#endeavour: pilot

[oeuvrinarydurian]

Good afternoon, delightful Tumblr people. It’s a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous weekend in upstate New York in the Catskills. I’ve had Morse on the brain all weekend. Between writing that little vignette, and trying to explain to my mother why the show is so amazing, and our season seven project, I’ve been talking a lot and thinking a lot about his various life stages and iterations. It made me think of the very very very beginning. This scene never fails to move me. There’s so much emotion in it, and yet he isn’t even shot from the front. We barely see an entire profile. And of course, his eye roll…it says so much. it’s hard to believe this was supposed to be a one off, and he’d never played the character before. It’s just remarkable. The music is everything here too.

[morse-perez-and-davenport]

Shaun Evans as Endeavour Morse in the Endeavour pilot

[jessieren]

Loving the Thursday Thursday contributions this week. Here’s mine..

Sadly not a tribute to Win and the women in Morse’s life as I’m not well organised enough but I recently rewatched the pilot and love both the scene where Thursday and Morse first meet in the station and this one

Particularly chose this one because of the follow up where Roger clearly drops Shaun as the scene closes 😂

[lazzarella]

Gosh, but Sam Reid is such a magnetic actor

[ilicythings]

still a wip, and i'm going to have to rearrange bc series 9 came out after i started this, but proud of what i've got so far

[prettyish-kind-of-wilderness]

Morse's relationship with Rosalind Calloway was very special. He says something like he didn't know what beauty was until he heard her voice somewhere. The lonely clever & sensitive boy whose mother had died and who lived with a probably never speaking father and a too-much-speaking step mother... So to him Rosalind became something ideally motherly & angelic. When he meets his idol he is drawn to her on all sorts of levels. Until the end...

This was such a strong opening.

Endeavor (itv) | pilot

[tired-of-straight-lines]

Sam and his eyelashes in the Endeavour pilot

[mindhowyougo]

oxford's finest

[emiline-northeto]

Still thinking about how in the pilot of Endeavour, when we first see Morse, Thursday, and Lott, we don't see their faces, unlike the rest of (or most of the rest of the characters) in this episode, who we will not see again.

We see Morse's hands first, typing his resignation letter, and then his back, and the back of his head, and the record has been playing all this time and it's a measurable amount of time and finally, finally, after his coworker has tried to get his attention several times, he turns around and we see his face.

The shot of Thursday and Lott is particularly interesting because we see the car coming in but it is framed so you can't see who is driving and who is in the passenger seat. Then they cut to Thursday and Lott seen from the back, from a distance and there's a height difference there but unless you know the actors and you recognize their voices, you can't tell which one of them is speaking.

[paranorahjones]

so i'm rewatching Endeavour

[augustinewrites]

as a captain in the luofu’s sky-faring commission, you’re no stranger to late nights. there’s always lots to do. there are expense reports to sign off on, mission summaries to type up, patrols to assign. the workload is never ending. 

“here are the reports you requested, captain,” a young, bright eyed cadet says as she places a stack of papers onto an empty corner of the desk. “and your coffee.”

“thank you.” you take the cup, flashing her a grateful smile before taking a quick sip. the warm, bitter sip of espresso is exactly what you need to get through the tail end of your night.  “i've sent you all the maneuvers we’ll be practicing next week, as well as patrol assignments for the month. if you have any questions–”

a few gasps cut you off, the attention of your fellow pilots drawn to the entrance. 

“it’s general jing yuan!” they whisper giddily. 

your brows furrow slightly. “jing yuan?”

“yes, love?” 

you startle slightly when a pair of arms wrap around your waist, a shock of white hair entering your peripheral as the most powerful man on the xianzhou luofu nuzzles the crook of your neck.

“dismissed. i’ll see you all tomorrow morning,” you say quickly to the starry-eyed pilots in front of you. they scramble quickly, leaving you alone with your husband, who gives them a lazy salute.

“i missed you,” he murmurs, his breath smelling strongly of osmanthus wine. 

“and i, you,” you assure him, twisting in his hold to face him and patting his cheek lightly. you see now that he’s dressed down in only the soft material of his shirt and trousers, forgoing heavy leathers and armour fashioned for a general.

when was the last time you'd seen him so relaxed in public? unburdened by the needs and conflicts within the luofu? 

jing yuan preens at your attention, grasping your hand to press a kiss to your palm. he gazes at you, cheeks rosy and eyelids already beginning to droop. “shall we take our leave then?”

gods, he’s starting to lean, resting his body weight against yours so you’re struggling to hold him up. “you certainly should, love. i’ll meet you at home once i’ve finished my work.”

“i suppose i shall wait for you then,” he concedes with a great sigh, suddenly pulling away. it appears your suggestion has fallen on deaf ears, because jing yuan drags an empty chair over to your desk, plopping down into it. 

given his drunken state, it’d be unwise to leave him to return home unsupervised. you wouldn’t be there to stop him from purchasing an unreasonable amount of baked goods (again) on the way home. 

“fear not, lover,” he grins, crossing a leg over his knee as he makes himself comfortable. “i shall endeavour to be as silent as a mouse while you work.”

you highly doubt his ability to do so, but know that arguing with him is pointless. once the general makes a decision, his mind is impossible to change. 

so he sits as quietly as he can manage, fingers drumming rapidly against his knee as he hums. it takes you a minute to identify the tune, but when you do your pen stops.

“is that our first dance song?”

“indeed.”

his chair scrapes the floor loudly as he drags it next to yours, leaning his head against your shoulder. 

“jing yuan,” you sigh, rubbing your temple. “i can’t work when you’re like this.”

he takes your hand, slipping his fingers between yours. “do you find my affection…distracting?”

“incredibly.”

you very nearly cave when he brushes your hair aside, nosing at the side of your neck before pressing his lips to your pulse. “then it appears i’m doing my job as your husband.” 

you stare hard at the expense reports, trying your best to focus with your lion of a man clinging to your side.

you feel a little guilty when you pull away from him, a whine escaping his pouting lips. you stand, straightening your uniform and stepping back to avoid his grasp

“stay here,” you instruct. “i’m just going to run to the archives room.”

jing yuan, as expected, does no such thing. 

giggles and odd looks are cast in your direction at the sight of an arbiter general trailing after you. 

“helm master!” he suddenly calls out, voice echoing through the building. your gaze darts to where his is fixed, spotting yukong walking towards you both. “i command you to relieve my wife from her duties for the night.”

she glances between the two of you, amused. “well, who am i to ignore an order from general jing yuan?”

“it’s really not necessary–”

yukong places a hand on your shoulder. “go.enjoy your night. besides, i doubt anyone will be able to get any work done with him moping about until you finish.”

she heads back to her post before you can protest, leaving you alone with the very satisfied general.

“come along, dear,” he says, scooping you up with ease and heaving you over his shoulder. he lands a firm smack to your rear when you squeal, arguing to be put down. “let’s head home and see if we can recreate the rest of our wedding night, hm?”

a/n: little drabble for @mydiluc for letting me ramble on about our fave men at random hours of the day ☺️ thank you my starshine sugarplum cupcake angel i appreciate you!!

[oeuvrinarydurian]

Fermentation for Fidgety Finger Friday.

Please enjoy the multiple finger fidgets, under glass, if you please.



[tevanbegins]

It drives me insane how there are so many random bits and pieces to be discovered throughout the show that easily can fit into the Buck x Tommy invisible string theory (even if a few of them are just headcanons...)

So do y'all remember Buck sees a miniature plane in the hospital in his coma dream post the lightning accident (ep 6x11), when he is looking for a way to get back to his real life from the alternative universe he is stuck in? AU Hen and Chim suggest to him what if the plane is not just a plane but a symbol that represents something. Well in canon it reminds Buck of the S1 plane crash, after which he finds junkie Bobby in the AU...

But what if that plane was also a symbol of his future, encouraging Buck to fight and survive to explore the unknown that life still had in store for him? What if it was a hint that if he lived, in due course he would meet a brave and handsome pilot who'd sweep him off his feet with the most tender chin lift and the sweetest kiss — a kiss that would help him find the answers he'd been looking for his whole life? A kiss that would bring him the purest joy like he'd never felt before and set him free? What if that plane was a sign urging him to not give up, because the love of his life, his soulmate, was soon going to find his way to him thanks to the invisible string that has unknowingly connected them to each other for years?

The canon explanation of that toy plane may have been different, but with Buck falling head over heels for a pilot a season later, this HC totally makes sense to me. (Also, Tommy can canonically fly both helicopters and airplanes — he flew a plane for the water drop in S2!)

Plus Buck met Tommy because of the cruise ship rescue mission, which was Hen's endeavour and Chimney made its execution possible by contacting Tommy to help them do it and he flew them all out to the ocean where Bobby (and Athena) were in need of help. In the AU coma dream also it was Hen and Chim who pointed the plane out to Buck, which reminded him of the S1 plane crash (it had crashed into an ocean only btw — so there's the ocean connection too) and it had led him to find AU Bobby.

And to think that Buck also told Tommy during the Harbor tour that the cruise ship rescue night was the most fun he'd had since being struck by lightning!

You guys see what I am talking about here???

It's almost as if the universe had always conspired to bring Buck and Tommy together even when the writers hadn't consciously planned anything before S7. They're so meant to be! ❤️💫

___

[too-antigonish]

How to Seduce Endeavour Morse: A Guide for the Perplexed

The ways are many and varied. Your chances of success are—unfortunately—highly dependent on factors outside of your control. You can, however, learn lessons from those who have tread this path before you.

1) The "I-Forgot-to-Tell-You-I’m-a-Killer" Approach

Comments: Used with surprising frequency given ultimately low success rate.

Rosalind Calloway (S1E0 Pilot): First, become a world-famous opera singer. Your artistry will convince him that life is worth living. When the time comes, gently but firmly rebuff his rather innocent advances. Be unmasked as murderess and crush his will to live via the revelation of your utter lack of humanity and subsequent suicide.

Susan Fallon (S1E0 Pilot): Be at Oxford. Have snobby parents and lots of snobby friends. Be his first great love and agree to marry him. Then abandon him very publicly and with maximum cruelty for your first great love. Many years later become murderess (although Lewis will never allow him to find that out). However, still successfully crush him to pieces again by committing suicide.

Isla Fairford (S6E3 Confection): Live in a charming small village with adorable son and amiable veterinarian father. Have an appealing origin story involving cruel abandonment that reminds him of his own life experiences.  Go on intimate date where you seem to be everything he could hope for and then share a sweet but chaste kiss goodnight. Oops, murder someone…again…sort of. Suddenly transform into personification of vengeance.

2) The "It-Never-Hurts-to-Ask" Approach

Comments: Success rate zero, but very high entertainment value.

Pamela Walters (S1E1 Girl): Like it says on the tin: Just ask. She asks, “Will you take me to bed?” Sorry sweet girl. He won’t—but he will read you a very nice bedtime story

Kay Belborough (S3E1 Ride): Play flirty name games and ask him breathlessly if he’s falling in love with you. Share a romantic kiss under fairy lights at a party.  Eventually tell him he can “have you.”  He won’t—but by then he will have saved you from a suicide attempt so I think he’s done enough really…

Annette Richardson (S3E2 Arcadia): Request help with home security. Tell him you can’t possibly undress yourself. He won’t bite—but he will come maddeningly close to nibbling on your neck and you’ll refuse to believe that he won’t come calling, ”…when he’s ready.”

Bettina Pettybon (S4E2 Canticle): Just show up at his flat looking generally bedraggled. Tell him how your mother forced you to spill the beans and get him kicked off the case. Down some hard liquor. And then—tell him you love him. When he’s gobsmacked by your revelation, assume it’s because there’s “someone else” and not because he barely knows you.

3) The "Let’s-Just-Go-to-Bed" Approach

Comments: Has an impresseive 100% success rate but never ends well.

Alice Vexin (S1E3 Rocket): Secretly crush on him for years. Go on one quasi-date where you dissect his personality quirks in excruciating detail. Show up at his door when he’s emotionally vulnerable and then sleep with him. Promptly abandon him with maximum cruelty. Be sure to tell him, “It’s not me. It’s you,” in the form of, “You’re just not ready yet.”

Carol Thursday (S5E2 Cartouche): Be very attractive. Be suddenly, unexpectedly available. Be directly in his path. This means you can skip the date part (a drink will do). Go straight to sleeping with him. Then go straight to the realization that this might be…one of the most awkward situations you’ve ever gotten yourself into. Manage to handle it all with amazing sweetness and grace nonetheless.

Claudine (S5E3 Passenger): Be very attractive. Be suddenly, unexpectedly available. Be directly in his path. Bonus points if the woman he actually wants practically throws you into his arms. Go straight to sleeping with him. Tease him. Toy with him like a capricious child. Play games for your own amusement. Abandon him with maximum cruelty. 

4) One-Off Approaches

Comments: Technically not actual attempts at seduction so...

School Girls (S2E2 Nocturne): Talk about how dreamy he is like we do on Tumblr. Given enough time, write “Love you” in eye liner on your eyelids as per: Indiana Jones movie. Blink very slowly during all interrogations.

Anna-Britt Clark (S4E2 Canticle): Be very attractive. Despise tan lines. Work on said tan next to swimming pool at rock-band-murder-mansion. Show him your (tan line free) naked torso. Find his very “English” discomfort perplexing but charming.

Eve Thorne (S5E1 Muse): You don’t actually *want* to seduce him. He’s a cop *and* a condescending prick. However, the seduction will happen anyway. You won’t sleep together. You won’t even touch. But the hate-flirting will be amazing.

5) The "Let's-Try-a-Normal-Relationship-Just-Once" Approach

Comments: She was too psychologically healthy for you. In the end it was for the best (...except for the murder and prison parts).

Monica Hicks (S2E3 Sway): Find yourself recruited for some light caregiving. Be absolutely charming. After tactless date mix-up and adorable mattress incident at department store, proceed to have actual healthy relationship. Hang out listening to music, discuss your future together, buy him a cute scarf. Then wake up one morning to find out he’s in prison—and about that scarf…

6) The "This-Doesn't-Happen-in-Real-Life" Approach

Comments: It was opera—and by opera rules he actually got off pretty easy.

Violetta Talenti** (S7E1: Oracle): Engineer improbable but spectacular first encounter—twice. Finagle one in Venice and one in Oxford. Overcome all of his valid moral objections and engage in a lengthy, passionate affair. When the moment of truth arrives, reject him with maximum possible cruelty. Die in his arms. Use your last words to ensure that he spends the rest of his life feeling conflicted and confused about the true nature of your feelings towards him.

**Also might fall into "I-Forgot-to-Tell-You-I’m-a-Killer" but we will never know for sure

7) The "We-Aren't-Explicitly-Saying-It-But-You-Know" Approach

Comments: Don't try this at home kids. It will end badly for you. Highly effective, however, when Morse and Thursday need to make up and be friends again.

Joss Bixby (S3E1 Ride): Be the UK Great Gatsby. Invite him to your over-the-top parties. Gracefully take it in stride and allow him to appear extra-clever when he points out that your latest art purchase is a forgery. Manage to be charming and self-deprecating while flirting outrageously with him. Offer him jobs. Give him cars. Have lots of emotionally charged moments (especially on dark docks) and say incredibly poetic things. Die tragically so he can mourn you forever but also use your passing as an excuse to reconnect with his former mentor.

Ludo Talenti (S7E1 Oracle): Be evil. Come up with an evil plan. Get your wife to seduce him. Then (ha, ha) you will also seduce him. You will both succeed beyond your wildest dreams. He will be the most thoroughly seduced man ever. However, once you have rejected him with maximum possible cruelty by pretending you actually care that he was sleeping with your wife, he will discover your secret life of crime and come after you. You will die (justifiably, not tragically), after killing your wife and your death will providing yet another opportunity for our hero to reconnect with his estranged mentor.

8) The "Be-the-One-That-Got-Away" Approach

Comments: Definitely the method of choice for Morse seduction. 100% effective. Hands-down winner!

Joan Thursday (S1E2 Fugue): Be very attractive, articulate, and idealistic. Be the daughter of his mentor/best friend/father figure/brother-in-arms. Have lots of incredibly charged emotional encounters but never say anything directly to him about your complicated feelings. Be together during highly significant moments in your lives, but don’t ever go on a real date (pedestrian!). Touch in a variety of meaningful and sometimes even affectionate ways, but never engage in anything blatent. A passionate kiss would be unthinkable. And never, ever sleep together! Still manage to abandon him with maximum cruelty. Still manage to be the love of his life. Well done you!

[malacandrax]

Hello hello!! Just wanted to say that I really love seeing your traditional drawings, they're so charming 🥺 It's pretty rare to see trad. art on here compared to digital, which is a little sad.. there's just something about the personality it has!

Do you find that the post engagement they receive is less than your digital works? Personally I've had this experience but I'm not sure if it's different for other artists 😯 It's discouraged me a lot from posting since I don't regularly have enough time to sit down and make a digital piece vs drawing in my sketchbook 😓

On a related note, is there a pen you'd recommend for sketching/doodling? All the pen drawings in your sketchbook posts are so pretty 🫶

Thank you so much! That means a lot honestly. Seeing other peoples sketches is one of my favourite things, you're right, it's generally less perfect but I think it has more charm because of that. I feel like *personally* I actually often favour traditional stuff over digital when I see it online- I have a big collection of digital sketchbooks and fav'd youtube flipthroughs.

HOWEVER yeah I think we are in the minority. To be completely honest on itch.io I've actually only made 4 sketchbook sales*, I assume there's a market out there but I ain't hitting it haha! I do have a good chunk of patrons that comment and like my sketches, which is wonderful, and I often get sweet tags on the doodles I share here- but you're right that engagement is lower. I'd encourage you do just do it for yourself, though! There's nothing like having a big stack of art in real life. Maybe that's a privileged position for me to have, at the moment I don't need to worry about engagement on my sfw art, but also it's a shame to not do something you enjoy because of numbers. (I would recommend using a scanner if you want to catch more peoples eyes. Mines crap but it's way better than photos were.)

Pen wise I am a picky bitch, I like things that don't require pressure, make a uniformish line, and ink that flows easy- so I prefer gel pen styles or fountain pens. My most recent fav were some lyreco retract gel 0.7's my partner randomly brought home from work lol, but I lost the black one and replaced it with a uniball signo 0.7 [UM-120*], honestly they're just regular gel pens though, I generally try them out in a shop and pick ones that don't blob or scratch.

My fountain pen is a pilot kakuno, which atm has that blue grey ink in (sailor 224) and I really love it. (also I put it into a water brush pen) I've also used carbon platinum for a good waterproof ink.

Good luck with your sketchbook endeavours, and thank you again!

*there are...at least two types of uniball signo, and the other one with a soft grip is bad imo.

**thank you to those sweethearts who bought the sketchbook!

[morsesnotes]

If you were to pick 5 episodes of Endeavour to sum it up to someone, which ones would you choose?

You can interpret this any way you wish.

After probably too much thought, this is what I came up with:

The Pilot/Overture - It does a perfect job of setting up the format of the show, the characters, and introducing you to many key plot elements which are relevant right to the end.

Sway - This might seem like an odd choice, but there's so much great character development bubbling under the surface of this episode, and it perfectly captures the melancholic romance of Endeavour. You have the hectic/questionable atmosphere of Cowley station which emphasizes how low down in the totem pole Morse is, maybe the strongest written support cast in Burridges, Thursday's backstory and how Morse learning about it bonds them closer together, Joan and Win foreshadowing, and much more. Plus clever use of music and Morse overthinking the case.

Prey - The total opposite of Sway. Goofy, vibrant, and full of pop culture references, it shows how fun and entertaining Endeavour can be.

Lazaretto - This episode has one of the best murder mysteries imo, a bit of the gangster plotline, the murderer leaves you with complicated feelings, and it excellently lays out Morse's tragic love life.

Pylon - Morse/Thursday tension, police corruption, Morse isolated and compromising his morals for Thursday, that wonderful scene with Max, Strange coming into his own, Bright being a gem, a tragic case, gorgeous cinematography, the Morsetache, and an unsettling underbelly. Pylon has it all!