Love Yourself

every time I hear the “mama” part of this song, I think of mama Thornton not liking Margaret. so here’s my interpretation of the lyrics, from John Thornton’s point of view.

 

Love Yourselfby Justin Bieber

(the link will take you to the song on Youtube, in a separate window,  so you can play it in the background while viewing this post)

 

For all the times that you rain on my parade, and all the clubs you get in using my name

 

You think you broke my heart, oh girl, for goodness sake. You think I’m crying on my own, well, I ain’t

 

And I didn’t wanna write a song
’cause I didn’t want anyone thinking I still care, I don’t. But you still hit my phone up

 

And baby, I be moving on.
And I think you should be somethin’ I don’t wanna hold back, maybe you should know that

 

My mama don’t like you and she likes everyone. And I never like to admit that I was wrong

 

And I’ve been so caught up in my job,
didn’t see what’s going on.
But now I know,
I’m better sleeping on my own

 

‘Cause if you like the way you look that much, Oh baby, you should go and love yourself. And if you think that I’m still holding on to somethin’
you should go and love yourself

 

And when you told me that you hated my friends, the only problem was with you and not them

 

And every time you told me my opinion was wrong. And tried to make me forget where I came from

 

And I didn’t wanna write a song
’cause I didn’t want anyone thinking I still care, I don’t.
But you still hit my phone up

 

And baby, I be moving on.
And I think you should be somethin’ I don’t wanna hold back, maybe you should know that

 

My mama don’t like you and she likes everyone. And I never like to admit that I was wrong

 

And I’ve been so caught up in my job,
didn’t see what’s going on.
But now I know, I’m better sleeping on my own

 

‘Cause if you like the way you look that much, Oh baby, you should go and love yourself. And if you think that I’m still holding on to somethin’
You should go and love yourself

 

[musical interlude]

 

For all the times that you made me feel small. I fell in love, now I feel nothing at all

 

And never felt so low when I was vulnerable. Was I a fool to let you break down my walls?

 

‘Cause if you like the way you look that much, Oh baby, you should go and love yourself. And if you think that I’m still holding on to somethin’
You should go and love yourself

 

‘Cause if you like the way you look that much, Oh baby, you should go and love yourself. And if you think that I’m still holding on to somethin’
You should go and love yourself

 

Fanvid Friday: See What I’ve Become

I haven’t done a Fanvid Friday in awhile but thanks to a retweet of this video that I saw on Twitter, I couldn’t resist!

See What I’ve Become by MsEleanorShelby

This video is superbly done, I have to say that first and foremost! it’s almost like a show-reel of some of Richard’s most dramatic performances but put together in such a way that it becomes it’s own performance.

The opening scene sets the mood: Thorin opens the door to Erebor, bathed in dusty light with blackness all around. a simple low-key piano rhythm keeps time with the flash of several different character faces. (the voice over is part of the original song here) then a black screen with the words “see what I’ve become”. and the ride begins!

String instruments speed up the music. lightening type effects match drum beats. and we start to hear sound bites from our favorite characters to go along with the poignant scenes chosen.

Guy: you do not speak to me!

Lucas: You destroyed me and then you chose to let me live!

I owe you nothing!

We follow Robin’s arrow as we hear him scream, “Gisborne!” and now everything is stepped up into a climatic frenzy! several recognizable scenes flash before us: Thorin blocking Bilbo’s way with his sword, Lucas breaking down a door, Thornton facing an angry mob, Porter punching Collinson… then the eyes. Thornton’s eyes. Lucas’ eyes. Thorin’s eyes. Guy’s eyes. and as we come back down, we follow the image of footsteps down the hallway.

LOVE-LOVE-LOVE this fanvid!

please hop on over to youtube and give it a “thumbs up”! and be sure to check out her other Richard Armitage fanvid as well, it’s full of Richard’s smiles. it will make you smile, I guarantee it!

Fanvid Friday: Stay

a North & South fanvid by TeaRoseProductions

Most North & South fanvids I’ve seen simply retell the story but this one focuses on the feelings themselves; I like the tone that comes across in the video because of that. We see John Thornton in his sincerity, the different feelings that consume him, not just the brooding and heartsickness; the scenes that are chosen really show the honesty in his face. And by the same token, Margaret’s eyes show her confusion instead of her haughtiness. I also really like the personal touches of the clock and the telescope lens effect.

My favorite parts? I’m not sure I can break them down into pieces because I like the video as a whole, it flows so well! I do like the opening with Thornton’s profile in the mill, there’s a softness to it without evoking fluffiness or sadness but just him being pensive, like a painting “Mill Owner, Lost in Thought”. and then it moves on to show that same profile looking out the window: the way he juts his chin up to steady himself. that little gesture sends a big wallop straight to my soul! The changes in the music during those parts helps those feelings along wonderfully.

I also really like the way Margaret and John give each other that long look at the :47 mark, before Margaret dips her head down. And then when he abruptly turns away from her at 1:34, how her body is then almost pulled toward him of it’s own volition. I can feel that one physically!

I’ve fallen even more in love with this vid as I’ve written this post. maybe it’s one of those “right time, right place” instances that we’ve been talking about lately in regards to the effect North & South can have on some of us but right here-right now, the John and Margaret that I see in this video have reached something inside of me that has been closed off to them before.

Thornton Ramblings

North & South weekend, when everyone tells their own stories of what viewing North & South for the first time meant to them and how it launched them straight into a fascination with Richard Armitage. Lovely, lovely stories, all of them. but I didn’t come to Richard Armitage through North & South, that honor goes to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey instead. and although I greatly enjoyed North & South, once I finally got around to viewing it, it didn’t have a significant impact on my life.  This often leaves me wondering how much those small differences have to do with the way I view things in relation to Richard, the choices he makes, and the reactions to them.

In large part, that is why I avoided viewing North & South for so long (5 months is an eternity in obsessive fangirl reckoning!). The hype was so strong…it scared me. What if I didn’t think Richard as John Thornton was all that? I hadn’t been disappointed so far with the likes of Thorin, Harry, Lucas, Porter, Mulligan, and Andrews but what if this was the one to dull the shine? and if I didn’t think North & South was anything to write home about, just another period piece with another misunderstood Darcy, how would that reflect upon my growing relations with the fans who absolutely adored it? So much pressure! It was the role that launched the fandom, after all.

who is Harry Kennedy and what is a “sweater”?

It all worked out in the end, of course. Viewing “the kiss” on youtube before I watched the actual series is what finally prompted me to give in. That kiss was… I think “holy f*ck” were my exact words upon my first viewing! I had never seen, and have yet to see, a better kiss onscreen e-v-e-r. My impression up until that point, not having viewed the series itself, was that the story was a classic denial piece, full of stubbornness, misunderstandings, and UST (unresolved sexual tension); so basically every dime-store romance novel ever written. Prideful, outspoken female characters get under my skin (the one I see in the mirror each morning is hard enough to handle…). I won’t say my assumptions were entirely wrong but there was a vulnerability on screen that softened the harshness.

actions speak louder than words

My people, working class coal miners and steel workers, came from the same stock as the workers in Milton. Some even from the North of England itself. My childhood was full of company strikes and Scabs and the devastation it brings to a community when it’s main places of employment shut down. different from the time period that North & South was set in but similar enough to make an impression on me (Ewan McGregor’s “Brassed Off” is a movie that touches me deeply in this regard). now, because of John Thornton, I was empathizing with Management (my Union loyal family will disown me!)

it’s the least you can do

So I’m not saying that North & South leaves me unaffected, it was just never a turning point in my “fan path” the way it has been for so many others. I’m kind of envious, in a way. To be struck by lightening from one project, one performance alone, must be a powerful thing. These things tend to come to me more softly, they rattle around my subconscious and tap on my shoulder, until the day that I finally decide to acknowledge them. When I do, they’re already there to stay. That’s what my discovery of Richard was like. One day I had never heard of him or seen those piercing eyes, and then I had. There were a few weeks in between where I tried to put him on the back burner and convince myself that he couldn’t be any different from the others. but he sat there and simmered…and smoldered…and without really realizing what I was doing, I started to research him; slowly, then obsessively. and once he came into focus, it felt like he had always been there.

In a way, I guess that’s how John Thornton is for me too. He’s the face of this fandom, the founder, if you will. You can’t be a Richard Armitage fan without at least being aware of Mr. Thornton. So although it wasn’t because of him that I joined this fandom, and it took awhile before I even “met” him, I felt like he was always there. watching. Thank You for stalking me Mr. Thornton, no good deed goes unpunished…

what goes around comes around

I’m Sensing a Theme…

Music & More challenge

29.) a role that makes you frown

could you be more specific? there are so many!

 

 

I frowned when Lucas was rejected by Elizabeta and then  jumped off a building.

 

I frowned when Guy was played by Marian and then stabbed by his conniving sister.

The Gisbornes: they take sibling rivalry to a whole other level

 

I frowned when Porter’s wife said they were all better off without him and then his head got chopped off.

she’s all heart

I’m sensing a theme here…

 

I frowned when Standring gave his all to Carol, without concrete results.

 

I frowned when Thornton proposed to Margaret, with chastisement as his reward.

 

& I will frown all over the place when I see Thorin next!

⭐

music question: a song that makes you sad

Traveling Soldier by the Dixie Chicks

This song is romantic, yet heartbreaking. A young man preparing to go to war, spends a few chaste hours with a sweet teenage waitress. He writes her letters from Vietnam, sharing all his hopes and fears. But then one night at the school football game she hears his name read off the list of local soldiers who wouldn’t be coming home.

 

Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read but nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair

stupid depressing questions…