2018 Armitage Weekly Round-up #16

/ May 19, 2018

We are in week 20 of the year, and this is the 16th round-up on my blog. I’ve missed a few instalments, and I am annoyed with myself. After last year’s Christmas blog tsunami (aka the 12 days of raffle fun), I had decided to ramp up the frequency and blog a bit more. At least two posts per week were on my plan. For the most part I managed to do that, and I felt comfortable with it. But then my winter downer hit me in April and I took three weeks off. Damn, the stats are ruined.

The blue squares are the days with blog posts

However, I want to pick up the slack and aim for my two-posts-a-week again. After conversations behind the scenes with a few newer fans, I have decided to do another blog challenge – which is also an attempt at getting conversations going. Is it just me or does it feel as if there are only a handful active RA bloggers out there at the moment? It all seems so quiet, and since Richard doesn’t provide the input, we’ll make our own fun. Watch out for the third edition of the fan blog challenge coming to a screen near you, soon.

But for today, here’s the tumblr round-up:

  1. Today is the big wedding over in the UK. Thorin and Thranduil are practicing for theirs… posted by csigabebibe
  2. Daddy Armitage – as Tom Cahalan in BoF. I can just imagine him like this, speaking to a toddler… awwww
  3. Funny how you can always tell when you are not looking at a chaRActer but Richard in costume. A picture set by clematis70
  4. Oooh, I love this new gif design by riepu10. Lucas North and his best assets
  5. Well, he’s certainly tall enough, moonlightfantasia
  6. Hehe, I had never heard the adage “megbourne”, had you? Anyway, here is a so-called “megbourne aesthetic” by ialwaysquitelikedyou
  7. Proctor, fierce and lethal. Edit by anemiechen
  8. I just can’t resist this lego fun. Here’s a musical scene. And thorinnnnn, in case you are reading this: You didn’t have to ‘invent’ the guitar! There is footage of RA in costume as Thorin, strumming his sword (*um* that sounds wrong) like a guitar
  9. Riepu10 again – included here solely because Guy. Ha!
  10. I totally agree with eyreguide. That is a great suggestion – what do you think?
  11. Have we had the beanie-wearing Chop by sinnaminie here yet? As always, I love the detail she works into the plushies
  12. A pretty convincing manip by deepestfirefun. Casual Richard is always good
  13. Riepu10 also did Guy in the same aesthetic as Lucas North
  14. Yep, I second that suggestion by storybrookexsecrets
  15. A pair of fine eyes, indeed, jaynaemarie. 
  16. Thedarlingwriter thinks Guy of Gisborne is purrrrfect. Agreed!

The list is not that long at the moment. Maybe everyone’s on holiday already? But it’ll be enough for a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning.

Enjoy your weekend,

Guylty ❤

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46 thoughts on “2018 Armitage Weekly Round-up #16”

  1. I’ve been up all night, glued to the BBC America, waiting for the wedding to start. It’s such a gorgeous day over in Windsor! 💕

    Thank you for the round-up. I’m guilty of not blogging. Shame on me! 😁

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    • It’s the first proper summer day here, the sun shining. I am definitely not watching the wedding, ha. (Ok, I am here at the laptop and not outside, but that’s only because I am waiting for my organic veggie box to be delivered.)
      Yep, how about a little blog love, soon?!

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  2. I’m up at some ungodly hour to watch the wedding! (WHA???) But this is a nice distraction from ALL the talk of fascinators!!!

    All the Sir Guy! YUM!!!! Thank you for the Roundup. I kinda sorta blog, but not really on Richard. Mostly pictures… so I could use a blog challenge!

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  5. Oh and the only wedding on my radar (since last year) has been the Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle AKA Batman/Catwoman wedding in July. Now that one is gonna be one I won’t be missing. 😀

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  6. They really had great weather for it (here it was grey and overcast)!

    To some extent, I feel like that the traditional blog is “over.” It was a social media phase, and it’s a format that suits me, but the next thing, I’ve read three times this week, is IG or FB stories. I doubt I’ll ever do that. RE: Armitageworld specifically, it would be time for some new blogs to emerge, but the threshold feels a lot higher than it used to, I suspect. Most new fans are happy on IG, pinterest, and Twitter.

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    • Yeah, blogs are “so last season”. Ha, well, probably even “season after last”. Like you, I enjoy this format best – enough space both for blogger and commentators to expand their thoughts and launch into dialogue if they want to. Plus, endless photo/gif/video space. However, they take time and are not a “at-one-glance” solution, so definitely not something that the younger age group prefer. The Stories format or picture platforms such as Pinterest or IG don’t really give *me* what *I* want, but it is quite possible that that is where the future is heading. Maybe newer fans are also less interested in the person-to-person exchange with other fans, hence Pinterest, Twitter, IG, FB and Co. thrive because all you need to do is click a little heart. (Mind you, that’s possible on blogs too.) Suum cuique.

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      • Little hits of immediacy on Twitter and Facebook are entertaining or pretty, and I am guilty of ‘like’ clicking 🙂 but I have to say that I, like you, prefer the more expansive opportunity for engagement. Perhaps it is my age, but I relish the chance to engage with and get a flavour of real people behind the topic of our common interest. Please keep blogging, I am a happy audience and potential contributor 🙂 xx

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  7. Für mich hat es erst zu einem sonntäglichen Kaffee hier bei dir gereicht. Gestern war ich wohl zu sehr mit der königlichen Hochzeit abgelenkt. 😉
    Ich bin froh, dass es eure Blogs gibt und ich immer wieder hier vorbeischauen kann. ❤

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    • Ob Sonntag oder Samstag ist ja egal – Hauptsache, der Beitrag unterhaelt!
      Freut mich, dass die Blogs immer noch eine Daseinsberechtigung haben – eben nicht nur als Sprachrohr fuer das Mitteilungsbeduerfnis des Verfassers, sondern auch als ein Ort der Information, des Austausches und der Erheiterung dienen. Moege es noch lange so bleiben. Mir wuerde es sehr schwer fallen, auf diese Plattform zu verzichten!

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  8. re: the “lack of commitment” in Twitter, IG, etc. — I have to laugh because Twitter drives me nuts. Like if Twitter were the only Armitage SM, I would run screaming in the other direction. So perhaps it’s best that Twitter actually limits the amount of contact in the vast majority of cases.

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    • Yep, Twitter is not for everyone. While I have adapted to it somewhat, it is still not my favourite social platform. (I am too wordy for Twitter.) And – as we have discussed multiple times already – the modus operandi of our OOA on Twitter isn’t exactly my cup of tea, either. But hey, long live the diversity of formats. And may every fan find a platform that fulfills her needs.

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  9. I hope blogs are not threatened by extinction. Perhaps some environmentalists can take time off from saving the planet and give blogs a little love. I don’t follow anything on other platforms. Reading what other people think about things is always interesting. As for this week’s roundup, all ten were winners. I think lack of any new significant RA stuff has suppressed/depressed a few bloggers and commentors. At this point even an announcement he was going to do BS for another season would be welcome . I can’t understand why it is such a secret. Just a yes or no is not too much to ask. But apparently it is.

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    • Hehe, I do sometimes feel as if there is an element of blog mass emigration, but as long as there are dinosaurs like me, the platform will live on. I have no intention of giving this up or moving it elsewhere for as long as I am interested in RA. As you said, it’s interesting reading in-depth what others have to say.
      I really do wonder what BS is up to. Has the appointment of a new CIA head thrown a spanner in the works maybe, and the plot for season 3 has to be completely reworked? Or are there new negotiations now that a German government is in place and the subsidies can be renewed (possibly making a move away from Berlin unnecessary)? Not sure whether I find this complete silence a good choice in terms of marketing. Surely it would make sense to keep the momentum going?

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      • I agree that this current situation is weird; you’d think they’d want to keep the series in public view. But there is major reorg going on at MGM (and thus EPIX), both administratively and creatively. The newish CEO just announced that they will be doubling/tripling their scripted content, and major new distribution deals are on the table (the previous CEO wanted to limit distribution in order to attract people to EPIX). They’ve made several new series orders since the beginning of the year. To me this suggests that they are still making basic business / philosophical decisions about the next Berlin Station. Not announcing the return of the major players immediately with the series renewal suggests a fundamental rethink going on.

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  10. I suggest that you don´t include your hiatus in the statistics. You know, your stats your parameters.
    I cannot judge whether it is really quieter in the RA blogworld than it was some years ago. I do follow few other blogs (not RA-related) and most bloggers post less than you for instance. Anyway, the lack of new material is probably an important reason for the decline in blogging-output. I, for my part, like this platform for the reasons already mentioned above. If the future is really IG, Pinterest or Twitter than I have a problem. I do have a look at Twitter or IG sometimes but I don´t have accounts there and I don´t see a good reason to change it. Probably I´m too old-fashioned but I prefer something with more substance.

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    • That’s a good point – although the hiatus was unplanned and a “spur of the moment” (you could also say: hot-tempered) decision. Otherwise I would’ve planned ahead and created some scheduled posts for my absence. But well, I am not getting any awards for the frequency of my blog posts, so it doesn’t matter…
      I couldn’t agree more re. IG, Pinterest, Twitter as potentially the *only* platforms. Definitely not my preferred format although they are somewhat visual-focussed (which I enjoy). But not very good for dialogue. Let’s wait and see – I expect a big influx of new fans in the wake of Ocean’s 8. It’ll be interesting to see whether that adds new dynamics to the various fan platforms.

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        • I’m just thinking that it is a film which is getting a lot of exposure – especially to women. Fertile ground… And even if he is playing the cad in the film, he’ll certainly be noticed. After all a huge number of fans were fascinated enough to look under the heavy prosthetics of good old Thorin…

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          • If there really is a scene where he’s handcuffed to a bed, and we get to see his face in it, I predict a high level of quick interest. Not sure that will transfer into fandom commitment necessarily. I hypothesize that will be more along the lines of the intersection with Hannibal — a few new people but not crowds.

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            • *snorts* hehe, yep, such a scenario would certainly catch attention. I don’t think, though, that Hannibal is comparable. O8 is aimed at a mainstream market, and very particularly also at the female audience, so in terms of reach it will be seen by a wider audience than the rather narrowly targeted Hannibal. Having said that, the role in O8 may be too small to garner a mass influx of new fans. And the promo is certainly not making use of the Armitage appeal at all…

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              • I agree that Hannibal is not like Ocean’s 8 as a project; however, I think the effect in terms of generating fans will be similar. There will be a small proportion of viewers who are suddenly transfixed by Armitage, but I doubt it will be a flood. It will probably be more than Into the Storm, but much, much, much less than the Hobbit situation — unless the role is much bigger than we realize.

                Maybe I misunderstand what you’re saying, but this is about the level of participation I’d have expected from him. Advance publicity relates to why people should go to see something they haven’t seen before, and Armitage isn’t going to be the motivator for this for anyone except Armitage fans. (Just like no one would have gone to see this film to see Damien Lewis.) Judging from what I’ve seen, admittedly not having seen everything, the marketers believe that viewers will go for the female star power / aspirational factor, the clothes / jewelry, the “fun” aspect of the movie, and (although this is much smaller in proportion) because they liked the other Ocean’s movies. it’s been interesting to me, looking at the Google alerts traffic, that the film is being marketed as an empowerment / #metoo piece in the West, while it’s being pushed in the Middle East as a glamour / fantasy piece. Armitage doesn’t really fit into either of those narratives.

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                • You could be right. I probably am not objective anymore when it comes to Armitage’s pull, and I am expecting more fan influx than is possible, only because *I* found him irresistible.
                  No, I didn’t mean *his* level or willingness of participation in the pre-film promotion, sorry that it was unclear. I was referring to the promo machine leaving him out. But you are right re. the direction the marketing is taking – it’s all centred on the women, and a male co-star would detract from the empowerment message (as they made very clear in that press conference. Frankly, I don’t really buy that, and I think they are conveniently jumping on a band wagon there, after all the film was made and conceived way before the #MeToo movement came about.)

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                  • I guess we’ll wait to see what’s in the film — but I don’t see the two things in isolation. I think that this is the #metoo moment in the U.S. film industry for a few reasons. One is the general anger over the Trump election (and the non-impact of the revelations about his behavior on his eventual election), sparking an impulse toward “cleanup” among more liberal people generally, and the other is a general frustration among women in the industry (to some extent also in the wake of all of the disclosures about female salaries a few years ago) with their unequal treatment. So there was a less extreme trajectory in this direction already, one that in part facilitated the making of this film (also consider the statistics that in the last year or so, women have spent the majority of dollars on seeing films in theaters in the U.S., so that the marketers need to rethink the emphasis on making films for male teens), that in turn was impacted by a number of events that postdated the principal photography of the film, but now make the film seem even more timely. I also would imagine that the script has changed somewhat in process of all that, with new scenes added quite recently and so on. If I were a marketer, I would ride this for all it’s worth, considering that Weinstein is reportedly surrendering to NYC police tomorrow. You have Blanchett, Bullock, Rihanna, and Hathaway (just that I remember — I’m not as familiar with the careers of the other stars) being impacted by well-publicized #metoo moments. For me in any case, it would be hard not to see this film as having an empowerment message. Sisters are doing it for themselves!

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                    • No doubt the film is a reflection of the general reorientation of the liberal arts towards women, their concerns – and their buying power. The all-female ‘Ghostbusters’ remake a couple of years ago was already going that way, and O8 is another step – which looks as if it’s going to leave a bigger footprint than Ghostbusters, not least because the socio-political landscape has changed in the meantime with Womens March, #MeToo etc. Don’t get me wrong – I think that is good. It is timely – if not even overdue. I heartily endorse the female empowerment message and I completely understand why the male co-stars are not part of the marketing run-up. With James Corden such a big name in US entertainment right now, he would’ve been more of a choice to bring into the promo than RA, and the fact that he is absent, is a case in point for their marketing strategy. I only doubt the actual MeToo referencing of the film. It’s clear that the movement has changed the context of the film (or its marketing?) somewhat in retrospect, and the marketers and actors are referencing it now, which is fine. But I dislike marketers applying a handy and powerful label on an entertainment product. Maybe it is an expression of the industry changing. But I’d hate to see a serious movement being taken advantage of.

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                    • Maybe we understand the meaning of #metoo differently, but I don’t see how female actors can be taking advantage (in the negative sense) something of which they are themselves a part, both personally and professionally. (This might be more of a #timesup moment anyway, but I see those things as connected.)

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                    • You don’t think that there is something questionable about a marketing effort using a movement for the purpose of selling cinema tickets? For me, it doesn’t matter whether that marketing is conducted by men or by women – I just dislike that that could potentially trivialise an otherwise worthy movement.

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                    • I don’t see how a movie that stars 8 A-list female celebrities, where the publicity shows that the women all got along the whole time, where they successfully worked with male directors without being harassed, where the women took on the trolls in advance and shut them up, where the story line is not about the man (as at least two of them said in response to questions at their press conference this week), etc., etc., trivializes the fight for fair treatment for women. It’s almost a perfect advertisement for that.

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                    • I guess you think entertainment is inherently trivial? I don’t. I’m waiting to see the film before I decide, but I don’t see why this film should be any less motivational than a lot of other recent film that tells women’s stories in an empowering way. So far, all the signs are good, including the trailers.

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              • Oh, and without knowing any details I somehow expect his role in O8 too small to generate a lot of attention. That might also be the reason why he´s not part of the promo at all (in addition to the reasons Serv mentioned). Anyway, we´ll find out about his screentime very soon 🙂.

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                  • Don´t get me wrong, I don´t mind seeing a lot of him in the movie and wish him as much attention as possible. I´d be glad if your expectations would come true. Can´t wait for the first fan reviews.
                    Besides I agree with you re: jumping on a band wagon.

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                    • Not sure yet how much I will immerse myself in the fan reviews. Actually – they’re probably hard to avoid. It’s so annoying that the European premieres are much later than the world prem in the US…

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  11. 3. That just looks like some fun-loving guy dressed up as Guy! It’s amazing how different he looks in and out of character.
    10. Wow, I would LOVE to see him as Rochester! I don’t really think the age matters for that character.

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  12. I’m all for blogs, because I like the pics and a good long read. I really wish there were more but the ones there are are excellent, so there is that. I suppose SM is okay for a quick glance on your phone when you’re on your way to doing something else.

    Lots of lovely Guy this week, thanks, Guylty. However please award me a slap on the wrist for thinking of the wrong kind of best asset in #s 4 and 13.

    Oh, and the Lego was inspired.

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    • I suppose, blogs are social media, too – because they also create networking platforms and offer communication. But yes, the option to include longer posts and multiple images makes it more attractive to me than FB and Co.
      *coughs* yes, I tend to think of other assets, too.

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