#ooof i loved this one

[lafcadiosadventures]

Madame Putiphar Readalong. Book One, Chapter Four:

Tinterne Abbey Doorway leading into the Sacristy. W. H. Bartlett. E. J. Roberts.

This week’s chapter was especially good. We get to see Borel at the top of his eclcectic writing genre-spanning game. There’s theatrical dialogue, impressionistic descriptions in broad brush strokes, carefully minute scenic descriptions lovingly painted with a fine brush, the succinct epigram of the 1700’s and the verbal overload of the baroque, a convincing portrayal of domestic violence immediately followed by farce, proto-surrealism... The splendid polyphony of the Romantic orchestra, unbridled.

I strongly reccomend reading it for yourselves. Text in English here!

We begin with Debby looking at herself in the mirror. She has to make sure there’s no trace of tears or pain in her expression before she is seen by her father at lunch.

It’s true that she has to hide her pain like her mother has begged of her. It’s best if Lord Cockermouth is left in the dark about their prior meeting.

But on another level we are seeing a woman having to hide unpalatable emotions under a socially acceptable mask. I find the whole image of Debby scrutinizing her face and dress, making futile attempts to suppress visible signs of the pain she’s feeling to be extremely eloquent. It’s very Romantic too, the duel of the instinctual/emotional versus social conventions.

Borel in his iconoclastic tale Passereau has his narrator exclaim “this is not a Rousseau story!”. But he seems to share with him a concern about the social constraints imposed on our natural, spontaneous reactions. (remember the also iconic paragraph in The Werewolf depicting the tight menswear of the day as a prison for the body) Emotions, if one looks beyond the very pragmatic reasons Debby and Lady Cockermouth have for masking and concealing, giving free reign to emotions is not socially acceptable. We will see later on how there is a double standard at work here, since Lord Cockermouth in one of my favorite passages in an overall very well written chapter, is completely allowed to just. Combust with rage.

Debby finally feels ready to face her parents, and arrives at the dinning room, where it’s her mother, her ambivalent ally who casts doubt on her, remarking on the lateness of her arrival. Her Father speaks in her mother’s ear about how bad Debby looks, how she seems like an insomniac. How she will break from too much exertion-he of course means, excessive sexual escapades with Patrick. Debby knows her parents well, and with just one look she

“(...) sensed the tempest; and shaking like a bird surprised by a storm, she went and curled up in a chair.”

The chapter is full of perfectly succinct lines such as this which paint the scene perfectly without need of long winded descriptions. It’s poetic while also very visual. We can picture her attitude: swift, shrinking herself, bringing all eyes on her from trying too hard to be unnoticed. His father pierces with his relentless, invasive gaze.

Borel employs for Cockermouth’s lines theatrical asides. He says one thing aloud for Debby to hear, and something else in a lower tone, into his wife’s ear that reveals his true intentions. His asides are usually derisive comments implying how his daughter is a nymphomaniac. He asks about what he perceives is a symptom: her red eyes, her lack of sleep, her lack of appetite, and diagnosticates her: the cause of the symptoms is constantly deemed to be excessive sexual appetite and activity. And the cure? Well, he would crush her, if it weren’t for his hability to show restraint (we will see about this restraint soon enough).

He finally stops with the pretence and calls her a prostitute to her face. He vanishes her from the dinning room. Debby cries, her mother defends her, the verbal abuse turns physical. Lord Cockermouth throws a pewter cup at Debby’s shoulder. She cries out, which enrages him. (this is also perfect psychology, the abuser angered at the expression of his victim’s pain, a mirror painfully reflecting his brutality back at him. It also follows the theme of the social etiquette of women hiding their discomfort we saw earlier. It would perhaps be preferable if Debby would just take the abuse without complaining, avoiding her abuser any discomfort)

What follows is a very visual, almost farcical description of Cockermouth anger. Again, it’s just a single line, but you can see it all: a blurry red mass of a man raising himself from the table, toppling it over with his massive belly, breaking everything in his way while storming out like a hurricane, shouting out insults, slamming the door of his room, making it all about himself. He is, evidently, the wronged party.

Debby flees to her room as well. Her brian shuts down from the trauma. She falls asleep, completely drained. This type of scene is not new for her, since she has, from the days of her childhood, seen her father abuse her mother, the narrator tells us. But for the first time she was more than a supernumerary, she was pushed center stage to perform a leading role in the theatre of domestic violence, and feared it’s final act.  

A servant finds her asleep when bringing her dinner. He has a note from her mother. She begs her not to meet Patrick that night.

The request triggers an inner monologue. Debby’s exhausted brain rebels not at her mother’s plea, but at the mere idea of breaking up with Patrick. We get poetic repetitions: (Oh! c’est là de ces choses auxquelles mon esprit se refuse! Oh! c’est là de ces pensées dont mon intelligence bornée s’effarouche?—Moi! te donner congé, Patrick! comprends-tu?) She calls her love for Patrick the vulture that grasps her in its claws, a jailer that piles her up with chains. And the imagery grows more and more surreal. “L’enfant peut briser son jouet, mais le jouet peut-il briser l’enfant?... Eh! que suis-je!...—Une meule peut-elle se broyer elle-même? Un arbre peut-il se déraciner? Une vallée peut-elle dominer le mont qui la domine?... Et moi! puis-je engouffrer l’abyme qui m’engouffre?...” We cannot easily picture the action of a molar grinding itself, a tree uprooting itself, the imagery is not rooted in logic. It’s a challenge to the reader. The images undoubtedly remit to the idea of self destruction. Turning Patrick away would amount to self amputation. That uncontrollable force which dominates her is also what is keeping her alive.

After a few bites of a piece of bread, Debby mechanically puts on a cape and leaves her room. 

We get some very precise architectonic terminology to describe Cockermouth Castle. If the raging lunch was all Goya’s rage and fury in broad brush strokes, here we get really close to the canvas for a minute description of the gothic fortress. (Borel was an architect, and he had a special spot for gothic architecture in his heart, so we get a detailed description of the evolution of the styles currently surrounding Debby)(the functional military crenels had given way to a rich baluster in a neoclassical belvedere style, designed for strolls and contemplation -erasing the gothic, thought of at the time as a barbaric style is one of Borel’s pet peeves as seen in his essay The Luxor Obelisk-)(which shows us that times of war have given way to times of peace at least for the Lords of the land. The growing power of the Cockermouths, of England in the area, makes them confident enough not to expect attacks any time soon)

The castle dominates over a barren red and black plain. There’s peripheral poverty, as seen by the very precarious little cottages half buried by the soil. We seem to be now in a Caspar Friedrich painting, or a Piranesi wasteland. Desolation, deserted land, ruins of ancient towers, churches, monasteries.... The viewer, we are told, -to a surprising effect-finds solace in this vision, the double edged blade of the sublime. The gaze is enchanted, and the mind is transported to the past.

We get a wonderful description of a cascade called The Devil’s Throat and its lore. The water flows cold in summer, warm in winter, and all kinds of miraculous cures have been attributed to it. But, the narrator bitterly adds, its most irrefutable property is that of curing anyone foolish enough to bathe in it of the illness of life.

The narrator is made aware of the limit of his art while trying to describe the vision of the sunset seen from behind the cascade, enhanced by seeing it from that long and sombre balustrade gallery ending in a gothic rosette which has nothing to envy from the sun. (architecture and nature perfectly mirror one another, they are both equally sublime and enhance each other’s sublimity)

Debby sees these wonders and remembers all the times she has endlessly, insatiably gazed at them with Patrick. Debby finds their initials and dates significant to them, engraved by Patrick on the rocks of the tower, in those meetings where only the heavens, which aren’t mocking or perfidious could hear them.

Debby could also see, from this privileged crow’s nest, while a thousand golden threads sprung from her eyes like a spider’s web, all their favorite spots where they had shared a favorite book, or had “herborized” together. (@sainteverge called our attention to the word: herboriser used to carry the meaning of ivy growing over rocks or statues, tangling and entwining until it’s impossible to tell where one begins and the other ends)

The chapter ends with Debby’s threads of gold scanning the cartography of her love. Even if she does not own the fortress, these oasis have been claimed by her and her Patrick’s herborizing.

[laurasbailey]

ONE CRITICAL ROLE SCENE PER EPISODE C2E4: Disparate Pieces

[cheesomancer]

O for Oni 👹

Full oni: twitter, bsky

[salisburyliam]

[sugarpasteltmnt]

YALL ARE TOO AMAZING AND SWEET AND SKILLED AND AHHHHH 🩵😭😭😭🩵💗💘‼️😭

[bleue-flora]

Ya know, it's occurred to me from watching the way c!Dream talks about c!Tommy being trapped in there with him. He sounds not just glad to have company, but also like optimistic, if that makes sense. Like the "We have tons of time to bond," [46:17], "You're stuck in here with me, whether you like it or not. Okay? Whether you like it or not you're in here with me for a while. We're gonna talk. We're gonna have lots of fun. We’re gonna have lots of fun. Remember–remember when we had fun together, c!Tommy? Remember when we had fun together?–” [46:45], and the "I've changed. I’ve changed. I’ve changed–" [47:19]. He doesn’t say it in a malicious, threatening way, which certainly would be expected of him. I mean, the person who imprisoned you is now imprisoned with you, as the big bad guy that seems like some torture opportunity to me (it is the torture box after all lol ;D), but that’s not what he’s suggesting. No, he sounds adamant about change, about bonding, about talking things through. And given that the TNT Ranboo sets off to get c!Tommy trapped was a part of c!Dream’s plan, it’s very interesting that that would be his response. In fact, it’s almost as if he trapped c!Tommy in order to force them to reconcile, which very much aligns with a theory I’ve actually had for a while - what if the plan to put himself in the prison was about restoring his image.

He was renowned as the villain and everyone was after him and anyone associated with him. They all wanted his head, either because of fear or to be seen as some powerful hero who slayed the big monster. Even in the time of peace, they were plotting to kill him. All while he really just wanted peace and friendship, but he can’t exactly have that when everyone hates him and wants to kill him. Sure, he could seclude himself like Techno, but he didn’t want that. He wanted to be back in the fold.

And he doesn’t want to die, but clearly, they were never going to be satisfied until they destroy him. So, he lets them, and he forms a plan for him to be redeemed in the eyes of the server. He makes a prison so they can defeat him and he gets to live. And he makes the conditions horrible so they a) don’t suspect it was his plan and b) so they feel satisfied with his punishment. He makes it super secure so a) people can’t just get in to kill him, b) so they won’t suspect he’s there willingly (he’s very powerful after all), and everyone can feel safe from him. But he implements an extensive visitor system ("I just don’t want to ever be alone.") so now people can feel safe enough to visit him, and without weapons being involved, work through their issues. The idea being that everyone can come talk to him (which they were too scared or angry to do before) and see how he’s not so scary after all. So, that they then can ultimately release him and he can be a part of society again, now that he’s changed. The prison than was a way to de-villainize himself, so he was no longer the enemy.

Meaning, his favor with c!Techno was a backup plan, and that’s why he didn’t set up a system to get the message to c!Techno sooner, he planned on being let out. He just didn’t plan for things to go so wrong and for people to be so cold…

[rosalie-starfall]

Twisted Obsession (The Mad Monkey)

1989

[ilovecoffeeandchemistry]

ooooh i woke up in a bad mood and it's so hard not to be a bitch about it

[pbaintthetb]

I loved season 1 of TUA especially Diego Diego and Klaus' relationship and it is so tragic to me that the timeline where he tied Klaus up to sober him up at Klaus' request and they just talked through some shit was not the canon timeline

[rocicrew]

okay i'm playing the telltale game and can't help but think how maya also thought of the sample as a bargaining chip for the start of a free belt, but drummer was right on the state of the opa would probably do more harm than good,,,, and how naomi and drummer truly came together after doing exactly that with the only difference being that fred johnson was in the political sphere of the belt (and inners had already used it)

[raksh-writes]

Oh my god, Cole is projecting so hard, what a fickin buffon 😂😂

[im-goin-mad]

thanks boo!! black river kult just help me get over a yearslong crush on you

[fizzytoo]

taylor russel….. girl not him

[malepresentingleg]

A little late after the episode but I do have some (over 1k worth) thoughts on BMF and how they handled the whole sex thing that I need to let out before I even go into the tag.

I'll say this show has been very pleasantly surprising the last few episodes, and I was quite impressed with how they handled and addressed very real queer experiences - if it's Pisaeng's beautiful journey with the gay bar, his mom's "acceptance", and the beautiful beautiful rally with the wonderful speakers discussing queer struggles and more.

That's why I had a tiny bit of hope for an asexual Kawi following his comments about sex (can two people who date never have sex? YEAH!), but I wasn't holding on to it very much because I'm a realistic not delusional leg :') So as much as I LOVE this idea and think it could have been very interesting and important and a great opportunity to explore asexuality and relationships - I will write here under the assumption that Kawi is allo and is meant to be sexually attracted to Pisaeng.

One of my least favorite tropes in bl is "the blushing maiden"- where one character really pushes the other into intimacy and the other is avoiding it. If two characters are in a relationship- let them both be interested in each other!!! (uwma and between us are two of my least favorite bls from those I watched bc of that. Bad Buddy is probably my favorite because they show the mutuality of the relationship very well). Some examples for it being done well are MSP - they're BOTH shy and both do want it, they're just kids. When Tinn asks for kisses Gun is flustered and Tinn does it in a teasing way, and very much respects Gun's wishes. Not to mention, he ends up being even more shy.

I think the most similar to what BMF seems to be trying to show would be The Eclipse. Akk is extremely repressed. He's full of self-loathing and internalized homophobia and every time Aye pushes it's to help him be able to do what he wants without needing to admit it. Credit is definitely due to First's superb acting skills because he's effortlessly able to show the audience how much he's torn inside, how much he's very much into Aye, how he WANTS to touch him and be intimate with him, but he's scared and has a lot holding him back. Of course it's not perfect but it didn't give me the ick as much as uwma did, and not as much as BMF did too.

Which brings me to Kawi and Pisaeng.

Pisaeng made this beautiful journey for self-acceptance and embracing his queerness. We as the audience also know how easily things could have turned different and he would marry Pear without even coming out! So we know how much of a struggle it was, and it's reasonable to think- still is, for him to accept his attraction to men. I think that is part of what makes this dynamic between them so jarring - I want to celebrate Pisaeng's confidence, he's being sweet and romantic and giving his bf positive attention in an unapologetic queer way - but then the way Kawi reacts to it makes me also wants to hate it, to feel like Pisaeng is pressuring him and being predatory, demanding without consent.

But it's not what happens. Because of everything I mentioned about Pisaeng, and because he's charming and cute and has been through all that, I find myself "rooting for him" (why are there sides to be rooting for???) and thinking man Kawi is annoying! Didn't he say he's into Pisaeng?? Why can't he show it too, make him feel loved and wanted like he deserves? But that's a mindset I don't want to fall into.

But what I'm missing to feel more sympathetic towards Kawi is what I found in MSP and in The Eclipse - show me he does want it but he's scared, he's not ready, he's shy, anything! But now what I'm getting from him is that he doesn't actually like Pisaeng at all, and all that changed was their official status.

I was very excited for the chat he had with Max (a little bit because he really did sound like an asexual there and I had hope), because up until now he had very good advice and gave great queer insight.

I loved how he talked about his experiences, and said that yes, sex is an essential part of his relationships but - I was so sure he was gonna say it's different for everyone, that Kawi shouldn't do anything he's not ready for and that he should talk to Pisaeng about it.

Instead, when Kawi said he doesn't find sex to be that important in a relationship (ace Kawi! ace Kawi!!), Max kinda shamed him with "well you're a virgin so you don't know", and basically told him "you're gonna do it eventually so might as well now, you're lucky it's with someone you love". Which is kind of a horrible advice IMO. Another approach they could take is tackle why it is that Kawi is so reluctant, discuss his internalized homophobia that still makes him perceive gay sex as wrong and how he can get over it and embrace this part of himself. But the reasoning for him to do it being "just do it" ugh. No thanks.

Another direction I thought it might take and I would have been happy with is Pisaeng maybe apologizing for pushing and expressing hid sadness that Kawi doesn't want him or isn't into him or something like that, and Kawi would then explain and express how much he DOES want him but he's just not ready. ANYTHING. to make me believe Kawi is into Pisaeng and not just forcing himself because he's told he needs to.

The amusement park analogy was a bit on the nose - if you don't try the rollercoaster it's like you haven't really been here = if we don't have sex our relationship doesn't count. Which, ouch. But yeah "it's ok if you're scared, I'll be with you and hold your hand the whole time".

I was a bit surprised they ended up not going, and then again at the car with the roof, but after further thought I realized it was - Kawi saw Pisaeng respects his wishes and doesn't actually cross his boundaries and so he trusts him enough by the end of the episode. Still, the fact they had sex felt... wrong. After Kawi spent the whole episode being scandalized by anything touch related, his conversation with Max, him being scared shitless to find lube, the theme park and then the dinner - the transition to having sex felt lacking. Them just having sex without any sort of discussion about Kawi's reluctance, talking about how it's actually both of their first times (I assume? at least with a man), how it's ok to take it slow.. Idk, Kawi couldn't bear KISSING Pisaeng up until this point, so now they're having sex? It made it feels like he's forcing himself which is the last thing I want for their relationship. I want to see them both wanting each other :')

There were some great highlights like Kawi staring at Pisaeng in bed or calling his mom but for me it wasn't enough to make me feel like their relationship is built on mutual attraction.

[thelioncourts]

+

[bam-monsterhospital]

i don't even really go here, just skim from time to time, but it really rubs me the wrong way that current season critical role's big bad guy super evil villain group that needs to be taken down and defeated... are a bunch of people angry at gods.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm