#deploying aubrey

[sunflowerscottie]

Hey if Rio saves Agatha…Will they kiss then…

[anti-anticheese]

Jac Schaeffer on Rio and Agatha

And so, once we knew it was Aubrey, it’s like, you got to be careful deploying Aubrey. She’s so powerful, their chemistry is so intense. We’re staging them as antagonists, but also ex-lovers, so they can’t just be hanging out the whole show. To maximize enjoyment and tension, you got to have that like, she’s here, she’s gone, she’s here, she’s gone. So that was very deliberate in that way.

Early in the room, we wanted to populate the show with people from Agatha’s past, because she’s had such a long life, how do we do that? And so that was one of the developments of the Jen character, is this is a person who knows Agatha in one way.

And then early on, we were like, “Well, what about an ex-partner, ex-lover, ex-spouse? What does that look like? What does that look like for Agatha, and who would that person be?” And it was so fun in the beginning, because we were like, literally, could be anyone.

I was going to say, did you have earlier ideas than Rio?

We had conversations, but it was more like, “What would Agatha be attracted to?” And the answer was power (laughs). And who would she come in contact with, who wouldn’t be afraid of her, wouldn’t hate her? Who would be attracted to Agatha? And that was the really delicious conversation.

[thelilreddragon]

“Deploy Aubrey Plaza” has my entire soul. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[wandavicky]

Happy finale day I hope I dont kms (first pic stolen from twt)

[kingofterrors]

Deploying Kathryn Hahn

I absolutely will talk more about my feelings around the Agatha All Along finale at some point. My problem is that they are *feelings* and I really need to work my way through them before I can express them and think clearly in any helpful way. So, let me process a little longer.

But aside from those, my top of mind thought today is - I'm reading in various places how the AAA team really underestimated how much people would love Agathario - that it's taken them by surprise.

And it made me think - we talk about that wonderful line in one of Jac Schaeffer's 'The Wrap' interviews where she talks about being aware of the dangers of 'deploying Aubrey Plaza'.

I think here though that they overlooked the real danger. They fully missed the dangers of deploying Kathryn Hahn. Because honestly, that's where the power of this relationship as shown on screen for me. Hahn can express through tone of voice and microexpressions the force of a lesbian yearning with the force of 10,000 suns, and it blew me clear away.

Filmmakers beware, because this amazing woman will make your audiences care to a heartbreaking extent. I know, because my heart is indeed broken.

What a freaking powerhouse.

[coolserietvloveuniverse]

Honestly it's so fun Jac Schaeffer said "You got to be careful deploying Aubrey". She is a weapon for saffics around the world and the show business is very aware of it.

[fayes-fics]

Anthony and Benedict + Regency + cake

Kinktober 2023: Anthony & Benedict + Food Play

Kinktober 2023 Masterlist

Pairings: Anthony Bridgerton x fem!reader, Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader

Warnings: 18+ smut, minors DNI, MMF threesome (no incest), food play (cake), breast sucking, oral sex (f to m, m to f), cunnilingus, brief mention of simultaneous blow job and vaginal sex.

Authors Note: Hi Nonny. Thanks for this ask. I had to end Kinktober with a threesome, right? I'm still surprised how brief I was able to keep this. I hope you all enjoyed this content series, and thank you so much for all your prompts and for reading! 😁🧡

You shudder as buttercream icing smears cold over your pussy lips. Then, groan as it is followed by an expert hot swipe of muscular tongue, wolfing down the droplets of sweet confection. Meanwhile, little crumbs of cake roll down the swell of your breast onto your sternum, also chased by another questing, warm mouth, sucking up each morsel.

You are lying on a picnic blanket deep in the woods near Aubrey Hall, and although it's your birthday, and indeed, your birthday cake is being deployed, you are very much the one being devoured. 

Anthony Bridgerton is flat on his stomach between your legs, his shoulders pushing your thighs wide open as he feasts on your body. Your head is draped in the lap of one Benedict Bridgerton as he curls over you, licking cake from your breasts as if his very life depended on it. You asked for a memorable birthday celebration… and they are certainly delivering such.

You watch as they both dive their clawed hands into the now mangled cake again and greedily deposit it over your skin, sticky and sweet. Then, set about cleaning you up thoroughly until your flesh only glistens with trails of their saliva. Shaking at the tickle of crumbs on Anthonys' tongue as he rolls your clit in his mouth, sucking and swirling until you are writhing in Benedict's lap, his rigid cock pressed into your neck as his warm, smooth chest curls over your face, his mouth glued to your aching, pebbled nipple. 

You reach for both of their sticky hands and eagerly bring them to your face, cleaning up the mess with long swirls of your tongue, burying their fingers deep in your mouth so their blunt fingernails catch on your tonsils, them groaning lewdly as you do so.

“Please fuck me,” you call out, Anthony’s arms wrapping a tight hold around your thigh as you undulate around and beneath them, seeking even greater pleasure.

“Which of us, darling girl?” Benedict pauses his ministrations to pull up enough to kiss your lips, his mouth an explosion of strawberries and sugar that makes you greedily feast on his questing tongue.

“Both… Either….” you reply, dazed but honest, as he pulls away.

“I'm already right here,” Anthony points out drily to his brother, who concedes with a shrug.

While Anthony crawls over your body like a stealthy cat, you turn your head to nuzzle Benedict's crotch with your face, and he moans as he catches your hint. The noise you make as both cocks slide into your body at either end is feral. 

Happy birthday to you, indeed.

No taglist as these drabbles are so short

[deadpool15]

Older Women

Chapter 1

Ashley's POV

Jam Republic finally arrives to set, and the excitement rate is through the roof. "Guys, we are like actually here. This is so freaking cool," Aubrey says excitedly with the biggest smile on her face. "Yea, we are here, so let's not keep the keep our devoted subjects waiting," Ashley says while walking inside the building with the group heading towards their crew room.

"You do realize they are recording right, Ash," Kirsten states while laughing but being kinda serious. "Of course, I know that my number leader, but let's be honest, how many of them have you think talked absolute cash shit about us during their little interviews?" Kristen just smiles, shaking her head. "It's all about the fake drama. Ash, there is and shall be no real fighting, got that girlie." She says with a motherly tone while looking at her entire entire crew, but making sure to make eye contact with the troublemaker herself to get the point across.

"I don't start fights, mother. I finish them, I tell you this all the time and there will be no need to fight because I know no one here is about that life. So you don't have to worry your pretty little head over it." Ashley said while staring at Emma, caught off guard by the face she was suddenly making, and laughed out loud. Ling and Kristen just shake their heads, knowing if provoked Ashley will end up hurting some poor girl.

As the girls separated to start little side conversations of their own, Latrice looks around the room and says "When do you think they will call us down, we have to be like the last ones to arrive it seems", the girls are turned and nodded. Then suddenly, the TV turned on, alerting them it was time to go down to the fight zone. The girls got up and made their way down.

" Omg, this is amazing, Kirsten says in astonishment while walking down first. "It's giving fancy, like boutique white people shit, oo shit yall think they caught that." Ashley covers her mouth, walking down the stairs laughing. Everyone turns to see the final crew, some still slightly bewildered that they are foreigners, while others are just staring in amazement at Audrey and Ashley. Ashley turns to the side while finally making it down the last step and overhears the conversation of Bebe." Oo, Audrey, they think we are pretty," she says while smiling at the girl she shares a birthday with.

Then the chatter comes to a slight stop when the evaluation video starts and and hearing the negatively Ashley turns and smirks at her leader. "I told you they would be talking shit, but no one ever listens to Ash." Kristen just stands there with the rest of the crew smiling and listening to the comments, " Doesn't matter what they say, Ash. We are better than that and won't feed into negatively. " Ash turns around and eyes the other crew, then proceeds to laugh out loud, startling everyone in the room. "Yea, I'm gonna show yall, what's weak."

Jam Republic sits down in their spot while waiting for the judges to come out. In the process, she turns to her side and sees Wolf'lo. She leans more to the side and taps on Haechi shoulder. The girl turns around and stares at the black girl a little confused. "I've seen videos of you guys in battles, and you're like cool as shit." Ashley says to gir, though at this point the entire crew had turned around when they realized she spoke korean." Really, thank you Ashley, your really good too. I watch your battles all the time it's always fun to see something new that you come up with each time you step out. Haechi says with a smile on her face. Your korean is really good, I thought Jam Republic didn't speak any", Halo says while looking at Ashley.

"O no, Jam Republic doesn't speak a word of korean, but considering my father is in the army and was deployed to korean and my mom liked it so much, we stayed. The amazing Ashley Martinez does speak the language." She says while smiling quite proud of her language skills. Before the conversation could continue, though, the host Daniel starts announcing the judges. "I'll hit yall up later," Ashley says while Ling is grabbing her thigh to make her pay attention. She spaces out for a while until her eyes catch sight of the first judge.

Monika steps out doing her iconic run move. Though Ashley can't seem to hear anything, anyone in the room is saying. All she can focus on is Monika." Who the hell is that beautiful woman?", Halo overhearing the younger girl looks up and smiles while says "She is a famous dancer in Korea, she was on the show last season with her crew, you've been in Korea, how come you don't know here?" Ashley watches the woman sit down in her chair and look around the room until their eyes catch each other.

"I have no idea, but I'm gonna find out." Ling looks at the younger girl and says I pretty sure she is older, then you Ash like way older and most likely straight." She says while trying to get the younger dancers' minds away from the older women. Ashley looks at her and smiles, "No, one is 100% straight first of all. Second, no one is out of my league. If I want her, I'm going to get her. And lastly, the older the better, besides, I like my women older anyways, makes the challenge more exciting.

Tbc....

[mskatesharma]

bet you i’ll see stars

Anthony Bridgerton can't help but find himself lost in his wife's eyes (set post season two)

(Trying to get back into it with something short but (hopefully) sweet)

To say that Anthony Bridgerton is somewhat beholden to his wife’s eyes would be a shameful understating of the fact.

There are a number of words he could deploy in description of them; beautiful, enthralling, brilliant, mesmerising, depthless, heartbreaking, breathtaking, and yet still, somehow, every word feels inadequate; less than and incapable of truly conveying the full weight of emotion he feels whenever he is lucky enough to catch his wife’s gaze.

Her eyes can tell a hundred thousand different stories; loving and soothing ones, playful and teasing ones, passionate and vexing ones, desperate and heartbreaking ones, and Anthony wants to know every single one she has to tell.

  the rest ✨here✨ or

He knows it is one of the greatest gifts she could ever give him, that anyone could ever give him; to know her so intimately when she has guarded herself from most others. It is a gift that he is not worthy of, he knows this, but it is one he promises to be grateful of everyday, in the hope that one day, maybe, he will be able to prove that he is.

Which is why, he is sure, it is more than understandable that he is often rendered a gawking simpering fool by them. The latest instance, for example, is one gloriously sunny afternoon in September.

It is the Tuesday after their wedding, and with their family having departed for London the day before to leave the newlyweds in peace for a few days, the afternoon finds Anthony and his bride on the lawn of Aubrey Hall; a picnic blanket beneath them and the remnants of a simple lunch spread packed away in the basket provided by Mrs Anderton. It is bright, but not uncomfortably hot; Anthony’s jacket is long forgotten and his sleeves rolled up, and the warming sun on his skin is pleasant to the point of satisfaction.

It is, however, the weight of the resting head on his chest that brings him the most contentment, his wife, his soulmate; his Kate.

Her hair is loose, a fact from which he takes an inordinate amount of joy from; unbound and wild, freely available for Anthony to run his hand through the silky tresses whenever the impulse takes him, and he longs for her to never have to tie them away. Of course, her hair had not started the day like that; Kate had fashioned a plait before they had taken a ride together, only when they had stopped to let their horses rest, Anthony could not help but undo the ribbon she had used to secure the braid.

Of course, his wife’s hair had not been the only thing he had undone, and their horses had ended up resting for longer than expected, but Anthony finds he cannot conjure the necessary guilt for the unplanned delay, or any tangles his wife’s hair may have endured, especially when their interlude had resulted in a tangle of the most pleasurable kind.

They had dallied on their way back to the house, letting the horses meander between the patches of wildflowers and all the other pretty distractions on the grounds. It continued to be a marvel, truly, to simply enjoy the ride without having to consider what awaited them at its conclusion, and it is a marvel that Anthony knows both he and Kate will never take for granted.

It is why he was so eager for them to take an extended honeymoon; insistent, in fact.

He recalls the way the sun had reflected in his wife’s eyes, already alight with a mischievousness that he has come to know will mean she is about to leave him in her horse’s dust, laughter following behind that he is hopeless to in chasing, and he can’t help but have trouble recalling what exactly it was he had been afraid of when he met her; and before that even.

He’s broken from his thoughts when he hears Kate sigh as she doses on him, stirring a little when Anthony’s hand resumes its massage of her scalp, yet her body somehow relaxes even further into him.

He wishes he could lose himself in this feeling for eternity.

His hand slips from Kate’s head when she tilts it, his gaze meeting her sleepy one, and he curses the way his breath catches.

Is it to always be this way?

“Hmmmm.” She murmurs, but her eyes close and do not reopen, a deep inhale against his chest, her head resting a little heavier than it had been a moment ago. He is glad, for it gives him a moment to trace over those features that have been etching themselves into his soul from the moment their eyes first met at a distance; only now he is able to observe up close and without reproach. It has quickly become a favourite pastime; his eyes cataloguing the smooth skin, those high cheekbones and sharp jawline, the pouty lips and the tiny beauty marks that he has taken to counting anytime the urge to kiss them all overcomes him.

(It’s an urge he finds himself giving into more and more, especially since their wedding. But now that they are married, he reasons he does not need to restrain himself, Except, perhaps, when it comes to counting those beauty spots that should usually be hidden by clothing.)

The hand resting on his stomach moves towards his chest, the fabric caught between clenching fingers, and it is the only warning he has before he is greeted by the most devastating eyes he has ever come across.

He often feels underprepared; almost as though no matter how many times he sees those golden brown orbs, they will never not steal his breath, and now is no exception with them still dream-soaked and sleep-dazed with the light from the sun caught most beautifully.

He perhaps thinks he should be getting used to seeing her like this; face open and trusting, eyes chasing the sleepiness that clings to her mind, everything about her making his heart ache, and yet, he knows he never will.

He hopes he never will.

Those eyes meet his, and they crinkle in a smile, as though she knows every exact thought that passes through his mind.

In fact, she most likely does.

He tries to move his lips in speech, wanting to somehow explain the joy that swells in his chest at this moment, just like every other time he thinks about or sees her. But he can make no words, for they are trapped in his heart; too big yet not big enough to describe the enormity of just what this quiet moment means to him.

��I…”

She shushes him as she manoeuvres herself closer to him, a grin barely suppressed as her face hovers just above his. “I know; I feel it too.” Her voice is a whisper, so as to not disturb the late summer haze around them.

He feels his mouth curve gently as his skin warms under her love, and the last thing he sees before he’s overtaken by Kate once again as she leans down to kiss him, are her sunlit eyes shining with adoration, and he makes sure to store it away with the other tales he’s already collected.

[sunflowerscottie]

this is why they have to be careful deploying Aubrey

#the lesbian gaze

AGATHA ALL ALONG 1.05 - Darkest Hour Wake Thy Power

[sunflowerscottie]

“deploying Aubrey”

[birdyaviary]

DEPLOY THE AUBREY PLAZA

[snarkysciurus]

aubrey deployed

Aubrey Plaza as Rio Vidal Agatha All Along (2024) 1.05

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press/Gallery: How Elizabeth Olsen Brought Marvel From Mainstream to Prestige

“The thing I love about being an actor is to fully work with someone and try so hard to be at every level with them, chasing whatever it is you need or want from them.”

  GALLERY LINKS

Studio Photoshoots > 2021 > Session 008 Magazine Scans > 2021 > Backstage (August 19)

Backstage: Elizabeth Olsen grins widely over video chat when recalling many such moments on set with her co-stars. Yet, she can’t bring herself to divorce such a lofty vision of film acting from the technical multitasking it requires. The camera sees all.

“But then you move your hair, and you’re in your brain, like: OK, remember that! Because I don’t want to edit myself out of a shot. I know some actors are like, ‘Continuity, shmontinuity!’ But the good thing about continuity is, if you remember it, you’re actually providing yourself with more options for the edit.”

That need to balance being both inside the scene and outside of it, fully living it and yet constantly visualizing it on a screen, feels particularly apt in light of Olsen’s most recent project, “WandaVision.”

The mysteries at the heart of the show grow with every episode, each fast-forwarding to a different decade: Could this 1950s, black-and-white, “filmed in front of a studio audience” newlyweds bit be a grief-stricken dream? Might this ’70s spoof be a powerful spell gone awry? Could this meta take on mockumentary comedies be proof that the multiverse is finally coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The series’ structure, which branches out to include government agents intent on finding out why Westview has seemingly disappeared, calls for the entire cast to play with a mix of genres, balancing a shape-shifting tone that culminates in an epic, MCU-style conclusion. What’s key—and why the show struck a chord with audiences during its nine-episode run—is the miniseries’ commitment to grounding its initial kooky setups and its later special effects-driven spectacle in heartbreaking emotional truths. It��s no small feat, though it’s one that can often be taken for granted.

“I was thinking how hard it would have been to have shot the first ‘Lord of the Rings,’ ” Olsen muses. “Like, you’re putting all these actors [into the frame] later and at all these different levels. All the eyelines are completely unnatural. And yet the performances are fantastic! And technically, they are so hard. People forget sometimes that these things are really technically hard to shoot. And if you are moved by their performance, that took a lot of multitasking.”

As someone who has learned plenty about harnesses, wirework, fight choreography, and green screens (she’s starred in four Marvel movies, including the box office megahit “Avengers: Endgame,” after all), Olsen knows how hard it can be to wrap one’s brain around the work needed to pull off those big, splashy scenes.

“​​If you think about it, it’s, like, the biggest stakes in the entire world—every time. And that feels silly to act over and over again, especially when people are in silly costumes and the love of your life is purple and sparkly, and every time you kiss them, you have to worry about getting it on your hands. Those things are ridiculous. You feel ridiculous. So there is a part of your brain that has to shovel that away and just look into someone’s eyeballs—and sometimes, they don’t even have eyeballs!”

The ability to spend so much time with Wanda, albeit in the guise of sitcom parodies, was a welcome opportunity for Olsen. Not only did it allow the actor to really wrestle with the traumatic backstory that has long defined the character in the MCU, but having the chance to calibrate a performance that functions on so many different levels was a thrilling challenge.

“It was such an amazing work experience,” she says. “Kathryn [Hahn] uses the word ‘profound’—which is so sweet, because it is Marvel, and people, you know, don’t think of those experiences as profound when they watch them. But it really was such a special crew that [director] Matt Shakman and [creator] Jac Schaeffer created. It was a really healthy working environment.”

Related‘WandaVision’ Star Kathryn Hahn’s Secret to Building a Scene-Stealing Performance ‘WandaVision’ Star Kathryn Hahn’s Secret to Building a Scene-Stealing Performance Considering that the miniseries spans several sitcom iterations, various layers of televisual reality, and a number of character reveals that needed to feel truthful and impactful in equal measure, Shakman’s decision to work closely with his actors ahead of shooting was key.

“We truly had a gorgeous amount of time together before we started filming,” Olsen remembers. “Our goal was—which is controversial in TV land—that if you wanted to change [anything], like dialogue in a scene, you had to give those notes a week before we even got there. Because sometimes you get to set, and someone had a brilliant idea while they were sleeping, and you’re like, ‘We don’t have an hour to talk about this. We have seven pages to shoot.’ And so, we were all on the same page with one another, knowing what we were shooting ahead of time.

“Matt just treated us like a troupe of actors who were about to do some regional theater shit,” she adds with a smile.

That spirit of camaraderie was, not coincidentally, at the heart of Olsen’s breakout project, Sean Durkin’s 2011 indie sensation “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” As an introduction to the process of filmmaking to a young stage-trained actor, Durkin’s quietly devastating drama was a dream—and an invaluable learning opportunity.

“It was truly just a bunch of people who loved the script, who just were doing the work. I didn’t understand lenses, so I just did the same thing all the time. I never knew if the camera would be on me or not. There was just so much purity in that experience, and you only have that once.”

The film announced Olsen as a talent to watch: a keen-eyed performer capable of deploying a stilted physicality and clipped delivery, which she used to conjure up a wounded girl learning how to shake off her time spent in a cult in upstate New York. But Olsen admits that it took her a while to figure out how to navigate her career choices afterward. In the years following “Martha,” she felt compelled to try on everything: a horror flick here, a high-profile remake there, a period piece here, an action movie there. It wasn’t until she starred in neo-Western thriller “Wind River” (alongside fellow Marvel regular Jeremy Renner) and the dark comedy “Ingrid Goes West” (opposite a deliciously deranged Aubrey Plaza) that Olsen found her groove.

“It was at that point, when I was five years into working, where I was like, Ah, I know how I want it. I know what I need from these people—from who’s involved, from producers, from directors, from the character, from the script—in order to trust that it’s going to be a fruitful experience.”

As Olsen looks back on her first decade as a working actor, she points out how far removed she is from that young girl who broke out in “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”

“I feel like a totally different person. I don’t know if everyone who’s in their early 30s feels like their early 20s self is a totally different human. But when I think about that version of myself, it feels like a long time ago; there’s a lot learned in a decade.”

Those early years were marked by a self-effacing humility that often led Olsen to defer to others when it came to key decisions about the characters she was playing. But she now feels emboldened to not only stand up for herself and her choices but for others on her sets as well.

“[Facebook Watch series] ‘Sorry for Your Loss’ I got to produce, and I really found my voice in a collaborative leadership way. And with ‘WandaVision,’ Paul [Bettany] and I really took on that feeling, as well—especially since we were introducing new characters to Marvel and wanted [those actors] to feel protected and helped,” she says. “They could ask questions and make sure they felt like they had all the things they needed because sometimes you don’t even know what you need to ask.”

It’s a lesson she learned working with filmmaker Marc Abraham on the Hank Williams biopic “I Saw the Light,” and she’s carried it with her ever since. “I really want it to feel like we’re all in this together, as a team,” Olsen says. “That was part of ‘Sorry for Your Loss’ and it was part of ‘WandaVision,’ and I hope to continue that kind of energy because those have been some of the healthiest work experiences I’ve had.”

If Olsen sounds particularly zealous about the importance of a comfortable, working set, it is because she’s well aware that therein lies an integral part of the work and the process. As an actor, she wants to feel protected and nurtured by those around her, whether she’s reacting to a telling, quiet line of dialogue about grief or donning her iconic Scarlet Witch outfit during a magic-filled mid-air action sequence.

“Sometimes you’re going to be foolish, you know? And [you need to] feel brave to be foolish. Sometimes people feel embarrassed on set and snap. But if you’re in a place where people feel like they’re allowed to be an idiot,” she says, “you’re going to feel better about being an idiot.”

This story originally appeared in the Aug. 19 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.

Press/Gallery: How Elizabeth Olsen Brought Marvel From Mainstream to Prestige was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[fremedon]

Brickclub 2.2.2, “In Which Are to Be Read Two Lines of Verse Perhaps by the Devil,” and 2.2.3, “The Ankle-Chain Must Have Been Worked On Previously, to Break at a Single Hammer-Blow”

I don’t have much to say about 2.2.2 that isn’t said by @meta-squash​ here or @everyonewasabird​ here, so since I’ve fallen so far behind this week I’m just going to skip to 2.2.3.

The opening digression on the cost of cannon salutes is still depressingly relevant, mutadis mutandis. I remember being reminded of this passage when I read Patrick O’Brien: part of what makes Jack Aubrey such an effective fighting captain is that he spends his own funds--money he often does not have--to buy powder and shot out of his own pocket, because the admiralty won’t pay for enough extra ammunition to let him drill the sailors effectively. The money spent on ceremonial cannon-fire isn’t just taking bread from the poor, it’s taking training and effectiveness from the navy itself.

That’s the only part of this chapter I would actually call a digression--the long passage on the Spanish war is pretty thematically integrated. Briefly--Spanish forces being mustered at Cadiz to go and retake the rebellious colonies of Spanish America mutinied, sparking a liberal revolution that ousted King Ferdinand; France went to war to restore him to the throne.

(The Siècle on the Spanish war: Episode 18 and a supplement on Thiers’ war reporting.)

The Spanish war was unpopular with the left for obvious reasons and with the Ultras, who feared the monetary costs, the likelihood for opening another ‘Spanish ulcer,’ and the likelihood of the French troops mutinying themselves.

Militarily, the French intervention put down the Spanish revolution with surprising ease--enough that the war was not even terribly useful for stoking nationalist fervor. “It seemed clear that certain Spanish officers whose duty was to resist yielded too easily,” Hugo says. It is not just morally correct for revolutionaries to fight to the last man, to hold their ground as we saw at Waterloo and will see at the barricade--it’s also useful. The French armies leave Spain with no joy in victory and a loss of respect for the Spanish; readers in 1862 would be aware that in 1832 (and the insurrections that followed), even the monarchists were impressed and humbled by the dedication and bravery of the dead insurgents.

As for the Bourbons-- “They did not see the danger that lies in suppressing an idea by decree.... The seed of 1830 was sown in 1823.” Quite literally, the July Revolution of 1830 will begin with the attempt to suppress ideas by decree, by muzzling the press. But also, 1830 kicked off with Charles X’s invasion of Algeria--a foreign war specifically conceived to whip up conservative sentiments at home to sway the elections to the Chamber of Deputies. As in Spain, it was a surprisingly quick and overwhelming military success--a punitive expedition to shake down the Dey of Algiers in response to a diplomatic insult ended in the unexpected capture of Algiers and the start of more than a century of colonial rule. And politically, it did not work--it was seen from the start as a cynical political ploy (where it wasn’t seen as a mask for mobilizing troops to turn against political opponents at home) and only galvanized the liberal opposition, who won overwhelmingly. (And when revolution broke out over Charles’ attempts to dismiss the resulting liberal Chamber before they had even met, as well as cracking down on the press, the most loyal third of the army was still in Algeria. Oops.)

So that’s the current political situation.

"An army,” Hugo says, in the middle of this discussion, “is a strangely contrived masterpiece by which force results from an enormous amount of powerlessness.” The unquestioning obedience--a weakness--of soldiers comes together to create strength.

In contrast--and I’m going to quote at length because this is such a lovely passage--

"A ship of the line is one of the most magnificent conjunctions of the genius of man and the power of nature.

A ship of the line combines both the heaviest and lightest of components because it operates at one and the same time with the three forms of matter, solid, liquid, and gas, and must contend with all three. It has eleven iron claws to grab the granite sea-bed, and to catch the wind in the clouds it has more wings and feelers than any flying insect. Its breath is expelled from its one hundred and twenty cannons as from enormous bugles, and proudly answers thunder. The ocean tries to lead it astray in the frightening sameness of its waves, but the vessel has a soul, its compass, that guides it and always indicates north. On dark nights its lanterns act as substitutes for the stars. So against the wind, it has rope and canvas; against water, timber; against rock, iron, brass, and lead; against darkness, light; against immensity, a needle.”

In the ship, as in the army, small and weak things come together--ropes, lanterns, a needle--to create great strength. But the army wages war “by humanity against humanity despite humanity”; the ship contends with Nature, against which--as Hugo goes on to tell us--it is still immensely small, and can easily come to ruin.

Or, if it is lucky, to the drydock at Toulon, where it is gawked at by another of Hugo’s crowds: “Whenever immense force is deployed and ends up as immense weakness, men’s imaginations are stirred.” So the ship is also the opposite of the army--weakness created from the merging of strengths.

So, there’s a lot going on here. Going back to that line at the start of the passage--”one of the most magnificent conjunctions of the genius of man and the power of nature.” Possibly, after Waterloo, I’m seeing the Providence/Nature vs Fatalité/Man antithesis everywhere, but I think it is echoed here. If Waterloo is what Providence could create out of the threads of human choice, human fatality, in order to set itself right, the ship might be a model of what human choice--human genius, which is a phrase Hugo uses several times in Waterloo in contrast to Providence--can make of what Nature gives it: the sea, the wind, the magnet.

By that logic, the ship should be what humanity uses to set itself right. But if the ocean is still Society--that thing which is not quite humanity, but is of it--the ship is where the Man Overboard falls from; it’s human progress, humanity setting its own course. It’s functional institutions, legitimate government, networks of care.

And, moving back to the level of plot, we see a specific ship, a real man, overboard into a real sea--and Jean Valjean, whose presence immediately makes it clear why we’ve just spent all this time talking about the intersection of great strength and great weakness. 

His name isn’t confirmed until the very end of the newspaper article that ends the chapter, but that is his name now. He is Jean Valjean, who combines the immense physical strength--and social deference, as we’ve just seen again in Boulatruelle--of the convict 24601, now 9430, with the social and legal knowledge, the wealth, and the unprepossessing façade of the bourgeois Madeleine. Valjean never successfully made an escape as 24601--to make this one he needed the skills he learned on the outside, the ability to wait, to plan for the future, to even imagine a future, just as much as he needed his strength. The chapter title says it all--he prepared the shackle, so he could break it with one blow. 

Fursona Watch: Valjean climbs the rigging “with the agility of a tiger-cat.” Tigers are the one feline that’s not uniformly positive in this book, and the only one associated with Javert.

On his way down to the struggling sailor, he looks “like a spider coming to catch a fly, only in this case the spider brought life, not death.” I think--as with Waterloo, and as with the ship, which also keeps people out of the ocean--that here we start to see Valjean as Fatalité in the service of Providence. We’ve seen Providence suddenly arrogate his choices to its own ends--starting with the purchase of his soul, after he rejects the softer path to humanity that the bishop offers him. Now he’s offering them up freely--creating, out of renunciation and self-abnegation, great power. And he’s basically Spider-Man, because we know what comes with great power.

[katerinadeannika]

This is why the Agatha show runners say they have to strategically “Deploy Aubrey”. Bc she’s a fucking lesbian weapon 😂😅🥵

AUBREY PLAZA and ALISON BRIE in Spin Me Round (2022) dir. Jeff Baena