#nina fuller

[littlequeenies]

1981 - American musician Bebe Buell in concert with her band, The B-Sides.

Photo 1) Nina Fuller.

Photo 2) By Norman Blake.

[5280customframing]

🐑 Custom framed photographic print by Nina Fuller using glass spacers, optium museum acrylic and frame by Larson-Juhl!

[rey-jake-therapist]

Nina from Black Swan vs Will from Hannibal

Another parallel no one asked for: Black Swan and Hannibal, or more precisely, Nina and Will.

I rewatched Black Swan yesterday. And wow, it's not because I'm currently in my Fannibal era but the parallels between Nina's story and Will's just jumped straight at my face. They're so (tragically similar).

They both suffer from an illness but don't know it. For Nina, it's likely to be a mental illness that remained undiagnosed and gives her hallucinations when she's under great stress. Also she's prone to self harming, as we see several times during the movie. For Will, it's encephalitis, which under Hannibal's 'treatment' gives him similar symptoms.

They both hate themselves and express it by engaging in a process of self destruction. They're both very good at their job. To do it right, they're forced to dig deep inside themselves and confront themselves to things which existence they denied all their life. Their job slowly but surely destroys them, they know it but they refuse to stop because they believe it's the only thing that gives them a value. What drives Nina is to be 'perfect', an unreachable goal in essence; what drives Will is to save lives thanks to a gift he has, but he can't save everybody. Worse, he can't seem to be able to save himself, his 'gift' turning out to be more of a curse for him.

They both have an authoritarian figure in their life who smothers them and project their past failures on them (the creepy mother who forces her into staying a child while guilting her for being born for Nina, Jack Crawford who watches him destroy himself, and uses him in a goose chase against the Ripper for Will). Both Nina's mother and Jack Crawford treat Nina/Will as, in Hannibal's words, "their finest china, used only for special guests". There's something deeply disturbing in the way Nina's mother keeps disrespecting Nina's boundaries while she's a woman in their 20s, that's not existent with Jack Crawford (though it could be argued that when he insists that Will keeps using his empathy disorder to solve crimes even after Will clearly tells him it harms him, he also disrespects Will's intimacy in a way), but it's about the influence they have on Nina/Will. They also have in commun the fact that they know something's wrong with the person they're supposed to protect, but choose to do nothing about it because it doesn't serve their personal agenda. Nina's mother for example, knows it's not the first time that Nina engages in self harm and yet, the only thing she does is yelling at her and shaming her. Jack Crawford watches Will's mental and physical health get worse and worse, but chooses to ignore the warning signs and to pretend he believes Will when he claims he's 'fine'. When Will expresses his discomfort he's deaf to his distress and proposes him with disdain to quit, knowing that's not what Will wants.

They both have a smoking hot DILF man in their life who pushes them to accept the darkness in them. Both male figures are abusive in a different way (Thomas has no respect for Nina's boundaries, forces her to kiss him and touches her in a very inappropriate way, then humiliates her based on the idea that she's not "fuckable" enough to be the Black Swan; Hannibal manipulates Will through brutal therapy methods), but their goals are similar. Thomas feels that Nina represses a lot of things and wants her to listen to her pulsions so she can be both the White and the Black swan Queen. Hannibal feels that Will secretly enjoys killing and wants him to admit it so he can embrace his true self. Both men are... Bad men lol and they end up doing more harm than good. One could argue that without them neither Nina or Will wouldn't have learnt so much about themselves, but the price to pay came very high: Nina stabs herself during an hallucination and Will jumps off a bridge with Hannibal, to free themselves.

Both Nina and Will suffer from a similar type of hallucinations: they are face to face with a darker version of them, who sometimes takes someone else's face: the dancer Lily for Nina, Gareth Jacob Hobbs for Will. In both cases they're characters for whom they have ambivalent feelings: Nina is extremely attracted to Lily but in her paranoia believes she conspires to steal the role from her, while Will sees Gareth Jacob Hobbs as an horrible murderer but can't help but feel he's becoming one with him. They both hallucinate that a monster lives inside of them and tries to dominate them at some point.

Both Nina and Will discover they're attracted to a person of the same sex while also considering this person as an enemy. Actually in Nina's case I think it's more a case of internalized homophobia, nourished by her abusive mother who always kept her away from the external world and from exploring her sexuality, and probably fed her with fairy tales about a fair noble prince who will take her on his white horse one day. Surely her mother never discussed sexuality matters with her, considering that even though Nina's in her 20s she keeps treating her like a literal child. Where Will considers himself straight, Nina probably never even allowed herself to question her sexuality. When Thomas very rudely asks her if she's a virgin she blatantly lies because she realizes that telling the truth will make her look weird; and I got the feeling in this scene that she was disappointed not to have sex with him that night, not because she had a crush on him, but because she wanted to seem "normal" to him, and for the world in general. But it's very clear she's not attracted to him, or to any other men. The only person she wants is Lily, a woman. And since the idea of being sexually attracted to Lily terrifies her, and also because Lily isn't interested in her that way, it makes very much sense that in her craziness Lily becomes her enemy.

For Will, it's a bit different: the problem with Hannibal isn't so much that he's a man (as I say I think Will considers himself straight by default but I don't think it would stop him from admitting his feelings for Hannibal were the circumstances different), but that he's a serial killer and a cannibal. Will's goal is to save people from killers like Hannibal. That's what drives him and I don't think that it will ever change. So Hannibal is Will's natural enemy, in a way. That's the tragedy of this romance: they can't be without the other but they also can't be together BECAUSE what drives them is completely, utterly different, opposite even. At least that's the significance of the double suicide in The Wrath of the Lambs. They survived and Will has apparently decided to renounce his main goal to co murder and eat Bedelia du Maurier in a season we'll probably never see, but I can't see how doing that could turn good for him. Will will never be like Hannibal imho, no matter how hard he tries :(

And yet I can find another similarity: Lily is everything that Nina wishes she is: free, attractive, with no self put boundaries. I think Will also envies Hannibal to be the way he is, and that a part of him wishes he could become like him. He wants Hannibal to change him, but it goes against his main goal (saving people), hence his internal struggles.

Both Nina and Will choose suicide as their way out, completing their tragic arc. For Nina of course it's a poetic mirror of the Swan Queen's fate; the queen, reduced to stay a swan forever because her lover was seduced by the Black Swan, throws herself off a cliff (!) and finds freedom from her curse in death. Nina, however , kills herself believing she's killing her enemy, the message being of course that the only enemy she's got is herself (doesn't Hannibal tell Will something like that at some point? That he's his worst enemy?). Will kills both his internal enemy, the part of him he can't accept (the Will who enjoys killing and wants to kill again to feel powerful), and Hannibal, the man who's by definition his enemy, but also the man he can't live without because he's the only one who accepts the darkness he has in him.

Finally, both Nina and Will believe they reach their goal when they 'die': Nina's talent for dancing reached perfection in her final performance; Will jumps taking Hannibal with him thinking he's saving the world from Hannibal. Both endings are tragic, because they lie on the same sad conclusion: they couldn't accept themselves enough to live with themselves, so they embarked on a journey of self destruction that lead them to their death, wether it's a physical or metaphysical death we're talking about. Nina may be still alive at the end of Black Swan, and we know Will still is. But what part of them survived the fall?

[postguiltypleasures]

My Peak TV journey *The Marvelous Mrs Maisel*

Prior to the final I made some predictions about where the show would end up. one was that Esther would grow up to resent her mother like Lorelei resented Emily Gilmore. I was right about that. I also speculated that maybe this was the story of how Midge could make anybody laugh, but could not make it as a comic. I was wrong about Midge’s career.

I liked the flash forwards but some of the choices of people she would be involved with seemed more funny peculiar than funny haha. It implies she was involved with Mike Nichols. In the first season there was an episode where she did not know about his act with Elaine May and almost ended up in a Nichols and May knock off act, making this later implication funnier. The flash forwards made a big deal about her working with Bob Hope which tracks with aspirational dialogue from earlier in the series. While Hope had a long and successful career, (meaning I understand why he was chosen as the symbol of what success in the field looked like), he also fell incredibly out of fashion starting in the late sixties. As a choice, it says Midge never quite seemed “young” in her career. Which, I guess makes sense.

That said I really liked the final season. In earlier posts about the show I acknowledge criticism that the Weisman’s players by goy actors were so much more likable than the Maisels, played by actually Jewish actors. This season seemed to recognize it and subtly correct.

The elder Maisels were suddenly hilarious, if still crass and unkind. The Wiseman’s reliance on their housekeeper Zelda, who got married and retired over the season revealed some very unappealing aspects of their characters.

The show sometimes felt like it took place in 1960 for multiple years. As a series The Marvelous Mrs Maisel didn’t exact love the time period in which it took place, so much as it loves the pop culture from its time. It never made me want to be there, just to keep watching people in their colorful, well tailored clothes. But it was not particularly critical, nor interested in a “this is what led to things being the way they are now” type of rational for its existence. As a choice it’s doesn’t clarify, but doesn’t let you wallow for the good old days either. Sometimes it felt like every year on screen was 1960. This disinterested ambivalence occasionally led to wanting to me I’d want to fact check it, but rarely actually doing it. The one time I did was regarding Clark Gable’s death, which I thought took place a year after the season was set. I was wrong. 

In the final episode there was an establishing shot of the Ansonia indicating that is where Midge live in 2005. Later she makes a comment about Yoko Ono being one of her neighbors. Ono famously lives in the Dakota, several avenues from the Ansonia. I was going list this as another thing that makes me doubt the interest in veracity o the series. Then I found this discussed in this post finale interview with Amy Sherman-Palladino. It’s a fictional building in a fictional timeline. Don’t make a big deal about it. Some how this made define with it.

I want to end this by praising the actors who joined the series late players. 

Some how I forgot that Julie Klausner joined the series late in the fourth season, but she regularly had me giggling over her appearances in the final season.  (Interestingly, Klausner is not a Lenny Bruce fan.)

Alfie Fuller is new to me and she was so great as Dinah. I hope Dinah has as great a management career and I look forward to seeing Fuller in something soon.

Reid Scott is such a charming bully as Gordon Ford, you almost don’t resent his character’s success. (Though I think the no writer on the show rule was a good one) 

I’ve liked Chris Eigeman since those Whit Stillman films and I really liked seeing him run the Village Voice here.

Jason Ralph, (Rachel Brosnahan’s real life husband) had some very funny bits as Mike, especially in relation to Suzie. Seeing him here mostly made me think how I want to see him as a lead again. 

Nina Arianda has intrigued me since I saw her play Stan Laurel’s wife in Stan and Ollie. She still does as Gordon’s wife/Susie’s ex, Hedy. 

[gameofthunder66]

-watched 3/12/2023- 2 [1/4] stars- on HBO max

Hailee Steinfeld as Megan Walsh in Barely Lethal (2015) dir. Kyle Newman

[trippinsorrows]

Wait Sam and Solana as sisters? And Soso is pregnant with Roman's baby??! I have so many questions. How would that even work?

oh, it wouldn't lmao i imagine the dynamic would still be the same where sam hates solana or is just really mean to her. they're not close at all. and solana would put up the baby for adoption cause it's all just too messy and too much.

something like:

2 months.

it's been two months since he's last seen her. 2 months too long. much too long. but this is only realized when she's standing before him, a couple of feet away. a safe distance. for her.

too much distance for him.

roman studies her, searches for any differences, and there are many. the main one being her hair. she's finally cut it, wavy locks hovering an inch or two above her shoulders. she's also dyed it. instead of the deep, obsidian black, it's an array of browns that compliments her complexion beautifully. the other things are more subtle, things only someone like him---someone who's memorized and etched every piece of her to memory---would notice. like the fact that her face is a little fuller, her skin a bit brighter, glowing almost.

a stark contrast to her pretty brown eyes that have to be the saddest he's ever seen. because despite all these changes, what stands out the most is the absence of that light she's always had about her.

one of the many things that made him fall for her in the first place.

unable to stop himself, he comments on one of the changes, "you cut your hair." roman waits for her to respond, only for her to give a small nod of agreement. "it looks good."

she swallows and looks down. "thank you." roman tenses. the first time he's heard that soft voice in months, and even that is different. so much sadder. heavier. "this won't take long."

roman finds himself feeling disappointed. it could take all night for all he cares. he's missed her.

"solana...." so much to say. not enough time. never enough time. "i--"

"i'm putting the baby up for adoption."

roman isn't stupid. far from it. when she first reached out to him after months of radio silence, he had a feeling it had something to do with her pregnancy. he just had no idea it would be this.

"what?" his voice is low, hesitant almost. "what--what do you mean?"

"i mean, i'm putting the baby up for adoption," she repeats herself, voice firmer as she goes on to explain, "i found an agency. it's reputable. they're going to help me find a coup---"

"what the hell do you mean you're putting the baby up for adoption?" he also finds more of his voice. as well as emotions other than regret and longing, such as anger, confusion, hurt. "i thought you were going to---"

"i changed my mind," she cuts him off, lifting her chin, slipping back into that place. "it's for the better."

"for who?" he challenges, seeing the way something flashes in her eyes. something familiar yet distant.

"for me," she answers with just as much conviction. "roman, i'm....i'm halfway through medical school. i can't be a mother right now. it'll ruin my plans---"

"bullshit," he cuts her off, that anger intensifying with each unoriginal word that comes out of her mouth. the robotic delivery is all he needs to hear to know exactly where this came from. "those aren't your plans. they're dr. nina and dr. xavier's plans."

and her looking away to escape his knowing gaze and truthful words is all he needs to see to know he's right. "being a doctor is a great career path."

"yeah, but it's not what you want, is it?" still, she says nothing. "when are you going to live your life for you, solana?"

at that, her eyes snap back to him, anger boiling. "i tried, and look where it got me." this time, he's the one who's silent, unable to respond to the weighty meaning behind such polarizing words. she shakes her head and wipes at her eyes. "look, i just wanted to tell you--"

"you can't do this." roman interrupts, partially unsure where this is coming from. up until this point, he hasn't allowed himself to think too much of the child. but now..... "i won't sign the papers."

"i don't need you to sign any papers. i'm unmarried, which means, by law, i can unilaterally make the decision for us--"

"you can't just give up our fucking baby, solana!" he didn't mean to raise his voice, didn't mean to snap at her, but the more the reality sets in, the more his frustration rises.

at that, she steps closer to him. "our baby?" she scoffs, "you mean the baby who no one except you and I know you're the father of?" shaking her head, she asserts, "no. this is my baby and my decision, and this---" her voice cracking gives away the fact that despite this strong display she's putting on. it's just that. a display. a mirage to hide her true feelings. "this is what i want to do."

he closes his eyes. "solana, we need to think this through---"

"would you stop saying we!" she shouts, gesturing between them. "there is no we! there never was, and there never will be! don't you get it?" she throws up her hands, the previously at bay tears finally escaping. "i don't have a choice, roman! i'm not pretty and skinny like sam and can get the world handed to me because of it! i have to finish school! i have to become a a doctor! i don't get picked. there is no other option for me!"

her words penetrate him, stomp on that small, almost vulnerable part that only she is privy to seeing and knowing. "solana....." his footsteps toward her are slow, partially because he anticipates her backing away. but when she doesn't, when she only looks away to hide her tear stricken face is when he takes his opportunity.

he's suddenly before her, roman not hesitating to swoop his arm around her. and in that quick act, along with her gasping and failing to catch her cardigan from coming open, he sees it.

and it's all he can see, all his focus can hone and center in on. it's almost a natural reaction. the way his hand dips to her stomach, feels the swell of her belly.

she's showing.

it makes sense. by his calculations, she should be almost five months, thus a baby bump only makes sense. but, it's one thing to know it, another to feel and see it.

her voice intrudes on his brief state of shock, "roman, please...."

hand continuing to explore, he says with almost sense of awe, "this is our baby.....my baby."

had he been looking up, he would have seen the way her eyes shut. "it doesn't matter, roman....."

his head snaps up at that. "of course, it matters." using his free hand, he lifts it to her face, palming her cheek, "we can figure this out, solana."

she looks down and shakes her head. "no, we can't."

"solana--"

"roman," she interrupts, voice pained. "you took me to bed....but you're taking my sister down the aisle....there's nothing to figure out." and with those crushing words, she steps back, from him, forcing both his hands back at his side. "i have to go."

she turns away, walking to leave when he can't help himself from asking, "what is it?"

his eyes never leave her, never miss the way she throws her head back, clearly taking a deep breath. or, the way she almost protectively covers her stomach back up with her cardigan.

just like there's no missing the crack in her voice as she answers, "it's a girl."

[6thofapril1917]

don't wanna be alone anymore [ken lemmons x oc]

A/N: the first in what will (hopefully) be a series of maggie/ken drabbles and one-shots. this one is pretty stream of consciousness and shifts tense so i apologize if it's incomprehensible. in my defense uni has been kicking my ass lately (one more week of the semester left, thank GOD) ken lemmons x oc. word count: 1.3k. crossposted on ao3.

For Maggie Zielinski, romance is something that she watches other people get to experience. She’s long been resigned to the fact that it isn’t something she’s meant to experience herself.

She doesn’t know what it is about her. She certainly isn’t bad looking, she understands that much. Clear blue eyes, full lips, and an even fuller chest. Still, that had never stopped her from becoming the butt of all the boys’ jokes back in grade school.

And it’s not like she’s never had friends. No, Maggie’s always had loads of friends. She knows how to work a crowd, how to say the right things at the right time to set the whole room laughing. Even before she met Vee, Loretta, Mabel, and the rest of the ground crew, she’d had a whole gaggle of friends back home in Detroit. 

Her main circle was a raucous group of six—Ida and Annemarie, Nina, Victoria, Victoria’s brother Paul, and Ida’s cousin Vinny. They’d been friends since the very first day of junior high, maybe more out of the novelty of the experience than anything. For all that Detroit was a metropolis, its neighborhoods could be as insular as any backwater town. In Maggie’s world of newly-arrived immigrants and babcie who watched the streets like hawks, where everyone worked at the same auto plant and everyone knew everyone else’s business, it was nice to see some new faces.

Maggie loved her Detroit friends. She loved their laughs, their smiles, their inside jokes and their secrets. She tried her best to help them out when they needed it, to offer a shoulder to cry on or an ear to talk off. She gave her friends everything she could. It was just a shame that they never did the same for her.

As the years passed, Maggie found herself confronting a terrifying reality—that for all she was devoted to her friends, they would never love her as much as she loved them. 

Sure, things were fine when it was just two or three of them alone. Catching a matinee with Victoria, or going out to lunch with Ida and Annemarie—here, Maggie felt comfortable. Victoria would always riff on whatever movie they were seeing, making her dissolve into giggles. Ida and Annemarie would insist on paying for Maggie’s meal, and they’d stay in their booth for hours on end, just chatting the day away.

But when it was the six of them all together, Maggie couldn’t help but feel that something was off. That there were things that the other five were privy too that she wasn’t—and to which she maybe wasn’t meant to be. There’d be some new in-joke that nobody ever bothered to explain, some party that she hadn’t been invited to, some other get-together that they’d forgotten to tell her about. 

Well, two could play at that game.

When Maggie enlisted as a technician with the Army Air Force, she didn’t tell any of them what she had done.

Nina and Vinny, newly engaged, spotted her the day before she left for basic training. The image of the couple stopping dead in their tracks, eyes wide as they took in Maggie’s new uniform and fully-packed suitcase, filled with a determination that would carry her thousands of miles away from Poletown, was forever burned into her mind.

Maggie wasn’t sad that she’d be missing the wedding. It wasn’t like she was going to be chosen to be a bridesmaid. Money was still tight, after all. There was only enough in the budget to get dresses made for Annamarie and Victoria. Ida, of course, would be the maid of honor.

(She understands, Maggie says. No, Nina, really. It’s fine. She understands completely.)

(She cries herself to sleep into Agnes’ shoulder that night.)

When she meets the Mavens in basic training, she spends the first few months of their friendship waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

It’s not that she’s awkward around them; in fact, it’s exactly the opposite. The four of them get on like a house on fire. Loretta with her witty comebacks and shining black curls, Mabel with her dry wit and hands that always smell of chain grease, and Vee with her earnest modesty and the snapping lens of her Kodak 35. For all her faults, Maggie’s never had a problem charming people. It’s getting them to stay that’s the difficult part. 

Is she boring? She doesn’t think she’s boring. Especially not here in the army, where stories of home practically form a currency among the enlisted women and men. Besides, Maggie knows how to spin a yarn, to make even the most mundane story from a life spent in auto plants and dim garages seem like something out of an adventure magazine.

But that’s never enough, is it? It wasn’t enough to keep the people she thought were her friends, the people she loved more than life itself, from leaving her in the dust. It wasn’t enough to keep her from becoming a veritable untouchable among the boys in grade school, the kind of girl you would ask out to the pictures on a dare, only to leave her stranded at the ticket booth. Even the boys who considered her friends were just that—friends. Never anything more. While Ida and Victoria and Nina and Annamarie were busy with first kisses and sneaking out of bedroom windows late at night, Maggie sat in her room and watched them grow up without her.

There’s only so many rejections you can take before you start to think that romance, hell, even reciprocated platonic love, just isn’t something that you’re made for. Only so many missed engagements and plans made behind one’s back until you start to think that maybe there’s something, some reprehensible quality inherent to yourself, that pushed people away. 

So, she holds her breath and waits. Waits for the Mavens eventually grow tired of her. 

But they don’t.

Because it’s there, isn’t it? The love.

It’s in the filmstrips Vee develops late at night after their shifts, holed up in the makeshift darkroom she’s set up in an abandoned storage closet. It’s in the magazines Loretta always passes to her once she’s finished reading them, telling her to use it for the scrapbook, there’s some great stuff in there. It’s in the way Mabel taught her how to ride a bike way back during basic training, shocked that she had never learned, but oh so willing to help her try. Maggie can never forget the way Mabel had cheered when she finally got the hang of pedaling.

And then, of course, there’s Ken.

When she kisses him that night on the floor of Rosie’s Riveters, she burns with shame and tears, shed and unshed for her siblings and for Cleven and for Ken and for herself. She waits for him to recoil, to glare, to tell her not to do it again. At best, she waits for him to let her down easy. But he doesn’t.

That night he kisses her like she’s the only thing in the world that matters, and it just makes her want to cry harder, because she doesn’t deserve it. Her brother is dead, her sister is missing, Major Cleven is God knows where, and she completely lost it at Rosenthal, so what right does she have to be touched like this, to be held like this? None. None at all.

At the same time, she doesn’t have it in her to fight herself. The floor of the nose is cold, and Ken is so, so warm. The kind of warmth she wishes that she could crawl into and live inside of. East Anglia is chilly this time of year.

She shifts, opening her mouth to his, and for a moment wonders what sins she’s committed to have had this feeling denied to her for twenty-one years. Yet there’s no use wondering, is there?

Ken loves her. That much is clear.

She just has to be ready to accept it. And after two decades of loneliness, that’s easier said than done.

[diary-of-a-hopefulromantic]

daily entry: 24th of October, 2024

she yaps! no surprise there ౨ৎ

the actual day of today was so much better than the morning oh my gosh today was good. like really good. but it was one of those days that you don't realise how good it was until it's been and gone. but a few of my friends were running a stall at school today to raise money for the worlds greatest shave, and it went really well. maths made sense today, which is always such a win like i just really love when things make sense. and i know i've said it countless times but the weather is warm again and it just makes my heart happy.

daily highlights ౨ৎ

had the most DELICIOUS protein pancakes ever for breakfast

my team won our game in PE today!

the teachers and year 12s all dressed up as their five year old selves which was really sweet

patch saw a sunflower and said it reminded her of me <3

i had a pretty long conversation with one of my guy friends which was really nice

i've started writing my resumé

a butterfly landed on my nose and i felt like it was a good sign

he is. so pretty.

my life sounds like ⋆🎧✮

let her dance - the bobby fuller four

lilac wine - nina simone

mr blue sky - electric light orchestra

[emblazons]

this though! I will respect people's theories, but....given the fact that the timeskip thing happens every single season (and nothing of true import /that the duffers have made core to the plot happened over the course of the skip), it makes no sense that they would put a core plot point in the two day time period they drove to Hawkins.

Like? A time skip happens around the same point in the last episode in every single every season of stranger things:

S1: After Hopper leaves the hospital post-Will / cut to the Wheelers

S2: After El closes the gate / cut to seeing the lab close

S3: After Starcourt / cut to the aftermath re: The Mall

S4: After SBP / Vecna / cut to the drive to Hawkins

The only reason the time was so short this time is because it would make absolutely no sense to do "x months later" when something so urgent happened. That's literally the only difference between this and every other season's plot-device time skip LMFAO

I am, of the personal opinion (and you can always disagree with me), that nothing important happened during the two day timeskip and it really was just a way to save time

[fancifulplaguerat]

As I continue to scratch like a little beast at the concept of fate in Patho Mark Immortell unfortunately needs to be discussed. Specifically Mark in Patho Classic, because he’s just so……. What the hell is going on with that dandy Mephistopheles. I have to know. 

Mark is clearly cognizant of Patho’s narrative to an extent, and seemingly represents another play on “lines” as a mechanism for prophesying in Patho. As Artemy knows the lines in viscera as a Haruspex, Yulia/the Mistresses know cause-and-effect chains/threads of fate, Mark knows the lines as in theatre. Eva describes Mark’s performances thus: “Staggering, prophetic performances! They predict fates. […] Two ritual Masks pick a volunteer from the crowd. Mark looks at his hands, then shows them to the Masks. They improvise. Without a word they play out either the nearest future or the whole life of the person—depending on the price. And it always comes true!” Notkin says, “They say they tell your fortune, right? Might be just a game, might be note; it does come true. I think though that it’s Mark himself who manipulates the events to align someone’s life with his ideas. […] I mean, [his predictions] do come true, though not every time, and if they don’t, he explains it away as a metaphor, or says they did come true but we didn’t notice.” Notkin differs from Eva’s depiction somewhat; at least, he complicates whether Mark’s performances really come true, and this reliance on metaphor to me is reminiscent of an idea in Patho where obfuscation, story-telling, or performance are the most efficient means to communicate truth (lovely Nina is an apparent exception but I am not talking about that right now <3).

For instance, a Town child tells the player, “Mark—he knows the truth and is afraid to distort it. That’s why he uses masks, puppets, and riddles.” This echoes Katerina’s line, “I can’t leave my smoke and mirrors be […] Because I cannot lie when it comes to details… My lips literally cannot enunciate something that is untrue. Riddles and vagueness leave me a degree of freedom.” Mark himself voices something similar: “Like any game, play-acting is a mere shadow of Existence, a tiny fragment of it, a semblance—not a hollow semblance, mind you, quite the contrary, filled to the brim! Play-acting is fuller than reality... since it’s smaller.” To me, this gestures to how storytelling and theatre—with their ability to exaggerate reality—allow one to address issues in a roundabout way which can be more efficient than clear-cut truth. Simplicity is absolutely a necessary tool, but can inevitably hinder necessary nuance, and I think that is what Patho is getting at here. Similarly, it’s suggested that people *interpret* these plays rather than the acts being clear depictions of future events, e.g. when Mark talks about the bull in the Bone Stake Lot incident: “Everybody started to talk about it, interpreting and reinterpreting the… act. Just like they do with our very own Mask Act here. The prophetic excitement is growing by the hour…” just as he later says, “No, I am no longer a mime show interpreter.” All this suggesting that Mark perhaps interpreted simulacra or semblances, and this is how he understood Pathologic’s narrative.

Characters further suggest that Mark’s Masks did not merely show the future, but enforced it. Daniil says, “You were a puppeteer. Your Masks foretold our future—or maybe imposed it upon us; in all honesty, I don’t see the difference.” Maria similarly states, “his performances don’t show a person’s fate, they impose it,” and Lara says, “Mark’s mime shows seem to incorporate us too… everyone’s playing along to avoid disrupting the performance, and that’s exactly how he’s manipulating us.” I interpret this from the meta angle, because obviously the Theatre demonstrates the game’s events, which the characters act out because. Well. They are characters. Even Mark doesn’t appear above it all, as Lara says “I think it’s the Masks who play him and not the other way around,” and Mark refers to himself as an actor, such as when he muses that “I’ve been thinking about leaving this place of the dead for a while now, but I get the feeling that this is exactly the place for me to fulfill my part…” 

Though, Mark obviously more often references the player’s role as an actor, which again points to his understanding of fate. Namely when he tells Daniil “[The next performance is] for you to decide. You are part of the lineup. The playscript is not yet complete, you see. […] Your fate isn’t bound yet. It will take time, effort, and of course your direct participation. Come to see us every evening. We’ll show how you’re doing bit by bit.” This dialogue is obviously stepped in the meta: the playscript depends on our actions, as the game unfolds according to our choices in words and deeds. This reminds me of how the Mistresses and Simon’s fortune-telling all seems to juxtapose predetermination alongside some kind of free will. That is, while there is room for a player to subtly influence the narrative’s progression, it is obviously all set out for us in the end. It has to end in a particular way, and it feels like this is what Mark understands. Namely when he discusses the three families with Daniil, and when Daniil asks which will be victorious, Immortell says, “You don’t need me to tell you that; the answer is yours. They're so different... Which one do you prefer? […] It's up to you.” Mark knows that the player must inevitably side with one philosophy according to their choices: choice decides the outcome, but that outcome is obviously already determined.

Mark instead tells Clara that she is “against the rules” because she is “an imposter and a changeling.” Against the game’s rules, presumably as Clara is the only character capable of breaking her fate and so going off-script, as it were, in Mark’s performances. In the secret endings, the gamemakers say that Clara’s twin was a “gimmick of choosing one’s own fate” and that “She was indeed conceived as a disease, an instrument of the Law… but she was born a thief. At the very moment of her birth, she got a chance to become someone completely different. The girl came into this world, having stolen for herself the fate of a miracle-worker.” From a mechanical standpoint, Clara is obviously unique in that she has a choice—most people probably know that curing all the Bound allows you any choice, but that aside, Daniil and Artemy have only one decision. So setting aside that Clara obviously is still bound by a preset narrative, she is capable of choosing to oppose her predetermination and thus the capital-L Law, as fate/inevitability/the Law are closely intwined and often conflated. Breaking the Law is indeed ‘miraculous,’ which is referenced in a dialogue between Imortell and Daniil about the Polyhedron: 

Mark Immortell: […] First of all, I also believe in lofty ideals—don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. […] But recently I came to realize something that has blown me out of the water completely and made me reevaluate my worldview. So... I believe in Vlad's transformation. Bachelor: What did you realize? Mark Immortell: That fate can be overcome. I’m so tired of all this... You know, many people consider my shows to be mere tricks—but I know that’s untrue. They are daily reminders of Predetermination reigning over us... it’s depressing. But now I see that a miracle is not completely impossible. Bachelor: Please, go on! What makes it possible? Mark Immortell: It’s the Tower. The only thing that leads the plots of my performances astray is the Tower. The Tower—and everything that has to do with it... those are the only things that cannot be tossed and turned and manipulated like puppets. A miracle overcomes the inevitable. The Tower can do miracles. It all makes sense. Bachelor: I’m not sure it does. Mark Immortell: You will still have an opportunity to ponder it. The Tower is an ambiguous phenomenon. There’s no need to rush to conclusions. I have, as you can see, fallen in love with it... I think of it as my safe haven. But you should keep a cool head.

I am gleeful about this dialogue btw there is so much to work with here. For one, it maintains the link between opposing fate and the miraculous found in Clara’s character, as Mark’s conviction that “fate can be overcome” derives from the Polyhedron’s capacity for miracles. Again, then, the miraculous is positioned opposite inevitability and fate. But what is Mark’s actual relationship to Utopia and the Utopians? I have always wanted to throw up blood over Daniil and Mark’s final conversation. When he tells Mark, “I thought that the whole point of the Utopians’ ideology was neglecting the laws of fate and the limits it imposes upon us,” to which Mark replies, “You are correct, oh the keenest of the astute! So what? I have cognized this side of Existence from backstage, so to speak; from where the strings go and the machinery is hidden—and yet I willingly swore allegiance to the Utopia. Does that tell you nothing?” That line goddamn haunts me. It always reinforced to me that there is an undercurrent in this game that people should strive for utopia, even if it’s a perpetually doomed endeavor, given Saburov and Eva’s statements to this effect. Mark appears sincere in this, given his “I also believe in lofty ideals” or how he gives his life to Maria; Katerina claims that Maria is the only one who can influence Mark, and indeed we see his collusion with Maria in the Changeling Route. 

But Clara throws potential doubt on Mark’s allegiance to the Utopians when she reports to Katerina, “He’s not one to side with either the Utopians or the Humble. He stands apart.” [or] “Maria thinks he’s under her charms and in the ranks of the utopians. He’s playing along [with her]. But that’s not how it really is!” I think Mark could well be playing along with Maria, considering a dialogue with Andrey where he suggests that Mark “Claims that the local mimes can tell the future. As for me, I think he’s making fun of the Mistresses—and, by extension, of us all.” Maria herself says of him, “He makes me anxious; his performances don’t show a person’s fate, they impose it. I’d really like to see someone grab and pull the puppeteer’s strings. […] one day I shall tame this crafty imp—no matter what it takes.” “Makes me anxious”?? Maria of Scarlet Mistress fame ??? This reminds me of Mark’s voice lines “There is a great ability in knowing how to conceal one's ability,” and “It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.” These lines need not necessarily be related, but imply a deceptive character that suggests he could be following Maria’s lead out of amusement.

Another suggestion that Mark is taking the piss is that he quotes Professor Pangloss from Candide, who represents the naïve optimism and theodicy Voltaire lambasts: “All is for the best in this best of the worlds” (Всё к лучшему в этом лучшем из миров/Tout est pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes possibles). The Utopians are not necessarily naïve optimists, but are dreamers who ascribe to the miraculous, even emphatically self-proclaimed rationalist Daniil. Theodicy also intended to vindicate divine justice, and Patho’s narrative involves its own ‘divine justice’ through plague; so Mark quoting Pangloss feels quite tongue-in-cheek to me. 

Whether Mark is a sincere Utopian… As with everything, it’s open to interpretation. I think he is, given that dialogue with Daniil. Mark seems aware that he is only pulling people’s strings in that his performances reflect a predetermination that he is subjected to as much as everyone else. He appears genuinely intrigued by the miraculous (as in: fate can be broken) in his claim that he has fallen in love with the Polyhedron as Daniil or Eva. Likewise that he claims Clara is a “worthy opponent” as a miracle-maker, given that she defies fate and so overcomes the inevitable. I find it particularly notable that Mark considers the one thing that ‘leads the plots his performances astray’ his “safe haven;” but, I also think Mark is frankly cheeky about the whole affair because of his narrative awareness which also sets him apart from other characters. 

[ninadove]

Nina reads Dracula 🦇

June 30th

These may be the last words I ever write in this diary. I slept till just before the dawn, and when I woke threw myself on my knees, for I determined that if Death came he should find me ready.

I BELIEVE IN YOU JONATHAN

Then a wild desire took me to obtain that key at any risk, and I determined then and there to scale the wall again and gain the Count's room.

That man is determined.

The great box was in the same place, close against the wall, but the lid was laid on it, not fastened down, but with the nails ready in their places to be hammered home. I knew I must reach the body for the key, so I raised the lid, and laid it back against the wall; and then I saw something which filled my very soul with horror. There lay the Count, but looking as if his youth had been half renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood.

HAHA WONDERFUL

He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.

Insult warranted. Please go on.

Then I stopped and looked at the Count. There was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad. This was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless. The very thought drove me mad. A terrible desire came upon me to rid the world of such a monster. There was no lethal weapon at hand, but I seized a shovel which the workmen had been using to fill the cases, and lifting it high, struck, with the edge downward, at the hateful face.

But as I did so the head turned, and the eyes fell full upon me, with all their blaze of basilisk horror.

WELL IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU

As I write there is in the passage below a sound of many tramping feet and the crash of weights being set down heavily, doubtless the boxes, with their freight of earth. There is a sound of hammering; it is the box being nailed down. Now I can hear the heavy feet tramping again along the hall, with many other idle feet coming behind them. […] I am alone in the castle with those awful women. Faugh! Mina is a woman, and there is nought in common. They are devils of the Pit!

I shall not remain alone with them; I shall try to scale the castle wall farther than I have yet attempted. I shall take some of the gold with me, lest I want it later. I may find a way from this dreadful place.

And then away for home! away to the quickest and nearest train! away from this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet!

At least God's mercy is better than that of these monsters, and the precipice is steep and high. At its foot a man may sleep—as a man. Good-bye, all! Mina!

YOU CAN DO IT YOU CAN DO IT I BELIEVE IN YOU MY GOOD FRIEND JONATHAN HARKER

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[5280customframing]

🐑 Beautiful photograph by Nina Fuller custom framed with linen matting, museum glass and gold fillet and frame by Larson-Juhl!

[thatbiologist]

G’eth Character Name Bank

First Names

Masculine Names

Alfred, Andrew, Arlo, Arthur, Balthazar, Barry, Ben, Benedick, Bernard, Burchard, Cedric, Charibert, Crispin, Cyrill, Daegal, Derek, Digory, Drustan, Duncan, Edmund, Edwin, Elric, Evaine, Frederick, Geffery, George, Godfreed, Gregory, Guy, Harris, Harry, Horsa, Hugh, Humphrey, Iago, Jack, Jeremy, John, Kazamir, Kenric, Lawrence, Leoric, Lorik, Luke, Lynton, Lysander, Madoc, Magnus, Maukolum, Micheal, Miles, Milhouse, Mordred, Mosseus, Ori, Orvyn, Neville, Norbert, Nycolas, Paul, Percival, Randulf, Richard, Robert, Roderick, Stephen, Tennys, Theodoric, Thomas, Tristan, Tybalt, Victor, Vincent, Vortimer, Willcock, Willian, Wymond

Feminine Names

Adelin, Alice, Amelia, Beatrix, Beryl, Bogdana, Branwyne, Brigida, Catalina, Catherine, Claudia, Crystina, Deanna, Desdemona, Elaine, Elinora, Eliza, Enide, Eva, Ferelith, Fiora, Freya, Gertrude, Gregoria, Gueanor, Gwen, Gwendolyn, Hannah, Hegelina, Helen, Helga, Heloise, Henrietta, Igraine, Imogen, Jacquelyn, Jane, Jean, Jenny, Jill, Juliana, Juliet, Katie, Leela, Lettice, Lilibet, Lilith, Lucy, Luthera, Luz, Lyra, Malyna, Margherita, Marion, Meryl, Millie, Miranda, Molle, Morgana, Morgause, Nezetta, Nina, Novella, Olwen, Oriana, Oriolda, Osanna, Pamela, Petra, Philippa, Revna, Rohez, Rosalind, Rose, Sallie, Sarra, Serphina, Sif, Simona, Sophie, Thomasine, Tiffany, Ursula, Viola, Winifred, Yrsa, Ysabella, Yvaine, Zelda, Zillah

Gender-Neutral/Unisex Names

Adrian, Alex, Aiden, Arden, Ariel, Auden, Avery, Bailey, Blaire, Blake, Brett, Breslin, Caelan, Cadain, Cameron, Charlie, Dagon, Dana, Darby, Darra, Devon, Drew, Dylan, Evan, Felize, Fenix, Fernley, Finley, Glenn, Gavyn, Haskell, Hayden, Hunter, Jace, Jaime, Jesse, Jo, Kai, Kane, Karter, Kieran, Kylin, Landon, Leslie, Mallory, Marin, Meritt, Morgan, Nell, Noel, Oakley, Otzar, Paris, Peregrine, Quant, Quyn, Reagan, Remy, Robin, Rowan, Ryan, Sam, Samar, Sasha, Sloan, Stace, Tatum, Teegan, Terrin, Urbain, Vahn, Valo, Vick, Wallace, Waverly, Whitney, Yardley, Yarden, Zasha

Surnames

Surnames, Patrilineal - First Name (Patrilineal Surname)

Ace, Allaire, Appel, Arrow, Baker, Bamford, Barnard, Beckett, Berryann, Blakewood, Blanning, Bigge, Binns, Bisby, Brewer, Brickenden, Brooker, Browne, Buller, Carey, Carpenter, Carter, Cheeseman, Clarke, Cooper, Ead, Elwood, Emory, Farmer, Fish, Fisher, Fitzroy, Fletcher, Foreman, Foster, Fuller, Galahad, Gerard, Graves, Grover, Harlow, Hawkins, Hayward, Hill, Holley, Holt, Hunter, Jester, Kerr, Kirk, Leigh, MacGuffin, Maddock, Mason, Maynard, Mercer, Miller, Nash, Paige, Payne, Pernelle, Raleigh, Ryder, Scroggs, Seller, Shepard, Shore, Slater, Smith, Tanner, Taylor, Thatcher, Thorn, Tilly, Turner, Underwood, Vaughan, Walter, Webb, Wilde, Wood, Wren, Wyatt, Wynne

Surnames, Townships in G’eth - First Name of (Location)

Abelforth, Argent Keep, Barrow Springs, Barrowmere, Bedford, Brunhelm, Bumble, Casterfalls, Dunbridge, Falmore Forest, Folk’s Bounty, Frostmaid, Fulstad, Heller’s Crossing, Hertfordshire, Humberdale, Inkwater, Little Avery, Marrowton, Mistfall, Mistmire, Morcow, Necropolis-on-Sea, Otherway, Parsendale, Piddlehinton, Port Fairwind, Redcastle, Ransom, Rutherglen, Saint Crois, Tanner’s Folly, Tavern’s Point, Wilmington

Surnames, Geographical Locations in G’eth - First Name of the (Location)

Cove of Calamity, Deep Woods of Falmore, Eastern Isles, Eastern Mountains, Foothills, Frozen Peak, Lakes, Maegor Cobblestones, Northern Mountains, Southern Isle, Tangle, West Coast, Wild Wild Woods, Woods of Angarad

Surnames, Nickname - First Name the (Something) 

Bald, Bastard, Bear, Bearded, Big, Bird, Bold, Brave, Broken, Butcher, Bruiser, Careless, Caring, Charitable, Clever, Clumsy, Cold, Confessor, Coward, Crow, Cyclops, Devious, Devoted, Dog, Dragonheart, Dreamer, Elder, Faithful, Fearless, Fey, Fool, Friend, Generous, Giant, Goldheart, Goldfang, Gouty, Gracious, Great, Hag, Handsome, Hawk, Honest, Huge, Humble, Hungry, Hunter, Innocent, Ironfist, Ironside, Keeper, Kind, Lesser, Liar, Lionheart, Little, Loyal, Magical, Mercenary, Merchant, Messenger, Old, Orphan, Pale, Polite, Poet, Poor, Prodigy, Prophet, Proud, Reliable, Romantic, Rude, Selfish, Sellsword, Scab, Scholar, Shield, Shy, Singer, Sirrah, Slayer, Slug, Small, Stoneheart, Swift, Tadde, Talented, Tart, Tenacious, Timid, Tiny, Tough, Traveller, Trusted, Truthful, Viper, Wizard, Wolf, Wyrm

[forgetyoursingalongsandlullabies]

After I posted about how I love the TMA fanart I had a couple people ask about how I think the characters look. I can’t draw so here are some photos and descriptions. Note* I listened to the whole series before I even looked at the fandom. They’re stuck as who they are in my brain and I can’t change them anymore, they’re dug in there.

The Archivist Jon Sims - Ben Barnes

Shadow and Bone Ben Barnes where he’s in his late 30s and showing his grays a little, NOT twink Prince Caspian Ben Barnes.

Martin Blackwood - Luke Newberry

I know canonically Martin is on the bigger side but that sweet face, the big beautiful puppy eyes and the ginger hair! The 2nd photo is 100% the way I see him in S4. In S1-3 he wears a lot of color but by S4 he’s all gray suits and no smiles in his eyes.

Sasha James - Eva Noblezada

She has long hair and glasses and Not!Sasha has shorter Hadestown hair and no glasses and wears pretty much just black and white.

Tim Stoker - Tom Hopper

From his Merlin days when he was a little more baby than he is in Umbrella Academy. I love the Hawaiian shirt thing that’s going on with the art. I always just think of him in well fitted t-shirts.

Melanie King - Amanda Fuller

Except she has big fire orange hair and wears t-shirts and leather jackets.

Georgie Barker - H.E.R.

I’m obsessed with the idea that Georgie and Melanie both have enormous hair.

Daisy Tonner - Indira Varma

I don’t necessarily know why but she’s all I’ve ever seen Daisy as. Maybe because she has an incredible “don’t fuck with me” look.

Basira Hussein - I don’t have a specific actress in mind for her but she has a gorgeous round face dark pools for eyes and full lips. Idk if Basira wears a hijab all the time, I don’t think I have the right to headcanon one way or another, but if she isn’t wearing it she has curly black hair.

Elias Bouchard - Hear me out, I imagined him before I knew he was evil and hot. By the time I realized, it was too late for my brain to reliably change him. He’s a remolded memory of Uncle Jack in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia only a little younger and with a Vincent Price pencil mustache and a very nice suit. I won’t add a picture of the actor because it’s not exactly him.

Michael - Bill Skarsgard

It’s probably a gimme since he plays so many weird little guys but he’s beautiful and creepy at the same time and I like to imagine him with the long ringlets.

Helen - Nina Sosanya

I mean, it feels obvious to me. Her smile is even mischievous.

Peter Lukas - Cary Elwes

There is a 10 image limit and I am not dropping my 2nd Martin picture for Peter Lukas. But Cary Elwes as of 2019ish idk if he looks more or less the same now. But I have a complicated relationship with The Lonely and it is important to me that Peter looks older, evil and also kind of fuckable.

OKAY THANKS FOR LETTING ME SHARE!

[proustianlesbian]

i hope you all spend a very good lesbian summer !! nina and lotte are !!

i draw "with two left hands" so i'm very self-conscious about my drawings, i know i'm not very good, especially compared to other much more skilled people on here but i ended up liking it quite a bit, it was really like in my imagination.

also notice the little lesbian flags : on the trousers' pattern, the socks and the granita and straws they share 🧡. also i love slowly butchifying nina (lotte's turn will come), it makes me very happy and her south of france fit is one of my favorite of hers as a butch myself and someone living in france. idk why tumblr gives the picture a worse definition.

below the cut is the scanned version + fuller pictures and what i used as well as what i liked doing the most.

so the paper is a bristol paper which means the drawing is rather small. i used different marker pens i gathered around the years as well as different types of regular pens to colorise it.

for nina's hair, at first i ranked the yellows i wanted to use from lighter to more orange. i colorised first with a pale yellow crayon base and then used my pens to get her haïr more and more darker.

also i wish i did better for lotte's face in terms of skin color but the final result is better than some versions that i came up with before.

what i like the most are : nina's skin and its shadows as well as her short, her t-shirt, the shadows in général, the granitas, the flowers and lotte's trousers blue color (i did it with a dark purple, then dark prussian blue markers and added a lighter dark blue since it was still a bit too purple).

the fuller picture + one with a slightly different lightning.

the scanned version i just did :

[scriptscribbles]

To give my general 13 Who feelings since I asked:

Ryan was my favorite Chibnall era companion though I suspect Tosin probably felt pretty burned by lack of material and hope he's on to better things that make him happier. He's quite a good actor IMO. Makes a lot of interesting choices when left to the background.

Dan and Graham were both quite charming but just not character types I need from stories right now. Dan also really suffered from not getting, like, any breathing room as a character. It ends up feeling like after Brian Williams, Chibnall needed a comfort older white dude in the TARDIS.

Yaz I like on paper but never felt like she got the focus or exploration the many interesting things about her deserved. Can You Hear Me was a very clever retcon to explain her lack of material in series 11 in addition to being poignant though it does totally change her from the character introduced in Woman Who Fell to Earth.

I like the idea of the Timeless Child and the opportunities it offers and relate a surprising amount to the whole forgotten child childhood trauma questions about identity, but think it stalled on examining that after the quite underrated Once, Upon Time.

Sacha Dhawan is a superb actor who elevated a lot but I did not care at all for the direction the Master was taken in. The lack of acknowledgment of Missy was painful, the Nazi stuff doubly so, and the redestriction of Gallifrey just annoying.

Jodie Whittaker is wonderful and very Doctory. I wish she could have played more range though and really wanted to see her play a fuller relationship plot because I love the Doctor in that kind of thing and think she'd have nailed it.

Loved the sonic. Didn't love the TARDIS. Liked series 12, apart from Spyfall part 2. Thought Resolution and Eve of the Daleks were fantastic. Complicated feelings about Flux and how it all in my view fell apart (well documented that Chibnall wrote it while it went and it shows). Thought series 11 was the right idea but didn't think it was good enough overall.

Really enjoyed writers like Vinay Patel, Ed Hime, Joy Wilkinson, Maxine Alderton, and Nina Metivier contributing, and even controversially Pete McTighe, though I wish they got a bit more polish the way RTD or Moffat added sparkle to their guest writers. It's probably not fair to expect Chris Chibnall to meet the dialogue crispness of two of the best living British TV writers who proceeded him. It's not that he's bad, but Moffat and Davies are really special talents on that front and a tough act to follow.

Thought the best director of the era was Nida Manzoor and hope they get her back. Also loved Wayne Yip again but sounds like he didn't love doing it.

Some episodes and elements I really liked but overall the era of modern Who I'm coolest on. Still would take it over several classic runs any day.