#another great day in downton abbey

[impressions-of-downton]

[justforbooks]

Dame Maggie Smith

A distinguished, double Oscar-winning actor whose roles ranged from Shakespeare to Harry Potter

Not many actors have made their names in revue, given definitive performances in Shakespeare and Ibsen, won two Oscars and countless theatre awards, and remained a certified box-office star for more than 60 years. But then few have been as exceptionally talented as Maggie Smith, who has died aged 89.

She was a performer whose range encompassed the high style of Restoration comedy and the sadder, suburban creations of Alan Bennett. Whatever she played, she did so with an amusing, often corrosive, edge of humour. Her comedy was fuelled by anxiety, and her instinct for the correct gesture was infallible.

The first of her Oscars came for an iconic performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969). Miss Brodie’s pupils are the “crème de la crème”, and her dictatorial aphorisms – “Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life” – disguise her intent of inculcating enthusiasm in her charges for the men she most admires, Mussolini and Franco.

But Smith’s pre-eminence became truly global with two projects towards the end of her career. She was Professor Minerva McGonagall in the eight films of the Harry Potter franchise (she referred to the role as Miss Brodie in a wizard’s hat) between 2001 and 2011. Between 2010 and 2015, in the six series of Downton Abbey on ITV television (sold to 250 territories around the world), she played the formidable and acid-tongued Dowager Countess of Grantham, Lady Violet, a woman whose heart of seeming stone was mitigated by a moral humanity and an old-fashioned, if sometimes overzealous, sense of social propriety.

Early on, one critic described Smith as having witty elbows. Another, the US director and writer Harold Clurman, said that she “thinks funny”. When Robin Phillips directed her as Rosalind in As You Like It in 1977 in Stratford, Ontario, he said that “she can respond to something that perhaps only squirrels would sense in the air. And I think that comedy, travelling around in the atmosphere, finds her.” Like Edith Evans, her great predecessor as a stylist, Smith came late to Rosalind. Bernard Levin was convinced that it was a definitive performance, and was deeply affected by the last speech: “She spoke the epilogue like a chime of golden bells. But what she looked like as she did so, I cannot tell you; for I saw it through eyes curtained with tears of joy.”

She was more taut and tuned than any other actor of her day, and this reliance on her instinct to create a performance made her reluctant to talk about acting, although she had a forensic attitude to preparation. With no time for the celebrity game, she rarely went on television chat shows – her appearance on Graham Norton’s BBC TV show in 2015 was her first such in 42 years – or gave newspaper interviews.

Her life she summed up thus: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act and one’s still acting.” That was it. She first went “public”, according to her father, when, attired in pumps and tutu after a ballet lesson, she regaled a small crowd on an Oxford pavement with one of Arthur Askey’s ditties: “I’m a little fairy flower, growing wilder by the hour.”

Unlike her great friend and contemporary Judi Dench, Smith was a transatlantic star early in her career, making her Broadway debut in 1956 and joining Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre as one of the 12 original contract artists in 1963.

In 1969, after repeatedly stealing other people’s movies, with Miss Brodie she became a star in her own right. She was claiming her just place in the elite, for she had already worked with Olivier, Orson Welles and Noël Coward in the theatre, not to mention her great friend and fellow miserabilist Kenneth Williams, in West End revue. She had also created an international stir in two movies, Anthony Asquith’s The VIPs (1963) – she didn’t just steal her big scene with him, Richard Burton complained, “she committed grand larceny” – and Jack Clayton’s The Pumpkin Eater (1964), scripted by Harold Pinter from the novel by Penelope Mortimer.

Before Harry Potter, audiences associated Smith most readily with her lovelorn, heartbreaking parishioner Susan in Bed Among the Lentils, one of six television monologues in Bennett’s Talking Heads (1988). Susan was a character seething with sexual anger; the first line nearly said it all – “Geoffrey’s bad enough, but I’m glad I wasn’t married to Jesus.”

And the funniest moment in Robert Altman’s upstairs/downstairs movie Gosford Park (2001) – in some ways a template for Downton Abbey, and also written by Julian Fellowes — was a mere aside from a doleful Smith as Constance Trentham turning to a neighbour on the sofa, as Jeremy Northam as Ivor Novello took a bow for the song he had just sung. “Don’t encourage him,” she warned, archly, “he’s got a very large repertoire.” Such a moment took us right back to the National in 1964 when, as the vamp Myra Arundel in Coward’s Hay Fever, she created an unprecedented (and un-equalled) gale of laughter on the single ejaculation at the breakfast table: “This haddock is disgusting.”

Born in Ilford, Essex, she was the daughter of Margaret (nee Hutton) and Nathaniel Smith, and educated at Oxford high school for girls (the family moved to Oxford at the start of the second world war because of her father’s work as a laboratory technician). Maggie decided to be an actor, joined the Oxford Playhouse school under the tutelage of Frank Shelley in 1951 and took roles in professional and student productions.

She acted as Margaret Smith until 1956, when Equity, the actors’ union, informed her that the name was double-booked. She played Viola with the Oxford University dramatic society in 1952 – John Wood was her undergraduate Malvolio – and appeared in revues directed by Ned Sherrin. “At that time in Oxford,” said Sherrin, “if you wanted a show to be a success, you had to try and get Margaret Smith in it.”

The Sunday Times critic of the day, Harold Hobson, spotted her in a play by Michael Meyer and she was soon working with the directors Peter Hall and Peter Wood. “I didn’t think she would develop the range that she subsequently has,” said Hall, “but I did think she had star quality.”

One of her many admirers at Oxford, the writer Beverley Cross, initiated a long-term campaign to marry Smith that was only fulfilled after the end of her tempestuous 10-year relationship with the actor Robert Stephens, with whom she fell in love at the National and whom she married in 1967. This was a golden decade, as Smith played a beautiful Desdemona to Olivier’s Othello; a clever and impetuous Hilde Wangel to first Michael Redgrave, then Olivier, in Ibsen’s The Master Builder; and an irrepressibly witty and playful Beatrice opposite Stephens as Benedick in Franco Zeffirelli’s Sicilian Much Ado About Nothing, spangled in coloured lights.

Her National “service” was book-ended by two particularly wonderful performances in Restoration comedies by George Farquhar, The Recruiting Officer (1963) and The Beaux’ Stratagem (1970), both directed by William Gaskill, whom she called “simply the best teacher”. In the first, in the travesty role of Sylvia, her bubbling, playful sexuality shone through a disguise of black cork moustache and thigh-high boots on a clear stage that acquired, said Bamber Gascoigne, an air of sharpened reality, “like life on a winter’s day with frost and sun”.

In the second, her Mrs Sullen, driven frantic by boredom and shrewish by a sodden, elderly husband, was a tight-laced beanpole, graceful, swaying and tender, drawing from Ronald Bryden a splendidly phrased comparison with some Henri Rousseau-style giraffe, peering nervously down her nose with huge, liquid eyes at the smaller creatures around, nibbling off her lines fastidiously in a surprisingly tiny nasal drawl.

With Stephens, she had two sons, Chris and Toby, who both became actors. When the marriage hit the rocks in 1975, after the couple had torn strips off each other to mixed reviews in John Gielgud’s 1973 revival of Coward’s Private Lives, Smith absconded to Canada with Cross – whom she quickly married – and relaunched her career there, far from the London hurly-burly, but with access to Hollywood.

She played not just Rosalind in Stratford, Ontario, but also Lady Macbeth and Cleopatra to critical acclaim, as well as Judith Bliss in Coward’s Hay Fever and Millamant in William Congreve’s The Way of the World (this latter role she repeated triumphantly in Chichester and London in 1984, again directed by Gaskill). But her films at this time especially reinforced her status as a comedian of flair and authority, none more than Neil Simon’s California Suite (1978), in which Smith was happily partnered by Michael Caine, and won her second Oscar in the role of Diana Barrie, an actor on her way to the Oscars (where she loses).

Smith’s comic genius was increasingly refracted through tales of sadness, retreat and isolation, notably in what is very possibly her greatest screen performance, in Clayton’s The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987), based on Brian Moore’s first novel, which charts the disintegration of an alcoholic Catholic spinster at guilty odds with her own sensuality.

This tragic dimension to her comedy, was seen on stage, too, in Edna O’Brien’s Virginia (1980), a haunting portrait of Virginia Woolf; and in Bennett’s The Lady in the Van (1999), in which she was the eccentric tramp Miss Shepherd. Miss Shepherd was a former nun who had driven ambulances during blackouts in the second world war and ended up as a tolerated squatter in the playwright’s front garden. Smith brought something both demonic and celestial to this critical, ungrateful, dun-caked crone and it was impossible to imagine any other actor in the role, which she reprised, developed and explored further in Nicholas Hytner’s delightful 2015 movie based on the play.

She scored two big successes in Edward Albee’s work on the London stage in the 1990s, first in Three Tall Women (1994, the playwright’s return to form), and then in one of his best plays, A Delicate Balance (1997), in which she played alongside Eileen Atkins who, like Dench, could give Smith as good as she got.

The Dench partnership lay fallow after their early years at the Old Vic together, but these two great stars made up for lost time. They appeared together not only on stage, in David Hare’s The Breath of Life (2002), playing the wife and mistress of the same dead man, but also on film, in the Merchant-Ivory A Room With a View (1985), Zeffirelli’s Tea With Mussolini (1999) and as a pair of grey-haired sisters in Charles Dance’s debut film as a director, Ladies in Lavender (2004). Smith referred to this latter film as “The Lavender Bags”. She had a name for everyone. Vanessa Redgrave she dubbed “the Red Snapper”, while Michael Palin, with whom she made two films, was simply “the Saint”.

With Palin, she appeared in Bennett’s A Private Function (1984), directed by Malcolm Mowbray – “Moaner Mowbray” he became – in which an unlicensed pig is slaughtered in a Yorkshire village for the royal wedding celebrations of 1947. Smith was Joyce Chilvers, married to Palin, who carries on snobbishly like a Lady Macbeth of Ilkley, deciding to throw caution to the winds and have a sweet sherry, or informing her husband matter-of-factly that sexual intercourse is in order.

She had also acted with Palin in The Missionary (1982), directed by Richard Loncraine, who was responsible for the film of Ian McKellen’s Richard III (1995, in which she played a memorably rebarbative Duchess of York) and My House in Umbria (2003), a much-underrated film, adapted by Hugh Whitemore from a William Trevor novella. This last brought out the very best in her special line in glamorous whimsy and iron-clad star status under pressure. She played Emily Delahunty, a romantic novelist opening her glorious house in Umbria to her three fellow survivors in a bomb blast on a train to Milan. One of these was played by Ronnie Barker, who had been at architectural college with Smith’s two brothers and had left them to join her at the Oxford Playhouse. Delahunty finds her new metier as an adoptive parent to a little orphaned American girl.

She was Mother Superior in the very popular Sister Act (1992) and its sequel, and her recent films included a “funny turn” as a disruptive housekeeper in Keeping Mum (2005), a vintage portrait of old age revisited by the past in Stephen Poliakoff’s Capturing Mary (on television in 2007) and as a solicitous grandmother of a boy uncovering a ghost story in Fellowes’s From Time to Time (2009).

As this latter film was released she confirmed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone an intensive course of chemotherapy, but had been given the all-clear – only to be struck down by a painful attack of shingles, a typical Maggie Smith example of good news never coming unadulterated with a bit of bad.

Her stage appearance as the title character in Albee’s The Lady from Dubuque at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in 2007 was, ironically, about death from cancer. She returned to the stage for the last time in 2019, as Brunhilde Pomsel in Christopher Hampton’s one-woman play A German Life, at the Bridge theatre, London.

Cross, who was a real rock, and helped protect her from the outside world, died in 1998. But Smith picked herself up, and went on to perform as sensationally and beguilingly as she had done all her life, including memorable appearances in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films (2011 and 2015) and two Downton Abbey movie spin-offs (2019 and 2022). Her final film role was in The Miracle Club (2023), co-starring Kathy Bates and Laura Linney.

She had been made CBE in 1970 and a dame in 1990, and in 2014 she was made a Companion of Honour. Her pleasure would have been laced with mild incredulity. A world without Smith recoiling from it in mock horror, and real distaste, will never seem the same again.

She is survived by Chris and Toby, and by five grandchildren.

🔔 Maggie Smith (Margaret Natalie Smith), actor, born 28 December 1934; died 27 September 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hi! I'm on a regency binge at the moment and while Good Society is on my list, do you have any more regency games/systems to recommend?

THEME: Regency Games

Hello friend, I think I have a nice little selection for you to take a look at!

One thing to note is that some of these games are very gendered, providing roles such as “Matron”, “Nobleman” or “Countess” that is rather unavoidable. Sometimes this is simply part and parcel of playing in a specific era of history, and sometimes it is done purposefully, as games can often be commentary about certain issues that were prevalent at the time.

While I think you could likely make a non-binary character in these games if you really want to, I think that one of the appeals of playing in the Regency era is the strict social structures that created such rigid gender boundaries, and so I’m not surprised to see those boundaries enforced in these games.

Vicious, by Budget Versailles.

Vicious is a game set during the Regency period about scandalous gossip told via letters between three or more players.

Players roll dice to generate scenarios and gossipy twists to pass on to the next player until everyone has been deceived with shocking slander and hearsay.

If you’re a fan of the epistolary phase of Good Society, Vicious is probably worth looking at. Watch a piece of news twist out of your control as your letters get flavoured with gossip. You can roll for inspiration for various scenarios, as well as for juicy gossip to make those scenarios even better - but the game ends with one player sends out an invitation to determine how many of the accusations that have been sent around are true.

I think Vicious is also an excellent add-on to pair with another game of your choice, especially since it could be played in between sessions, cooking up drama for the players to hash out in an in-person confrontation.

Hazelwood Abbey, by stevehatherly.

Downton Abbey meets Hillfolk. Players play an aristocratic family in a player-led dramatic game of emotional needs and wants for 4-5 players.

Hazelwood Abbey uses Pelgrane Press' DramaSystem rules engine to create a story of high-stakes interpersonal conflict. During the session, you will create family members with conflicting needs and goals. And then you will find out what happens.

To play this game you’ll need a good understanding of how the DramaSystem works. The author recommends referencing a copy of Hillfolk, although you can also check out the SRD for free to see how you feel about the system.

The DramaSystem is all about relationships, and give and take. Your characters all need something from each-other, something tied to an emotional reward. When interacting with each-other in a dramatic scene, tokens will be gained or spent by following prompts specific to your playbook. In Hazelwood Abbey, your characters are split between the upstairs and downstairs, just like in Downton Abbey. The upstairs playbooks will wrestle with ties to family, tradition, and duty, while the downstairs playbooks commonly struggle with ambition, social inequality, and precious secrets. If you deny another person what they seek, too many times, they may force an emotional concession from you by spending tokens.

I think this is a great example of dramatic tension, and while I suppose Hazelwood Abbey might be slightly later than regency era, it might give you some of what you’re looking for.

Sense and Sensibility, by Armanda.

YOU ARE A DEAD GUY’S SECOND FAMILY IN 18th CENTURY ENGLAND. Your mission is to get one of your sisters to marry well, since you’re all women and can’t live without the favor of a man. You have no rights other than the right to marry and be a mother. In this game, you’ll explore the terrible vicissitudes of British bucolic countryside life and deal with neighbours and city people coming to visit the various families in the area, where gossip and marriage (and love, in the best of cases) are the order of the day. 

Since this game is built off of Lasers and Feelings, I’d expect it to also be fairly easy to pick up if you’re familiar with other works in the same system. You have two stats and a number somewhere between 2 to 5 that tells you how good you are at one of those things, and how bad you are at the other.

I think this game is more focused on family relationships than some of the other games on this list, because your entire family’s well-being depends on the success of finding a wealthy match. Battle gossip, defend your honour, and possibly even sabotage your rivals in an attempt to find some security for yourself and your loved ones.

The Season, by Rue.

It's London season and you're in for a ball! 

The Season is a GM-less RPG about elevating your status and keeping up your reputation during the fabled Regency Era social season. 

This is a competitive RPG that takes place over the course of 10 rounds. Each characters’ goal is the same: to end the game with the highest Reputation. To chip away at your rivals’ reputation, you’ll have to demonstrate your own social graces, spread rumours, or meet gossip with the perfect amount of composure. You just need 2d6 to play, although you’ll probably want a few roll-tables for inspiration if you don’t consider yourself that good at improv.

This is another game that might benefit from being played alongside something bigger, or perhaps using some established lore from another setting.

Teacup Masquerade, by Sam Scribbler.

A one-page cozy social game about getting revenge on your enemies. Inspired by Regency-era romantic dramas such as Bridgerton with a vengeful twist. Create a character, discover your rival's secret, and become the darling of high society.

This is a simple game meant to fit on one page. You have three basic stats, and a gradient scale of success. You gain a random social advantage and a random personal shame, which you’ll want to try to hide as you go about discovering the secrets of your rivals.

There’s not a lot of guidance for this one, which is pretty common for one-page games. It might be a good fit if you have an idea of the kind of story you want to tell, or if you have your own set of home-brew rules that you want to add onto an existing premise.

The Social Season, by Scott Sexton.

In this single page role playing game inspired by the works of Jane Austen, you and your friends play as high society characters navigating the treacherous London social season.

To save your family from ruin, you must land an advantageous marriage proposal by the end of the season. Will you outwit scheming rivals and jealous suitors to make a fortuitous match, or will you become embroiled in scandal and depart London in disgrace?

This is a Honey Heist hack, pulling you between the two extremes of Composure and Scandal. Since it’s built off of a familiar system (to me), I can expect this game to be rather light-hearted, pushing your characters to vacillate between following social graces or deliberately doing something considered… untoward. This is certainly a chance to put on your stuffiest airs, flutter your fans dramatically, and describe your attempt to kiss your beau on the back of their hand.

The London Season, by Stéphanie Dusablon.

The London season of 1874, a perfect time for the aristocracy to advance the marriage prospects of their offsprings, entertain themselves through various social engagements and, naturally, gossip to their heart's content.

We were also taught that once we attained marital bliss, our husband would take ownership of our wealth, property and body. They probably would have passed a law to ensure our mind became theirs as well, had it occured to them that we might actually have one.

Create your young lady, decide if you hope to secure or avoid an engagement this season and carefully navigate 8 fortnights of glamorous events, social engagements and secret messages. 

As a solo roleplaying game, The London Season is an examination of the social inequities present in the Regency era, as well as a love letter for a time of secret messages and glamorous events. You’ll mostly be drawing cards to answer questions, receive secret messages, and navigate both welcome and unwelcome engagements, journaling each step of the way. At the end of eight fortnights, your young lady will have either achieved or lost her goal. Whether that goal is marriage or something else is up to you.

Games I’ve Recommended In The Past

Le Bon Ton, by RobotFrancis.

Pride and Extreme Prejudice, by Grant Howitt.

Eyes on the Prize, by ira prince.

[angel-princess-anna]

Michelle confirms that is the final film.

It's going to be a tough watch, but we can all get through it together, Downton Abbey clan. As Andrea Bocelli would say, it's time to say goodbye to the Crawley family [APA note: a cover of "Con te partirò (Time to Say Goodbye) was actually the music in ITV's trailer for S6. Whoops]. According to Michelle Dockery, the upcoming Downton Abbey 3 is going to serve a dual purpose of saying a fond farewell to the series, but in front of the camera, also saying cheerio to Dame Maggie Smith’s iconic role as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham. In an exclusive interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub to promote her role in the Mel Gibson thriller Flight Risk, Dockery opened up about the upcoming film, what it was like to return to the set one final time, and how the trilogy became an unexpected gift for the fans and cast alike.

While Downton has always been an ensemble piece, driven by its vast cast led by Dockery, Smith, Hugh Bonneville and more, Smith’s Dowager Countess has remained one of its most treasured characters, known for her razor-sharp wit and withering putdowns. Dockery spoke about the beauty of the story that would be told and said that the film was one that would be a gorgeous goodbye to Smith.

“It’s a beautiful film,” Dockery said. “For us, it was such a treat to be able to come back together again. It’s a real tribute to Maggie Smith, the film.” The return of Paul Giamatti, who first appeared as Harold Levinson, the uncle of Dockery's Lady Mary, in Season 4, is another fun surprise that she was able to shed light on.

“Working with Paul again was wonderful. He’s so much fun. And because he was already part of the family, it was lovely to have him back on set, so I’m really excited to see the final film."

“I think there was always an intention to do three films,” Dockery revealed. “I think the trilogy of films was an intention. But no, I’m not entirely sure. I guess that was what was thought of initially. But it’s amazing that we got to do that many films. I mean, we would have been very happy to do one, but the demand was to do more, and it’s been an incredible experience.”

For Dockery, the final day of filming was a bittersweet moment, and one she'll remember forever as she looks back on a hugely important time in her life. “For us, we’ve had so many last times,” she said, recalling the various finales they’ve filmed over the years, from the series to the previous films. “But this time around, I think we really relished every minute. It being the last, it felt really, really special. Like anything, when something comes to an end, it’s emotional but just such a happy place to be. It’s always been a very happy place to be and a wonderful thing to be part of for the last 15 years.”

While Dockery acknowledged that there was always the possibility of a Christmas special, that great staple of British television, with a wistful “You never know,” it’s clear that the cast and crew went into the film with the mentality that this was it for the Crawley family.

[kanerallels]

New day new ask but! Yes, The Scarlet Pimpernel novel is amaaaaaazzziinnng. The old original movie is also fun! But imho the 82 movie is far the superior of the film versions. I also absolutely insanely adore the Broadway musical from the 90s, and there's a great ya/apocalyptic sort of retelling called Rook by Sharon Cameron that I also love.

But I highly recommend watching the movie (it's a little long and slowish and 80s hair but perfect, then reading the book (it's very short and a pretty easy read), then listening to the musical soundtrack. (Fair warning, they all have slightly different endings as far as the final climax, but with generally good reason for the changes and they kind of took elements from Baroness Orczy's other novels about the character.)

Sir Percy Blakeney is the best hero with a secret identity to ever hero identity secretly, tbh. He's clever and charming and idiotic and hysterical and dashing and pathetic. And Marguerite is sweet and smart and daring and ridiculous and sly and witty and splendid. -deep sigh- yeah, highly recommend 10/10 every time. Ok bye!

Okay this is all AMAZING. The retelling thing is 101 percent going on my list, and this sounds really great!! I also saw a post once that compared Sir Percy to not one, but two of my all time favorite fictional characters, so like. I can't just not watch it, ya know?

Also you should know that after I got this ask last night I went down a rabbit hole of looking at the actors in this movie (IAN MCKELLAN??? AND THE GUY WHO DIRECTED DOWNTON FREAKING ABBEY???) and then I saw that the guy who plays Percy is also in Ivanhoe from the same year, and I couldn't NOT investigate that (I love Ivanhoe, okay? It's definitely problematic because it was written years and years ago, whatever. I still love it. This is not the time for a rant about it) and now I. Might have to watch a 1982 production of Ivanhoe because it's got some EXCELLENT actors in it including Julian Glover who plays one of my emotional support background character in Star Wars (mainly thanks to this fan fic that you specifically would love because it's got all these honorable caring male characters who do what's right and the platonic relationships? Flawless. I digress) and SAM FREAKING NEILL PLAYS SIR BRIAN DE BOIS-GUILBERT??? To say nothing of yet another Downton Abbey actor being there.

But I digress--I really wanna watch this thanks to that whole rabbit hole from last night, and I also really wanna watch Ivanhoe lol! If I do watch it, I shall let you know, I promise!!

[glitterypin]

less than two hours left 'till 2025!

I might as well do a recap of 2024 as it goes away..

Music I listened to a lot:

Fivos Delivorias (my favourite Greek musician, same as last year. I went to five of his shows this year and had tickets for a sixth one that I didn't go to because I was depressed that day)

Peter Capaldi (feeling wildly blessed that Peter Capaldi's taste in music and mine overlap so greatly because it means the music he makes is exactly the type of music I like to listen to. So, I reckon I must have listened to his 2021 album over 200 times this year and I loved every second of it.)

David Bowie (being single for the first time in over eight years reminded me of the feelings of isolation and other-worldliness that first drew me to Bowie's music when I was 19. So, I've been returning to it a lot since the summer and it does feel like coming home a lot.)

And a lot of contemporary Greek indie music, which has been great for me because all my life I've been mostly into artists who have died or retired ages ago that this is the first time I feel like what's happening around me is relevant to me. I go to live gigs, I listen to new releases, I talk about new music with friends, it's an amazing feeling.

Favourite films I've seen this year:

Letterboxd says I watched 123 new films this year. Let's look at my highest rated:

This reflects my year in films perfectly. A lot of TV Specials from shows I watched this year (Doctor Who, The Thick of It), stuff my faves from last year were in (Peter Capaldi, Michael Sheen and even one Phyllis Logan right at the top) and a measly TWO recent mainstream films.

My friends and family keep asking me if I've seen this or that which was just released or tell me "I want to go to the movies, what should I watch" and I cannot stress this enough but I have no fucking clue. I don't care about the new films that are coming out. I don't feel like watching them. I want to watch Peter Capaldi's entire filmography and a fuckton of old british TV shows. My fucking ringtone is the opening theme of Lovejoy. Ask me about that if you want me to give an opinion.

TV Shows I watched this year:

2024, the year I watched Doctor Who.

Yeah, this is what stands out the most. I got into Doctor Who, like a decade too late but whatever. I love this show now, with all my heart.

Other stuff I watched and loved this year include mostly tv shows Peter Capaldi was in.

The Thick Of It (I love it with everything that I am, Malcolm Tucker is my favourite comfort character atm and the joy it brings me cannot be put into words)

The Devil's Hour (seasons 1 and 2 and season 2 blew my fucking mind away, I'm still not over it and i can't wait for season 3!)

Criminal Record (second half of it was amazing, also looking forward to the next season)

Neverwhere (a 90s classic which I loved)

The Crow Road (a bit slow but charming and kind of eccentric in the way it approaches the concept of genre - as in: from the wrong direction)

Prime Suspect 3 (more like a long movie but I wanted to mention it because it's one of my favourite Capaldi performances ever)

Lovejoy (started it for Phyllis Logan, am currently somewhere in season 3. It's beautifully vintage and so easy to follow along without paying too much attention and every once in a while it's actually fucking hilarious).

Downton Abbey (started with a lot of steam (also because of Phyllis Logan), I watched the first season in like a day but then dropped to a very relaxed pace of "every once in a while". It's the kind of thing that is hard to get into on a daily basis but once you do, it's easy to keep going, know what I mean? It may take me two weeks to decide to watch another episode and then end up watching three in a row. I do look forward to continuing with it in the new year!)

The Way (the three-part TV show Michael Sheen made of revolution coming to Wales. I meant to rewatch but haven't yet and it's been many months since I saw it but I remember loving it.)

Work I've done this year:

2024 started with me smack dab in the middle of a project of the shitshow variety, pulling long hours, putting out mediocre work and having to be very available for very little reward. A great learning experience! For the first time in my life I felt that "if I quit this job... they're all fucking fucked" - and lemme tell you, it felt good to know this, even if the work was shit.

I worked on three different projects during the summer. One of them didn't go very well. Another one I basically dropped out of midway through and came to blows with my coworker and mentor and we almost stopped being friends over it. I learned not to spread myself too thin.

The third project went amazing and I loved working on it and it's a wonderful precedent of "hey, work can be nice and humane, did you kno" but since it ended I've been unemployed.

Let's not dwell on that right now.

Life Events!

Lot of stuff happened in therapy, at work, with friends, with family. No point in going through it all, most of it isn't even particularly pleasant or interesting.

Three things are my main takeaways from this year:

In July, after 3000 days together (bit over 8 years if you're wondering), I broke up with my boyfriend. Breathing has been easier since then, despite the sadness of missing his company sometimes. I'm very proud of myself for finally deciding to do it and for how I did it. And I can't wait to see what the following years have in store for me.

Fan communities are easily dismissed as little more than hobbies but sometimes you just find yourself in one that is different and you meet people who make your life better. And this happened to me this year. I made the Peter Capaldi Brainrot Center and got to hang out with a bunch of cool people on Tumblr (won't tag you all, there's a lot of you, you know who you all are and I love you to bits) and yeah, the biggest part of it is talking about how handsome and fuckable Peter Capaldi is but I can't help but feel an honest connection when I shout at a bunch of strangers "please help cheer me up because my dad was a dick to me" and half a dozen people jump in with PCap photos and gifs and words of comfort for me. I love that I got to have this this year.

A return of creativity. I started drawing and have visibly improved (even if I'm still shit at it, I'm better than before and that means the world to me). I started writing. It's short, mediocre fanfics but I'm finally writing. And I'm editing for fun! And I just love that I'm finally being creative and artistic and finding my voice and my place in this world...

And that is a wrap on my 2024! The year of the Doctor, of Tumblr and of Finally Letting Go Of Stuff That Used To Weigh Me Down.

Here's to the next one. Happy 2025!

[eolewyn1010]

Downton Abbey Fashion 4 - Edwardian indoors fashion

Time for indoors outfits! Now, since I’m wholly lacking in Edwardian propriety, I’m throwing in various kinds of outfits here, blouse-and-skirt combinations as much as tea gowns because, let’s be honest, I cannot tell a tea gown from a nice day dress.

Like this. What category of dress is this? Not sure I care. The blue print fabric is lovely! Quite crisp in the pleats, so I think it’s a taffeta, and it’s even got some embroidery on the front V and the cuffs. And because the Dowager™ is a woman of taste, she pairs it with white lace. The bow on the throat wouldn’t be to my taste, but who would Violet be if she suddenly kept up with fashion?

--------------

Interestingly, the first time we see Isobel, she’s also wearing a blue dress over a white lace blouse. Granted, it’s something very different than Violet’s grand gown; the color is a lot more understated, the fabric doesn’t have the same silky sheen, the print is more unassuming. I do like the little brooch with the cabochon though, and the earrings – in fact, several Crawley women wear this style of cameo ear studs.

Geez Louise Isobel, look alive; I was about to compliment the blouse. This print is fucking adorable, and the color! It’s a rare occasion to see something not pastel around here, so credit where it’s due. Especially early on, Isobel seems to prefer this sort of blouse, a simple cut, fitted sleeves, sturdy fabric.

Right away another one, only this one goes with the frumpier print and is lacking the nice puffy shoulder bits the previous had. Or maybe it’s the collar that makes this look frumpy?

For something new, a nice dress. The lavender color suggests her affiliation with the purple-prone Grantham Crawleys. I do quite like this one; the collar is way more flattering than the previous, and different than the blouses that wouldn’t look out of place in the 1940s either, this dress seems to have a fundamentally Edwardian silhouette. Funny thing is, it reappears – not in the next season, but in the third, when the girls have already moved on to early 1920s fashion. But why should Violet have the monopoly on being behind?

I think I’ve seen this dress only in this one scene, and I couldn’t get a non-blurry more extensive shot of it. Shame; I would have liked to see more of this bodice embroidery, especially since this looks like it might be a silk dress, aka one of the more expensive ones Early Isobel owns.

--------------

Oof. How does Isobel pull off a dress with a similar color and a similar collar with so much more grace? Cora, darling, this is a mess. It’s got, like, four different shades. Velvet here, white-patterned trim there; it looks too busy. I’m not even sure if it fits, with the way it wrinkles. Also, I’m very grateful she never again wears quite this style of high-necked blouse. If you want to put your head on a plate of lace, you either go big, as in a full-on ruff, or you go home. And when you get home, burn that blouse. It’s all yellowed anyway.

Much better. This tidies up a lot of the frill I find off-putting about the previous. More streamlined, less add-on elements, the velvet can stand on its own here, the trim is way better coordinated with the overall picture. This style is doing a lot more for Elizabeth McGovern’s figure, too. Still not a great fan of the famous Edwardian high collar, but at least it’s not trying and failing at being a ruff.

In general, Cora seems to like this white blouse with all the horizontal pin tucks, because she wears it under several dresses. This dark blue velvet number with the translucent chest area is a holdover to season 2, and I will give it that; it looks incredibly comfortable to lounge around in. And there’s the black piping pattern around the chest and shoulders adding a little chic to the whole deal.

This dark purple one is one of my favorites; I will freely admit that I prefer it with the open V-necked blouse in the second picture. What can I say; just because the first style is more authentically Edwardian, it doesn’t necessarily appeal to me. But of course, the high neck gives Cora a point to put her pretty brooches. Other than that, I don’t know. This dress is so simple; there’s really not much to it, just a wrap top with an embroidered trim. But it hits juuuust right.

And another favorite. No notes. I love it. The silver silk, the waist gathers flowing right into the wide sleeves, this absolute dream of embroidery? I want this with a vengeance.

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

hello its been a long time l havent seen any long fic l am on a holiday and l’d like to know longest M rated klaine fics preferably on fanfiction.net its really nice to read on the app but searching is very hard thank you so much! and happy holidays!

Ok, longest M rated Klaine stories on fanfic (in English!) ~ Jen

Kurt and Blaine, A love story by sweetgirlgml

This is how I picture canon Kurt and Blaine s relationship since the first day. There are few characters of my own creation thrown in the mix for fun purposes. Lots of romance, some laughter and a few tears. Basically a shameless ode to Klaine fluff. You ve been warned so I won t be held responsible for dentists bills, just saying. Chapters: 72 - Words: 465,199 -

~~~~~

Crowded House by kellyb321

All of your favorite Warblers and a few new faces, too. Follow our boys as they start their lives in NYC, each couple facing their own challenges, heartbreak, self-discovery and redemption. Stick around as they realize support, acceptance and most importantly, true love can all be found in one big Crowded House. Heavy on the Klaine and Niff. Chapters: 117 - Words: 924,400

~~~~~

Another Tomorrow by  xCaellachx

How many times will it take for Blaine to get it right, when he doesn't even know what to fix? Supernatural elements. Chapters: 47 - Words: 167,708

_____

Ambassadors Abroad by jcrissrid

Klaine, The Warblers and New Directions find themselves getting a trip to Europe to sing for 2 weeks this summer. Perfect summer romance for Klaine. Some smut, but M for possible later chapters Chapters: 75 - Words: 243,903

~~~~~

Westerville Abbey by@hkvoyage

Blaine, the spare heir of Westerville, sets out to fulfill his duty of finding a wife. He soon realizes he is more attracted to the new footman, Kurt, who has just arrived to work alongside his father, Westerville Abbey's butler. Will Blaine and Kurt overcome 1910s England's class differences? Will their forbidden love survive WW1? A Downton Abbey inspired historical Klaine Chapters: 64 - Words: 249,587

and sequel Life in the Big Apple By @hkvoyage

Sequel to Westerville Abbey. Kurt and Blaine are reunited, but their happily ever after comes with a whole new set of challenges: relationship hiccups, jealousy, sabotage, war memories, and family troubles. Yet with love and perseverance, they can make it through. A Klaine historical AU set in the 1920s. Chapters: 50 - Words: 201,545

~~~~~

Distance makes the heart grow fonder by Grace Ryan

Kurt is back at McKinley. Klaine are trying to make things work despite the distance. Rated M for fluffiness and future physical contact. ; Not really great at summaries. Chapters: 87 - Words: 223,369

[angelswing236]

"It's been a long time."

Fictober 24 challenge

Fandom: Downton Abbey

Fanfiction

‘You’re back for good then?’ Mary asked, settling on the sofa beside an exhausted-looking Tom.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I am.’

‘Good. I’m glad,’ she replied, feeling uncharacteristically tongue-tied.

‘I’m glad you're glad,’ he said, an amused smile playing on his lips.

‘And you?’

‘And me, what?’ he asked, too tired to parse through her meaning.

‘Are you glad you’re back?’

He cocked his head, puzzled by the question. ‘Of course, I am. I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t want to.’

Mary nodded, her lips pursing as she thought about what to say next. ‘I was just wondering…’

‘What?’

‘Why have you come back?’

He gave a small shrug. ‘I think I realised that Downton is home now.’

‘But that’s not how you felt before you went away. Isn’t that why you went away? Because Downton didn’t feel like home to you?’ she pressed, not satisfied with his answer.

‘I suppose sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until you haven’t got it anymore,’ he said, looking awkwardly away, peering into the glass he held in his hand.

Mary stared at him, her heartbeat picking up a little, a rogue voice in her brain asking if it was just Downton he was talking about, or had he missed her as much as she’d missed him? ‘I suppose so.’

She watched him, still hardly able to believe he was really there in the flesh, sitting next to her after long months of a keenly felt absence constantly dogging her. It was different, she’d come to realise, missing someone who was alive and yet not there than someone who was dead and would never be there again.

‘Is that the only reason?’ she asked, pressing gently for another answer.

‘Well, Sybbie missed you all a great deal.’

‘Darling Sybbie. It’s so wonderful to see her. Mama and Papa are delighted. And George.’

‘It was lovely to see them reunited.’

‘But that’s it? That’s the only reason?’ she pressed harder.

He sighed, fatigue pulling at him. ‘What other reason would there be?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. For all I know, you might have had some mad love affair in Boston that ended badly and that’s why you’ve come back,’ Mary said, trying to sound playfully nonchalant.

He looked at her in surprise and huffed out a laugh. ‘A mad love affair?’

‘Yes.’

‘Was there some indication in my letters that I was having a mad love affair with someone?’

‘No, but perhaps that’s not the kind of thing you would have written about. Not to me.’

Tom’s face creased into a puzzled look. ‘Why wouldn’t I have told you if I was having a mad love affair? You’re my best friend.’

‘I’m also Sybil’s sister, so perhaps you wouldn’t have wanted to confide in me,’ Mary countered.

He tipped his head, studying her. ‘I wasn’t having a mad love affair in America.’

‘Right. That’s… that’s good. Well, not good, but… um, you know, good that you haven’t had your heart broken again,’ Mary waffled, surprised by the huge wave of relief that washed over her.

They sat in silence for a while before she spoke again. ‘Will you be coming back to the office?’

He lifted his eyes to meet hers. ‘Do you want me to?’

‘Of course, I do.’

He smiled. ‘Are you saying you’ve missed me, Mary?’

She met his gaze, her expression more tender than she perhaps realised. ‘Maybe a little. It’s been awfully quiet there without you. It’s been a long time. On my own, I mean. Without you. A long time since I’ve had a partner to bounce ideas off.’

‘So, you’re prepared to have me back, are you?’ he said, his smile growing wider.

‘Yes. That’s if you want to come back,’ she said, suddenly nervous he’d decline.

‘I do.’

‘So, you’ve missed me too?’ she asked, her heart hammering unexpectedly.

‘Only every day,’ he replied, his voice as soft as his gaze.

Mary stared at him, relief mixing with something else, something she couldn’t quite name.

‘So, you’ll come back tomorrow then?’

‘I’ll come back tomorrow,’ he agreed.

‘Good. I'm pleased. Very pleased.’

Tom smiled and Mary smiled back. Anything else could wait until tomorrow.

[starry-on-ao3]

✨20 questions for fic writers✨

Inspired by @naquey - thought it would be fun to chime in 🥰

How many works do you have on Ao3?

15

What's your total word count?

102,267

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, All Creatures Great And Small. In the distant past, Harry Potter (and in the very very distant past, Dan and Phil). Have also brainstormed Good Omens fics but never written anything there.

Top five fics by kudos?

Home Is Where Audrey Is

How long have you felt this way?

Close To You (this fic is my darling baby, I am pouring ever fiber of my being into it, it occupies all of my blasted waking thoughts, it is my magnum opus)

The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot

See you at the end of the aisle

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I only apologise if I am ever late to respond, but I always do, and they make my day. I have been spotted skipping happily around the checkout queue in the grocery store more times than I can count when I get those wonderful Ao3 emails 🫶

What fic did you write with the angstiest ending?

Research isn't as boring as it sounds, actually - this one ended sort of happily, but Tristan and and Richard had just had their first fight as a couple, and that was difficult to write 🥺 I hate causing my boys pain (I say, while Close To You is still in progress 😬)

What fic did you write with the happiest ending?

How long have you felt this way? - the candles, the Christmas music, Tristan very slowly building up to a confession - this one was everything 🥰

Do you get hate on fics?

Never have, but even if I did, I don't think it would faze me too much tbh, I have a think skin! If you don't like, don't read, I don't care :)

Do you write smut?

Absolutely 100% not, nothing makes me feel more icky 😣 I've no issue with referencing smut off-screen though, or writing it as a 'fade to black' thing, or writing a character's emotions about sex/intimacy, but the actual smut itself? nopenopenopenope I just can't–

Craziest crossover?

Haven't done one yet, but I am cooking a Downton Abbey / ACGAS crossover idea

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! (But if anybody would like fics translated into Romanian from English, or into English from Romanian, hmu!)

Have you ever co written a fic before?

Nope, but always happy to collaborate!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sure hope not! 😐

All-time favourite ship?

That's a tough one...i have too many lol. My current hyperfixation ship is Tristan Farnon and Richard Carmody from ACGAS (those 102,000 words? they are all written since Nov 18th last year and are all about these dorks), but that's a very recent one. If I had to pick one which has stuck with me for years and years, it would be Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens. Also Mary and Matthew from Downton Abbey.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A Sirius Black/Severus Snape/OC love triangle which I very much doubt will ever be finished - it's on FFN, under a different name, good luck trying to find it lol 😂

What are your writing strengths?

I hope it's my dialogue, it's what I enjoy writing the most anyway. Have also been told my prose is very good!

What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing comedy/wit/sarcasm, smut, (and not allowing my WIPs to completely take over my waking thoughts to the point that I can't even look at a fucking treadmill in the gym without thinking of how this could be turned into a Farmody meet-cute), and fight scenes I guess?

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I don't have any strong opinions on this, never given it any thought. I have done it before but I didn't put much thought into it (it was a scene in the Snape/OC fic where the OC wanted to hide what she was reading from Snape, so she magically changed the text on the page to Irish, so that Snape couldn't understand it).

First fandom you ever wrote in?

Dan and Phil.

Favourite fic you've ever written?

Oh, I couldn't possibly pic a favourite :)

[besidesitstoowarm]

"The Curse of the Black Spot" thoughts

this was like a real solid 6/10. i genuinely wish it was stupider

i mean, look, i love when doctor who is stupid. i'm on record saying i think it should be more stupid most of the time. much like star wars, it's good when it's good and it's great when it's bad. if you don't get it, that's not my problem. i can't bother recapping this one

i was positive the guy playing Lead Pirate henry avery looked familiar but i've never seen anything he's been in. i am loosely aware of downton abbey but i don't even recognize him in that. my bf went "beards, boooo" cause he's embroiled in constant controvery vis a vis beards on historical reenactors, and i imagine some loser being mad there was a black pirate, also everyone looked like a peter pan extra. forgot my point here. looks bad but that doesn't bother me

the doctor jumping in with "yo ho ho! or does nobody actually say that" pretty funny. the siren cgi is so wretched i almost passed out. this show never looks "great" but this is so so bad. sawed off in his face "freud would say you're overcompensating. ever met freud? COMFY sofa" i would love to see what the doctor has to do with freud. just like he said he owed casanova a chicken in "vampires in venice" brother what are you up to.

yet again we hear madame kovarian (not that we know that) saying "it's fine, you're doing fine, just stay calm" and amy sees a window shutting in a door. at the end of this ep the doctor again does a scan that says amy is both pos and neg for pregnancy. this season is weird for me bc i remember all the big plot points, i know where we're going, but the details utterly elude me. i'm excited (kind of) for the rest of the season

anyway crew members keep getting taken by the siren, the captain has a son who stowed away on board. he's dying of Cough, as many people in history did. there's a nice convo between the doctor and avery where doc says "space can be lonely. the greatest adventure is having someone share it with you" which i think is such a direct response from having been ten, who both spent a lot of time alone and completely disintegrated when he had to do so. eleven does not want to be alone!!

i do like how the siren turns out to be a ui doctor, alien ship (killed by human germs) occupying the same space as the pirate ship. the moffat era is equal parts "the mundane is scary" (aging, in "blink", or the dark in "silence in the library", or forgetting in "day of the moon") and "the scary is benign" ("this isn't a ghost story, it's a love story" in "hide" or the siren in this ep) which i think absolutely rules

this is amy's second suicide pact, btw. the first was in "amy's choice" and i'd consider "the angels take manhatten" to be another meaning she averages at least one per season. amy pond and rose tyler in violent conflict for "most suicidal companion" god i love them both. she does the world's WORST cpr on rory, i was fuming. CHEST COMPRESSIONS!!!

anyway. i love, conceptually, a goofy pirate episode. i love how avery kind of understands the tardis bc "a ship is a ship" and frankly the siren casting was a+ cause she was otherworldly beautiful. i love how everyone lived at the end, like "silence", like "doctor dances" cause despite moffat having a cutthroat rep he does absolutely value love and life. weird orphan kids are always being named toby (see: sweeney todd)

so it was fine. it was a little heavy, i wish it was goofier. doctor who thrives on nonsense trash episodes (<person who thinks "boom town" is the second best story in s1)

[riddles-n-games]

Now that you've read the brothers Hawthorne, do you have any averyjameson headcanons or theories?

Hmm, first theory: Jameson's revelation to Avery about Prague will be a major plot line for them in discovering another incident like the Hawthorne Island fire but not covered in The Grandest Game. It might mean that at some point or another, Prague will be a destination to revisit and who knows, maybe a continent-wide European adventure for our fave duo and this time with all the brothers included. In the meantime, I think they will be too busy setting up the Grandest Game but I believe they will try their best to look into the situation and see what they can find out just nothing major yet. Maybe Avery will ask Toby if he knows anything but I don't know if she will feel like she is risking him because of Eve's takeover of the Blake fortune.

My second theory is that between TBH and TGG they will go to Scotland and stay at Vantage, perhaps also have a more formal introduction to the Johnstone-Jameson family while they're there. Kind of hope that Jamie gets to meet his grandmother. Something just tells me his next big plot might revolve around both his grandmothers since his paternal grandmother was also mentioned quite a bit because of Vantage so I can't help thinking JLB wants us to infer something important there. Going back to Avery and Jameson, one part that stood out to me was when he brought up the fact that she gave away most of the foreign properties to the foundation and then asked her what she thought of Scottish castles. I'm questioning if he meant it like a question of co-ownership to curate the place together because his uncle did say he would pay for the upkeep of it or if they still hadn't visited the Scottish estate that formerly belonged to his grandfather and so they might make a trip to both Vantage and the Hawthorne property in Scotland because Avery hadn't given that one away yet. I also theorize that when she was about to answer him she was already getting an idea for a dare. Something to do with cliff climbing, likely. Also, that scene when they were running for the cliffside after the first clue was given in the Game, I couldn't help but think of Max's words in The Hawthorne Legacy and it felt like such a callback to that. Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) would have been such a great song to pair with that scene.

Anyways, onto some headcanons! Headcanon 1: So after their UK trip, Avery starts teasing Jameson about being part British by indirectly messing with him. She randomly makes references to Sherlock Holmes (the one featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, of course), purposefully brings up Downton Abbey at least twice when they're scrolling through shows to watch or just straight up leaves an episode running on the TV when Jameson is in her room (she deliberately goes around a corner and tries to catch a glimpse of his expression but when she does, he always looks stone-faced, better than Grayson's it actually scares her). On karaoke nights, she always chooses a British singer's song for him to sing when it's his turn (mostly One Direction and Adele). For his birthday, she invited a bunch of famous British actors and singers (she actually managed to get 1D to get reunited for that and if Max, Xander, and Jameson weren't the biggest fangirls that night🤭). Avery also begins calling him nicknames like Your Highness, Duke, His Excellency, etc. He just rolls his eyes every time. In other attempts to rile him up, she uses British slang and tells him that he should be inclined to use more of it now that they know he’s part Brit. Meanwhile, on her birthday, he got her back by getting a real tiara (with Oren’s help, duh) for her to wear for the day and it was made with emerald and orange topaz gemstones. She took it with grace and they had a Cinderella moment when they danced in the Great Room alone after everyone left.

Headcanon 2: On a more serious note, some days, Jameson’s mind gets occupied by thoughts of his father and he gets really quiet and withdrawn from everyone. Usually, in those situations, he ends up on the roof and with the knife in hand, constantly twirling it. While everybody else leaves him alone, Avery finds him up there and she never says anything, just comes up to him and hugs him from behind (Jameson secretly loves her hugs a lot). They stay like that for a while, in complete silence, until he turns around and hugs her back but not without a forehead kiss. Then, he’d take her hand and trace little symbols onto her hand with his thumb. Some she would recognize, others are just random. It becomes their unspoken version of Tahiti as they try decoding what the other signs.

Headcanon 3: Since the night he told his secret to Avery, Jameson’s mind often wanders back to his grandmother and his grandfather’s words about the way a Hawthorne man loves: only once and never frivolously. He reflects on his grandfather’s love for his grandmother, Toby's love for Hannah, and then looks at his own relationship with Avery. Although he wouldn't tell a soul, it's obvious enough that he seems settled on her and just knows she's the one. She is his endgame. There would never be anyone like her, not before like Emily and no one after. One day, he takes her to the treehouse and tells her what his grandfather told him and Grayson that Fourth of July a few years back, the Christmas that they got the treehouse and why it looked the way it does now. Avery just listens and at the end asks him, "So, what now? You have that look in your eye." Jameson tells her he plans to have the treehouse fixed, to add more stuff than there was before, make it better than the old man made it originally. Then, he tells her that he's been thinking about them and everything that happened so far and she's a bit confused where he's going with it until he pulls out a promise ring. Avery is taken aback, reasonably so, but she accepts it and finds on the inside that it says Heads or Tails, calling back to the way they started their relationship and they kiss.

Hope you enjoyed this!

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Chats: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

As it starts to warm up and the sunlight lingers later each day, my genre reading shifts. No more dense fantasy novels; instead, I want books that have summery vibes. Seaside settings and joyful moments. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson is one such book. Lori read it months ago and has been mentioning it consistently since then—and while I don't often pick up historical fiction unprompted, I do enjoy it—so we decided to have a virtual chat about it to compare notes.

Constance Haverhill finds herself out of a job now that the Great War is over and the position she fell into as an estate bookkeeper for an old family friend is being returned to a man. She gets her severance in the form of a summer spent as companion to the recovering Mrs. Fog at a seaside village. Unsure how to occupy herself, she stumbles into a friendship with the lively Poppy Wirall and her gang of motorcycle girls who worked as delivery riders during the war. In their attempts to keep riding and stay employed, hijinks ensue, races are won, and a plane destined for parts is salvaged. But the shadow of the Great War looms over them all as some try to forget and everyone attempts to move on. In this time of change and recovery, Constance has to decide what she wants to make of her life now that women are expected to go back to the way things were before.

Becca: What is it that drew you to this book when you first picked it up? Lori: I think it had been compared to Downton Abbey, which I love and I am generally a fan of historical fiction. World War I and the period between the world wars has not been overdone as much at World War II fiction at this point, in my opinion, and I found the change in time period and setting at the seaside refreshing. Thanks for letting me talk you into trying it! Becca: I really enjoyed it, and our tastes overlap quite a bit, so it wasn't a hard sell. The seaside setting was just what I needed to carry me over into the warmer months. I've just started Downton Abbey for the first time (currently on season 2), and obviously there's a lot of overlap in themes and setting. Did you find this setting and premise to be unique, or is this a topic you read about fairly often in the historical fiction sphere? And how did you feel about the multiple points of view? Were they beneficial to the story, or did they get in the way? Lori: I have read several books this year so far that feature the suffrage movement and women's rights, and not on purpose but they just seem to follow after one another. The Gentleman's Gambit, A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic, recently The Stranger I Wed. So I wouldn't say I seek them out, but it's been interesting to keep reading about it. I like multiple POV if it serves the story, and I think it does for this book. It heightened the emotional impact and tension to have an interior view of Constance, Klaus, and Harris. What did you think? Becca: I always enjoy seeing similar things or the same events through multiple points of view. Harris and Constance provide us with a dual-POV romance, while Klaus gives us insight into the life a naturalized British citizen from Germany during that time. And all three of them exist in different, if overlapping, social classes, which added depth. I really loved the emphasis that Simonson placed on the part women played in the war, and how they were then displaced by the men who came home and needed their jobs back. It was a difficult thing to navigate, since there have always been women who have had to support themselves and their families. Lori: I know! I thought she did a great job highlighting that huge oversight when the party line is that all men must be employed at the expense of often more qualified women. Constance needs to work to support herself; she doesn't have anyone else or anything else to fall back on, and it was interesting how uncomfortable those conversations made the "upper class" people she was thrown amongst. Becca: This book definitely gives nods of acknowledgement to several of the British Empire's former colonies. There's a certain Indian government official that I love as a character, not to mention the old friends that Mrs. Fog reunites with in their time at Hazelbourne-on-the-Sea. Lori: Yes! I appreciated that (and I loved him too!). I wanted to visit Mrs. Fog's friends; their home made me think of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel. I think even though, overtly, this book is about women between the wars trying to find a way to forge their own destinies, there's also a current of confronting prejudice or intolerance that plays out in multiple situations and with varying results.  Becca: Agreed. While a large portion of this novel was light and fun (e.g. - the motorcycle races, the flying lessons, and the sheer joy of both), Simonson did an excellent job with some very difficult topics.

If you need a good, atmospheric lead-in to summer, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club will be up on our staff picks shelves for the foreseeable future. Let us know if you read it; as always, we'd love to continue our book chat with you!

—Becca & Lori

[thephantomcasebook]

These fans are mad that the writers are lame af because ain't no way they've never imagined they wouldn't do characters dirty for no reason before lol

In all honesty ...

I've never seen anyone or anything get so goddamn feral, so quickly, in my life, than the HOTD fandom did.

We all sort of eased back into the franchise at first after being incredibly let down and betrayed. Then from 1x03-1x05 it was like being a part of the GOT fandom again with funny memes and joking around. People slowly falling in love with Alicent and kinda liking young Rhaenyra. All of us agreeing that Matt Smith is a great actor.

Then, around 1x06 to current day, everyone just lost their goddamn mind.

Suddenly there's this weird cult like hate or adoration of Alicent. Fucking Rhaenyra stans out here screaming the condoning for the murder of children and the need for it. You can't even praise Jaehaera - a sweet and innocent little girl - and wish that she get better treatment without some creepy losers shitting themselves in anger over it.

I was on discord earlier and I was showing them the kind of deranged asks that people send into my inbox and it was a large topic of conversation between people - some who may or may not work on HOTD in some capacity or another - about the level of vitriol and rage that cropped up out of absolutely nowhere.

Reddit is a hive of buzzing angry hornets at the best of times, but the level of hatred and anger in the ASoIaF fandom is just unreal and everyone who is a fan and even people who work on the show are noticing it.

I've got this major fucking loser we were making fun of today who is so fucking pissed off because I have a pet theory of A+C=D and they're so angry and offended by it that they hate read my blog and act like one of those sad pathetic "Reply guys" on twitter at every post.

There's also this person who we tracked down and whose blog we all had a good laugh at reading, who sends absolute vitriolic asks because they refuse to believe that Jessica Brown Findlay was originally cast to play Alys Rivers. There is all sorts of evidence from both Olivia Cooke and Phia Saban following her on Instagram, to the head costume designer and several directors from season 2 following her on instagram, to her even liking several instagram posts from the Costume Designer about cast fittings before someone on twitter noticed and she unliked everything.

But still, this person truly believes that if she "Stans" the replacement actress for Alys, that she's somehow a good and righteous person that can claim internet points for being the first stan.

And I think that's the weird part about this whole thing with fandom that we were talking about.

There's people in this fandom, on Twitter and Reddit, that somehow equate their favs to be linked to some sort of real life virtue. That there some sort of moral equivalency test to liking an aspect or character of this goddamn show. And if you fail it or don't line up you're not just against the tribe, you're all and all evil.

And it's so fucking wild how a fandom went from fun crank theories about Varys being a Mermaid to being evil and awful, because, you talked to someone who was around the volume for Pre-viz who heard something at lunch and you relay what they heard to someone who asked what the word is in the gossip mills these days.

Even when you preface and epilogue the post with it being a rumor and probably not true, they still gnash their teeth and post on Twitter and Reddit trying to get a hate mob together to come after your blog.

Mutha'fucker, I'm a 33 year old man who has been shot at and been in life or death fist fights with dudes twice my size.

All I have to do to kick your ass is ignore an app for a few days while I finish a chapter and watch retro anime and Downton Abbey.

Either way, it's crazy out here, Nonny.

Get strapped and stay vigilante, the hoard of rage zombies are out in force.

[blogger360ncislarules]

[April 30th, 2024] MASTERPIECE on PBS and Mammoth Screen today announce a major new reimagining of John Galsworthy’s Forsyte novels. Planned as a returning series, the first season of six episodes follows the lives of the wealthy Forsyte family in 1880s London and is based on Galsworthy’s Nobel Prize-winning tale of love, loyalty, ambition and betrayal.

The Forsyte Saga reunites MASTERPIECE with acclaimed British screenwriter Debbie Horsfield and UK production company Mammoth Screen, the team behind global television hit Poldark.

The stellar ensemble cast includes Francesca Annis, Jack Davenport, Tom Durant Pritchard, Jamie Flatters, Millie Gibson, Danny Griffin, Susan Hampshire, Owen Igiehon, Tuppence Middleton, Stephen Moyer, Joshua Orpin, Josette Simon and Eleanor Tomlinson.

BAFTA winner Francesca Annis (Flesh and Blood) plays formidable Forsyte matriarch Ann, with Stephen Moyer (Sexy Beast, True Blood) as her eldest son, Jolyon Senior, head of the family stockbroking firm Forsyte & Co. Danny Griffin (Fate: The Winx Saga) plays his bohemian son Jo, Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey: A New Era) is Jo’s status-driven wife Frances, and Eleanor Tomlinson (One Day) plays Louisa Byrne, a Soho dressmaker and Jo’s first love.

Jack Davenport (The Morning Show, Ten Percent) plays Ann’s competitive younger son James, with Joshua Orpin (Titans) as James’ shrewd and sometimes ruthless son Soames. Millie Gibson (Doctor Who) plays Irene, the dancer whom Soames falls in love with. Tom Durant Pritchard (This Is Going To Hurt) plays Monty Dartie, James’ son-in-law.

Josette Simon OBE (Anatomy of a Scandal) is Mrs. Ellen Parker Barrington, a wealthy heiress and friend of the Forsyte family, with Jamie Flatters (Avatar: The Way Of Water) as architect Philip Bosinney and Owen Igiehon (Disclaimer) as lawyer Isaac Cole. Susan Hampshire, OBE (star of the 1967 BBC Forsyte Saga for which she received the first of her three lead actress Emmys), plays Lady Carteret.

The Forsyte Saga is directed by Meenu Gaur (Murder Is Easy) and Annetta Laufer (Get Millie Black) and is produced by Sarah Lewis (The Long Shadow). Filming begins in May, 2024 in locations in England, Wales and Italy.

Screenwriter Debbie Horsfield notes, “It was an honor to be asked to write a bold new reimagining of Galsworthy’s epic saga. Our show is in part a prequel to the events of the first book, but also an opportunity to expand the world and place the women of the family center stage. It’s a love letter to the original story while offering an exciting new perspective.”

Damien Timmer, CCO & Founder of Mammoth Screen said, “It’s thrilling to be teaming up again with Debbie on this iconic story. Everything about The Forsyte Saga is huge – it’s an epic canvas, and Debbie’s magnificent scripts have delivered a truly great ensemble cast. I hope audiences worldwide will be captivated by the secrets of Soames, Irene, Jolyon and other Forsyte family members as they are laid bare for a new generation of fans!”

Susanne Simpson, Executive Producer of MASTERPIECE, added, “We’re proud to commission a new, original take on The Forsyte Saga. This sweeping, romantic drama portrays how duty binds a family together until it conflicts with matters of the heart. Debbie Horsfield’s inspired scripts will be realized by an exceptional cast and supported by a lavish production. We’re thrilled to be creating another one of the high-quality period dramas that MASTERPIECE has always been known for.”

The Forsyte Saga was previously adapted as a Hollywood film in 1949 and for television in 1967 and 2002. The 2002 series aired on MASTERPIECE on PBS

[eolewyn1010]

Downton Abbey Fashion 29 - festive occasions in the 1920s

There are times when the Crawleys wear a sort of outfit that I tentatively want to call “semi-formal”? They leave the house in these, so it’s not exactly an indoor look, and it’s day wear, not evening, but it’s often more lightweight than a coat or walking suit, and the optics go more in the direction of their garden fashions – light, mostly pastel colors, flowered hats, loosely falling robes… The occasions in question are 1st, Mary’s wedding, 2nd, a family picnic at Eryholme which at that time might become their new home, 3rd, Edith’s little disaster of a wedding, and finally, the baptism of Sybil junior.

The only occasion for which Violet bothers to get a new outfit is Mary’s wedding; for the others, she repeats a few of her already-established coats. This is stylistically familiar though, and in fact she combines it with a tulle-wrapped hat she’s worn before. I do love the cream coat; can’t quite tell the material, but it’s something softly shiny. And then she goes all extra on the cuffs and hem – this trim is easily five or six inches of piping flowers and ferns.

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Remember when I said that Martha doesn’t really cross the line into tasteless? Well. I’ll admit it: This one is kind of tacky. Lady, tone down the fur and velvet; this is not a winter wedding. Admittedly, the turban-like head wrap is something I would have enjoyed a great deal more in an evening setting. Martha loves her some quirky 1920s headdresses. But for the day, the plumage seem a little much.

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For her son’s wedding to Mary, Isobel got a lovely light blue walking coat that she repeats later for the Eryholme picnic, if with a less frothy hat. What I find funny during the wedding is that the cream collar with the darling birds-and-flowers embroidery makes Isobel look like she coordinated with the random extra next to her, a nameless lady in cream with a similar embroidery motif on the lapels.

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Cora wears this long lavender coat for Mary’s wedding and for Sybbie’s baptism, a pretty rose-patterned damask with a long plain collar. I think this is supposed to be a matching set with the dress she wears under it, a lilac number with a velvet sash. The main variation between the wedding and the baptism is that for the former, she wears a ton of white fabric flowers on her hat and another huge one pinned to her lapel, whereas for the baptism she’s way more toned down, nothing on her lapel and the flowers on her hat much smaller and darker. Granted, that baptism has an overlap with mourning time.

Despite financial hardships, Cora can afford new hats all the time. What do you know. I kind of like the pleated design of the crown here, but not the overall shape if that makes sense. The sandy walking suit with the giant folded lapels will transition into her everyday wardrobe in season 4, although by then she picks a rather less flattering hat to go with it. I don’t know what these buttons are doing down there; they sure aren’t shutting the coat in any meaningful way. They just look nice, I guess.

This is Cora’s get-up for Edith’s wedding, and it has to be the first time I am aware of that the hatband was actually made to fit the cardigan. See? That’s the exact same flower embroidery. And back with a ton of white flowers on her hat. I like the jacket, but the outfit overall is a bit unspectacular, as is to be expected from a wedding guest who’s not to outshine the bride. Would probably pop more if she wore that over a red blouse.

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We’ll get to what Mary wears to her wedding in a separate post, but for Edith’s wedding, she shows up in light blue chiffon and what I think is a layer of white lace. The drop waist sash, the sleeves and the hatband are all the same material, all pastel on pastel plus pearls; it’s all very rich boring white people. But at least it’s flattering. Edith gets fucked over by her outfits for these occasions.

Granted, Mary’s baptism look is really dowdy. Why is she dressed like her mother-in-law? This dress tries to do something with lavender and purple piping, but the placement of it doesn’t do much to enhance the outfit. I think she stole her mother’s jewelry again though; this is the exact necklace Cora was wearing with her beige picnic coat above.

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Why. Why did they put Edith in this for Mary’s wedding? At this point, her sense of fashion has developed so much that this stupid, unflattering granny dress looks dissonant. She’s wearing a sack with a big flower on it. And what’s with the plump pin tucks in the skirt? They throw this so off balance. Ugh, anyway. The hat is quite lovely.

I found the last dress so ugly that this one, which she wears for the baptism, is already an upgrade. The color is not for Edith imo, but the drop waist has a patterned sash that is kind of nice, and while the sleeves look baggy, it at least has a pretty neckline.

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Sybil got a rather nice look for Mary’s wedding. Why couldn’t Edith wear something like this? The color and weight is similar, blue chiffon, but the scarf matching the dress looks way more elegant than that strange embroidery. Any additional color is banned to the hat embroidery, which looks cute but less grand than those of her relatives because Sybil isn’t about that life anymore.

Her hat for Edith’s wedding has pretty much the same shape, the brim widening to the front and curving a bit up to form something akin to a bonnet, but it’s white with a lilac ribbon to match her dress. This dress is quite similar to Mary’s for the same event, chiffon with floral white lace, but it has some additional trim with an under layer in a darker purple, and the skirt has a little gathering on the side.