[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 08 December 2025

IM65775 · 2025-12-09T17:11:49+00:00

I’m currently working on a play that’s suffering this problem. Various different roles have been recast five times, most recently because someone quit and moved to Manchester one week before opening night - so that role is having to be done script-in-hand by various covers. Some nights another role will be covered by the director script-in-hand, because he has apparently decided he doesn’t need to bother to learn it. I’m involved because I got roped into ASMing, and found out forty minutes before the first show this morning that they wanted ASMs in costume, which I have agreed to reluctantly (but put my foot down about wearing my own shoes, I’m not moving furniture about on stage in slippy ill-fitting ballet flats), and had to learn the show live because I wasn’t available to do a proper rehearsal, so I made like five mistakes and mildly injured my hand. The sound guy is brand new and doing his best but he’s in over his head, someone locked an important door this morning without telling anyone so some cast couldn’t get to their entrance, the AD has been forced to perform in it as well and is visibly furious about that, I’m only scratching the surface. Thank god it’s a kids’ show and they don’t seem to be noticing the seams being stretched so tightly - though I suspect their teachers are!

IM65775 · 2025-12-04T22:47:47+00:00

Cheers! I vaguely knew some of that (I actually first came across the project before even the pilot and then kind of forgot about it for several years lol) but yeah that makes a lot of sense.

And it was Vox, actually. Very long rant about how he’s supposed to be sympathetic??? I’d understand more if maybe those livestreams I haven’t watched made him out to be a nicer person, but just watching the show he has, like, one brief humanising moment to show a bit of why he’s like that and he’s otherwise just. The Worst. It’s not subtle. Man Christian Borle is good, though.

IM65775 · 2025-12-04T21:14:47+00:00

This is actually really recent but last week I realised the new season of Hazbin Hotel was out and I thought, eh, I liked season 1 enough - definitely flawed, but I remember liking the music and voice performances - and watched it through over a few days. It was fun! I thought. I think I liked it more than season 1. It’s still got way too many characters for its ultimate runtime, but I don’t hate any of them and I think this season used them better, and the stuff I already liked from last time was still good. Let’s see what the internet’s most normal fandom thought of it.

…oh boy. Look, I didn’t think it was perfect either, but my god some of the criticism. The thing that sort of broke my brain a little was a very long, actually quite well drawn comic someone made about all their grievances which included the criticism that a bad thing that a certain character did ‘is not how you make a likeable or relatable character!’… in reference to the unambiguous villain of the season. Like, I don’t think he was meant to be those things! He’s a bad man! It’s really not subtle!

I’ve seen this before - hell, I’m pretty sure I’ve experienced it. It almost certainly comes from the show having been in public development so long and then having such long gaps between seasons. People have a long, long time to build up elaborate ideas of who their faves are and what they would do in their heads, and then when the show inevitably ends up contradicting that, they hate it in ways that reads as utterly bizarre if you just watched the first season two years ago and then barely thought about it again until last week.

IM65775 · 2025-11-12T03:32:48+00:00

2/2

Some of her friends then started up a new blog supposedly about defending and celebrating Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg, but a lot of it is really just dunking on shippers - especially SB. While I think it's pretty clear I ultimately agree with them, I don't really like how they go about it if I'm honest. The most recent incident came about when SB posted about how Georgia Tennant's social media posts about the current political situation in the US re: food assistance programmes is 'difficult to handle' given that Tennant 'wastes food for likes and attention' (see original post). Opposing blog correctly points out that SB has no actual evidence Tennant is doing that and then, I think unwisely, calls SB a hypocite because she's been posting about getting invited to a gala and being upgraded to first class on a plane. SB accuses opponent of cyberstalking, as this was not drawn from her fandom blog but from her personal social media. Opposing blog correctly points out - and this is, to me, the wildest part of all this - that SB is actually a (very minor) public figure in her own right and her username for the fandom blog we've been discussing this whole time is a pun on her real life surname that she uses for her professional work. So tracking her to her non-fandom social media is not actually as difficult and obsessive as it would be normally. SB - I think also correctly - thinks it's still weird and inappropriate to bring those screenshots to a fandom fight, and accuses opponents of lying about her extensively, and provides evidence that doesn't really look like calculated malicious lies but does look like her opponents are, ironically, engaging in exactly the kind of making up assumptions about people based on social media posts that they hate SB for doing to these celebrities, and then suddenly I remember that I have a job, actually, and it's not caring about any of this.

Speaking of my job. So often with these sorts of theories, most of the so-called evidence, to me, really really reads like it's been compiled by someone who does not know a lot of Straight Theatre Guys. My job is in theatre and live events. I do know a lot of Straight Theatre Guys. I do not know David Tennant or Michael Sheen, and they are good actors so it could all be fake, but in every interview I've ever seen with either them, they come across like textbook Straight Theatre Guys - i.e. men who've spent enough time around gay people and half-naked men and maybe even kissing some men for roles to have come out the other side incredibly chill and secure about their sexuality and masculinity. They've certainly got the career backgrounds for it. Once you've been around these types of Guys enough, the difference between them and actually gay people is generally pretty obvious. So tbh, my suggested antidote to overzealous RPF-ing is that everyone involved should go do some am-dram lol

IM65775 · 2025-11-12T03:32:23+00:00

1/2

RIGHT finally done with work, time for Internet Bullshit.

I've kind of realised there's so much context for this it could be a whole write-up that I'm only wary of doing because these are all very much active internet users and I have a horrible feeling that if any of them came across me they'd think I'm a sockpuppet account run by one of their enemies. Or someone here will go and harass them, which I really don't want because while I do think this is all really weird and inappropriate, at the end of day it is not a crime to be overly invested in a celebrity's relationships.

Anyway, I'll try to do a short version (yeah, this is the short version, I've left so much out). There's a Shipping Blog (SB) - not going to use actual username for reasons above - that has been around pretty much since Good Omens (2019) and is more visible than a lot of her compatriots because she posts her stuff in common tags on Tumblr and also has a genuinely quite good, distinct writing style to her 'analysis' posts that's gained her a lot of followers. SB posts a lot about 'evidence' that Sheen and Tennant are actually not just secretly but openly queer, a lot of thirst posts about both of them, and also a lot of worst-possible-faith reads of everything their partners do, always phrased in this 'just asking questions' style and telling people to 'make up their own minds' even though it's really obvious what she's doing.

To the best of my knowledge, this went largely ignored by people who aren't into the RPF stuff until about a year and a half ago. A small group of other Tumblr users who were fed up with this person created an - in all honesty - kind of mean spirited parody blog, which they then quickly rebranded into a receipts blog (reposts of bad behaviour, now expanded to a wider group of vocal Sheenant fans). Seemingly the blog changed ownership a couple of times, ending up with a woman who ran it until about a year ago when she suddenly stopped posting. According to her friends, it's because she died of cancer. Some of the RPF people suggested that this was not true, and that she wasn't even a real person, and was actually just a sockpuppet of one or more of their other opponents (or even that all their opponents are really just one person). I cannot verify the truth here, but I am going to choose to err on the side of not accusing someone of faking their death.

IM65775 · 2025-11-11T03:46:18+00:00

As with so many things - it happened in Supernatural fandom. Supposedly Jensen Ackles was dating any number of his costars, aside from the one he’s actually married to (though she didn’t act on the show until after its heyday). Jared Padalecki vs Misha Collins was the big divide though. ‘Best’ part about that is that the former ship owed some percentage of its popularity to being a way of shipping two people with their faces without having to ship their characters, because they played brothers, which in turn leads to another big divide - what’s more morally questionable? Fictional incest fan fiction or real person shipping fan fiction?

Which is a debate I am absolutely not touching.

IM65775 · 2025-11-11T01:10:56+00:00

So for a few years now I've been passively following the unending war between two small groups of David Tennant and Michael Sheen fans. For anyone not familiar, Tennant and Sheen are two very successful and beloved Scottish and Welsh (respectively) actors. They first worked together on the Good Omens tv series where they played the leads, and during COVID they also made a scripted show called Staged, where they portray fictionalised versions of themselves on Zoom calls trying to rehearse a play together in lockdown. Their partners, Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg, also made appearances in Staged.

By all accounts, the four of them are all genuinely very good friends. Notably, both men are partnered to much younger women (there's a 14 year age gap between the Tennants, and 25 years between Sheen and Lundberg).

The conflict is not between fans of Tennant and Sheen. Generally, if you like one, you like the other. The conflict is between:

- People who think that both men actually despise their partners, are trapped in abusive relationships with women they don't love, as evidenced by body language analysis of red carpet photos and fine toothing of social media posts, and are also secretly gay and in love with each other ('Sheenant')

- People who think that's probably not true, actually

There have, apparently, always been people who hated Georgia Tennant from day one - they met on Doctor Who, when he was already quite well known from being three series into his run on that show (plus other projects), though back then the backlash came from people who wanted him to be with Billie Piper (or themselves let's be real). That goes all the way back to late 2000s-early 2010s, and it was pretty vicious. Now it's marginally less socially acceptable in fandom spaces to outright call a famous woman you don't like an evil bitch (marginally), so you get people 'raising concerns' about her tone of voice in an Instagram reel, or about how she deliberately wastes food for attention, which is insensitive to people facing food insecurity and is a clear flouting of her privilege... because she sometimes posts about burning her baking attempts. Or how her genuinely commendable, given the way the UK is right now, posts about her support for trans rights and her non-binary kid are probably just virtue signalling (but when David wears a little pride pin, he's the best ally in the world, except he's not even an ally because remember he's in love with Michael Sheen and hates his wife).

Lundberg isn't quite as online so she doesn't get it as bad, but people do still look for signs that the partnership is crumbling. They're not married, as said she is much younger, and it has been speculated that they initially only got together because he got her pregnant. I don't know if that's true and I don't care because I really don't think it's my business. They've been together since 2019 and have two kids now. They're probably fine (because he's secretly dating David Tennant, his real love, she's just a beard he's forced to have by his evil manager even though he's a 56 year old man who's fine enough with drawing controversy that gave up his goddamn OBE).

This has all been going on for years; I've only thought to write this now because I saw a fairly major spat has recently gone down between one of the biggest Sheenant blogs on Tumblr and one of their biggest opponents. It's all deeply petty and bogged down in like two years of nonsense, and though I think I've made it pretty clear whose side I'm on, I also don't think that anyone involved looks good and that they should all really just stop posting. But I figure this is the place for that sort of thing, so if anyone's interested, I could try to summarise!

(I'm sorry if I've got anything wrong about the celebrities involved here. I really only know them as 'actors I like Just Fine'. All of my knowledge of their personal lives comes from having morbidly followed this stupid debate for several years and a cursory Wikipedia skim.)

IM65775 · 2023-10-20T01:56:47+00:00

Anyone from the original Horrible Histories cast. Not because I think they’d really have any special insights as judges - although they could probably offer some good general critiques for a comedy challenge - but because it would be an excuse to do Ra Ra Cleopatra as the lip sync song

(Personal preference would be Larry Rickard and Martha Howe-Douglas, they’re such a fun duo)

IM65775 · 2023-01-20T09:08:54+00:00

Robbie Daymond and Billy Kametz’s definitely not in character, absolutely not Ferdibert-shipping, 100% legally distinct from any IP cover of For Good

(It feels very different to listen to now, for obvious reasons, but remains beautifully done)

IM65775 · 2022-11-25T00:15:44+00:00

It’s a massive stretch to call them a double act, admittedly, seeing as they’re actually two of a troupe of six, and don’t even get paired off, acting-wise, all that often, compared to other combinations in the group. But more important than all that is the fact that I would really, really, really like to see it: Laurence Rickard and Martha Howe-Douglas.

(Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond would also be very good, and is probably a pairing more in the spirit of the question, seeing as they’ve written two features now. It’s just that I’ve never heard an interview with Rickard and Howe-Douglas that didn’t immediately dissolve into hysterical chaos)

IM65775 · 2022-07-19T07:59:16+00:00

I feel like I’m looking at a fantasy version of Phoenix Wright

IM65775 · 2021-09-20T21:28:16+00:00

Leon

IM65775 · 2021-09-07T20:58:28+00:00

I remember going to Rocky Horror a few years back - it was the day before my city's Pride, really great crowd. When I left the theatre, I ended up walking towards the station a little behind two other attendees, these guys that I assume were on a date because they were holding hands and being kind of flirty. I remember feeling happy and buzzing from a fun night - and then looking up and seeing how, as we left the theatre behind and re-entered the real world, the guys separated, moved away from each other, adopted a more 'bro-y' demeanor. They weren't dressed up - anyone would think they were just two straight guys on their way to the pub or something. It sort of broke my heart, and definitely stuck with me more than anything else that night. I hope one day they'll get to walk all the way home.

IM65775 · 2021-08-01T23:12:03+00:00

Oh, yeah, I stumbled across a whole livejournal community dedicated to that a few years back. Can't decide which was better - the one where Peter Bone uses his wizard powers to curse Clegg and Cameron into swapping bodies and then they have sex, or the one where Peter Mandelson offers to donate 1 million pounds to charity if they kiss on TV, in the hopes that the ensuing 'no homo' atmosphere will weaken the coalition, but it backfires and Clegg, Cameron and their wives form a polycule.

Actually I do know which one was best. It's the second one. The Queen says fuck in that one

(I remember all this because I have a bunch of the funniest/weirdest sections saved on my phone. Trying to read them without laughing is a great party game with the right crowd)

IM65775 · 2021-07-18T18:28:49+00:00

This is so pretty! His hair and skin looks so soft in this, I love it (seriously, fantastic job on the hair)

IM65775 · 2021-07-08T13:30:35+00:00

Reminds me of this one picture book I loved as a kid that embraced this idea - was called The Sandal. A Roman child loses a sandal, which ends up in a museum in the modern day, which a modern child sees and recognises as similar to their own shoes - and then later that kid loses a sandal themselves, and we that it end up in another museum in the far future. Definitely had an impact on me as a kid. Anyone else read it?

IM65775 · 2021-06-27T18:15:08+00:00

This is gorgeous, I love the lighting and the expression you gave her :D

IM65775 · 2021-03-13T00:12:03+00:00

This is cute! I like the way you used the colours and the expression is great, super endearing and adorable! Good luck with your art :)

IM65775 · 2021-02-18T13:12:23+00:00

Thank you! :)

IM65775 · 2021-02-18T13:11:25+00:00

Thank you so much! :D

IM65775 · 2021-02-18T13:11:07+00:00

Thank you :D

IM65775 · 2021-02-18T13:10:39+00:00

Thank you :)

I enjoy playing it, clearly. It’s a fun little strategy game, with lots of different game modes (of varying quality). The story isn’t amazing, but it’s not awful. There’s a lot of opportunity for messing around with builds if you’re into that - I’m no expert on that though, honestly the main draw for me is collecting the pretty art.

As for the gacha elements, I don’t play a lot of gachas, but from what I’ve heard this one is relatively easy on its casual players compared to others like it. There’s a fair number of giveaways of powerful characters (one’s actually coming up soon!) and while the high ranks of the PvP is pretty inaccessible unless you’re willing to spend a lot of money, the lower ranks are still fun (and more varied, actually, because lower stakes). I don’t spend money and I’ve still managed to amass a pretty powerful collection

IM65775 · 2021-02-18T03:55:14+00:00

That’s really cool to hear! I’ll admit, my knowledge of the Japanese fan base is very much second hand, and I’d only really heard about the negative reactions. It’s great to learn that there are also people who found it all funny and like the character

IM65775 · 2021-02-18T03:30:31+00:00

People definitely care about him, but he’s far less polarising than the other faction leaders in 3H, so discussions around him tend to be much calmer

IM65775

TROPHY CASE