom earlier this year called Outland, in which all the major characters are gay and out of the closet with their sexuality, but are all trying to hide their nerdiness from the mainstream. Great series, very funny.
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Date: 2012-06-29 05:21 pm (UTC)The movie really uses music very well.
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Date: 2012-06-30 03:52 am (UTC)Music and silence, both. It's such a *quiet* film, and you really have to be paying attention. NOt many films or tv shows really know how to use silence properly. One of the best episodes of The Prisoner (British show from the 60s)has fifteen minutes of mostly silence - just background noise and the occasional bit of music - before the first line of dialogue. :)
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Date: 2012-06-30 04:30 am (UTC)I don't think I've seen any full episodes of The Prisoner, just snippets here and there, but we did watch the recent miniseries which came out with Ian McKellan and that was pretty good - quite entertaining.
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Date: 2012-06-30 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-07 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 01:40 am (UTC)Ah well. Remade is less sad, and the upcoming fic (to be called either Reprise or Finale) is positively chock full of shenanigans, so that will hopefully cheer you up.
And Look! Dr Sex icon! *tries to distract your tears with the pretty*
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Date: 2012-06-30 03:39 am (UTC)And now? Well, I think in some ways change in Hollywood may be slower than other places. They're still marketing to their idea of small town middle America. They ask themselves "How will this affect the box office in Minnesota? How will this affect the box office in the Bible Belt?" Because, for all of the 'glamor', it's a business. (In fact, the 'glamor' is a part of the business, marketing.) Meanwhile, for all people fume about it, marriage equality is the law in Iowa, the heart of the corn belt.
Cable can experiment with shows that have groups of positive LBGTQ characters. Cable can experiment with shows that have groups of meth heads as characters. The expectations and scope of the target markets are different.
But we have more out LBGTQ actors now, and a few more positive LBGTQ characters in mainstream movies and even broadcast shows (I remember my surprise in 1989 when the TV show Doctor Doctor had a gay male character and didn't do anything more horrible to him than they did to the rest of the characters. Groundbreaking at the time.)
Um, yeah, I don't have issues on this topic at all....
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Date: 2012-06-30 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 03:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 04:14 am (UTC)